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 flirt + the noun-forming suffix -ation.

Germanic · 1500

From 16th-century English words meaning "to flick" or "to mock," of uncertain and likely onomatopoeic Germanic origin.

From Old English fleot ("ship, vessel"), related to fleotan ("to float"). The adjective sense ("swift") grew out of the same root, via the idea of gliding smoothly.

From Old Norse flekkr ("spot"), related to German Fleck.

From Middle English flawe, probably from Old Norse flaga ("a flake" or "slab of stone").

From Middle English flappe, "a slap or blow," related to the idea of something loose striking against something else.

From Old English/Old Norse roots meaning a loose or torn-off piece, ultimately from a very old word for something flat; the "unreliable person" sense is a modern slang extension.

A variant of "flappy," from "flap" in the sense "to hang loosely."

From French fixation, ultimately from Latin figere, "to fasten" — the same root as "fix" and "fixture."

From Scots firth, related to Old Norse fjǫrðr; a doublet of the word fjord.

From Middle English, formed from first plus -ly.

From Old French finance, originally meaning "payment" or "settlement of a debt," from finer ("to pay a ransom/settle a debt"), ultimately from Latin finis ("end").

From Middle English finally, fynaly, fynally, fynaliche, fynalliche, equivalent to final + -ly.

Borrowed from French filtration, ultimately from the same root as filter.

Borrowed from German Fest, "feast, festival," ultimately from Latin festum — the same root as "feast" and "festival."

From French fertilisation, built on fertile + the ending -ization.

From Latin fermentatio, built on fermentum, "leaven" — the substance that makes dough or drink "work."

A shortened form of Middle English "defenden" ("to defend"), from Latin defendo.

From Middle English felowe, ultimately from Old Norse félagi, literally "one who lays down money together (with others)" — the same root that gives us "fee" and "lay."

From French feinte, "a dummy move," from feindre, "to feign" — ultimately from Latin fingere.

From Old French feindre, "to pretend," from Latin fingere, "to shape or invent" — a relative of fiction and figment.

From "fear" plus the suffix "-less", meaning "without."

From New Latin fauna, named after Fauna, the Roman goddess of animals and fertility.

From French fatalité, built from "fatal" plus "-ity"; the video-game sense comes from the Mortal Kombat series.