"E" Word Origins

From Middle English either, from Old English ǣġhwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *aiw + *gahwaþar. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder). The pronunciations with /iː/ and /eɪ/ respectively reflect Middle English forms in /ɛː/ and /æi/; the origin of that with /aɪ/ is less clear, but it may reflect a Middle English form with /iː/; see Middle English either for more discussion.

From Latin eiaculari ("to throw out, dart"), from e- ("out") + iaculari ("to hurl"), related to iacere ("to throw").

From French éjaculation, borrowed from Latin ēiaculārī.

From Latin eicere ("to throw out"), from e- ("out") + iacere ("to throw").

From Middle French éjection, from Latin eiectio.

From eject + -or ("thing that does").

Borrowed from Swedish Ek.

The noun is derived from Middle English eke (“addition, increase, enlargement”), from Old English ēaca, from Proto-Germanic *aukô, from *aukaną (“to increase, add, enlarge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to enlarge, increase”). The English noun is cognate with Old Frisian āka (“addition, increase; bonus”), Old Norse auki (“growth, increase, proliferation”). The verb is derived partly: * from the noun; and * from Middle English eken (“to increase, add, enlarge”) [and other forms], from three distinct verbs (1) Old English īeċan (“to increase, add, enlarge”) (transitive), (2) ēacan (“to be enlarged or increased”), and (3) ēacian, all from Proto-Germanic *aukaną (“to grow, increase”); see further above. The English verb is cognate with Latin augeō (“to augment, increase; to enlarge, expand, spread; to lengthen; to exaggerate; to enrich; to honour; (figuratively) to exalt, praise”), Old English ēac (“also”), Old Norse auka (“to augment, increase; to add; to exceed, surpass”), Icelandic auka (“to augment, increase to add; to exceed, surpass”), (Danish øge (“to enhance; to increase”), Norwegian Bokmål øke (“to increase”), Norwegian Nynorsk auka (“to increase”), Swedish ö

From German Elektrokardiogramm, still used in English as an alternative to the more common abbreviation ECG.

From Old English el, the name given to the letter L, ultimately from Latin.

From Latin elaboratus, meaning "worked out fully" — from labor, "work."

From Middle French élaboration. Morphologically elaborate + -ion.

From Old French Elaine, a variant of Helen, ultimately traced back to the Ancient Greek name Helénē.

Borrowed through Hebrew and Akkadian from an older Sumerian name for the region.

Borrowed from Afrikaans eland, from Dutch eland (“elk”), from Middle Dutch elant, from obsolete early modern German elend, from Middle High German elen, see German Elen for more. Doublet of elk.

From French élastique, based on New Latin elasticus, ultimately from Greek elastós, "ductile" or able to be stretched.

Formed from elastic plus the noun-forming suffix -ity.

From Middle English elat, elate, from Latin ēlātus (“exalted, lofty”), perfect passive participle of efferō (“bring forth or out; raise; exalt”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

From Latin elatus, "raised up" — the same root as elation and elevate.

From Latin elatio, "a raising up" or "exaltation," from efferre, "to carry out or lift up."

From Italian Elba, ultimately from Latin Ilva.

From German Elbe, tracing back to Proto-Germanic *albī.

From Old English elboga, a combination of words meaning "ell" (a unit of length, roughly forearm-sized) and "bow" (a bend).

From Middle English elde, from Old English ieldu, eldo, ieldo (“age, period of time; period; time of life, years; mature or old age, eld; an age of the world, era, epoch”), from Proto-West Germanic *aldī, from Proto-Germanic *alþį̄ (“eld, age”), from *aldaz (“grown up, mature, old”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós, from *h₂el- (“to raise, feed”). Cognate with Scots eild (“age”), North Frisian jelde (“age”), German Älte (“age”), Danish ælde (“eld, age”), Icelandic elli (“eld, age”). Related also to Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌳𐍃 (alds, “generation, age”), Old English alan (“to grow up, nourish”). More at old.

From eld + -en (“to become”). Compare Middle English elden, ealdien (“to age, grow older”). More at eld.

From Old English eldra, the comparative form of "old," altered in spelling by a sound change called umlaut.

From Middle English *elderdom, alderdom, from Old English ealdordōm (“greatness, power, authority, lordship, eldership, rule, dominion, magistracy, principality, superiority, preeminence, primacy, government, any official position involving command of others, beginning”), equivalent to elder + -dom. Cognate with West Frisian âlderdom (“eld, old age, antiquity”), German Altertum (“antiquity”), Swedish ålderdom (“eld, age”).

Formed from elder plus the adjective-forming suffix -ly.

From Middle English eldern, eldrin, elderne, equivalent to elder + -en.

From Middle English eldfader, variant of olde fader, from Old English eald fæder (“grandfather, ancestor”), equivalent to eld (“old”) + father. Cognate with Scots eldfader (“grandfather, father-in-law”), Old Frisian aldafeder (“grandfather”).

From Middle English eldmoder, from Old English eald mōdor (“grandmother”), equivalent to eld (“old”) + mother. Cognate with Scots eldmoder, eldmother (“mother-in-law”), Old Frisian aldemōder.

A variant of the surname Aldrich.

From the earlier form elritch, of uncertain origin. The second element, -ritch, is generally taken to be Old English rīċe (“realm, kingdom”). Some think that the first element, el-, derives from an Old English root meaning “foreign, strange, other” (related to Old English ellende and modern English else); others think that it derives from elf. It was reintroduced into popular literature by the writings of H. P. Lovecraft.

A clipped, informal form of "elephant."

First recorded for Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204); the name's ultimate origin is debated, though it is often mistakenly linked to "Helen."

From Latin electus, "chosen," the past participle of eligere, "to pick out."

From Latin electio, "a choosing," from eligere, "to choose."

Formed from elect plus the suffix -ive.

From Middle English electour (“one with a right to vote in electing some office, elector”), borrowed from Late Latin ēlēctor (“chooser, selector; voter, elector”), from Latin ēligere (“to elect”) + -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns), equivalent to elect + -or. Ēligere is the present active infinitive of ēligō (“to extract, pluck or root out; (figurative) to choose, elect, pick out”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + legō (“to appoint, choose, select”) (from Proto-Italic *legō (“to gather, collect”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”)).

From elector + -al.

From elector plus the suffix -ate, denoting a rank or office.

From Ancient Greek Ēléktra, related to ēlektron, "amber."

From New Latin electricus, "of amber," coined because rubbing amber produces a static charge; ultimately from Greek ēlektron, "amber."

From electric + -ally, electrical + -ly.

Formed from electric plus the suffix -ian, denoting a person's profession.

Formed from electric plus the suffix -ity; ultimately traces to Greek ēlektron, "amber," since static electricity was first observed by rubbing amber.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

A clipped, informal form of "electronic."