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 French fragrance, from Latin frāgrantia — related to fragrant.

Named after James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British military commander of the 1800s.

From Latin ligamentum, from ligare, "to tie or bind."

From Old French Austin, a popular shortened form of Augustin, from Latin Augustīnus.

From outlie (Etymology 2) + -ing.

Built from out- + look — literally "a looking out," originally a place from which one could watch for danger or view the surroundings.

Built from "out-" plus "last."

Formed from "out" plus "-ing."

From Middle English outcry, built from "out-" and "cry."

From Middle English outbersten, built from "out-" and "burst."

From Old English āhte, an old past-tense form of "owe" — originally meaning something closer to "was obligated to."

From Latin ostentatus ("displayed, shown off") plus "-ious," entering English around 1590.

Formed from "astonish" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ment."

Formed by adding the agent suffix "-or" to "oscillate," from Latin oscillare, "to swing."

From Greek orthodoxia, built the same way as "orthodox" — orthos ("correct") + doxa ("opinion").

Recorded since the 1570s, built from orphan + -age.

Traced back to German ja and similar words in other Germanic languages; a relative of the English "yeah."

From Latin ornatus, past participle of ornare, "to adorn."

From Anglo-Norman surgien, ultimately from Ancient Greek kheirourgos ("hand-worker"), from kheir ("hand") + ergon ("work") — the same Greek root behind "surgery" and "surgical".

Coined around 1899 from an older dialect word "smarm," which described being falsely sweet or unctuous.

From new plus the obsolete word fangled, from fangle ("to fashion" or "invent").

From Middle English olden, originally a form of "old" that later came to be read as "old" plus the suffix "-en".

From Old English mē þynceþ ("it seems to me"), combining me with an old verb meaning "to seem" — not historically related to the verb think, despite the resemblance.

From Middle English pleiful — play plus the suffix -ful, "full of play."