"E" Word Origins

Engel

German

From German "Engel," meaning angel.

Engels

German

Borrowed from German Engels.

engender

Origin

From Middle English engendren, from Old French engendrer, from Latin ingenerāre.

engine

Latin

From Old French engin ("skill, cleverness, war machine"), from Latin ingenium ("innate talent, natural ability") — the same root that gives us "ingenious".

engineer

Old French

From Old French engigneor, "one who builds or operates war machines" — from the same root as "engine" and "ingenious".

engineering

Origin

From engineer + the suffix -ing.

England

Old English

From Old English Engla land, "land of the Angles" — the Angles being a Germanic tribe who settled there.

English

Old English

From Old English Englisċ, "of the Angles," the Germanic tribe whose name also gave us "England".

Englishman

Old English

From Old English Englisċmon, from Englisċ ("English") + man.

englut

Origin

Partly from Old French englotir, partly from en- + glut.

engorge

Origin

From French engorger, from Old French engorgier. Archaic spellings from Webster’s dictionary 1913 include ingorge and ingorg, both now considered misspellings.

engraft

Origin

From earlier ingraft, equivalent to en- (“in”) + graft.

engrave

Origin

From en- ("to make into") + grave ("to carve"), ultimately from the same root as "grave" in the sense of carving.

engraving

Origin

From engrave + -ing.

engrieve

Origin

From en- + grieve.

engross

Origin

From Middle English engrossen, from Anglo-Norman engrosser (“to gather in large quantities, draft something in final form”); partly from the phrase en gros (“in bulk, in quantity, at wholesale”), from en- + gros; and partly from Medieval Latin ingrossō (“thicken, write something large and in bold lettering”, v.), from in- + grossus (“great, big, thick”), from Old High German grōz (“big, thick, coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“large, great, thick, coarse grained, unrefined”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrewə- (“to fell, put down, fall in”). More at in-, gross. By surface analysis, en- + gross.

engulf

Origin

From en- + gulf, literally "to swallow into a gulf".

enhance

Latin

From Anglo-Norman anhauncer, "to raise up," ultimately from Latin altus, "high" — the same root as "altitude".

enhanced

Origin

From enhance + -ed.

enhancement

Origin

From enhance + -ment.

Enid

Welsh

From Welsh eneit, meaning "spirit" or "life".

enif

Origin

From Arabic أَنْف (ʔanf, “nose”) (i.e. of Pegasus).

Enigma

Latin

From Latin aenigma (“riddle”), being derived itself from the Ancient Greek verbal noun αἴνιγμα (aínigma, “dark saying, speaking in riddles”).

enigmatic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek ainigmatikos, related to ainigma, "riddle".

enjoin

Origin

From Middle English enjoinen, from Old French enjoindre (“to join with”), from Latin iniungo (“to attach”), a compound of in- (“into” “upon”) and iungo.

enjoinment

Origin

From enjoin + -ment.

enjoy

Old French

From Old French enjoier, "to give joy," from en- + joy.

enjoyable

Origin

From enjoy + -able.

enjoyment

Origin

From enjoy + -ment.

enlace

Origin

From Old French enlacer.

enlarge

Old French

From Old French enlargier, from en- + large.

enlargement

Origin

From enlarge + -ment.

enlengthen

Origin

From en- + lengthen; see en- (“intensifying prefix”).

enlighten

Old English

From Old English inlīhtan, "to give light to," related to light + -en.

enlightenment

Origin

From enlighten + -ment.

enlist

Origin

From en- + list, literally "to put on a list".

enlistment

Origin

From enlist + -ment.

enliven

Origin

From life + en- -en (intensifying verbal circumfix). See liven.

enmity

Latin

From Old French enemisté, from Latin inimicus, "enemy".

enna

Origin

Borrowed from Italian Enna.

ennead

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἐννεάς (enneás), ἐννεάδος (enneádos, “body of nine”) + -ad (suffix designating a unit); analysable as ennea- + -ad. The Greek words ἐννεάς and ἐννεάδος are derived from ἐννέᾰ (ennéă, “nine”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”)) + -ᾰ́ς (-ắs, suffix forming abstract nouns of number from numerals) or -ος (-os).

Ennis

Irish

Borrowed from Irish Inis.

ennoble

Origin

From Middle English ennoblen, from Old French ennoblir. Equivalent to en- + noble.

ennog

Origin

Alteration of entry.

ennui

French

From French ennui 'boredom, annoyance', from ennuyer, which goes back to the Latin phrase in odio (esse) 'to be hateful'.

Enoch

Latin

From Hebrew Chanokh, via Greek Henokh and Latin Enoch.

enormity

Latin

From Latin enormitas, "irregularity," from enormis, "outside the norm".

enormous

Latin

From Latin enormis, "irregular, huge," from ex- ("out of") + norma ("rule, standard").