"E" Word Origins

Emme

German

Borrowed from German Emme.

Emmeline

Old French

Medieval English form of Old French Ameline, diminutive form of Amélie, cognate to English Amelia.

emmerson

Origin

From Emery + -son.

emmet

Old English

From Old English aemete, meaning "ant" — the same word that gives us "ant" itself. The tourist sense grew later in southwest England, comparing the swarms of summer visitors to a line of ants.

Emmett

Origin

From a Middle English diminutive of the female given name Emma.

Emmie

Origin

Diminutives + -ie.

emmitt

Origin

From a Middle English diminutive of the female given name Emma.

Emmy

Origin

Shortened from "Immy," a nickname for the image orthicon camera tube, later feminized to match the award's statuette design.

emo

Origin · 1980

A clipped form of "emotional," first used to describe an emotionally intense strain of punk rock in the late 1980s.

emoji

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese emoji (絵文字), from e ("picture") + moji ("character"); its resemblance to the English word "emotion" is a coincidence.

emolliate

Origin

See emollient.

emotion

Latin

From French émotion, from émouvoir ("to excite" or "to stir up"), based on Latin emovere, "to move out" or "agitate."

emotional

Origin

From emotion + the adjective suffix -al.

emotionless

Origin

From emotion + the suffix -less, meaning "without."

EMP

English

An initialism of 'electromagnetic pulse'.

empanada

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish empanada, past participle of empanar (“to wrap in bread”).

empanel

Origin

The verb is from Middle English empanellen, from Anglo-Norman and Old French empaneller.

empath

Origin

From empathy.

empathetic

Origin

A later variant of "empathic," reshaped to sound closer to "sympathetic."

empathy

German · 1909

Coined in 1909 by the psychologist Edward Titchener from Greek empatheia ("feeling into"), to translate the German word Einfühlung.

emperor

Latin

From Latin imperator, "commander," ultimately from imperare, "to command."

emphasis

Greek

From Greek emphasis, "significance" or "appearance," from emphainein, "to show clearly."

emphasise

Origin

From emphasis + -ise.

emphasize

Greek

From emphasis, ultimately from Greek emphainein, "to show clearly."

emphatic

Greek

From Greek emphatikos, related to emphainein, "to show clearly," the same root behind "emphasis."

emphatically

Origin

From emphatic + the adverb suffix -ally.

empire

Latin

From Old French empire, from Latin imperium, "command, dominion," from imperare, "to command."

empirical

Greek

From Greek empeirikos, "experienced," from empeiria, "experience."

employ

Latin

From Old French emploiier, "to make use of," ultimately from Latin implicare, "to involve" or "engage" — the same root as "imply."

employee

French · 1800

From employ + -ee, a suffix marking the person to whom an action is done; first used in the early 1800s, likely influenced by the French employé.

employer

Origin · 1500

From employ + -er, first attested in the late 1500s.

employment

Origin

From employ + -ment.

emporetic

Origin

Latin emporeticus.

emporium

Latin

From Latin emporium, "trading center," from Greek emporion, from emporos, "merchant" or "traveller."

empower

Origin

From em- (a form of "in") + power.

empowerment

Origin

From empower + -ment.

empress

Latin

From Old French empereriz, from Latin imperatrix, the feminine form of "emperor."

emptiness

Origin

From empty + -ness.

emption

Origin

From Latin emptio, from emere (“to buy”).

empty

Old English

From Old English aemtig, "vacant, unoccupied, at leisure," ultimately from a root meaning "without obligation."

empyreal

Origin

From Latin empyreus, from Ancient Greek ἐμπύριος (empúrios, “fiery”), from ἐν (en, “en-”) + πῦρ (pûr, “fire”) (English pyre).

empyrean

Origin

From Latin empȳreus, from Ancient Greek ἐμπύριος (empúrios), from ἐν (en, “in”) + πῦρ (pûr, “fire”) (whence English pyre).

Ems

German

From German Ems, from the Roman name, Latin Amisia.

EMT

English

An initialism of emergency medical technician.

emu

Portuguese

Likely from Portuguese ema, originally used for the cassowary and later applied to the emu and ostrich too.

emulate

Latin

From Latin aemulari, "to rival or strive to equal," related to aemulus ("rival").

emulation

Origin

From Middle French émulation, from Latin aemulātiō.

emulative

Origin

First attested in 1593; borrowed from New Latin emulatīvus, by surface analysis, emulate + -ive.