Similar words in Bulgarian and Turkish
For a Turkish speaker learning Bulgarian, some words that look familiar really did enter Bulgarian through Turkish; the origin notes in the online Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language of the Institute for Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences show this. This page lists only eleven words whose notes we saw ourselves in the dictionary; for words without such a note no etymology is written.
Culture and language · Last reviewed: 2026-10-07
Examples with an origin note in the dictionary
| Bulgarian word | Turkish word | Origin note in the dictionary |
|---|---|---|
| чорап | çorap | from Turkish |
| кибрит | kibrit | from Arabic through Turkish |
| чекмедже | çekmece | from Turkish |
| дюкян | dükkân | from Arabic through Turkish |
| джоб | cep | from Arabic through Turkish |
| мезе | meze | from Persian through Turkish |
| курабия | kurabiye | from Turkish |
| диван | divan | from Persian through Turkish |
| бахча | bahçe | from Persian through Turkish |
| пазар | pazar | from Persian through Turkish |
| боя | boya | from Turkish |
What can and cannot be concluded from the list
- Do not assume the Bulgarian meaning of a word that looks familiar; the dictionary gives meanings and usage labels for each word separately.
- If you see the label „Остар.“ (archaic) or „Диал.“ (dialect) in the dictionary, that sense may not be the one you expect from everyday speech. For example, in the entry for бахча the first sense is labelled archaic and dialect.
- That a word arrived through Turkish does not mean its pronunciation or stress is like Turkish.
- The origin statements in the list are the dictionary's own wording (for example from Arabic through Turkish); for words without an origin note in the dictionary we write no origin.
How to look a word up yourself
Open the dictionary
In the institute's online dictionary, search for the word in its Cyrillic spelling.Look for the origin note at the end
The origin is given as a short note at the end of the entry; it may be absent from some entries.Read the sense labels
The labels say whether a sense is archaic, dialectal or colloquial.
Copyright note
Frequently asked questions
How many words of Turkish origin does Bulgarian have?
This page gives no number because we saw no such total in the source. Only eleven examples whose origin note we saw ourselves in the dictionary are listed.
Do similar-looking words mean the same in Bulgarian?
Not always. Meanings and usage labels are written separately in the dictionary entry; do not rely on resemblance, read the entry.
Sources
The information on this page is based on the official sources listed below. Legislation changes — open the links and verify the current position.
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — чорап — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/чорап/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — кибрит — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/кибрит/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — чекмедже — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/чекмедже/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — дюкян — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/дюкян/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — джоб — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/джоб/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — мезе — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/мезе/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — курабия — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/курабия/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — диван — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/диван/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — бахча — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/бахча/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — пазар — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/пазар/ · 2026-10-07
- Речник на българския език (ИБЕ-БАН) — боя — https://ibl.bas.bg/rbe/lang/bg/боя/ · 2026-10-07
- Институт за български език (БАН) — Речник на българския език (онлайн) — https://ibl.bas.bg/ · 2026-10-07
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