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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

From the Old English river name Hlūde, now the River Teme, + hlǣw (“mountain, hill, mound”).

From "mount" plus "-ing."

Named after Perm, the Russian region where the rock layers of this era were first studied.

From Latin creta, "chalk" — named for the chalk deposits characteristic of rock formed during this period.

Learned borrowing from New Latin sexualitas, built from sexual plus -ity.

From Middle French compartiment, from Italian compartimento, from Late Latin compartiri ("to divide up with, to share"), from com- + partiri ("to divide").

From Old French specialte, ultimately from Latin specialitas.

From Medieval Latin notorius ("well-known, evident"), from Latin notus ("known"), the perfect participle of noscere ("to become acquainted with").

Spanish · 1700

Borrowed in the 18th century from Spanish orégano, ultimately from Greek oríganon.

From Middle French notoriété, ultimately from Latin notus ("known").

From re- ("again") plus "produce," itself from Latin producere ("to bring forth").

Borrowed from French salle, "room" or "hall."

From wind (in the sense of hot air) + bag — literally "a bag of wind".

A straightforward compound of bean + bag, describing a bag stuffed with bean-like filling.

A compound of "side" and "board".

From Italian clarinetto, a diminutive of clarino ("trumpet"), because early clarinets had a bright, trumpet-like tone.

Likely a variant of "dip" or "dab."

From Latin trivia, plural of trivium ("place where three roads meet"), which came to mean anything ordinary or commonplace.

From Middle French paraphrase, ultimately from Greek paraphrasis, "a telling in other words" (para- "beside" + phrazein "to tell").

Spelling variant of Erica, the feminine form of Eric, or borrowed directly from modern Scandinavia, ultimately from Old Norse Eiríkr.

From Old French favorable, tracing back to Latin favor — the same root as "favour" itself, with -able added to mean "tending toward approval."

From Middle English mishap, from mis- + hap ("luck, chance").

From archive plus the "-ist" suffix, meaning someone who practises or works with something.

From Old French tenant, present participle of tenir ("to hold"), from Latin tenere ("to hold, keep").