"E" Word Origins

effusion

Latin

From Latin effusio, "a pouring out," related to effundere, "to pour forth."

effusive

Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin effūsīvus, 1660s.

EFT

English

In the banking sense an initialism of electronic funds transfer. The amphibian sense is a separate and much older word, Old English efeta; 'newt' developed from it when 'an ewt' was misheard as 'a newt'.

eftsoons

Origin

From eft (“again, after”) + soon + -s (“adverb suffix”) – both senses (“soon after”, “again”) derive from senses of eft, which is related to after. Compare modern English soon after.

egad

Origin

A softened version of the oath "by God," altered so as not to invoke the name directly.

egalitarian

French

From French égalitaire, from égal 'equal', from Latin aequalis.

Egan

Old Irish

Anglicized from Irish Ó hAodhagáin, "descendant of Aodhagán," itself built from the old Irish name element áed, meaning "fire."

Egbert

Old English

From Old English Ecgberht, combining ecg ("edge of a blade") and beorht ("bright").

egestion

Origin

From Old French egestion, from Latin ēgestiōnem, accusative of ēgestiō (“emptying, voiding”), action noun from the perfect passive participle of ēgerō (“to carry out”), from ex- + gerō.

egg

Latin

From Old Norse egg, going back to a very old Germanic word for "egg" that's also the source of similar words in Dutch, German, and the Scandinavian languages, and distantly related to Latin ovum.

eggbeater

Origin

From egg + beater.

egghead

Origin

From egg + head, likely alluding to a bald, egg-shaped head, a stereotype once associated with scholars.

eggman

Origin

A compound of egg and man, describing the tradesman's job directly.

eggnog

Origin · 1700

American, from the late 1700s: egg plus "nog," an old word for strong ale — the exact link is debated, but it may trace to a small wooden mug called a noggin.

eggplant

Origin

From egg + plant — early Western varieties were small, white, and egg-shaped, which gave the vegetable its name even though most eggplants today are purple.

eggshell

Middle English

From Middle English eggeshell, ege schelle, egg-shel, egg shelle (also as Middle English eye schell, ey-schel, ey-schelle), partially continuing Old English ǣġsċill, ǣġsċyll (“eggshell”), equivalent to egg + shell. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Oaierskil (“eggshell”), Dutch eierschaal (“eggshell”), German Eierschale (“eggshell”), Danish æggeskal (“eggshell”), Swedish äggskal (“eggshell”).

eglantine

Origin

From French églantine, Middle English eglentyn, from Old French aiglantin (adj.), from Old French aiglent (“sweetbrier”), from Latin aculentus (with the ending of spinulentus (“thorny, prickly”)), from aculeus (“prickle”), from acus (“needle”).

ego

Latin

Straight from Latin ego, "I" — Freud's English translators picked it to render his German term das Ich ("the I").

egocentric

Origin

Built from ego- ("self") and -centric ("centered on").

egocentrism

Origin

From ego- + -centrism.

egoism

Origin

From French égoïsme, from New Latin egoismus, from Latin ego. By surface analysis, ego + -ism.

egoist

Latin

From French égoïste, built on Latin ego ("I") plus the agent suffix -iste.

egomaniac

Origin

From ego- ("self") + -maniac ("obsessed with").

egotism

Origin

From Latin ego (“I”) + -t- (perhaps modelled on dogmatism, despotism, idiotism) + -ism.

egotist

Origin

ego + -t- inserted to avoid hiatus, or after the analogy of dramatist, epigrammatist, etc. + -ist

egotistical

Origin

Built from egotist (from ego + -ist) plus the adjective suffix -ical.

egregious

Latin

From Latin egregius ("outstanding, distinguished"), literally "standing out from the flock" (e- "out of" + grex "flock"). The word once meant "remarkably good," but over time it flipped to mean "remarkably bad."

egress

Latin

From Latin egressus, from egredi ("to go out"), built from ex- ("out") + gradi ("to step, walk").

egression

Origin

From Latin ēgressiō.

egret

Old French

From Old French 'aigrette', a diminutive of 'aigron' (heron), which is of Germanic origin. The same word gives English 'aigrette' for the plume worn as a head ornament.

egritude

Origin

From Latin aegritudo (“illness, sorrow”).

Egyptian

Middle English

From Middle English Egipcien, egyptiane. Displaced Old English Egyptisċ. By surface analysis, Egypt + -ian.

eh

Origin

Natural exclamation; first recorded mid-16th century. Perhaps an unstressed variant of aye (“yes, yeah”). The Philippine sense is possibly influenced by Tagalog e and/or Spanish eh.

Ehrlich

German

From German "ehrlich," meaning honest.

Eichmann

Origin · 1906

From Otto Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962), a key organizer of the Holocaust, whose trial made his name a byword for bureaucratic obedience to atrocity.

Eid

Arabic

From Arabic eid ("feast, festival"), passed into English partly via Persian.

Eiffel

French

From French Eiffel, from German Eiffel, Eifel. Family name adopted as a reference to the Eifel mountains.

eight

Middle English

PIE word *oḱtṓw Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw Proto-Germanic *ahtōu Proto-West Germanic *ahtō Old English eahta Middle English eighte English eight From Middle English eighte, aught, eahte, ahte, from Old English eahta, from Proto-West Germanic *ahtō, from Proto-Germanic *ahtōu, from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw. Cognate with Scots aucht (“eight”), West Frisian acht (“eight”), Dutch acht (“eight”), Low German acht (“eight”), German acht (“eight”), Norwegian åtte (“eight”), Swedish åtta (“eight”), Icelandic átta (“eight”), Latin octo (“eight”), Ancient Greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ), Irish ocht (“eight”), among others. False cognate of Tamil எட்டு (eṭṭu), Malayalam എട്ട് (eṭṭŭ).

eighteenth

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English eightetenthe, eightetethe, from Old English eahtatēoþa, from Proto-Germanic *ahtudô tehundô. Equivalent to eighteen + -th (ordinal suffix).

eightfold

Origin

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English eahtafeald. Equivalent to eight + -fold.

eighty

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English eightety, eiȝti, eiȝtety, from Old English hundeahtatiġ, from Proto-Germanic *ahtōutēhundą (“eighty”), equivalent to eight + -ty. Cognate with Scots hechty, auchty (“eighty”), Saterland Frisian tachentich (“eighty”), West Frisian tachtich (“eighty”), Dutch tachtig (“eighty”), Low German tachentig (“eighty”), German achtzig (“eighty”), Swedish åttio (“eighty”), Norwegian åtti (“eighty”), Icelandic áttatíu (“eighty”).

Eileen

Irish

From Anglicized forms of Irish Eibhlín, Eilín or Aibhilín in Middle English and Modern English, all cognates of Evelyn from Old French Aveline. Sometimes also used for the Irish name Éibhleann, possibly from Old Irish oíph (“radiance, beauty”).

Einstein

Origin

From the name of physicist Albert Einstein, whose fame for genius turned his surname into a byword for cleverness — often used ironically for the opposite.

einsteinium

Origin

From Einstein + -ium. Named after Albert Einstein.

eire

Origin

Borrowed from Irish Éire.

Eisenhower

German

From German "Eisenhauer," meaning "iron hewer" or "iron worker."

Eisenstein

German

From German "Eisen" (iron) and "Stein" (stone).

eitan

Origin

From Hebrew איתן.