In its 15 century long history recorded written manuscripts the English language happened to come in and close contact with several other languages, mainly Latin, French and  Scandinavian.

 The great influx of borrowings from these sources can be accounted for by a number of historical causes. Due to the great influence of the civilization Latin was for a long time used in England as the language of learning and religion.

Borrowings of later periods became the object investigation only in recent years. These investigations have shown that the flow of borrowings has been steady and uninterrupted. The greatest number has come French. They refer to various fields of social-political, scientific and cultural life.