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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Borrowed from Medieval Latin interactio, built from "inter-" + "action."

From "star" plus "fighter," first as the name of a real 1950s jet, later borrowed by science fiction for space-combat craft.

A straightforward compound of "death" + "trap" — a trap that leads to death.

From snipe + -er, originally describing a hunter skilled enough to shoot the hard-to-hit snipe bird.

From Old French chancellerie, ultimately from Latin cancelli ("lattice, bars") — the same root as "chancel," referring to the barred area separating officials from the public in early courts.

A compound of "side" and "arm".

From para- + medic.

Coined by filmmaker George Lucas for the original 1977 Star Wars film, combining light + saber.

From Latin aspirare, literally "to breathe toward" — the idea of reaching or striving toward a goal.

From Sanskrit बोधिसत्त्व (bodhisattva), literally "enlightenment-being," from bodhi ("awakening") + sattva ("being").

Formed from potential plus the adverb suffix -ly.

A straightforward compound of star and ship, coined for science fiction.

From Middle English biter, bitere, equivalent to bite + -er. Cognate with West Frisian biter (“biter”), Dutch bijter (“biter”), German Low German Bieter (“biter”), German Beißer (“biter”).

From Greek kosmos ("world, universe") plus -logia ("study of").

From butter plus a form of "scotch" meaning "to score/nick" — describing how the hardened candy is scored to make it easy to break apart, not a reference to Scotland or scotch whisky.

From Latin educare ("to bring up, train, rear"), related to educere ("to lead out").

From Latin praedator, \"plunderer,\" from praedari, \"to loot or pillage,\" from praeda, \"spoils or prey.\"

From Old French attendant, from the verb attendre — literally "one who attends."

From the South Slavic word slava, meaning "fame" or "glory" — the same root used in Slavic toasts and blessings wishing someone honor.

From Old English tōþeċe, simply "tooth" plus "ache" — the two words fused together over time.

From Old French salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Greek — origin uncertain but possibly borrowed from an ancient Near Eastern language.

From Late Latin dēviātus, past participle of dēviāre, "to turn out of the way" — from de- ("off") + via ("road").

From Ancient Greek synkhronizo, built from syn- ("together") and khronos ("time").

From Old Norse and Old English words both meaning \"to scrape or scratch,\" ultimately from an ancient root meaning \"to engrave.\"