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 Scots glamour ("magic"), an alteration of Middle English gramere, the ancestor of "grammar" — magic and learning were once closely linked in folk belief.

From Middle English glade, of uncertain origin, possibly related to Old English glæd ("bright, shining").

From Old French covoitier ("to desire"), ultimately linked to the Latin word for greed, cupiditas.

Formed from court plus the suffix -ship, which turns it into a noun describing a state or process.

From Old French couple, from Latin copula meaning "a bond" or "tie" — the same root that gives us "copula" and "coupling."

From counter- ("against") + act.

From Old Northern French cot/cote ("hut"), ultimately from Old Norse kot — the same root that gives German Kate and Swedish kåta.

Borrowed directly from French corvette, a term for a small warship.

From Late Latin corroboratio, "strengthening" — related to "corroborate".

From Old French coronacion, tracing back to Latin corona, "crown" — the same root as "crown" and "corona".

From Middle English "core," meaning the pith or heart of a fruit, ultimately of uncertain origin — possibly related to Old French "cuer" ("heart"), from Latin "cor."

From Latin copulatio, from copulare ("to join, unite").

From Late Latin coordinatio, formed the same way as coordinate — from co- ("together") and ordinare ("to arrange").

From Middle English cumbersum, built from "cumber" ("hindrance, burden") plus the suffix "-some." Related to "encumber" and "incumbent."

From Old English gyrdel, related to gird ("to bind"); the same Germanic root gives German Gürtel ("belt").

Recorded in English since the 1600s, likely from Dutch or French words for a type of trim or braid; the "limp" sense developed separately and is much later.

Borrowed from Hindi ghī, ultimately traced back to Sanskrit ghṛta.

A learned borrowing from Latin gestatio, related to gestare, "to carry" — the same idea as physically carrying a child.

From Latin genuinus ("innate, natural"), related to genus ("birth, origin").

From Old French genterie ("noble people collectively"), from gent ("well-born") plus the suffix -erie.

From French gazette, ultimately from an Italian coin called a gazeta — the small price once charged for an early Venetian news-sheet.

From Middle English gasen; likely related to a Scandinavian root connected to staring or gaping.

From Old French gauge, related to a Frankish word for a measuring rod or pole — the same root that eventually gives us "gallows" (originally a cross-beam or pole).

From Old English gaderian ("to bring together, unite"), from a Germanic root meaning "to unite or keep."