"E" Word Origins

erectus

Latin

Shortened from the scientific name Homo erectus, Latin for "upright man."

erenow

Origin

Univerbation of ere + now.

ergo

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin ergō, meaning "therefore."

ergonomic

Greek

From Greek ergon 'work' and nomos 'law', by way of the noun ergonomics, the study of efficiency in the working environment.

ergonomics

Greek

Formed from Greek ergon ('work') plus nomos ('law'), on the pattern of 'economics'.

Eri

Japanese

From Japanese えり.

eric

Old Norse

From Old Norse Eiríkr, from ei- ("ever, always") plus ríkr ("ruler, powerful").

Erica

Greek

The feminine form of Eric; the plant genus name comes separately from Greek ereike ("heath, heather").

Erich

German

The German spelling of Eric.

Erickson

Norwegian

An anglicized version of Danish/Norwegian Eriksen or Swedish Eriksson, both meaning "son of Erik."

ericson

Origin

From Eric + -son.

Ericsson

Swedish

From Swedish Ericsson, "son of Eric."

Erie

French

From French Erié, adapted from an Erie-language word said to mean "long tail," referring to the cougar.

Erik

Origin

A spelling variant of Eric, or directly borrowed from modern Swedish Erik.

Erika

Old Norse

Spelling variant of Erica, the feminine form of Eric, or borrowed directly from modern Scandinavia, ultimately from Old Norse Eiríkr.

Eriksen

Origin

Borrowed from Danish or Norwegian Eriksen.

Erin

Irish

From Irish Éirinn, a form of Éire, "Ireland."

erinaceous

Origin

From Latin ērināceus (“hedgehog”).

erk

Origin

Claimed to be a respelling of the abbreviation airc for aircraftsman; or else from irk.

erm

Origin

An imitative (onomatopoeic) spelling of a natural hesitation sound.

ermine

Old French

From Old French ermine, possibly from a Germanic word for the weasel or linked to the word for "Armenian," since traders once associated the fur with Armenia.

ern

Origin

A shortened form of Ernest; also an old dialect verb related to "run," now essentially obsolete.

erne

Origin

From Middle English ern, erne, earn, from Old English earn (“eagle”), from Proto-West Germanic *arnu (“eagle”), from Proto-Germanic *arnuz (“eagle”), from Proto-Germanic *arô (“eagle”) (whence also Arnold), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō (“large bird, eagle”). Cognate with North Frisian Aarn, iarn, jarn (“eagle”), West Frisian earn (“eagle”), Dutch arend (“eagle”), German Aar (“eagle”), Low German Arend (“eagle”), Danish, Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk ørn (“eagle”), Icelandic and Swedish örn (“eagle”), Ancient Greek ὄρνεον (órneon), ὄρνις (órnis, “bird”) (whence ornitho-), translingual -ornis, Proto-Slavic *orьlъ (“eagle”).

Ernest

German

From Old High German ernust, meaning "vigor" or "earnestness" — distantly related to the everyday word "earnest."

Ernestine

French

The French-derived feminine form of Ernest.

ERNIE

Origin

As a name, a nickname for Ernest; as the UK savings-bond computer, an acronym for "Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment."

Ernst

German

From Old High German ernust ("vigor, seriousness") — the German form of Ernest.

erode

Latin

From French éroder, from Latin ērōdere, "to gnaw away."

erogenous

Greek

From Greek erōs ("love, desire") plus -genous ("producing").

eros

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek erōs, "love, desire."

erosion

Latin · 1500

From Latin ērōsiō, "eating away," from ērōdere ("to erode"). First used in English in the 1500s to describe ulcers wearing away tissue, before spreading to geology by the 1700s.

erotic

Latin

From French érotique, from Greek erōtikos, "relating to love," from erōs ("sexual love").

erotica

Latin

From Latin erotica, the neuter plural of eroticus, from Greek erōtikos ("relating to love").

eroticism

Origin

From "erotic" plus the suffix -ism.

err

Latin

From Old French errer, from Latin errāre, "to wander, stray, be mistaken."

errand

Old English

From Old English ǣrende, meaning "message" or "mission" — originally something you were sent to do or deliver.

errant

Latin

From Old French errant, "wandering, traveling," ultimately tied to both Latin iter ("journey") and errare ("to wander, err") — a doublet of the word "arrant."

erratic

Latin

From Latin errāticus, "wandering," from errāre, "to wander or stray" — the same root that gives us "error" and "err."

erratically

Origin

Formed from erratic plus the adverb-forming suffix -ally.

erratum

Origin

Borrowed from Latin errātum, neuter of errātus (“mistaken”).

erred

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Errol

Origin

Transferred from a rare Scottish surname derived from a place name, of unknown meaning. Later interpreted as a variant of Earl in the U.S.

erroneity

Origin

From erroneous + -ity.

erroneous

Latin

From Latin erroneus, "wandering, mistaken," from errāre, "to wander or err."

error

Latin

From Old French error, from Latin error, "a wandering about, a mistake," from errāre, "to wander or stray."

errorful

Origin

From error + -ful.

erse

Origin

From Scots Erse (“Irish”), from earlier Ersche, Ersch, a contraction of Erisch, Erische (“Irish”), from Middle English Erische, Irische, Irisch (“Irish”). Doublet of Irish. Compare also Scots Irisch.

erstwhile

Old English

From Old English ǣrest ('earliest'), the superlative of ǣr ('before'), combined with 'while'.