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 Ancient Greek meteoron ("thing high up in the air"), from meta- + aeiro ("to lift, raise"). Originally covered any atmospheric phenomenon, but the everyday sense narrowed to shooting stars.

From stick plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

From Old English "plōh" and Old Norse "plógr", both going back to a shared Germanic root for the farming tool.

From Greek kardamomon, via Latin and Old French.

A compound of "card" (in the old sense of stiff paper) and "board."

Formed by a historical misdivision: Middle English "an ewte" was mistakenly split as "a newt" — the same kind of shift that gave us "a nickname" from "an ekename."

From Old English tusc ("tusk"); the "buttocks" sense is a much later, unrelated slang development, likely a playful shortening.

Coined in French in 1796 by Antoine Destutt de Tracy from idéo- + -logie. Napoleon later twisted the related word "ideologue" into an insult for his political opponents, which is partly why "ideology" can carry a negative tone today.

From Middle English pus (15th c.), a borrowing from Latin pus (“pus”). Widely displaced quitter and atter in this sense.

A straightforward compound of hand and bag. The verb sense is a playful reference to former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, famous for her handbag and her sharp tongue.

From Old English byle/byl, "swelling," related to Dutch buil and German Beule — both meaning "boil" or "swelling."

A clipped form of "token," originally referring to a small gratuity before shifting to its marijuana-related sense.

From Old English deorcnian, built from dark plus the verb-forming suffix -en, on the same pattern as "sadden" or "widen."

From actor Humphrey Bogart, whose on-screen habit of keeping a cigarette dangling from his lips gave rise to 1960s slang for hogging a shared joint instead of passing it along, later broadened to hogging anything.

From Italian maschera, "mask."

From Old English ēaganbrū, a compound of "eye" and "brow" (ridge).

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic coire, literally "cauldron" or "kettle" — the hollow was thought to look like a giant cooking pot scooped out of the rock.

From Old French terreur, from Latin terror, "fright, dread," from terrere, "to frighten."

Clipping of of translingual Corydoras.

A compound of live + stock, "stock" here meaning goods or property kept on a farm.

From Old French immortalite, from Latin immortalitas; immortal plus -ity.

From Old French mortalite, from Latin mortalitas, built from mors, "death" — the same root behind "mortal" and "murder".

From Latin mortalis, from mors ("death").

From Latin immortalis, "not mortal" (im- + mortalis, from mors, "death").