jenga

Where does the word "jenga" come from? It comes from Swahili kujenga, and was adopted directly into English (1983).

Jenga’s story begins in Swahili: kujenga meant “to build or construct.” The verb inspired the name of a stacking-block game created by Leslie Scott, who grew up speaking Swahili in East Africa. It reached English by 1983 as Jenga. Trademarked as the name of the wooden block-stacking game. Today, jenga means a game in which players remove and restack wooden blocks from a tower without making it fall; loosely, any precarious stack.

1. Stage 1 · Swahili · 1970s kujenga "to build or construct", the verb inspired the name of a stacking-block game created by Leslie Scott, who grew up speaking Swahili in East Africa.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1983 Jenga "a game of stacking and removing wooden blocks without toppling the tower", trademarked as the name of the wooden block-stacking game.