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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Named after the French missionary Clément Rodier, who is credited with first breeding the fruit in Algeria in the early 1900s.

American slang traced by some writers to heroin addicts who used to gather on Great Jones Alley in New York City; others think the addiction sense simply grew out of the surname Jones being used as a generic stand-in.

From Old English furh, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "furrow," ultimately related to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to dig."

From Latin hērēditārius, from hērēditās ("inheritance"), from hērēs ("heir").

From Latin mediātor, "one who mediates," from mediāre ("to be in the middle").

From French intermédiaire, reshaped to look like a borrowing from Medieval Latin.

From Old English siftan, an old Germanic verb related to the noun sieve.

From Latin bison ("wild ox"), likely itself borrowed from a Germanic word for the aurochs — making "bison" a distant relative of the word "wisent" (the European bison).

Borrowed directly from German Gesundheit, literally "health," from gesund ("healthy") — related to the English word "sound" in the sense of healthy.

From Greek austērós ("harsh, bitter"), originally describing the sharp taste of unripe fruit or wine.

From un- ("not") plus reliable.

The raincoat sense is a shortening of mackintosh, named after inventor Charles Macintosh. The slang senses for smooth flirting likely trace back to "mack" meaning a pimp, itself from mackerel, an old slang term possibly linked to procuring.

From French ambassee, tracing back through Old Italian and Old Occitan to a Gaulish word for "servant" or "one sent on a mission".

From Latin inspectio ("examination"), from inspicere ("to inspect").

From "photo-" plus "copy."

From therapy plus the agent suffix -ist.

Borrowed from French Adèle, equivalent of Adela, from a Germanic root meaning “noble”. Compare athel, German edel, Old English æþele.

From Latin excruciare, "to torment" — ex- plus cruciare ("to torture"), from crux ("cross").

From Old French pore, from Latin porus, from Greek poros ("passage").

A blended name built from parts of its chemical structure: iso-butyl + propionic acid + phenyl.

Borrowed from Latin dīvīsīvus, itself from dīvidō, "to divide".

Borrowed from Latin rota, "wheel" — the same root that gives us rotor and rotate.

From Middle French mors, from Latin morsus ("bite" or "clasp"), the same root behind words like "morsel."

Borrowed from Latin resiliens, "rebounding", present participle of resilio.