"I" Word Origins

iranic

Origin

From Iran + -ic.

Iraq

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic العراق (al-ʿirāq).

Iraqi

Arabic

From Arabic عِرَاقِيّ (ʿirāqiyy), formed from Iraq plus the "-i" ending used for nationalities.

irascible

Latin

From Latin irascibilis, from irasci 'to grow angry', from ira 'anger'.

irate

Latin

From Latin īrātus ("angered"), from īra ("anger, wrath").

ire

Latin

From Old English īre, ultimately a shortened form of īren ("iron") in an earlier sense; the modern "anger" sense comes via Latin īra through French.

Ireland

Old English

From Old English Īrland, from Īras ("Irishmen") plus land, ultimately tracing back to Old Irish Ériu, the native name for the island.

Irene

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek "Eirene," meaning "peace" — the name of the goddess of peace.

Irfan

Arabic

From Arabic ʕirfān, meaning "knowledge" or "gnosis."

iridescent

Origin

Coined around 1800, from Latin iris, iridis (“rainbow”) + -escent.

iridin

Origin

From irid- + -in, as it is obtained from the iris plant.

iridium

Latin

Named from Latin iris ("rainbow"), because many of its salts and compounds show a striking range of colours.

Irina

Greek

From Russian Irína, ultimately sharing a root with the Greek-derived English name Irene.

iris

Ancient Greek

From Latin īris, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, "rainbow") — the eye and flower senses both nod to the range of colours involved.

Irish

Old English

From Old English Īras ("Irishmen"), from Old Norse Írar, ultimately from Old Irish Ériu ("Ireland").

Irishman

Middle English

From Middle English Irisshman, formed from Irish plus man.

irk

Origin

Inherited from Middle English irken (“to tire, grow weary”), from Old Norse yrkja (“to work”), from Proto-Germanic *wurkijaną (“to work”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- (“to work”). Cognate with Icelandic yrkja (“to compose”), Swedish yrka (“to urge, argue”), Old English wyrċan (“to work”). Doublet of work.

IRL

English

An initialism of "in real life", from early internet chat and forum use.

Irma

Germanic

A short form of older Germanic names built on irm(en)-, meaning "whole" or "entire"; it shares a root with the name Emma.

iron

Old English

From Old English īsern/īren, from a very old Germanic and Celtic root for the metal, possibly linked to a Proto-Indo-European word for "blood" because of the metal's colour when rusted.

ironclad

Origin

From iron plus clad ("clothed, covered") — literally "covered in iron," originally describing armored warships.

ironic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek εἰρωνικός (eirōnikós), via Latin īrōnicus.

ironical

Origin

From ironic + -al. Attested since the 1570s.

ironically

Origin

From ironic plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ally."

ironside

Origin

From iron + side, from a nickname of Oliver Cromwell's: "Old Ironsides".

irony

Ancient Greek

From Latin īrōnīa, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneía, "pretended ignorance"), from εἴρων (eírōn, "one who feigns ignorance").

irradiate

Origin

From Middle English irradiate (“illuminated, shining”), borrowed from Medieval Latin irradiātus, perfect passive participle of irradiō, from ir- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiō (“to cause to radiate, irradiate; to emit beams, radiate”), from radius (“ray of light; rod, staff; spoke of a wheel”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (further etymology uncertain; possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁t- (“beam; pole; post”)). The adjective is attested earlier than the verb. The English word is analysable as in- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiate.

irrational

Latin

From Latin irratiōnālis, from ir- ("not") plus ratiōnālis ("rational").

irrationally

Origin

From irrational plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

irreconcilable

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French irréconciliable, from Late Latin irreconciliābilis, from in- (“not”) + reconciliō (“to reconcile”) + -ābilis (“-able”). By surface analysis, ir- + reconcilable.

irrecondite

Origin

From ir- + recondite.

irrefragable

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin irrefrāgābilis (“irrefragable”) + English -able (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘able or fit to be done’). Irrefrāgābilis is derived from Latin ir- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’)) + refrāgārī + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon); while refrāgārī is the present active infinitive of refrāgor (“to oppose, resist; to gainsay, thwart”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + fragor (“a breaking, shattering; a crash; din, uproar”) (from frangō (“to break, shatter”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”))), formed as an antonym of suffrāgōr, the first-person singular present passive indicative of suffrāgō (“to support; to vote for”).

irrefutable

Late Latin

From Late Latin irrefūtābilis, from ir- ("not") plus refūtābilis ("able to be refuted").

irregardless

Origin

Probably a blend of irrespective + regardless. The word may also be analysed as ir- + regardless, as it is possible that the prefix ir- was added to amplify the negative in regardless just as plain negatives often did at the time the word came into use (and still do in dialects).

irregular

Late Latin

From Old French irreguler, from Late Latin irrēgulāris, from in- ("not") plus regularis ("regular").

irregularity

Medieval Latin

From French irrégularité, from Medieval Latin irregularitas.

irrelation

Origin

From ir- + relation.

irrelative

Origin

From ir- + relative.

irrelevant

Origin

Formed from ir- ("not") plus relevant.

irreligion

Origin

From French irréligion, from Latin irreligiō. By surface analysis, ir- + religion.

irreligious

Origin

From Latin irreligiōsus. By surface analysis, ir- + religious.

irremediable

Origin

Ultimately from Latin irremediābilis. By surface analysis, ir- + remediable.

irreparable

Latin

From Old French irréparable, from Latin irreparabilis, from ir- ("not") plus reparable ("repairable").

irrepentance

Origin

From ir- + repentance.

irreplaceable

Origin

Formed from ir- ("not") plus replaceable.

irreprehensible

Origin

From Latin irreprehēnsibilis. Compare French irrépréhensible. See reprehensible.

irresistible

Medieval Latin

Borrowed via Medieval Latin irresistibilis, built from ir- ("not") plus resistible.

irresolute

Origin

First attested in 1580. Borrowed from French irrésolu or composed from ir- + resolute.