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 pail + -ful.

From pilot + house.

From Middle English pycchy, pychy, equivalent to pitch + -y.

Borrowed from Italian predella, from Lombardic pretil.

From pocket + knife.

From Middle English perseveraunt, from Middle French perseverant, from Latin persevērāns, present participle of persevērō.

From Philip + genitive (mainly patronymic) suffix -s.

From prevaricate + -or or Latin praevaricator: compare French prévaricateur.

From Latin Palaepolis, from Ancient Greek Παλαιόπολις (Palaiópolis, “Old Town”), from παλαιός (palaiós, “old”) + πόλις (pólis, “city, city-state”). Equivalent to palaeo- + -polis. Compare Old Town and old town.

Perhaps from pin (“to impound”).

From Latin pharmacopola + -ist, from Ancient Greek φαρμακοπώλης (pharmakopṓlēs), from φάρμακον (phármakon, “drug, charm, enchantment”) + -πώλης (-pṓlēs, “-seller, -monger”). Cf. papyropolist. Doublet of pharmacopole.

From passage + maker.

From Latin papȳrīnus, from papȳrus + -īnus (suffix forming relational adjectives), equivalent to papyrus + -ine. Cf. Ancient Greek πᾰπῡ́ρῐνος (păpū́rĭnos).

Borrowed from Latin peregrīnātor.

From pantal(oon) + -ette + -s.

From pre- + occupy, after Middle French preoccuper, and its source, Latin praeoccupo, praeoccupare. Doublet of preoccupate, now obsolete.

From plaster + board.

From pleonasm + -astic.

From posthe- + -ectomy.

Borrowed from Yiddish פּסול (posl), from Hebrew פָּסוּל (pasúl).

Borrowed from Narragansett papoos (“a child”).

Onomatopoeic; for the pronunciation /ˈpjuːɪt/ and corresponding form pewit, compare leeward, Seward, steward.

Borrowed from Latin praevāricātus, perfect active participle of praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; to play a false or double part”), from prae- + vāricō (“to stand with feet apart, straddle”), from vāricus (“with feet spread apart”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix).