Although English is technically a Germanic language, much of its vocabulary is an amalgam of words from many different sources. Words pertaining to politics, art, and war tend to be of French origin; nautical terms from Dutch, and scientific jargon from Latin, Greek, and Arabic. Common, everyday words tend to be from Old English, and sometimes Old Norse.
Because of its myriad of influences, English has more synonyms for common concepts than many languages.
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