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 synthétique, from Ancient Greek sunthetikos, related to "synthesis."

From "eye" + the adjective-forming suffix -ed.

From Medieval Latin mathēmaticālis, ultimately from Greek mathēma, "learning, knowledge."

From Latin expansum, "a spread-out thing," related to "expand."

A compound of "water" and "shed," modeled directly on the German word Wasserscheide ("water-divide") — originally describing the ridge of land that separates where rainwater flows to different rivers.

Originally "brothel-house", combining an old word for a disreputable person with "house" — the sense narrowed over time to mean specifically a house of prostitution.

Built from Belle plus the ending -inda, echoing Romance words for "beautiful" (French belle, Italian bella). It was popularised by Alexander Pope's poem, and a moon of Uranus was later named after his character.

From French extravagance, from Medieval Latin extra ("beyond") + vagor ("to wander") — literally "wandering beyond bounds."

Plural of head, extended into an interjection of warning and into the standard name for one side of a coin.

From off plus -ing; originally a nautical term for the distant sea, later extended to mean "on the horizon" in a figurative sense.

From "a-" (meaning "toward") plus "stern," the rear part of a ship.

From French ville, "town," a doublet of villa.

A fusion of "on" and "board," from the older phrase "on board."

Formed from the prefix a- ("on, to") plus shore.

By surface analysis, float + -ing.

First recorded around 1581; probably related to "dow," a Scots word meaning to fade or wither.

American, from the late 1700s: egg plus "nog," an old word for strong ale — the exact link is debated, but it may trace to a small wooden mug called a noggin.

Borrowed from Middle French lumineus, from Latin luminosus, "full of light."

From Arabic shari'a, literally "the path" or "way," referring originally to a path to a water source.

Origin uncertain, recorded in English since the 1600s; possibly linked to an old word meaning "to beat."

From Middle English proposen, from Anglo-Norman proposer, from Latin proponere ("to put forward"). A doublet of "propound."

From Latin impetus ("a rushing upon, an attack"), from impeto ("to rush upon").

From Latin crucibulum, an old word for a melting pot, possibly linked to crux ("cross") or crucio ("to torment").

From French travesti, "disguised" — from Italian travestire, "to dress up" (tra-, "across" + vestire, "to dress"). The same root gives us "vest" and "wear."