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 leg plus work.

From Old English næs ("headland"), related to the word "nose" — both describe something that juts out.

Coined from "sero-" (from serum) plus "tone" and the chemical suffix "-in."

From Latin duplicare, "to double," reflecting the idea of a person showing two contradictory faces.

Shortened from recapitulate, itself from re- plus capitulate.

By abbreviation.

From the phrase "never mind," combining never with mind.

From French paquet, a diminutive form of pack — literally "a little pack."

Coined in 1885 by the statistician Francis Galton, combining "percent" with the suffix "-ile" (as in "decile").

Borrowed from the Dutch and German surname Kramer, meaning "shopkeeper" or "peddler"; the verb sense is a modern coinage inspired by a famously door-bursting sitcom character with that surname.

From the verb "become" in its older sense of "to suit or befit."

From warp + -ed.

From Greek Aristoteles.

From Old French humidité, from Latin hūmiditās, built on humid.

From Latin praecipitatio, from the verb praecipitare, \"to throw headlong\" — the same root family as precipice and precipitate.

From Middle English gresy, formed from grease plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

Built from patient plus the adverb ending -ly.

From un- ("not") plus scathed, from scathe, "to injure or harm."

A deverbal noun formed from the phrasal verb "take away."

From Old French taffetas, tracing back through Medieval Latin to a Persian word meaning "woven" or "twisted."

From "tactic" plus the adjective ending "-al."

From Middle French fidélité, from Latin fidēlitās, from fidēlis ("faithful"), from fidēs ("faith, trust") — a doublet of fealty.

From Spanish cilantro, related to Latin coriandrum, the source of the word "coriander".

From Latin angelica ("angelic"), reportedly so named because the plant was once believed to ward off disease and evil — an "angelic" herb.