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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A compound of breast and feed.

From an old French word for the same move, sombresault, which traces back through Occitan sobresalt to Latin suprā ("over") + saltus ("jump") — literally "an over-jump."

From relation plus the suffix -ship, which traces back to Old English -scipe, meaning "state" or "condition."

From Old French reverence, from Latin reverentia, from revereor, "to stand in awe of".

Likely traces back to an Old English word for dew falling, related to an old sense of "drowsing" or settling gently.

From Old French solempne, from Latin sollemnis ("customary, ceremonial, sacred"), from sollus ("whole, entire").

From French arrangement, itself from arranger ("to arrange").

Borrowed from Italian grande, meaning "large" or "great," related to English "grand."

A clipped form of "doctor."

Borrowed directly from French oui, meaning "yes."

Borrowed from French Vincent, from Latin Vincentius, from vincēns (“conquering”), from the verb vincō.

Coined in 1906 by the Austrian doctor Clemens von Pirquet, combining Greek allos ("other") and ergon ("work, reaction") to describe the immune system reacting abnormally.

Formed from "weak" plus the diminutive suffix "-ling," as in "duckling" or "hireling."

From Old French vanité, from Latin vanitas — built on vanus, "empty" or "vain." The bathroom-furniture sense is a much later, purely English development, from the dressing tables once used for personal grooming.

From Old French vaslet, related to "vassal" — originally meaning a young manservant.

From Old French enticier, "to stir up or excite," ultimately traced to a Latin root meaning "to set on fire."

A learned borrowing from Latin radiatus, the past participle of radiare, "to give off rays", from radius, "spoke, ray".

From Old French "jalousie," built from "jealous" plus the noun-forming suffix "-y."

From Old French promocion, from Late Latin prōmōtiō, from Latin prōmoveō ("to move forward").

From Middle English swiftly, swyftely, swiftliche, from Old English swiftlīċe (“swiftly”), equivalent to swift + -ly.

A variant of the older word grutch, from Old French grouchier meaning to grumble or murmur, likely imitative in origin.

Formed from "sportsman" plus "-ship," the same suffix seen in "leadership."

A shortened form of "administration" or "administrator."

From Latin forum, "public marketplace" — the same word gave us the modern sense of an open space for debate.