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 Middle English grucchen, meaning "to complain or murmur," related to the word "grudge."

From French depute, from Late Latin deputatus, "appointed."

Formed from "momentary" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

From Late Latin mōmentārius, "of brief duration," built on mōmentum, "a short time, an instant."

From Old French pié de grue, "foot of a crane," apparently because old genealogy charts had branching lines that looked like a crane's foot.

From urgent + -ly.

From Latin ingestio, "a pouring in," related to "ingest."

From Latin gradiens, the present participle of gradior ("to step, to walk").

Borrowed from Spanish mucho ("much"), from Latin multus. Despite the similarity, it isn't historically related to the English word "much," which comes from a Germanic root.

From Arabic sahara ("deserts"), the plural of a word meaning desert.

From Latin ignire, "to set on fire," from ignis, "fire" — the same root behind words like "igneous."

From "strata title," itself borrowed from the Latin plural of "stratum" ("layer").

From the Latin phrase in banco, "on the bench," referring to a full panel of judges.

From "sarcasm" plus the adjective suffix "-astic," ultimately from Greek "sarx" ("flesh").

Formed from sterol plus the suffix -oid ("resembling"); sterol itself traces back to cholesterol.

From Late Latin mandatorius, related to mandator ("one who commands") — ultimately from the same root as mandate.

A shortened form of an older word, glibbery, meaning "slippery" — related to Dutch and Low German words for "slippery."

From Middle English furthermore, a combination of further and more.

From the Biblical Hebrew name Yehoshua, meaning "Yahweh is salvation" — linguistically related to the name Jesus by way of Greek and Aramaic.

From Latin pharmaceuticus ("of drugs"), itself from Greek pharmakeutikos, meaning relating to the use of medicines.

From Latin insidiosus ("cunning, deceitful"), related to insidiae ("an ambush"), from insidere ("to sit in wait").

From Latin Liber Lēvīticus, from Ancient Greek "of the Levites".

From "acryl" (from acrolein, itself from Latin acer, "sharp," and olere, "to smell") plus the adjective suffix -ic.

From "scene" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ery."