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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Shortened form of "junior."

Used since the 1600s as a shortened form of "mistress" (the same root that gave us "Miss" and "Mrs."). It became widely popular in 1971 after the launch of Ms. magazine, as a way to address women without publicising their marital status.

Built from neighbor plus -hood, replacing an older form, neighborred.

From Old French venue, "a coming," the feminine form of the verb venir ("to come").

From Greek apokalypsis, "an uncovering or revelation," from apo- ("away") plus kalyptein ("to cover"). Its "end of the world" sense comes from the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse.

From Old English seolh (the animal) and, separately, from Old French seel/Latin sigillum (the stamp sense) — two originally distinct words that now share the same spelling.

From excite + -ed.

From Old French estore/estor, ultimately from Latin instaurare, meaning "to renew" or "to set up".

From unite + -ed.

From Latin residens, present participle of resideo, "to remain behind, dwell".

From Late Latin populatio ("a people, multitude"), formed from Latin populus.

From Old French supporter, from Latin supportare.

From Old French surprendre ("to overtake"), from sur- ("over") + prendre ("to take"), from Latin prehendere ("to grasp, seize").

Probably a variant of fadge, "to fit together," which likely inspired the sense of "faking a fit" or "making do."

From Middle English wrist, from Old English wrist, from Proto-West Germanic *wristu, from Proto-Germanic *wristuz (compare Old Frisian wrist, Low German Wrist, German Rist (“back of hand, instep, withers”), Swedish vrist), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist, turn”). More at writhe.

Simply the past participle of the verb cook, extended over time into an adjective for anything "done" — whether that's food, a person's prospects, or someone's sobriety.

From Latin contactus, "a touching," from contingere, "to touch on all sides."

A compound of sun and glasses.

From Old English fefer and Old French fievre, both from Latin febris, from a very old root meaning "to burn."

From Old English sceamu, going back to a common Germanic root for the feeling of shame.

From Old English sceadu, "shade, shadow, darkness" — a doublet of the word shadow.

From Old French serieux, from Medieval Latin sēriōsus, based on Latin sērius, "grave, earnest."

Likely from fuzz + -y, though some sources argue fuzz actually came from fuzzy instead.

From Old English tam ("domesticated"), from a Germanic root meaning "brought into the home."