Loanword
Etymology
A calque — a piece-by-piece translation — of German Lehnwort, from Lehn ("loan") + Wort ("word"). The "loan" metaphor is a bit of a joke among linguists, since the borrowing language never gives the word back. English is a notorious borrower: "kindergarten," "sofa," "tsunami," and "robot" are all loanwords carrying their donor languages’ fingerprints.
noun · /LOHN-wurd/
A word taken directly from one language into another, keeping much of its original form.
What it names
The visible seams in a language’s history — the imported words that let you trace who a culture traded, fought, and ate with.
Example
A single menu can be a tour of loanwords — sushi, taco, croissant, all keeping their home spellings.
Related idea
A loanword imports the actual foreign word; a calque imports only its structure, translated into native parts. "Rendezvous" is a loanword; "flea market" is a calque.