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 "blue" + "bell," describing the flower's shape and colour.

Modern Latin, "of the fingers," from the German folk name Fingerhut ("thimble") for the foxglove flower.

From Old English dæges ēage, literally "day's eye," because the flower closes its petals at night and opens again at dawn.

Spanish · 1791

Named in 1791 after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, by the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles.

From Latin columbina herba, "dove-like plant" — the flower's shape was thought to resemble a cluster of doves.

From Latin chrȳsanthemum, from Greek khrūsánthemon, literally \"golden flower\".

Named after the Moravian botanist Joseph Kamel (Latinized as "Camellus").

From Greek anemone, built from anemos ("wind") — hence the old nickname "windflower."

From Late Latin ovalis, "egg-shaped," from ovum, "egg."

From Latin arena, "sand" — the sand-covered floor of Roman amphitheatres where gladiators fought.

From Old English westerne, formed from west plus the adjective ending -ern, seen also in "northern" and "eastern."

From Old English gieldan, meaning "to pay" — the sense of "producing a result" and "giving way" both developed from this original idea of paying or giving something over.

From Latin maximus ("greatest") plus the English verb-forming suffix -ize.

From Latin mysterium, from Ancient Greek mysterion ("a secret rite"), from a root meaning "to initiate."

From re- + use.

From mystic + -ism, ultimately from Ancient Greek mystikos ("secret, mystic").

From Latin noxius, "hurtful," from noxa, "harm."

From Middle English clerli, clerely, clerelych, cleerliche, clerliche. By surface analysis, clear + (adverbial) -ly.

Built from "kitten" plus the affectionate "-y" ending. The money-pool sense comes from a separate, unrelated card-game term for the shared pot players contribute to.

An unstressed variant of "master," in use since around the 15th century.

From "fun" plus the adjective suffix "-y," first recorded in the 1700s.

From fundamental + -ly.

Borrowed from Japanese 成田 (Narita).

From Old French establir, from Latin stabilire, "to make stable" — from stabilis, "firm, steady."