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 reef plus -er; the jacket and clothing sense comes from sailors who reefed sails, while the marijuana sense arose independently in 20th-century slang.

From Old English hreol, related to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning \"to weave or beat.\"

From Old English rec, \"smoke,\" related to German Rauch.

From Old Norse rif, \"rib, reef,\" the same root that gives us rib.

From Old English hreoh, \"rough, wild, stormy,\" related to raw.

From Old French redresser, \"to set upright again,\" from re- plus dresser (\"to arrange, stand up\").

From French recruter, related to recrue, "fresh growth" or "reinforcement."

From Old French recovrer, from Latin recuperare — the same root as recuperate.

From Old French reconter, "to tell again."

From Old French recommender, from Latin re- plus commendare ("to entrust, commend"), itself from com- ("together, thoroughly") and mandare ("to commit, hand over").

From "recite" plus the suffix -al, which turns a verb into a noun naming the act or result of doing it.

From recent plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

First recorded in 1535, from Latin recantare ("to sing back, to revoke"), from re- plus canto ("to sing").

From Old English rēopan/rīpan ("to reap"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning to cut or harvest, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European word for "to snatch."

Built from re- ("again") and act, echoing the Latin reagere ("to act back").

From Old English rǣċan ("to reach, to stretch out"), a very old Germanic verb related to Dutch reiken and German reichen.

From Old French rasour, from raser ("to scrape, to shave") — the same root as "raze."

From Old French raser ("to shave, to graze, to demolish"), from Vulgar Latin roots meaning "to scrape or shave" — the same family that gave English "razor" and "erase."

From Middle English raven, "to rave or talk like a madman," from Old French raver — related to rove.

From French rochet, "bobbin, spindle," ultimately from Italian rocchetto, "spool."

From French rallier, from Old French ralier, made up of re- ("again") and allier ("to ally") — literally "to bind together again".

From Old English regniġ, simply "rain" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y".

Formed from "raid" plus the agent-noun suffix "-er."

Old English · 1800

From the Scots word raid, going back to an Old English word for "a ride" or "expedition on horseback" — the same root as "road." The modern sense was revived by Walter Scott in the 19th century.