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 Old English foxhol, literally "fox" plus "hole."

From French carabine, first used in English around 1600.

From "tweak" plus "-er"; the drug-related sense comes from the jittery, restless behaviour associated with methamphetamine use.

From Middle English words meaning "struck blind" — the original idea was of someone made blind by force, and over time the "strike" part faded into today's spelling with "fold," suggesting a folded cloth over the eyes.

A compound of peace + maker, first recorded in the 1526 Tyndale Bible translating a rare Greek word for "peacemaker" used in the New Testament.

From Late Latin beneficialis, from Latin beneficium, "a favor or kindness" — the same root behind "benefit."

Coined by the chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1833, from Greek polús ("many") and méros ("part").

A blend of poly- ("many") and ester, referring to the repeating ester bonds that link the molecule together.

Coined by the DuPont company in 1938; the exact origin of the syllable "nyl-" is disputed, but it was joined to the fibre-name ending "-on" seen in rayon and Dacron.

Likely a back-formation from the older adverb "sideling" ("in a sideways direction"), reshaped with the "-le" verb ending.

Formed from "extreme" + the adverb suffix -ly.

From Middle English blisful, formed from bliss plus -ful.

From Latin decidere, "to cut off, settle" — from de- ("off") + caedere ("to cut").

From Greek ekstatikós, related to "ecstasy" — describing someone so overwhelmed with joy they seem to stand outside themselves.

From "direct" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

From Old English hēalīce, formed from high plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

Past-tense/adjectival form of "kill."

From Middle French impulsif, from Latin impulsivus.

Borrowed from French diorama.

Borrowed from Portuguese atol, from the Dhivehi word atoḷu, the language of the Maldives.

Borrowed from an Eastern Algonquian word (Abenaki wigwôm or Penobscot wigwom) meaning "house."

Named after Tequila, the town in Jalisco, Mexico, where the spirit originates.

From French Chécagou, a rendering of a Native Miami word for a wild leek or onion plant that grew along the local river — making "Chicago" a distant relative of the English word "skunk."

Borrowed from French pacane, itself from an Algonquian word for a hard-shelled nut.