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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From Late Latin assimilatus, from Latin ad- plus similis ("like, similar") — a doublet of "assemble".

Italian · 1900

A shortening of Italian Margherita and Spanish Margarita, popularized in part by Saint Rita, canonized in 1900.

From Latin ēligō ("to select, choose").

From Latin polaris, from polus, "pole" — ultimately from Greek polos.

From Old French entrechange, formed from "inter-" ("between") + "change."

From Latin praedatorius, formed the same way as predator plus -y.

From sustain plus the ending -able.

From in- ("not") plus conceivable, from Latin concipere ("to take in, form in the mind").

From aerobic (relating to oxygen use in exercise) plus -s, ultimately from Greek ἀήρ ("air") and βίος ("life").

From Middle English silken, selken, seolkene, from Old English seolcen, from seolc (“silk”) + -en, from an unattested early Proto-West Germanic borrowing from Latin sēricum, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós, “silken”), from σήρ (sḗr, “silkworm”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”). Equivalent to silk + -en (“made of”). Cognate with Scots selkin, silkin (“silken”), Icelandic silki (“silken”).

Named after British army officer Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), who invented an artillery shell designed to scatter bullets over a wide area before impact.

Coined by Sir Walter Scott in his 1819 novel Ivanhoe, originally describing a medieval mercenary knight whose "lance" (weapon and services) was not sworn to any single lord. The word later shifted to its modern sense of independent, self-employed work.

A blend of "ketone" and "amine", reflecting its chemical structure; the drug was first developed in the mid-1960s.

A straightforward compound of bread (as in "earning one's bread," i.e. livelihood) and winner ("earner").

From Old French discretion, from Latin discretio, "separation, distinction" — the same Latin root as "discreet."

From sleaze plus bag.

Borrowed from French mélodique, itself built from melody.

From Late Latin indicator, "one who points out," from indicare, "to indicate."

From fire plus the suffix -ing.

From Medieval Latin expenditus, a form of expendere ("to weigh out, pay out"), plus the noun ending -ure.

Of uncertain origin, first recorded as lunching; it may derive from an early form related to lump, meaning a chunk of food, and is closely tied to lunch, though it isn't fully settled which word came first.

From Late Middle English hagis, likely from hag/haggen ("to chop, hack"), reflecting how the meat filling is minced.

A compound of cod and fish, used since the Middle Ages to make clear which animal "cod" referred to.

From Old French desplaisir, formed from dis- + pleasure.