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 Latin creatio, "a making or producing," from creare, "to create."

From Old English midweġ, "mid-" + "way".

From Latin consultatio, "a deliberation." Morphologically consult + -ation.

From Latin rituālis, itself built from ritus ("rite") plus the adjective ending "-alis."

From Old English specca, "small spot or stain," related to a Germanic word for "spark."

Borrowed from Sanskrit रावण (rāvaṇa).

From Latin plantatio, "a planting," from plantare, "to plant." Its use for a colonial estate comes from the older sense of "establishing a settlement" on new land.

A straightforward compound of "grape" and "vine."

From Old French vigne, from Latin vīnea, related to vīnum, "wine."

From vine + yard, replacing the older Old English wīnġeard ("wine yard").

From Old English roots related to dear (in the sense of "costly"), reflecting how scarcity drives prices up.

From the French exclamation houp-là, roughly "upsy-daisy," first used in English around 1877.

From Anglo-Norman weyver, related to the idea of abandoning a claim — ultimately from the same root as "waif."

From late Middle English conviction, from Anglo-Norman conviction, from Latin convictiō, from convictus, the past participle of convincō (“to convict”). Equivalent to convict + -ion.

From Hindi bandhan, "a tying or binding," ultimately from a Sanskrit root meaning "to bind" — the same root that gives us "bind."

From Old English hopian, "to hope," of uncertain deeper origin but shared with several other Germanic languages.

From "lone" plus "-ly," or possibly a shortened form of "alonely."

An archaic past tense of "speak," common in older English and biblical translations, now surviving mainly in deliberately old-fashioned or poetic writing.

Origin uncertain; possibly linked to "googie," an old slang term for an egg, referencing the ball's unexpected bounce. Popularized by cricketer Bernard Bosanquet around 1900.

Traced through Haitian Creole zonbi and French zombi back to a Bantu language, related to Kongo nzambi ("god") and Kimbundu nzumbi ("ghost") — echoed in Caribbean folklore's "jumbie," a wandering spirit.

From Old English "sǣte" and Old Norse "sæti," both going back to a very old root meaning "to sit."

Borrowed directly from French moi, "me."

From Anglo-Norman conspiracie, from Latin conspiratio, formed from conspire plus -acy.

Borrowed from Korean 임(林) (Im) or Korean 임(任) (Im).