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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 Old Norse stakkr, meaning a haystack or heap; the computing sense is a much later, figurative extension of the same "pile" idea.

From Middle English squirten, of uncertain origin, probably imitative of the sound.

From Old French escuier ("shield-bearer"), from Latin scutum, meaning "shield." A shortened form of esquire.

From Massachusett squàw ("woman"), part of the Algonquian language family. A later claim that the word originally meant something vulgar has been thoroughly debunked by linguists.

From an earlier form "sprit", from Old English spryttan, related to sprouting and sprinkling.

From British dialect, ultimately from Old Norse sprækr meaning "nimble" or "lively", related to the word "spark."

From Old French esprit ("spirit"), from Latin spiritus — a doublet of "spirit". The computer-graphics sense was coined at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.

Origin uncertain; possibly linked to the French word "esprit" (lively wit) or to older words meaning cattle raid or plunder.

Possibly from Middle French espraindre ("to wring, press out"), from Latin exprimere — the same root as "express".

Borrowed around 1525 from Middle Dutch splissen, related to splitten, "to split" — oddly, the word shifted in meaning from "fraying apart" to "joining together" during the rope-making process.

From Latin splendidus, from splendēre, "to shine," plus the adjective suffix -idus.

From Old English spīr, meaning a sharp point, tip, or plant stalk.

From Old Norse spík, "spike" or "sprig," part of a wider Germanic family of words for pointed sticks and nails.

From Latin spatium, "space," plus the adjective ending -al.

From Middle English and Scots spate, "a flood," likely related to "spatter" and ultimately to the idea of water spitting or splashing forth.

From Middle English sparkle, built from "spark" plus a diminutive ending, literally "a little spark."

From Old English spær, meaning "sparing" or "scant," from a Germanic root related to frugality.

From Old English spann, going back to a Germanic root meaning "to stretch."

From Latin sōlitārius, "alone" — the same root that gives us "solitaire".

From Middle English snowte, snout, snute, from Old English *snūt, *snūte or Middle Low German snûte, from Proto-West Germanic *snūt, from Proto-Germanic *snūtaz. Compare Saterland Frisian Snuute (“snout”), West Frisian snút (“snout”), Dutch snuit or snoet (“snout; cute face”), German Low German Snuut (“snout”), German Schnauze, Schnute (“snout”). Doublet of snoot.

From Old Norse snípa (a type of bird). The verb sense came later, from British soldiers in India who called a skilled hunter of the elusive snipe bird a "sniper."

Origin uncertain, possibly linked to a dialect word meaning "sharp" or "cutting."

From Old English snīcan ("to creep"), related to the word "snake" — both describe low, quiet movement.

From Middle English snarlen, a frequentative form of snaren ("to trap, entangle"), related to snare.