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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Imitative — it mimics the sound of gagging.

From an Anglo-Norman surname, originally meaning "of Arbornon".

From Latin codex, "tree trunk" or "block of wood" — early writing tablets were made from wood, and the word later came to mean a bound book. It shares a root with "code."

From criminal + -logy ("study of"), ultimately from Greek logos, "word" or "study."

From French cosmétique, from Ancient Greek κοσμητική (kosmētikḗ, “the art of dress and ornament”), from κοσμητικός (kosmētikós), an adjective of κοσμέω (kosméō, “to order, to arrange, to rule, to adorn, to equip, to dress, to embellish”).

From Arabic sufiyy, literally "man of wool," referring to the coarse woolen garments early mystics wore.

Origin unclear — possibly linked to "magic" or to "gimme", first recorded in early-20th-century American carnival and stage-magic slang.

Possibly a shortened form of "employ" or "deploy", though its exact origin is debated.

From Latin ruptūra ("a breaking"), from rumpere ("to break, burst") — a doublet of "roture."

From Latin Arabia, from Ancient Greek Ἀραβία (Arabía).

Shortened from "detective officer" — from Latin detegere, "to detect" or "uncover", plus -ive.

From homeless plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

From Kannada dose.

From Spanish monte ("mountain"); the card-game sense comes from the pile of undealt cards, pictured as a little "mountain" on the table. Related to "mount."

Coined around 1540 by the Earl of Surrey as a poetic name for Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, later adopted more broadly as a feminine form of Gerald.

From Arabic Muhammad, meaning "praised" or "praiseworthy."

From Arabic sunniyy, from sunna ("tradition, custom") — those who follow the Sunnah, the traditions attributed to the Prophet.

A straightforward combination of "hair" and "ball," describing a compacted clump of fur.

From Latin aequalitas, "evenness, equality," from aequalis ("equal").

From Medieval Latin tartarum, itself from a Byzantine Greek word, possibly ultimately connected to an Arabic or Persian word for sediment or dregs.

From French escapade, itself from Spanish escapada, from escapar, "to escape."

From un- + supervised.

From Old French deviser, ultimately from Latin dīvidere, "to divide" — the sense narrowed from "to arrange, plan" toward "to invent" and, separately, its legal meaning of bequeathing property.

From Ancient Greek topographia, from tópos ("place") and gráphō ("to write, describe").