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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

From Latin appropriatio, from appropriare, "to make one's own."

Related to the word mess, describing disorder or untidiness.

From Old French mistique, from Latin mysticus, from Ancient Greek mystikos ("secret, mystic").

From gang + -ster, first recorded in the 1880s.

From Gothic elements meaning "all" and "ruler," giving a sense of "ruler of everyone."

From stereotype plus the adjective-forming suffix -ical.

From Old English stilnes, built from "still" plus the noun ending "-ness".

Originally "tricker," from Dutch trekker ("pull"), related to trekken ("to pull or drag").

From Latin lapsus, "a slipping or falling," from labi, "to slip." A doublet of the word "lapsus."

Formed from power + the suffix -less, meaning "without".

From Old French spacios, from Latin spatiosus, "roomy" — built on the same root as "space."

From Latin exhibitus, "held out" or "presented," from ex- ("out") plus habere ("to have, hold").

From exceptional + the adverb suffix -ly.

From in- + valuable, on the pattern of "priceless" — literally meaning too valuable to price, not "lacking value."

Formed from "stenography" (shorthand writing) plus the agent suffix "-er."

An Anglo-Norman nickname from corb (“crow”), or shortened from the Corbinian, the name of a Frankish eighth-century saint, probably from Latin corvus (“crow, raven”).

From Old French "marchis," related to "march" in the sense of a border territory — a marquis was originally a lord who guarded the borders of a kingdom.

From Anglo-Norman premunition, from Ecclesiastical Latin praemonitio ("a forewarning"), from Latin praemoneo ("to warn beforehand"), from prae- ("before") plus moneo ("to warn") — the same root that gives us "monitor."

The rifle is named after 19th-century American businessman Oliver Winchester; the computer hard disk term comes, in turn, from the rifle's name via an early IBM disk model nicknamed "Winchester".

From Old English þȳmel, related to "thumb" — originally a covering for the thumb.

From thermo- ("heat") plus -stat ("that which stabilizes").

Originally a trademark, from Greek thermos ("warm, hot").

From "un-" + "marked."

From Middle English welcomyng, equivalent to welcome + -ing.