English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

Etymology — The origins of English words

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

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Ultimately from Spanish, describing prepared corn dough; as a Japanese name it is borrowed from separate characters read "masa."

From "expectant" plus "-cy," or from "expect" plus "-ancy."

From Latin expans-, the past-participle stem of expandere ("to spread out"), plus the "-ive" ending.

From "exhibition" plus the "-ist" ending, meaning "one who does."

Formed from "extreme" + the noun suffix -ism, denoting a doctrine or set of beliefs.

Formed from "extreme" + the agent suffix -ist, meaning "one who holds [extreme views]."

From Middle English evermore, from ever + more.

From Latin ēmergēns, present participle of ēmergō. The medical sense is a back-formation from emergency.

From Old French glorifier, from Late Latin glorificare, built from Latin gloria ("glory") plus a verb ending meaning "to make."

From Middle English laweles — "law" plus the negating suffix "-less."

From Latin compositus, "put together," the past participle of componere. A doublet of "compost" and "compote," which come from the same Latin root.

From "hip" (fashionable, in the know) plus the suffix "-ster." First used in the 1920s, then reshaped in the 1940s from "hepster" to describe someone plugged into the latest jazz and fashion scene.

From Arabic ʕišāʔ ("evening, night"), as in ṣalātu l-ʕišāʔ ("night prayer").

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

From prospect + -or, "one who prospects."

From Old French lasniere/laniere, "thong or strap," originally used for fastening armour.

A compound of head (front) and light, describing a light fitted at the front of a vehicle.

Borrowed from Hawaiian ʻawa.

From Latin cohaesio, from cohaerere, "to stick together" — the same root as coherent.

The Go term is borrowed from Japanese atari, meaning "hit" or "to be hit."

Borrowed directly from French chaise ("chair") — a doublet of "chair" and "cathedra."

From Spanish alfalfa, ultimately from Arabic al-faṣfaṣa — the plant travelled from the Middle East into Spain and then into English.

Borrowed from Spanish barrio ("district, quarter"), tracing further back to an Arabic word meaning "outskirts" or "wild."

Built from the dialect word sog ("boggy ground") plus -y.