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 porc, ultimately from Latin porcus ("pig, hog"). The political sense comes from the older term "pork barrel".

From Latin senātor, from senex, "old" — an "elder" in the original Roman sense.

From Old French voiage, ultimately from Latin viaticum ("travel money/provisions") — a doublet of viaticum.

Ancient Greek · 1978

From Latin Charon, from Ancient Greek Kharon. The moon was named in 1978 by astronomer James Christy, partly after the mythological ferryman and partly after his wife Charlene, nicknamed "Char."

A straightforward compound of ash and tray.

A compound of "stock" (supply) and "pile" (a heap).

From Old English heord ("herd, flock, keeping"), from a Germanic root related to German Herde and Danish hjord.

Origin uncertain; possibly linked to an Old English word for an outer covering or garment.

From Middle English words for a dirty, slovenly, or messy person — usually a woman or maidservant — long before the word narrowed to its modern sexual meaning.

From Latin pastoralis, "of a shepherd," from pastor ("shepherd") — the same root as pastor.

US slang blending "hometown" and "boy," originally used by people from the same town living away from it, later widely adopted in African American and Latino communities.

From Latin coniectura, "a guess", from conicere, "to throw together" — from con- + iacere ("to throw"), the same root as "eject" and "project".

From Old Northern French galun, ultimately traced back to a Vulgar Latin word for a vessel or container.

From Italian cappuccino, originally referring to the brown-hooded habit of Capuchin friars, whose color resembled the drink.

Named after the city of Fez in Morocco, once a source of the crimson dye used to color the hat.

The sea-creature sense traces back through French and Italian to Latin orca ("a kind of whale") — the same root that gives us "orca." The fantasy-monster sense was popularized separately by J.R.R. Tolkien.

From Old English fenn ("marsh, mud"), from a very old Indo-European root meaning "bog" or "mire."

From Old English fengtōþ, "molar tooth," literally "catch-tooth," related to fōn, "to seize or catch."

From Old Northern French walop ("gallop"), which is also the root of the modern word "gallop" — the two are historical twins.

From Old French infamie, from Latin īnfāmia — in- ("not") + fāma ("fame, renown").

From Old English sacc, ultimately from Latin saccus, "large bag," which itself came from Greek and possibly a Semitic source. The "fire someone" sense grew from 19th-century slang about a dismissed worker packing his tools into a sack.

From Old English scutel ("dish, platter"), ultimately from Latin scutella; the "sink a ship" and "scurry" senses developed separately in Middle English.

From Arabic 'arab, the name Arabs use for themselves.

Coined in 1903 from Greek klōn, "twig" — the idea being a new plant grown from a cutting. The figurative sense (a copy of a person or thing) only caught on in the 1970s.