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 first and born.

From Latin libertinus, "a freedman" (a former slave), from liber, "free." The word shifted from describing legal freedom to describing moral looseness.

From Old English ǣrende, meaning "message" or "mission" — originally something you were sent to do or deliver.

Originally meant a basket of rushes, then a picnic carried in one, then a pleasure trip, and eventually a business trip padded out with entertainment.

From Old English roots meaning "prone to break" — related to the word "brit," an old verb meaning to break into pieces.

An allusion to the newspaper cartoon strip Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.

Formed from "freeze" plus the suffix "-ing."

From Middle English mychen, "to steal or skulk," related to the word mooch.

Coined by filmmaker George Lucas, possibly influenced by the Japanese word "jidaigeki" (period samurai dramas) and various other sources he drew on while developing Star Wars.

A casual clipping of "deodorant."

From Old English trymman ("to make firm, strengthen"), related to the idea of putting something in proper order.

From Old French forms tracing back to Latin excoriare, \"to strip the skin off,\" the same root that gives us excoriate.

Origin uncertain; likely connected to Middle English trollen ("to roll or stroll about"), possibly influenced by Old Norse trǫll.

From French embarrasser, borrowed from Spanish embarazar, ultimately linked to a word meaning "bar" or "obstacle" — the original sense was to obstruct or hinder.

From Anglo-Norman merci, from Latin mercedem ("wages" or "reward"), which also produced the French word merci ("thank you").

From Latin inspicere ("to look into"), from in- + specere ("to look at").

From Old High German adal ("noble") plus wulf ("wolf") — literally "noble wolf."

From Welsh llwyd ("grey, grey-haired").

From Old English "ead" (wealth, fortune) and "mund" (protector).

An elongated spelling of "ew," used for emphasis.

An imitative exclamation, similar to "ugh" or "oh."

From Latin genialis ("pertaining to marriage or festivity"), from genius ("guardian spirit").

From Latin tridens, combining tri- ("three") and dens ("tooth").

From Old French retenue, "that which is retained," from retenir ("to retain").