"E" Word Origins

espousal

Origin

From Middle English espousal, espousaille, from Old French espousailles, from Latin sponsalia (“a betrothal”), neuter plural of sponsalis, from spōnsus (“one betrothed, a spouse”); see spouse. By surface analysis, espouse + -al.

espouse

French

From Old French espouser, from Latin sponsare 'to betroth', from spondere 'to promise'. The sense of committing oneself to a cause grew out of the older sense of committing oneself in marriage.

espresso

Italian

From Italian espresso, "pressed out," describing how the coffee is forced through the grounds under pressure — not related to the English word "express" meaning fast, despite the common myth.

esprit

Origin

Borrowed from French esprit (“spirit”). Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, sprite, and spright, possibly also spree.

espy

Origin

From Middle English aspien, espien (“to make covert observations of (a person or place) with hostile intent, to spy on; to seek to discover by spying; to act as a spy; to catch sight of, see; to look over, observe; to wait in ambush, to ambush; to plot against; to look for, seek to find; to inquire or look into, investigate; to discover, find”) [and other forms], from Old French espier (“to watch”) (modern French épier (“to keep an eye on, watch; to spy on; (dated) to watch for”)), from Vulgar Latin *spiāre, from Frankish *spehōn (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to look, peer; to spy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look, observe, see”). Doublet of spy. Cognates * Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to examine; to look at; to consider, think”) * Italian spiare * Latin speciō (“to look at, observe, watch”) * Old High German spehōn (modern German spähen) * Occitan espiar * Spanish espiar

esquamulose

Origin

From e- (prefix forming adjectives with the sense of lacking something) + squamulose; squamulose is derived from New Latin squāmulōsus (“squamulose”), from Latin squamula (“small scales”) (diminutive of squāma (“scale of a fish or reptile; item shaped like a scale, flake”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, prone to’). The English word is analysable as e- + squamula + -ose.

esquire

Latin

From Old French escuier, "shield-bearer," from Latin scutum, "shield" — the same root that gives us "escutcheon."

essay

French · 1500

From French essai, "an attempt" or "a trial" — the writer Montaigne coined the modern literary sense in the late 1500s when he called his own writings "essais," meaning tries or attempts at exploring an idea.

Essen

Origin

From the German city and surname, often confused with essen (“eating”), but this is not related. The city's oldest name, Astnide, could be related to Old High German asc (“ash tree”). The surname is from the city.

essence

Ancient Greek

From Latin essentia, "being" or "the state of existing," built from esse, "to be" — coined to translate an ancient Greek philosophical term for the true nature of a thing.

essential

Late Latin

From Late Latin essentialis, built on essentia, "essence" — literally, relating to the core being of a thing.

Essex

Old English

From Old English Ēastseaxan, "East Saxons" — the historical kingdom of the Saxon settlers who lived east of Wessex and Sussex.

est

Old English

From Old English ēst, "goodwill" or "favour," tracing back to a Germanic root shared with words like the Icelandic ást ("love") and German Gunst ("favour"). It survives only in historical and dialect use today.

establish

Latin

From Old French establir, from Latin stabilire, "to make stable" — from stabilis, "firm, steady."

established

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

establishment

Old French

From Old French establissement, built on establir — see "establish."

estacade

Origin

French estacade; compare Italian steccata, Spanish estacada, and English stake.

estancia

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish estancia. Doublet of stance and stanza.

estate

Latin

From Old French estat, from Latin status, "condition, standing." A doublet of "state" and "status."

Esteban

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Esteban.

esteem

Latin

From Old French estimer, from Latin aestimare, "to value or assess" — the same root behind "estimate."

Estella

Origin

Latinized and Italian variant of the French Estelle.

Estelle

French

Borrowed from French Estelle, from Occitan estela (“star”), from Latin stēlla. Doublet of étoile, estoile, stella, and stelo. Name of a third century martyr.

ester

German

Coined in German as a blend of Essig ("vinegar") and Äther ("ether") — describing a compound partway between the two in character.

Estes

Origin

Equivalent to east's, from east + 's.

Estevez

Spanish

From Spanish, from Galician Estévez, patronymical surname from Estevo (“Stephan”).

Esther

Persian

From Hebrew, possibly connected to the Persian word for "star," and linked by some scholars to the goddess name Ishtar.

estimable

Origin

From Middle English estimable, estymable, from Old French estimable, from Latin aestimābilis. Equivalent to esteem + -able and estimate + -able.

estimate

Latin

From Latin aestimare, "to value or assess" — the same root as "esteem."

estimation

Latin

From Latin aestimatio, "a valuing or assessing," built on the same root as "estimate."

estoile

Origin

Old French, from Latin stēlla. Doublet of étoile, stella, and stelo; related to aster and star.

Estonia

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin Estonia, likely tracing back to the ancient tribal name Aestii recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus.

estoppel

Old French

From Old French estoupail ('a stopper, bung'), from estoper ('to stop up'), the idea being that a party's own earlier conduct stops their mouth.

estrange

Origin

From Old French estranger (“to treat as a stranger”), from Latin extraneus (“foreigner, stranger”) (from which also strange, stranger). Also see Spanish extraño.

estrangement

Origin

Old French estrangement. By surface analysis, estrange + -ment (“act, state”).

estray

Origin

From Middle English astrai, from Anglo-Norman estray, from the Old French verb estraier. Etymological doublet with stray.

Estrella

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Estrella.

estrogen

Greek

Built from Greek oistros ("frenzy," root of "estrus") plus the suffix "-gen," meaning "producer of" — so literally, "the thing that produces estrus."

estuary

Latin

From Latin aestuarium, "a tidal inlet," related to aestus, "tide" or "surge."

estuate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin aestuātus, past participial of aestuō (“to be in violent motion, to boil up, burn”), from aestus (“boiling or undulating motion, fire, glow, heat”).

estuation

Origin

From Middle English estuacioun, estuation, from Latin aestuātiō. By surface analysis, estuate + -ion.

esty

Origin

Variant of Estes.

esurient

Origin

Borrowed from Latin ēsurient, ēsurientem, from ēsuriēns (“hungering”), present participle of ēsuriō (“to be hungry, to hunger for something”), a desiderative verb from edō (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti (“to eat”)) + -turiō (suffix indicating a desire for an action).

et al.

Latin

A shortening of Latin et alii ('and others', masculine), et aliae (feminine) or et alia (neuter).

eta

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta).

etan

Origin

Rendering of the modern (Israeli) Hebrew אֵיתָן (Etán), equivalent to the English Ethan.

etc.

Latin

An abbreviation of Latin et cetera, meaning 'and the rest'.

etch

German

From Dutch etsen, from German ätzen (\"to etch\"), ultimately from the same old root as the English word \"eat\" — etching literally means letting acid \"eat\" into a surface.