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 shock + -ing.

From Middle English gastly, related to "ghost" and originally meaning "terrifying" or "deathly pale" — the gh spelling crept in later by association with "ghost."

From black and guard, originally referring to the lowest kitchen servants of a great house, who were often stained with soot and grime from their work.

From Old French veritable, ultimately from Latin veritas ("truth").

From Middle English rebuken, from Anglo-Norman rebuker ("to beat back, repel"), ultimately tied to an Old French word for striking or chopping wood.

From Old French lecherie, related to lecher ("lecher"); the whole word family traces to an old verb meaning "to lick."

From Latin resolutus, "released", past participle of resolvere — the same root as "resolve" and "solve".

From Latin inexōrābilis, "relentless" — in- + exōrābilis, "able to be moved by pleading," from exōrāre, "to win over by begging."

Coined around 1912 as "vitamine" by biochemist Casimir Funk, from Latin vita ("life") + amine, since the first such compound found contained an amine group. British scientist Jack Drummond dropped the final "e" in 1920 once it became clear not all vitamins were amines.

From Old French cedule, from Late Latin schedula ("strip of paper"), from Greek skhedē ("papyrus leaf"). The modern "sk"-like pronunciation in American English came later, influenced by the spelling.

From Greek "skeptikos," meaning "thoughtful" or "inquiring," from "skeptesthai," "to consider carefully."

From Old English sċafan, "to scrape or shave," from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to scrape," related to words in Dutch and German with the same core meaning.

From un- + interested.

From Latin enormitas, "irregularity," from enormis, "outside the norm".

From Latin īrōnīa, from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία (eirōneía, "pretended ignorance"), from εἴρων (eírōn, "one who feigns ignorance").

Borrowed from Spanish Navidad. The surname is mostly found in the Philippines.

From Anglo-Norman warant, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to protect" or "to guard," related to "ward."

Spanish · 1869

Borrowed into English by 1869 from Portuguese piranha or Spanish piraña, which trace back to the Old Tupi word pirãîa.

Likely borrowed from Dutch or Low German words meaning "lump" or "heap," related to a wider Germanic root for something curved.

A compound of "water" and "tight," originally describing containers or ships sealed against leaks.

From Latin venereus ("of sexual love"), from Venus, the Roman goddess of love.

From Latin Martius, "of Mars," the Roman god of war after whom the red planet was named.

From Old English thaerof, formed from there plus of.

Traces back through Ancient Greek Górillai, a name reportedly used by the Carthaginian explorer Hanno for a tribe of hairy people he encountered on the West African coast — the word was later borrowed for the ape.