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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A clipped, informal shortening of "pizza."

From shoe + lace.

From Old French las, ultimately from Latin laqueus, "snare" or "noose" — a doublet of "lasso."

A direct borrowing of the French word for "high," most familiar from phrases like haute couture and haute cuisine.

Ultimately from Old French escheat ("property that reverts to the state") — the sense shifted over time from an official legal term to the idea of unfairly taking something that isn't rightfully yours.

From French consultant, present participle of consulter, "to consult."

Ancient Greek · 1790

From Ancient Greek phobos, "fear," first used as an independent word around 1790 after appearing in compound words like "hydrophobia."

From Old English pūca, "goblin, demon," of uncertain deeper origin.

From Old Norse kjǫlr, referring to a ship's spine-like base timber.

From Old English cyta, the name for the bird itself. The toy sense came later, named after the bird because a flying kite hovers and glides through the air in a similar way.

From German Kraut, meaning "cabbage", a nod to the German fondness for sauerkraut. The nickname for Germans became widespread during the First and Second World Wars.

Named after Vlad III, known as Vlad Dracula, whose father belonged to the Order of the Dragon (Romanian "dracul").

Borrowed from Italian Giulietta, diminutive of Giulia, from Latin Iūlia, feminine of Iūlius, a Roman family name. Cognate with French Juliette.

From the tragic hero of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, whose name has come to stand for any passionate male lover.

From Old English gōdlīċ, formed from "good" plus the adjective suffix "-ly."

From thunder + storm.

From Latin obliquus, "slanting, sideways, indirect."

Formed from Yugoslavia plus the adjective-forming suffix -an.

Formed from "sports" plus "man."

From the classic fairy tale about a mistreated girl who is transformed and eventually marries a prince — the name blends "cinder" (ash, from her household chores) with a French-style diminutive ending.

From Old French Alis/Alice, from Old High German Adalheid ("noble" + "kind/type") — a doublet of the name Adelaide.

From Old English sǣmann, equivalent to sea + man.

From French nautique, from Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, "of sailors," from naus, "ship."

From "sweat" (in the sense of extracting labor from someone unfairly) plus "shop."