"E" Word Origins

ee

Origin

From Cantonese 噫 (ji², interjection).

eejit

Origin

Hiberno-English and Scottish English pronunciation of idiot.

eek

Origin

An imitative word — it simply mimics the sound of a short, startled shriek.

eel

Old English

From Old English ǣl, a very old Germanic word for the fish, related to similar words in Dutch, German, and the Scandinavian languages.

een

Origin

A worn-down, contracted form of the word "even."

eeny

Origin

Likely a shortened, playful form related to "teeny weeny."

eep

Origin

An imitative word, invented to sound like the noise it describes.

eerie

Old English

From Middle English eri ("fearful"), ultimately from an Old English word meaning "cowardly" — the sense shifted over time from feeling afraid to being the kind of thing that inspires fear.

eerily

Origin

Formed from eerie plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

Eeyore

Origin

Named after Eeyore, the perpetually sad, slow-moving donkey in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories, whose name imitates a donkey's braying "hee-haw."

eff

Origin

Taken from the letter name "ef" (F), the first letter of the word it politely stands in for.

effable

Origin

From Latin effābilis (effor (“to utter”) + -able).

effaced

French

From French 'effacer', to erase, from 'es-' (out) plus 'face', literally to remove the face or surface of something.

effect

Latin

From Latin effectus, "accomplished, brought about."

effective

Latin

From French effectif, based on Latin efficere, "to bring about" or "accomplish" — the same root that gives us "effect" and "efficient."

effectively

Origin

Formed from effective plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

effectiveness

Origin

Formed from effective plus the noun-forming suffix "-ness."

effectual

Origin

From Middle English effectual, effectuel, from Old French effectuel, from Late Latin effectualis.

effectualness

Origin

From effectual + -ness.

effectuate

Origin

From the participle stem of Renaissance Latin effectuare, or its source, Latin effectus (“effect”); probably after Middle French effectuer.

effeminate

Latin

From Latin effeminatus, based on femina, "woman."

effendi

Greek

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish efendi, itself from Greek authéntēs, "lord" or "master" — making it a distant relative of the English word "authentic."

efferent

Origin

From Latin efferēns, present active participle of efferō (“bring or carry out”), from ē (“out of”), short form of ex, + ferō (“carry, bear”). By surface analysis, ef- + -fer + -ent.

effervesce

Origin

From Latin effervescere (“to boil up”). By surface analysis, ef- + Latin ferv- + -esce.

effervescent

Origin

From Latin effervescentem, from effervescere, from ex- + fervescere, from fervere. By surface analysis, ef- + Latin ferv- + -escent.

effete

Origin

From Latin effētus (“exhausted”, literally “that has given birth”), 1620s.

efficacious

Origin

From Old French efficacieux (whence -acious), from Latin efficāx (“efficacious”) + -ous, from efficere (“to effect, to accomplish”); see effect.

efficaciousness

Origin

From efficacious + -ness.

efficacy

Late Latin

From Late Latin efficacia, related to efficax, "capable of producing an effect."

efficiency

Latin

From Latin efficientia, related to efficient.

efficient

Latin

From Latin efficientem, "bringing about, accomplishing" — from the same root as effect and effective.

efficiently

Origin

Formed from efficient plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

Effie

Greek

A pet form of Euphemia, a Greek name meaning roughly "well-spoken" or "of good repute."

effigiate

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin effigiātus, past participle of effigiō (“to form”), from effigiēs. See effigy.

effigy

Latin

From Latin effigies, "likeness," from effingere, "to fashion" or "portray."

effing

Origin

Formed from eff, itself derived from the letter name of F, plus "-ing."

effloresce

Origin

From Latin efflōrēscere, present active infinitive of efflōrēscō (“to bloom, blossom; to flourish”) + -ere (suffix forming infinitives). Efflōrēscō is derived from ef- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + flōrēscō (“to blossom, flower; to begin to flourish or prosper”) (from flōreō (“to bloom, blossom, flower; to flourish, prosper”) (from flōs (“blossom, flower”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”)) + -scō (suffix forming verbs having the sense of beginning something)). By surface analysis, ef- + Latin flor- + -esce.

efflorescence

Origin

Borrowed from French efflorescence, from Latin efflōrēscō (from ex- (“out”) + flōrēscō (“to blossom”)) + -ence. By surface analysis, effloresce + -ence.

effluent

Origin

From French effluent, from Latin effluens, effluentis. By surface analysis, e- + fluent.

efflux

Origin

From Latin effluxus, from effluō (“flow out or away”), from ex (“out of, from”) + fluō (“flow”). See also effluxion.

effort

Latin

From Old French esfort, related to esforcier ("to exert oneself"), ultimately from Latin fortis, "strong" — the same root that gives us "force" and "fortify."

effortful

Origin

From effort + -ful.

effortless

Origin

Formed from effort plus "-less," meaning "without."

effortlessly

Origin

Formed from effortless plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

effrontery

Origin

From late 17th century French effronterie, from effronté (“shameless, insolent”), from Old French esfronté, from Vulgar Latin *exfrontātus. Compare Latin effrōns (“barefaced”), from the prefix ex- (“from”) + frōns (“forehead”) (English: front). By surface analysis, ef- + front + -er + -y.

effulgence

Origin

From Latin ex- (“out of, from”) and fulgere (“to shine”). By surface analysis, ef- + Latin fulg(ere) + -ence.

effulgent

Origin

From Latin effulgēns (“flashing, glittering”), present participle of effulgeō (“to shine or gleam forth, flash, glitter”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘out; away’)) + fulgeō (“to flash, gleam, glisten, glitter, shine”) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny; white”)). By surface analysis, ef- + Latin fulg(ere) + -ent.

effuse

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French effuser, from Latin effusus, past participle of effundere (“to pour out”).