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 French resortir, "to fall back, have recourse".

From Old English fiþelere, related to fiddle plus -er. The crab is named for the way it holds its oversized claw, resembling someone playing a fiddle.

From Old English *fiþele, of Germanic origin, possibly connected to Late Latin vitula (source of viola) — scholars disagree on the exact link.

From Latin argumentum plus -ive, via Old French argumentatif.

Formed from collect plus the suffix -ible, meaning "able to be".

Most historians think it's onomatopoeic, imitating the sound of thumping the airship's fabric, first recorded in England around 1916.

A back-formation from sleazy, which originally described thin, low-quality cloth.

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Faoláin (“descendant of Faolán”), a hypocoristic form of faol (“wolf”). Doublet of Phelan.

From Medieval Latin nasalis, built from nasus, "nose," plus the adjective ending "-alis."

From Hermaphroditus, the mythical child of Hermes and Aphrodite who merged bodies with a water nymph and gained both male and female characteristics.

From Old French lance, from Latin lancea, a word for a light spear.

From Hindi/Sanskrit गुरु (guru), meaning "venerable" or "weighty" — the same root gives English the word "grave" (serious).

From Latin expulsiō, from expellere, "to drive out".

From Medieval Latin primarius/primarium ("prayer book"), which in early modern England came to also mean a basic schoolbook for teaching reading — the ancestor of today's "introductory guide" sense.

From Middle French mousquet, via Italian moschetto ("little fly"), originally the name for a small hawk before being applied to firearms named after birds of prey.

From French "baïonnette," named after Bayonne, the French town where the weapon is said to have first been made.

From Middle French confiner, from Latin confīnis, "bordering" — from con- + fīnis ("boundary, end").

From the Spanish city of Toledo, long famed for the quality of its swords.

Formed by squashing together "ne'er" (never) and "a" — so "nary a" originally just meant "never a."

From Old English glowan, "to glow," from an ancient Germanic root meaning to shine or be radiant — possibly related to "glass."

A compound of tattle and tale.

From smell plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

From Middle English spense, borrowed from Old French despense ("storeroom"), ultimately from Latin dispendere ("to weigh out" or "dispense").

Borrowed via Russian and Aleut from a Nenets word for an animal-skin coat, originally used by Arctic peoples for extreme cold.