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 Middle English loved, luvd, from Old English lufode, first and third person singular past indicative of lufian; and Middle English loved, iloved, from Old English ġelufod, past participle of lufian; both equivalent to love + -ed.

A dialect variant of "sauce" — "sauce" has long been used to mean cheeky backtalk, and "sass" grew out of the same slang usage.

From Medieval Latin inventivus, from Latin inveniō, "to invent."

From Middle French imaginatif, from Medieval Latin imaginativus, built on "imagine" plus "-ative."

From fancy + -ful.

A shortened form of the older word whim-wham, itself of uncertain origin, likely echoing the playful, erratic feel of the idea it describes.

A compound of "waist" and "line".

From Middle English gentilly/gentilliche, built from gentle plus the adverb suffix -ly.

From Middle English "wadelen", a repeated-action form of "waden" (to wade) — the same root as "wade" plus a frequentative ending.

From Old French norissement, built on the verb norrir — the source of "nourish."

Borrowed from Latin nutriens, the present participle of nutrire, "to nourish".

As a given name, a medieval short form of Nicholas; the bird sense comes from a separate, unrelated source.

A learned borrowing from New Latin mechanismus, ultimately from Greek mēkhanḗ ("machine").

From Old English gylt ("guilt, offense, crime"), of uncertain further origin.

From Latin crystallinus, ultimately from Greek krystallos ("crystal") — built from "crystal" plus the adjective suffix -ine.

From Old English crypel, related to "creep," originally describing someone who had to crawl rather than walk.

From French complicité, ultimately from Old French complice ("accomplice"), from Late Latin complex, "confederate" or "partner."

From butt ("backside") plus head.

From Middle English triklen, which grew out of an older word striklen ("to trickle") after speakers misheard where one word ended and the next began — the same kind of slip that gave us "an apron" from "a napron."

From Middle French bile, from Latin bīlis. It partly replaced the native English word gall, which survives in the phrase "gall bladder."

From Greek melankholikos, describing someone with a melancholic temperament — traditionally blamed on an excess of "black bile."

From Old English longung, langung ("longing, desire"), related to the verb "long" (to yearn).

Originally an acronym for "young urban professional" (or "young upwardly mobile professional"), with "-ie" added the way it is in "hippie."

From Serbo-Croatian Jugoslaven, meaning "southern Slav."