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 Old English beġeondan, formed from be- and geond ("yonder") — closely related to "yonder."

From Middle English beggere, formed from "beg" plus the agent suffix "-ar/-er" — someone who begs.

From Old English behindan, built from be- plus "hind," an old word for the back part of something.

From Old English bliss, an earlier form of blīþs meaning "joy, gladness," from a West Germanic root also connected to the word blithe.

From Middle English biqueste, formed from be- plus an Old English root meaning "saying" — related to "quoth," not to "quest."

From "balm" plus -y, originally describing air as soft and fragrant as balm; the "crazy" sense developed separately in British slang.

From Anglo-Norman baraigne ("sterile"), probably from a Germanic root related to "bare."

Built on inflate plus the suffix -able.

The musical sense is a clipping of "saxophone"; the older Old English root seax meant "a knife or short blade."

From the early 1600s, originally describing a horse with a "cocked" (upright) tail, like a rooster's; how the word came to mean a mixed drink is still debated, though one theory links it to stimulating "gingered up" drinks.

From Medieval Latin trachea, from Greek trakheia artēria, literally "rough artery" — a reference to the ridged texture of its cartilage rings.

A transparent compound of wind (air) + pipe.

From Middle English golet, via Old French goulet, from Latin gula ("throat").

Traced back through Old French javelot to a Gaulish word for a fork or forked branch — the same distant root gave us "gaffle."

Borrowed from Malay keris, and used in English since around the late 1500s.

Scottish Gaelic · 1602

Origin uncertain; first recorded in English around 1602, popularly linked to Scots and Scottish Gaelic though no clear source word has been confirmed.

From an Eastern Algonquian word, likely Powhatan "tumahák," related to words for "axe" in several other Algonquian languages.

A shortening of "picture."

From Old French gorge, meaning "throat," ultimately from Latin gurges ("whirlpool, gulf"). The "deep ravine" sense developed later, from the image of a river squeezed through a narrow, throat-like passage.

From arm ("to equip with weapons") + the suffix -ed.

From Ancient Greek Eurṓpē, the mythological princess's name — a doublet of "Europe."

From Italian pallone, "large ball," ultimately from the same Germanic root as English "ball."

From the verb "lubricate" plus the suffix "-ant," which marks something that performs an action.

Middle English · 1500

From Middle English wysard, built from wise plus the suffix -ard. It originally meant a wise person or sage, and only picked up its magical sense around the 1500s.