"T" Word Origins

tocology

Origin

From Ancient Greek τόκος (tókos, “childbirth”), from τίκτω (tíktō, “I give birth”).

tocopherol

Origin

From Ancient Greek τόκος (tókos, “childbirth”) + φέρειν (phérein, “to bear or carry”) + -ol.

tocsin

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French toquesain (modern tocsin), from Old Occitan tocasenh, from tocar (“strike, touch”) + senh (“bell”).

tod

Middle English

From Middle English tod, of unknown origin, possibly connected to a separate old word for a bushy clump such as ivy, referencing the fox's bushy tail.

today

Old English

From Old English tō dæġe, literally "on this day" — a fusion of to and day that became a single word over time.

toddle

Origin

Of unknown origin. Possibly a byform of totter.

toddler

Origin

From the verb "toddle," meaning to walk unsteadily with short, tottering steps, plus the -er suffix — literally "one who toddles."

toe

Latin

From Old English tā, from a Proto-Germanic root related to "showing" or "pointing" — related to Latin dīcere ("to say") and digitus ("finger").

toecap

Origin

From toe + cap.

toenail

Origin

A straightforward compound of toe and nail.

toerag

Origin

From toe + rag.

toey

Origin

From toe + -y.

toff

Origin

Probably an alteration of tuft, referring to the gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.

toffee

Origin

An altered form of the word "taffy."

toffy

Origin

From toff + -y.

tofu

Middle Chinese

Borrowed from Japanese tōfu, itself from Middle Chinese for "curdled bean."

tog

Origin

Shortened from earlier togemans, togeman (“cloak, loose coat”), from Middle English tog, toge, togue, from Old French togue, from Latin toga (“cloak, mantle”) (compare the doublets toga and toge). Togeman(s) was an old thieves' and vegabonds' cant for "cloak; coat". By the 1700s the noun tog was used as a shortened form, then with the meaning "coat"; before 1800 the word (in this sense usually in the plural; see togs) started to mean "clothing". The verb tog ("to dress up") came shortly after. The unit of thermal resistance was coined in the 1940s after the clo, a unit of thermal insulation of clothing, which was itself derived from clothes or clothing.

toga

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin toga, related to the verb tegere, "to cover" or "to clothe."

toge

Latin

From Middle French toge and Latin toga — a doublet of both "toga" and "tog."

together

Old English

From Old English tōgædere, from "to" plus "gadar" ("together") — ultimately from the same root as "gather."

togetherize

Origin

From together + -ize.

togetherness

Origin

Formed from "together" plus the suffix "-ness."

toggle

Origin

Of uncertain origin. Possible alteration of tug (“to pull”) + -le

Togo

Origin

The country name comes from Togoville, from Ewe "to" ("to pound") plus "go" ("shore").

toh

Origin

From Hokkien 倒 (tó), meaning "to fall down" or "to collapse."

Toi

Origin

From Māori and Samoan "Toi," used across several Polynesian languages.

toil

Old English

From Middle English "toilen," blending an Anglo-Norman word meaning "to agitate or entangle" with an Old English word meaning "to labour or strive."

toilet

French · 1800

From French "toilette," a diminutive of "toile" ("cloth"), originally the cloth spread over a dressing table; the word later shifted to mean the grooming process itself, then euphemistically to the bathroom fixture, a shift that took hold in the US in the late 1800s.

toilet bowl

Origin

From toilet + bowl.

Tojo

Japanese

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 東條 (Tōjō).

Tok

Origin

The surname comes from Khmer តក់ (tɑk).

toke

Origin

A clipped form of "token," originally referring to a small gratuity before shifting to its marijuana-related sense.

token

Old English

From Old English "tācn" ("sign, symbol"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to show" or "to teach."

tokenomics

English

A blend of token and economics.

toki

Japanese

From Japanese 朱鷺 (toki).

Tokugawa

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 徳川 (Tokugawa).

Tokyo

Japanese

From Japanese 東京 (Tōkyō), literally "eastern capital," naming the city as the capital to the east of Kyoto.

tol

Origin

An eye-dialect spelling used to represent a regional pronunciation of "tall."

toledo

Spanish

From the Spanish city of Toledo, long famed for the quality of its swords.

tolerable

Latin

From Middle French "tolerable," from Latin "tolerābilis."

tolerance

Latin

From Old French "tolerance," from Latin "tolerantia" ("endurance"), from "tolerō" ("to endure").

tolerant

Latin

From French "tolérant" or directly from Latin "tolerans," the present participle of "tolerō" ("to endure").

tolerate

Latin

From Latin "tolerātus," the past participle of "tolerō" ("to endure") — related to Old English "þolian" ("to suffer, bear").

toll

Old English

From Old English "toll" ("duty, custom"), from a Germanic root meaning "that which is counted or reckoned" — related to "tell" and "tale."

toll-free

Origin

From toll + -free. Compare Saterland Frisian tolfräi (“toll-free”), West Frisian tolfrij (“toll-free”), Dutch tolvrij (“toll-free”), German zollfrei (“toll-free”), Swedish tullfri (“toll-free”), Norwegian tollfri (“toll-free”).

toller

Origin

From toll + -er, from the verb.

tolling

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English tolling.

Tolliver

Italian

An anglicized form of the Italian occupational surname Tagliaferro, meaning "iron-cutter."