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 the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the immense tomb built around 350 BC for Mausolus, a ruler in ancient Asia Minor, and counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

From Old French cuilte, ultimately from Latin culcita, meaning a stuffed mattress or cushion.

From Middle English schruggen, probably of North Germanic origin, related to words meaning "to stoop or crouch."

Possibly a playful, rhyming combination of old words used as greetings or hunting calls, similar to "hello" and "halloo."

A variant of the older word "unbeknown," with an extra "-st" added the same way it was tacked onto words like "amongst" and "amidst."

Coined by Lewis Carroll for his 1872 poem, named after the fictional monster "the Jabberwock", with an ending styled after classic epic titles like "the Odyssey".

From Old French ponce, from Latin pumex, "pumice" — pounce originally referred to the claw of a bird of prey, and later to the sudden striking motion itself.

From the clipping of Barbara + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

Formed from the verb rebut plus the noun suffix -al.

Traced back to a Burmese word for the same tree.

From "size" plus "-ed."

Inherited from Middle English londed, from Old English ġelandod. By surface analysis, land + -ed.

From Latin decens, "fitting, suitable," from decet, "it is proper."

From "bee" plus "line," based on the old belief that bees fly straight back to their hive.

From "save" plus the "-ing" ending.

From Middle English grove, meaning a pit or mining shaft, related to Old Norse gróf ("pit") — the modern sense of a narrow channel developed later.

From Old French presence, from Latin praesentia, "a being present."

From Old French enterpreter, from Latin interpretari, "to explain or expound," ultimately from an old word for a go-between or broker.

From Old French ploiable, from ploiier ("to fold") — related to the word "ply."

From Middle English pere, meaning a bridge pillar or breakwater, tracing back to a Latin word for stone.

From Latin emergere, "to rise up or come out," from ex- ("out") plus mergere ("to dip or sink") — the same root as submerge.

From Latin remissus ("slack, negligent"), the past participle of remittere ("to relax, let go").

From an obsolete Middle English word glimsen, meaning "to glisten" or "to glance with the eyes," related to glimmer.

Anglicized from French Henriette, feminine form of Henri ("Henry").