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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Italian · 1800

From Italian mafia, of disputed origin, most likely tied to 19th-century Sicilian dialect.

Possibly imitative in origin, related to similar soft-sounding words like bleb and blubber.

From Greek Harmagedon in the Book of Revelation, referring to Mount Megiddo, the prophesied site of the last battle before Judgment Day.

From "bark" (to make loud noise) plus the agent suffix "-er."

Origin unknown — the word appeared in English by the mid-1700s, and its exact source has never been traced with certainty.

A straightforward compound of "belly" and "ache."

From Medieval Latin coincidere, from con- + incidere, "to fall into" (from cadere, "to fall").

From Latin pulpa, meaning fleshy part or pulp.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

From an older exclamation "heyda" (a cry of high spirits), later respelled "heyday" by association with "day," giving it the sense of a golden period of time.

Old French · 1576

Possibly imitative of the sound of eager drinking, or from Old French gosillier ("to pass through the throat"). First recorded in English in 1576.

From hunt plus -s- plus man, literally "hunt's man."

From Middle English hunteresse, formed from hunter plus the feminine suffix -ess.

From Middle English angle ("fishhook") + -er ("one who does").

From evil + -ly.

From Spanish Cristobal.

Borrowed from Dutch Frans.

From Latin mementō ("remember!"), the imperative form of meminī ("to remember").

Formed from left ("remaining") plus over ("extra, in excess").

From Old English ealdorman, combining ealdor ("elder, chief") and mann ("person") — originally a senior nobleman, later a municipal office.

An anglicized variant of the Welsh Siân (itself a pet form, Siana), sometimes also linked to the French name Jeanne.

From Middle English agrounde, meaning "on ground" — formed from "a-" plus "ground."

From Old English þiccet, built from þicce ("thick") — literally, a place where things grow thickly.

From Late Latin complacentia, related to complacere, "to please greatly."