The replacing of loanwords in Turkish was part of a policy of Turkification of Turkey's first President Atatürk. The Ottoman Turkish language had many loanwords from Arabic and Persian, but also European languages such as French, Greek, and Italian origin—which were officially replaced with new or revived Turkish terms suggested by the Turkish Language Association (, TDK) during the Turkish language reform, as a part of the cultural reforms—in the broader framework of Atatürk's reforms—following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

The TDK, established by Atatürk in 1932 to research the Turkish language, also sought to replace foreign loanwords (mainly Arabic) with their Turkish counterparts. The Association succeeded in removing several hundred Arabic words from the language. While most of the words introduced into the language in this process were newly derived from existing Turkish verbal roots, TDK also suggested using old Turkish words which had not been used in the language for centuries; like yanıt, birey, gözgü. Most of these words are widely used today, whereas their predecessors are considered archaic. Some words were used before language reform too but they were used much less than the Persian ones. Some words were taken from rural areas but most of them had different meanings, like ürün. Mongolian also played an important role too, because Mongolian preserved the old Turkic borrowings, such as ulus and çağ.

There are generational differences in vocabulary preference. While those born before the 1940s tend to use the old Arabic-origin words (even the obsolete ones), younger generations commonly use the newer expressions. Some new words have not been widely adopted, in part because they failed to convey the intrinsic meanings of their old equivalents. Many new words have taken up somewhat different meanings, and cannot necessarily be used interchangeably with their old counterpart. Historically, Arabic was the language of the mosque and Persian was the language of education and poetry. A deliberate usage of either (eschewing the usage of a "western" word) often implies a religious subtext or romanticism, respectively. Similarly, the use of European words may be favored to impart a perceived "modern" character. The use of "pure Turkic" words may be employed as an expression of nationalism or as a linguistic "simplification".

Replaced loanwords of Arabic origin The list gives the Ottoman Turkish word, the modern spelling of the word in Turkish (as suggested by TDK), the modern Turkish equivalent, and its meaning in English. Arabs also used the following words as loanwords for their language.

* Old words that are still used in modern Turkish together with their new Turkish counterparts. ** New words that are not as frequently used as the old words.

Ottoman Turkish word and its transliteration Modern spelling of the Ottoman Turkish word Modern Turkish equivalent Meaning in English Remarks * to forgive From the Persian "to spare." * customs, ethics From the Old Turkic noun "customary law." * ** family From the Old Turkic noun "hearth." passage From the root "to pass." *, , , , contract From the Old Turkic "word." * ** wisdom From the Old Turkic noun "intelligence." * relevant, related to From the Old Turkic root "to tie loosely" and "to touch." premonition From the adjective "front." bandage From the root "to wrap." factor From the root "to do." operation, process From the root "to work." public, community From the Middle Persian adjective "" "all." perpendicular; the Arabic survives in the expression amuda kalkmak. From the root "to plant." , tradition Created by İsmet İnönü in 1947, from the root "to come." customary Created by İsmet İnönü in 1947, from the root "to come." * **, ** soldier The Turkish words are used in specific contexts such as , "army officer" and "janissary"). * century A compound formed by "one hundred" and "year." The replacement does not preserve the distinction between "century" and "hundred years." The distinction is sometimes important: Speaking in 2020, "yedi asır kadar önce" (some seven centuries ago), has a margin of error of some 60 or 70 years and may refer to 1260–1380, whereas "yedi yüzyıl kadar önce" refers to 1320. * , obvious, accurate From the root "to cut." * easy, simple From the noun "arm." * some (pronoun) * * white The Arabic word and the Turkish word are used in somewhat different contexts: "beyaz" translates as "fair" or "(white) clean" * community From the adjective "collective." forcefully From the Persian loanword "force." (law) hearing, session From the root "to sit." * society From the Mongolian "assembly of the nobles." * society From the adjective "collective." south From the old Turkic "sun" or "day," conserved in some Anatolian dialects to mean "sunny place." pus * flow From the root "to flow." * answer From the Old Turkic noun . * apparatus * approximately, around * ** sentence From the noun "all, entire." *, * times (repetition) Both and are still in popular use. * ** treasure From the root "to bury." * evidence * era Borrowed from Mongolian, which itself is from Old Turkic . * semester From the root "to turn." dimension, size From the noun "length" * forever The Turkish word literally means "without-end." ancestry The Turkish word literally means "father." * (predestined time of) death From the root "to die." , stranger, foreigner * ** literature From the root "to write." importance * cloth From the root "to wear." * order, command From the Old Turkic noun . * security From the noun "trust." * production (music, film) From the root "to make." * hostage From the root "to hold." * surroundings, surrounding area From the adjective "middle." * paper document In Arabic, is the plural of ; in modern Turkish, is used as often a singular, although it should be used as a plural of . * before Using the adjective "front" as a prefix. * active From the root "to do." * **, interest (monetary) From the root "to produce." * poor From the root "to not exist." * assumption From the root "to suppose." * benefit, utility *, * science From the root "to know." flood From the root "to overflow." * group From the adjective "collective." disparity From the Old Turkic root "to separate." * opinion From the root "to see." * verb From the root "to do." west From the root "to sink." , , non-, other food * event, happening, fact, occurrence From the root , meaning "to be", "to become". * memory The new word is commonly used in electronics, like computer memory, i.e. for cache * ** light (in weight) The Turkish word is rarely used. excavation From the root , meaning "to dig". * portion * reality * judge , * situation From the root "to halt." alloy * pregnant * ruin From the root "to destroy." , heat, temperature The old word can be used in both meanings in Turkish language. * ** movement, motion * , ** letter * longing * sensitive From the root "to feel." * insect *, * mistake wood steps * memoir From the root "to call to mind." *, * , ** life From the root "to live." respectability From the root "to count." * digestion * gift * board (company) From the root "to set up." * , anger * story Neologism coined by Nurullah Ataç. contrary From the noun "opposite." * feeling From the root "to feel." border. Sınır is a Greek borrowing. * ** (judiciary) law From the Old Turkic root "to command." summary * subject Coined in 1935 from the root "to be placed." * ** comfort * ** cell * attack From the root "to attack." * respect From the root "to count." heredity From the root "to remain." * insisting From the adjective "above." term Borrowed from Persian. new moon (astronomy) communal From the adjective "collective." * administration From the root "to give direction." * urine The original meaning of the Arabic word is "the action of yielding milk". The Turkish word is derived from an old Turkic verb , meaning "to urinate". * narration From the root "to explain." * pride From the root "to praise." passion From the root "to hold." to comprise From the adjective "inside." * , need is an Arabic verbal-noun form of , meaning "need" * old (age) From the noun "age." backup, spare * wide-awake From the root "to arouse." copying (in literature; referencing) From the root "to take" goddess Tanrı (God) + –ça of Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croat supplied the feminine suffix, –ça, which Turkish lacked. * addition * inspiration * ** construction, development * opportunity, possibility From the root "to exist." * orthography From the root "to write." space From the root "to extend." , examination From the Tatar root "to test." * privilege From the adjective "separate." monopoly Ömer Asım Aksoy coined from "single hand." impression election From the root "to choose." plagiarism From the root "to steal." primary; primitive From the word "first." * altitude The old word is only used in aviation, as in "the altitude of the plane". * , hereditary From the root "to remain." * name * abode From the root "to settle." * distribution From the root "to distribute." production From the root "to produce." * direction * independence, freedom From the noun "tie, bond, impediment." * rest From the root "to rest." * colony From the root "to exploit." abasement * exception * indicator From the root "to show." , occupation * association * completion From the adjective "complete, full." * clarification From the root "to open." marriage From the noun "house." * , talent, ability From the root "to reach." * fate From the root "to write." * head enough From the root "to be enough." floor * universe * heart * law Borrowed from Mongolian. constitution (law) Literally "mother law." * rhyme From the root "to comply, fit." December "Aralık" was adopted during the drafting of the 1945 Constitution because it occurred in the text. With the new name for December it became the subject of jokes on the theme that the transition from December to January—Aralıktan Ocağa—now meant passing through the gap into the fire. January "Ocak," the new name for January preserves the meaning of kânun "hearth." * , word Invented by Melih Cevdet Anday in 1958. *