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 "fold" plus the agent suffix "-er," originally meaning something that folds.

Possibly influenced by the Dutch pronoun zij; coined in English as one of several proposed gender-neutral pronoun systems.

From Middle English feithful, built from faith plus the suffix -ful ("full of").

Formed from "government" plus the adjective ending "-al".

Norwegian · 1600

First recorded around 1600, likely of Scandinavian origin and imitative in nature — related to Swedish and Norwegian dialect words meaning to chatter or prattle.

Clipping of barramundi.

Borrowed from Italian barista, meaning "bartender," itself from "bar" plus an Italian suffix for a person's occupation.

From Old French volte ("a turn"), tracing back to Latin volvere ("to roll, to turn") — the arched shape of a vault resembles a turned or rolled curve.

Borrowed directly from Italian bambino, "baby boy."

From Old French donjon, "castle keep," from Latin dominus, "lord" — originally the lord's central tower, which later became associated with the prison cells often held there.

A shortened form of "dandruff."

Borrowed from Welsh, as a pet form of Margaret, which ultimately traces back through Greek and Persian roots.

Named after the Peugeot family business, which began in France in the early 19th century.

From Spanish Mercedes (Mary, Our Lady of Mercy). The car was named for Mercédès Jellinek, the daughter of Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek who ordered 36 cars from Gottlieb Daimler.

From the Japanese company name Toyota, itself an adjusted spelling of the founding Toyoda family's name — changed partly because it was considered luckier to write in Japanese script.

From Old French sergent, from Latin serviēns, "serving" — ultimately from the same root as "servant."

From Latin spatula, "a flat piece," a smaller version of spatha, "a broad blade" — the same root behind "spade."

From French aligner, from Latin lineare ("to make straight"), from linea ("line").

A direct borrowing from Latin scrōtum, referring to the same body part.

From Old Norse krafla, "to crawl or creep" — related to words in Danish and Swedish meaning the same thing.

An imitative (onomatopoeic) sound made with the mouth closed.

Formed from run + -ing.

From Medieval Latin rete, "net" — describing the net-like web of blood vessels at the back of the eye.

From Latin pupillus ("orphan, ward, little boy"), a diminutive of pupus ("child"). The eye sense comes from the same Latin word because of the tiny reflected image of a person visible in someone's eye, like a miniature "little person."