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 Arabic "dīnār", ultimately from Latin "dēnārius" — the same root behind "denier" and "diner" (the currency sense).

Formed from cheerful plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From Old English biterlīce, formed from "bitter" plus the adverb suffix "-ly".

From Greek symbolikos, "of or relating to a symbol."

From Old French sustenance, from sustenir, "to sustain," ultimately from Latin sustinere.

From parasite + -ic.

From Latin sentiens, "feeling, perceiving," the present participle of sentiō.

An acronym from its original name, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund; it kept the name UNICEF even after being renamed the United Nations Children's Fund.

From Middle English begging, beggyng, beggynge, equivalent to beg + -ing (gerund ending).

From Old French charitable, from charité ("charity").

Shortened from "gooney," originally a sailor's word for the albatross and other big, clumsy seabirds. By the early 1900s it had shifted to mean "stupid person," and the "hired thug" sense took off in the late 1930s, partly thanks to the brutish comic-strip character Alice the Goon in Popeye.

From sea + food.

From Middle English resonably, equivalent to reasonable + -ly. Piecewise doublet of rationably.

From Middle French demoliss-, a form of demolir ("to tear down"), from Latin dēmōlior, "to pull down."

Originally short for "torpedo-boat destroyer," a term coined in the late 1800s for ships built to hunt down torpedo boats.

From new plus born.

From Middle English menewhile, a compound of mean ("intermediate") and while.

New Latin · 1600

Coined in the 1600s from New Latin levitare, modeled on "gravitate," ultimately from Latin levis ("light").

From Latin dēviāns, "straying" or "turning off the road" — literally de- ("away") + via ("way, road").

From Old French lecherous, tracing back to lecher, "to lick" — the same root that gives us "lecher."

From Old French peneance, from Latin paenitentia ("repentance"); a close relative of the word "penitence."

From Old French suspens, from Latin suspensus, "hung up" — the same root as "suspend."

From Latin scabiēs, "itch, mange," related to the verb scabere, "to scratch."

From un- ("not") plus requited, from requite, "to repay or return in kind."