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 Italian arsenale, tracing back to Arabic dar as-sina'a, "house of manufacture" — originally a naval dockyard.

From sea + faring ("travelling"), from Old English sǣ-līþende.

From Old Norse víkingr, itself from vík ("inlet, bay") plus a suffix meaning "one belonging to" — roughly, "one who raids from the inlets."

From ear plus shot, on the model of "gunshot" — as far as the "shot" of sound can carry.

From Old English mangere, "dealer, trader," ultimately traced back to Latin mangō, "a dealer" — most familiar today in combined forms like "fishmonger" and "warmonger."

Origin uncertain; the most widely accepted theory traces it to a shortening of "golliwog," a doll character from a 19th-century children's book, though several unproven acronym stories also circulate.

From Latin negotiari, "to do business," from negotium ("business"), itself from nec ("not") + otium ("leisure").

From French consécutif, from Medieval Latin consecutivus, ultimately from Latin consequor, "to follow closely."

From Middle French volée, "flight," ultimately from Latin volare, "to fly."

Built from "vapor" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize," meaning "to make into" or "to turn into."

Formed by dropping the first syllable of "advantage" in Middle English — so "vantage" and "advantage" are, historically, the same word.

From require plus the noun ending -ment.

From serve + -ing.

From Middle French valuation, related to Old French valoir, "to be worth".

From "vaccine" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ate" — ultimately traced back to Latin vacca, "cow," because the first vaccines used cowpox material.

Scottish altered form of Finan.

From Latin subsequēns, present participle of subsequor, "to follow after."

From Middle English notably, notabili, notablelyche, equivalent to notable + -ly.

Subsequent plus the adverb suffix -ly.

From figure plus -ed.

From Old English stranglice, from strong plus -ly.

From close plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From Hebrew Sheth, meaning "appointed" or "granted."

From Dutch Provo, shortened from provoceren (“to provoke”), from French provoquer.