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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An invented, sound-based word imitating the little gasp people make after a slip-up.

From Latin prōverbiālis, built from proverb plus the adjective suffix -ial.

From Serbo-Croatian Dubrovnik; the city was formerly known in English as Ragusa.

From Old French imperfeccion, built from im- ("not") plus perfection.

A clipped form of cigarette.

From re- ("again") plus establish.

From Middle English nevermore, from Old English nǣfre mā, literally "never more" — made famous by the raven's refrain in Edgar Allan Poe's poem.

From propel + the suffix -ant, which turns a verb into "the thing that does the action" — so a propellant is literally "that which propels."

From Latin invocare, "to call upon" (in- + vocare, "to call").

A compound of play and boy.

From Latin pungens, "stinging," from pungere, "to prick or sting."

From Old French pilier, from a Latin word for a pillar or pier.

Named after American seismologist Charles F. Richter, who co-developed the scale in the 1930s.

From psycho- + therapy.

A combination of "skate" and "board," dating from the mid-20th century.

From strike plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who strikes."

From Latin impedimentum, related to impede.

The wrestling hold name is a back-formation from "full nelson"; the origin of that term itself is uncertain.

The physics sense derives from "tritium," from Greek tritos ("third"); the sea-god Triton, son of Poseidon, lends his name to the mollusc and to Neptune's largest moon.

From Latin ferrum, "iron."

Short for "stream editor", the name given to the original Unix tool when it was created in the 1970s.

From disconcert plus the ending -ing.

From disappoint + -ment.

From Middle English sprenkelen, borrowed from Middle Dutch sprenkelen, built on sprink plus a frequentative suffix.