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 French bouillon, "broth," from bouillir, "to boil," ultimately from Latin bullire, "to bubble."

From French police, from Latin politia, "civil administration," ultimately from Greek polis, "city." A doublet of "policy" and "polity."

From Old English sċiftan, meaning "to divide, arrange, or organise" — the sense narrowed over time to mean simply "to move or change."

Borrowed from German FlaK, a short form of Fliegerabwehrkanone, "aircraft-defense cannon."

From Latin ēliciō, meaning "to draw forth."

From the Hebrew name meaning "no glory," given in the Bible to a child born just as Israel's ark was captured — a name forever tied to a sudden fall from greatness.

Formed from "DOPA" (short for dihydroxyphenylalanine, a related chemical) plus the chemical suffix "-amine."

Traced back through Middle English mudde, likely related to a Middle Dutch word for mud, and further back to a Proto-Germanic root.

Introduced in 1909 by chemist S. P. L. Sørensen; the "H" stands for hydrogen, and the "p" likely abbreviates a word for "power" or "potential" in Sørensen's notation.

Reflects an earlier pronunciation of tea, before the vowel sound in words like "tea" and "sea" shifted in English; also the name of Scotland's longest river.

Borrowed directly from Italian finito, "finished," from Latin finitus.

From Old English orċeard, originally a blend of a word related to "wort" (plant) and "yard" (enclosure) — so literally something like "plant-yard."

From Latin contradictus, past participle of contradicere, literally "to speak against."

From Japanese 鯛 (たい, tai), the name of the sea bream fish.

From Old French espense, from Late Latin expensa, related to Latin expendere — the same root as "expend."

From Old French concevoir, from Latin concipiō, "to take in, devise, conceive."

From "mourn" plus "-ing."

From "en-" plus "vision," from Latin visionem, "a thing seen."

From earlier Matheu, from Old French Mathieu, from Latin Matthaeus, from Ancient Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaîos), from Aramaic מַתַּי (mattay). Compare Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū, literally “gift of the Lord”). Doublet of Mattathias.

From Greek pais/paid-, "child," and philos, "loving," modeled on the Greek word paidophiles.

From Old French acointier, from Late Latin accognitare, related to "cognition" and "know."

A translation of the Hebrew word pesakh, coined by the English Bible translator William Tyndale in his 1530 rendering of Exodus.

From Middle English "moon-shine." The illicit-alcohol sense comes from smugglers and distillers who worked at night, "by the light of the moon," to avoid being caught.

From Latin progredior ("to advance") via French progressif, plus the adjective suffix "-ive."