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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An onomatopoeic word — it imitates the sound itself.

From Old English bæcere ("baker"), formed from bake plus the agent suffix -er.

Formed from bag plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

From Old English blǣdre, related to words for "blister," describing something that swells with fluid or air.

From Old English "blǣċan," meaning "to whiten," ultimately from a root meaning "to shine" — related to words like "bleak" and "bleak"-adjacent "pale."

Named after Louis Braille (1809-1852), the French educator who invented the system as a teenager.

Borrowed from the Irish name Brian, of uncertain deeper origin, possibly related to a word for "high" or "noble."

Named after Brie, the region of northern France where the cheese originated.

Formed from "jam" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

From Samsung + -y.

From Old English clǣman ("to smear, daub"); related to clam in the sense of something sticky.

From Dan (“diminutive of Daniel and Danielle”) + -y, from Hebrew דן.

From Latin alienatus, past participle of alienare ("to estrange"), from alienus ("belonging to another").

A 19th-century coinage combining waste with the pejorative suffix -rel, as in "scoundrel."

From Middle French mathematicien, ultimately from Greek mathēmatikós, "fond of learning."

From Old French porc-espin, literally "spine pig" — from Latin porcus ("pig") and spinus ("spine").

Borrowed from Ancient Greek "mnēmonikós" ("of memory"), from "mnḗmōn" ("mindful"), ultimately from a root meaning "to think" or "to remember."

From Scots bairn, from Old English bearn ("child"), a doublet of barn (the storage building, from an unrelated sense of "storing grain").

From Old English ræst, related to German Rast and Dutch rust, ultimately going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to rest, calm down."

From Hebrew מִיכַל (mikhál, “Michal”).

From Middle English disapeeren, built from dis- + appear.

From Old Norse saga ("story, tale"), related to Old English sagu — both trace back to a root meaning "to say."

A compound of stair and way.

Borrowed from Spanish silo, of uncertain earlier origin.