Ebru marbled paper in which every blot of ink is a Romanian word of Turkish origin: odaie, cafea, geam, dulap.

in books, 1900–1924

Romanians and Turks · five hundred years

The Turkish words in Romanian: which left the books, which stayed in the house

The standard Romanian dictionary traces 1,091 words to Turkish or Tatar. On the marbled paper, each blot of ink is one of them, sized by how often it appears in Romanian books from 175 years ago and in the subtitles of today's films.

Between 1850 and 1925, the words of the Ottoman state, from sultan and vizir to agă, fell by three quarters in Romanian books. The words of the house and the table stayed: odaie (room), geam (window pane), dulap (wardrobe), cafea (coffee).

As you read on, the ink changes with the years.Look up a word
How to read the paper
Each blot is a word, and its size says how often it was used#
Ebru is the marbled paper of Turkish craftsmen: paint is dropped onto thickened water, drawn with a comb, then lifted onto a sheet. Here each drop is a Romanian word that came from Turkish, the 280 most used of them.
A blot's area is proportional to how many times the word occurs per million words. The comb changes its shape but not its area. The colour says what the word names: the house, the table, clothing, people, the state, the army.
1850–1874 · in books
In 1850, the state and the army held almost a quarter of Turkish occurrences#
In books written between 1850 and 1874, words for the state and the army make up 23% of all occurrences of Turkish words: sultan, pașă (pasha), vizir, divan (council), agă (aga), buzdugan (mace), ienicer (janissary), iatagan (yatagan).
Wallachia and Moldavia, the two principalities that later formed Romania, still paid tribute to the Porte, the Ottoman government, and writers had princes, officials and wars to name.
1925–1949 · in books
Three quarters of a century later, the largest blot was “odaie”, the room#
State and army words had dropped to 7% of Turkish occurrences. The largest blot is now odaie (room); among the words of the house and the table come geam (window pane), cafenea (café), perdea (curtain), cutie (box) and cafea (coffee). The house and the table together make up 42%.
The old clothes thinned out: anteriu (long robe) and giubea (fur-lined coat) almost vanished, fes (fez) fell, and ciorap (sock) grew fourfold.
Today · in films
In today's film dialogue, almost half of the Turkish loans you hear are “haide”#
Romanian subtitles on OpenSubtitles (332 million words) are a different kind of text from books, so today's blots do not continue the line of the old ones. They show what is heard: haide (“come on”) alone makes up 44% of all occurrences of Turkish words, about once every 850 spoken words.
Next come rahat, mostly as a swear word (it is the same word as Turkish delight), then cafea (coffee), cutie (box), murdar (dirty), dușman (enemy), habar (as in “n-am habar”, “no idea”), geantă (bag), capcană (trap), chef (mood, party) and dulap (wardrobe).
On the paper

Look up a word, or touch any blot#

Touch a blot to see the word, the Turkish word it came from, and how often it appeared in each quarter-century. The buttons below change the years. The colours below leave only one kind of word on the paper.
A Romanian or Turkish word
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Of the 1,032 words that can be counted, 301 are still heard in films today, at least once in ten million words.

The words of the state fell alike, whatever their language#

A fall in Turkish words in books does not by itself show that their being Turkish was the reason. The books may simply have changed: fewer chronicles, more novels. A test that can settle at least part of it is a comparison with words of other origins that name the same things, in the same books.

So every Turkish word, and the 300 most used Greek, Slavic and Hungarian loans, were given a domain from their meaning, before anything was counted. The charts start at 100 in 1850 and show how the frequency of each group changed in dated Romanian texts on Wikisource, by quarter-century; the band is the range that 95 of 100 resamplings of authors fall into.

The state: all fall

The army: all fall

The house: none falls

Clothing: mostly the Turkish fall

Frequency of each group in dated Romanian texts on Wikisource, 1850–1949, with 1850–1874 = 100. The band is the 95% range when authors are resampled.

Between 1850 and 1925, state words fell by 74% for Turkish loans, 70% for Greek, 61% for Hungarian and 59% for Slavic: pașă (pasha) and vizir, but also logofăt (chancellor), aprod (court usher), vornic (high steward) and boier (boyar). The army likewise: 87% Turkish, 78% Greek, 48% Hungarian, 48% Slavic.

So it was not their Turkish origin that took them out of the books: the words of the Porte, the princes and the boyars fell alike, whatever their language. The test cannot say, though, whether they left with the old order or only with the chronicles that described it. The house shows something else: its words held or rose for every origin, and Turkish ones rose most on average (by 68%, against 40% for Slavic), though the ranges overlap.

For clothing, Turkish words fell by 62%, Greek ones held, and Hungarian ones held or rose. The control groups for the army and clothing are small, five to 27 words, so the comparison is weaker there.

What is still heard today: 301 of 1,032 words#

A word counts as alive if it appears in subtitles at least once in ten million words. With a threshold ten times stricter or twice as lenient, the words of the state stay last, and food and the house stay in the top three.

food and drink47%rahat, cafea, cafenea, tutun, iaurt · 34 / 72
the house41%cutie, dulap, geam, farfurie, capac · 40 / 98
religion41%imam, bairam, ramazan, havră, derviș · 9 / 22
nature34%soi, leș, dovleac, fildeș, lalea · 31 / 92
people and manners33%haide, murdar, dușman, habar, chef · 76 / 229
trade and money25%bacșiș, tejghea, amanet, chioșc, chilipir · 19 / 76
crafts and tools24%capcană, furtun, macara, cioban, tinichea · 30 / 125
clothing22%geantă, papuc, ciorap, șal, basma · 22 / 101
army and weapons19%șiș, ghiulea, tui, ciomag, meterez · 12 / 62
state and officials14%pașă, sultan, agă, vizir, nazir · 16 / 111

Share of each domain's words that appear today in Romanian subtitles, at least once in ten million words.

What a Turkish speaker hears in Romanian#

A Turkish speaker recognises many of the words on the paper at once: cutie is kutu (box), dulap is dolap (cupboard), tavan is tavan (ceiling), cearșaf is çarşaf (bedsheet). Others would trip them up: they left Istanbul with one meaning and reached Bucharest with another.

The game below has ten such words. The Turkish meaning comes from the dictionary of the Turkish Language Association (TDK), the Romanian one from DEX, the standard Romanian dictionary.

What does it mean in Romanian?

The same in both languages

cutiekutubox
dulapdolapcupboard
tavantavanceiling
odaieodaroom
perdeaperdecurtain
cearșafçarşafbed sheet
ciorapçorapsock, stocking
chibritkibritmatch
cafeakahvecoffee
iaurtyoğurtyogurt
baclavabaklavabaklava
sarmasarmastuffed cabbage roll
chifteaköftemeatball
pilafpilavpilaf
ciobançobanshepherd
musafirmisafirguest
bacșișbahşiştip
dușmandüşmanenemy
beleabelâtrouble, mishap
hamalhamalporter
lalealaletulip
tutuntütüntobacco

Turkish words that Romanian uses more often than Turkish does#

Some words that came from Turkish are heard far more often in Romanian today than in Turkish. In Turkish they are heard rarely or have another word in their place: for “murdar” (dirty), the TDK dictionary refers you to “kirli”. The list compares the same source in both languages, film subtitles on OpenSubtitles, with Turkish forms counted together with their suffixes.

	In Romanian	In Turkish
murdar · murdar TDK refers you to “kirli”	61.0	0.19
farfurie · fağfuri in Turkish, fağfuri is Chinese porcelain	21.2	0.00
cafenea · kahvehane	18.8	0.37
derbedeu · derbeder	5.1	0.51
mahmur · mahmur	3.2	0.30
giuvaier · cevahir TDK: “cevahir” = precious stones; “mücevher”	1.5	0.00
ibric · ibrik	1.3	0.09
dulgher · dülger	0.9	0.08

per million words, in subtitles. OpenSubtitles 2018 (FrequencyWords, CC BY-SA 4.0); Turkish forms analysed with zeyrek.

All 1,091 words#

The list holds every word whose first etymon in DEX '98 (or DEX '96 where '98 has none) is Turkish or Tatar, with spelling variants gathered under the main word. The short glosses were written for this list. The right-hand column gives occurrences per million words in subtitles.

Word	From Turkish	Meaning	Domain	Today
haide aida, aidam, aidați	haydi	come on	people and manners	1,173.7
rahat rehat	rahat lokum	Turkish delight	food and drink	274.9
cafea cafeu, cafă, cavei	kahve	coffee	food and drink	149.6
cutie	kutu	box	the house	124.3
murdar mîrdal, mîrdar, murdal	murdar	dirty, filthy	people and manners	61.0
dușman dujman	düşman	enemy	people and manners	60.5
habar haber	haber	notion, clue; news	people and manners	59.7
geantă	çanta	bag	clothing	58.1
capcană căpcană	kapkan	animal trap	crafts and tools	49.7
chef cef	keyif	revel; mood	people and manners	42.7
dulap dulab, dulac, dulaf	dolap	cupboard	the house	40.1
geam	cam	window glass	the house	33.4
farfurie	fağfuri	plate	the house	21.2
hal	hal	sorry state	people and manners	21.2
cafenea cafinea, cafană, căfană	kahvehane	coffee house	food and drink	18.8
soi	soy	kind, variety, breed	nature	14.1
capac	kapak	lid	the house	13.8
musafir mosafir, moisafir, musafer	misafir	guest	people and manners	13.8
papuc păpuc, pepuc	papuç	slipper	clothing	13.3
raft raht, reht	raf	shelf	the house	11.0
bacșiș	bahşiş	tip	trade and money	10.9
ciorap cerap, ciorep, cirep	çorap	sock, stocking	clothing	10.2
tavan taivan, tăvan	tavan	ceiling	the house	10.0
belea	belâ	trouble, mishap	people and manners	9.5
pașă pașa, paș, bașă	paşa	pasha, Ottoman governor	state and officials	9.4

The full list on one page

The Turks and Tatars of Romania#

In the 2021 census, 20,945 people declared themselves Turkish and 18,156 Tatar, most of them in Constanța county on the Black Sea: 16,121 Turks and 16,918 Tatars. The INS series, counted on today's territory, begins in 1930 with 26,080 Turks and 15,580 Tatars. Southern Dobruja, where many more Turks lived, went to Bulgaria in 1940.

The fall after 2002 needs care: in 2021 there is no information on ethnicity for 2.48 million people. Among people whose ethnicity is known, the Turkish share fell from 0.15% in 2002 to 0.13% in 2021, and the Tatar share stayed at 0.11%.

Turks and Tatars in the censuses, on Romania's present territory. INS, 2021 census, table 2.1.

Commune by commune, in Dobruja

The map shows the share of Turks and Tatars among people who declared an ethnicity in the 2021 census, in every town and commune of Constanța and Tulcea counties. Touch a commune.

0–40%+

In Dobromir, on the Bulgarian border, 67.8% of residents who declared an ethnicity are Turkish. Băneasa, Cobadin and Castelu come next.

Five hundred years, briefly#

The words came with a long history: tribute, fortresses held by the Porte on the Romanian bank of the Danube, princes appointed in Istanbul, trade. The dates below are those historians give, with their disputes where there are any.

1394 or 1395
The battle of Rovine: Mircea the Elder of Wallachia against Sultan Bayezid I. The date is disputed: 10 October 1394 or 17 May 1395, the second being the one most historians accept today.
I. Czamańska, Balcanica Posnaniensia 31 (2024); A. Madgearu, Revista de istorie militară (2023) · source
1417–1419
Wallachia accepts Ottoman overlordship and pays tribute. The year differs from one historian to another.
K. Karpat, „Eflak”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 10; M. Maxim, „Kili”, TDV 26 · source
1455–1456
Moldavia, under Petru Aron, begins to pay tribute: 2,000 gold pieces a year.
A. Özcan, „Boğdan”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 6 · source
1484
Bayezid II takes Kiliya and Cetatea Albă, Moldavia's ports on the Danube and the Dniester (today in Ukraine). In depth →
M. Maxim, „Kili”; M. L. Bilge, „Akkirman”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi · source
1538–1540
Brăila comes under direct Ottoman rule (Romanian historians call such a territory a raia). Tighina, on the Dniester, falls in 1538. In depth →
M. Maxim, „İbrâil”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 21 · source
1552–1716
Timișoara is the capital of an Ottoman province for 164 years, until the Austrian conquest.
M. Maxim, „Timişvar”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 41 · source
1659–1661
Evliya Çelebi travels through Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, counting houses and people. In depth →
1660–1692
Oradea is the seat of an Ottoman province. In depth →
M. Maxim, „Varad”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi · source
1711–1821
The Phanariot reigns: the Porte appoints Greek or Hellenised princes from Istanbul's Phanar district, in Moldavia from 1711 and in Wallachia from 1716, until 1821. In depth →
T. Artan, „Fener”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 12 · source
1829
The Peace of Adrianople: Turnu, Giurgiu and Brăila return to Wallachia, and the two principalities' trade is opened.
M. Maxim, „Yergöğü”, „İbrâil”; K. Karpat, „Eflak”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi · source
1877–1878
Romania declares independence (9 May 1877, Old Style) and stops paying tribute. The Treaty of Berlin (13 July 1878) recognises it and gives it northern Dobruja. In depth →
Treaty of Berlin, art. XLIII–XLVI (AJIL, Official Documents) · source
1878
Romania and the Ottoman Empire establish diplomatic relations, at legation level (November).
Ambasada României la Ankara; MAE · source
1928, 1932
Turkey adopts the Latin alphabet (Law 1353, 1 November 1928); the Turkish Language Association is founded, first as Türk Dili Tetkik Cemiyeti (12 July 1932).
Legea 1353; TDK, Tarihçe · source
1934
The Balkan Entente: Romania, Turkey, Greece and Yugoslavia guarantee each other's Balkan borders (Athens, 9 February).
Pactul Înțelegerii Balcanice, art. 1 · source
1971
Ada Kaleh, the Turkish island at the Iron Gates, ends up under the dam's reservoir. In depth →
2011
Romania and Turkey sign the Strategic Partnership Declaration (December).
Ministerul turc de Externe, „Relations between Türkiye and Romania” · source

Today: trade, travel, people#

On Eurostat's figures, Turkey is today Romania's largest trading partner outside the European Union.

€11.11 bngoods traded between Romania and Turkey in 2025: imports €7.22 bn, exports €3.89 bn. Second outside the EU is China, at €9.80 bn.Eurostat, Comext (DS-045409), as reported by Romania
1,173,358arrivals of Romanian citizens in Turkey in 2024, up from 886,555 in 2022. Romania is tenth by number of visitors.Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, border statistics, 2024
19,071Turkish citizens holding a valid Romanian residence permit on 31 December 2025, against 10,496 in 2008; the low point was 7,218, in 2017.Eurostat, migr_resvalid
20,197companies with Turkish capital registered in Romania (September 2026), third after Italy (54,720) and Germany (26,834). The count includes firms no longer active.ONRC, the Romanian trade register

How it was counted

The word list comes from the public dexonline dump: for every word, the etymology at the end of its DEX '98 definition (DEX '96 where '98 has none) was read, and the word is included if the first language named is Turkish or Tatar. That gives 3,028 spellings, which collapse to 1,091 words once variants are gathered under their main word. For words that reached Romanian through Turkish from Arabic or Persian, the page also gives the older origin, from the TDK dictionary.

Book counts come from Romanian texts on Wikisource, dated by publication or by the author's life, by quarter-century, with a cap of two million characters per author. Today means Romanian subtitles on OpenSubtitles (332 million words), lemmatised through dexonline's inflected forms. For Turkish the same source was used (224 million words), with every form analysed morphologically with zeyrek, so that “kahveyi” and “kahvesi” add up to “kahve” (or the bare form, where that is larger).

Domains were assigned to every word by meaning, before anything was counted, and frozen. A hand check of 40 random words found 36 correct and four debatable. After the independent check of the page, one control word was moved: “oraș” (town) is not a word of the state; on its own it made the Hungarian state group look level. 59 words were left out of the counts: 26 because their form coincides in the texts with another word or a name (for example “cit”, the old spelling of “cât”, or “calafat”, the name of the town of Calafat), 27 because they have a frequent homograph of another origin (“para”, “top”, “șiret”), five ethnonyms (“turc”, “tătar”) and “tibișir”, whose occurrences nearly all come from a single text.

The threshold for “still heard” is one occurrence in ten million words of subtitles. The chart ranges come from 300 resamplings of each quarter-century's authors. Census figures are INS tables from the 2021 census, where the 1930–2021 series is counted on today's territory.

The Turkish words in Romanian: which left the books, which stayed in the house

Each blot is a word, and its size says how often it was used#

In 1850, the state and the army held almost a quarter of Turkish occurrences#

Three quarters of a century later, the largest blot was “odaie”, the room#

In today's film dialogue, almost half of the Turkish loans you hear are “haide”#

Look up a word, or touch any blot#