"I" Word Origins

Ishida

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese Ishida (石田).

Ishihara

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese Ishihara (石原).

Ishii

Japanese

As a Japanese surname, from Ishii (石井); also independently found as a Hopi surname.

Ishikawa

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese Ishikawa (石川).

Ishmael

Hebrew

From Hebrew yishma'el ("God hears").

Ishtar

Origin

A learned borrowing from Akkadian Ištar; the same figure known elsewhere as Astarte or Ashtoreth. Despite a popular misconception, the name is not related to the English word "Easter."

isidora

Origin

Name of a fourth-century saint. The feminine equivalent of Isidore, from Ancient Greek Ἰσιδώρα (Isidṓra, “gift of Isis”).

isinglass

Origin

Apparently from obsolete Dutch huisenblas, from German Hausenblase, from Hausen (“sturgeon of the Huso genus”) + Blase (“bladder”), with alteration after glass.

Isis

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Îsis, itself borrowed from the Egyptian name of the goddess.

iskandar

Origin

Borrowed from Arabic الْإِسْكَنْدَر (al-ʔiskandar, “Alexander”). Doublet of Alexander

Isla

Origin · 1900

Coined as a given name in the twentieth century from an old spelling of Islay, the Hebridean island; also the name of two unrelated Scottish rivers.

Islam

Arabic · 1610

From Arabic islam, "submission" or "surrender" (to the will of God) — first used in English around 1610.

Islamabad

Persian

From Urdu, meaning "city of Islam" — combining Islam with -abad, a Persian suffix meaning "town" or "city."

islamdom

Origin

From Islam + -dom, apparently by analogy with Christendom and Hindudom.

Islamic

Origin

From Islam plus the adjective-forming suffix -ic.

Islamist

Origin · 1900

From Islam plus the suffix -ist, used since the late 20th century for political movements built around Islamic law.

island

French · 1500

From Old English igland, from ieg ("island, water-land") plus land. The "s" was added in the 1500s by mistake, when spellers wrongly linked it to the unrelated French-derived word "isle."

islay

Origin

Derived from Scottish Gaelic Ìle, but probably ultimately of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin, along with other uncertain names in Scotland such as Skye, Lewis, and Arran. Watson (1926) hinted that a Proto-Brythonic/Proto-Celtic root connected to Gaulish *ilio (“flank, buttock”) or Welsh ilio (“to ferment”) might be behind the name. The silent s in this word, as in island, is due to an unetymological association with isle.

isle

Latin · 1500

From Old French isle, from Latin insula ("island"). Not historically related to "island," despite the similar spelling — the "s" was added to both words separately in the 1500s.

islet

Origin

From Middle French islette. By surface analysis, is(le) + -let. Mostly displaced native Middle English eyt, eit and Middle English holm, holme (See eyot and holm for more).

ism

Greek

A noun formed from the suffix -ism, which reached English through Latin from Greek -ismos, used to form nouns of action, condition or doctrine.

Ismail

Arabic

From Arabic ʔismāʕīl; the same name as the English "Ishmael."

ISO

Greek

Officially from Greek ίσος (ísos, “equal”). However, a participant in the initial meetings disputes this etymology, claiming that the link to ίσος was decided on after the name ISO was set. (file format): From the file extension, in reference to the ISO 9660 specification.

isochronous

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) + Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”) + -ous.

isograph

Origin

From iso- (“same, self”) + -graph (“writing”).

isolate

Latin

Formed from "isolated," which came through French isolé and Italian isolato, ultimately from Latin insula, "island" — the same root as "insulate."

isolated

French

A rendering into English of French isolé.

isolation

French · 1800

First recorded around 1800, from French isolation, from isolé ("placed on an island") — built from isolate plus -ion.

Isolde

Germanic

From German Isolde, itself derived from the older Celtic/Germanic name Iseult.

isotonic

Greek

From Greek isos 'equal' plus tonos 'tension, tone'.

isotope

Greek · 1913

From Greek iso- ("same") plus -tope ("place"), because isotopes occupy the same position in the periodic table. Coined in 1913 by chemist Frederick Soddy, building on a suggestion by physician Margaret Todd in 1909.

isotropy

Origin

From iso- + -tropy.

Israel

Hebrew

From Hebrew Yisra'el. In the Bible, the name is explained as meaning something like "he wrestles with God" or "God rules," given to Jacob after Genesis 32:28.

Israeli

Hebrew

From Hebrew yisraeli, formed from Israel plus the adjective suffix -i.

israelite

Origin

From the Latin Isrāēlīta (“Israelite”), from the Ancient Greek Ἰσρᾱηλῑ́της (Isrāēlī́tēs, “Israelite”), from Ἰσρᾱήλ (Isrāḗl, “Israel”), from the Hebrew יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yiśrāʼēl, “Israel”); by surface analysis, Israel + -ite.

Issa

Arabic

From Somali Ciise or Arabic ʕīsā.

issue

Latin

From Old French issue, "a way out," from issir, "to exit," ultimately from Latin exire ("to go out"). The legal sense of "a disputed point" developed from the idea of the outcome of a court pleading.

ist

Origin

Back-formed from the common English suffix -ist, used to make nouns like "artist" or "scientist."

Istanbul

Greek

From Ottoman Turkish, likely adapted from the Byzantine Greek phrase eis ten polin, "to the city" — how local Greeks commonly referred to Constantinople.

ISTG

English

An initialism of "I swear to God", popularised through texting and social media.

isthmus

Origin

Borrowing from Latin isthmus (“a strip of land between two seas”), from Ancient Greek ῐ̓σθμός (ĭsthmós, “neck, narrow passage”), possibly from εἶμῐ (eîmĭ, “to go”). Cognate to Old Norse eið (“isthmus”).

istria

Origin

From Latin Histria, from Ancient Greek Ἱστρία (Histría), named after Ἵστρων (Hístrōn) (ἔθνος (éthnos)), the ethnicon of the Illyrian/Venetic tribe of the Histri who inhabited the region. The name could itself be related to Hister, a Roman name for the Danube, from Ancient Greek Ἰστρίη (Istríē), the Dacian-Thracian name for the river god Danubius, a name meaning "swift," and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂- (“to flow”). Also see Histria.

it

Old English

From Old English hit, from Proto-Germanic hit, related to this and here.

Italia

Latin

The Italian word for Italy, from Latin Italia.

Italian

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin Italianus, from Latin Italia ("Italy").

Italiano

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Italiano.

italish

Origin

From Italy + -ish. Compare Italic.

Italy

Latin

From Old English Italia, from Latin Italia, possibly related to an Oscan word for "calf," suggesting "land of young bulls."