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 Middle French galion or Spanish galeón, an enlarged form related to "galley," describing a bigger version of the earlier oar-and-sail ships.

From Latin compati, "to suffer together with" — com- ("together") plus pati ("to suffer"), the same root as "patient" and "passion."

From Latin vertigo, "a whirling", from vertere, "to turn".

From "field" plus the agent suffix -er; the sporting sense dates to the early 1800s.

Originally the plural of inn used as a verb meaning "to house corn," later extended to mean a turn or spell.

Traced back through Haitian Creole and French to a West African language (likely Fon or Ewe), where a related word meant "spirit" or "deity."

From Latin vindicta, "vengeance," plus the adjective ending -ive.

Italian · 1660

From Italian dado, first recorded in English in the 1660s.

From Old English Mameceaster, combining a Brythonic place-name element (possibly related to a word for a breast-shaped hill) with Old English ceaster ("Roman fort"), from Latin castra ("camp").

From Middle English bering, formed from bear + -ing, originally meaning "carrying" or "producing (fruit)."

From Arabic tamr hindiyy, literally "Indian date," passed through Medieval Latin and Old French into English.

Via Hungarian paprika, ultimately from Latin piper ("pepper") through Serbo-Croatian, tracing back to the same ancient root as the word "pepper."

From Latin recipiens, "receiving," the present participle of recipio, "to take back, receive" — the same root that gives us "recipe" and "receive."

From Latin personalitas, built from persona ("person") plus the suffix "-itas."

From Old French conserver, from Latin conservare, "to keep, preserve" — com- (intensive) plus servare ("to keep watch over").

From "escape" plus the suffix -ee, which marks the person the action happens to or who performs it.

From Old French licoresse, from Late Latin liquiritia, itself a garbled form of Ancient Greek glukúrrhiza, literally "sweet root."

Altered spelling of licorice, influenced by association with the word liquor.

From Old English finugl, ultimately from Latin faeniculum, a diminutive of faenum ("hay").

Traced back through Old English and Old French to Latin cuminum, itself from Greek kúminon, ultimately from an ancient Middle Eastern word for the spice.

From Old French "coriandre," from Latin "coriandrum," borrowed from Greek "koriandron" — its ultimate origin is unclear.

Traces back through Old French and Latin to Ancient Greek kíkhora, the name for the same plant.

From sales + man.

Built from simple with the adjective ending -istic, on the model of words like "realistic."