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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Origin uncertain, first recorded in the 1600s, possibly related to a Scandinavian dialect word meaning "fatty" or "flabby."

The publication sense is a clipping of "magazine"; the older British dialect verb sense traces to "Mag," a pet form of the name Margaret, once associated with a talkative woman.

Japanese · 1800

Borrowed from a Japanese title meaning "great lord," once used for the shogun; English speakers adopted it during the 1800s for powerful business figures.

Origin unknown — first recorded around 1912 in baseball slang before it was applied to music a few years later.

From Italian dolce, "sweet" — the same word used in music to mean "played softly and sweetly."

The weapon sense comes from Japanese kama, "sickle." The Hindu philosophical sense is a separate word from Sanskrit, meaning "desire."

From Middle English "Jewesse," itself from Old French — built from "Jew" plus the feminine ending "-ess."

From Old French sauvage ("wild, untamed"), ultimately from Latin silvāticus, "of the woods," from silva, "forest."

First recorded in English from Scots golf/gouff; likely traces further back to a Middle Dutch word for "club."

From Old French soper, related to sope ("soup") — the meal was originally associated with a light soup course. Compare French souper.

Originally carnival slang for a sideshow performer who did shocking stunts, itself from an old dialect word geck meaning "fool" — the meaning shifted over the 20th century from "oddball" to today's more affectionate "enthusiast."

From Bengali কলকাতা (Kolkata); the exact origin of the name is debated.

From the Irish surname Ó Riain, "descendant of Rian," later adopted widely as a first name from the 1970s onward.

Borrowed from French glacier, ultimately from Latin glacies ("ice"); first recorded in English in 1744.

From Old French fagot, "bundle of sticks," of uncertain deeper origin.

From Middle English gentilman, combining "gentle" (in its older sense of "well-born") with "man".

As a lavatory for women, via misspelling of ladies'. Compare gents.

From French ridicule, from Latin rīdiculus (\"laughable\"), from ridere (\"to laugh\").

Borrowed from French palette, ultimately from the same root as "pallet" (a small flat board).

From Middle English bilooghe, formed from "be-" plus "low."

From Latin palatum, "roof of the mouth," possibly of Etruscan origin, reaching English via Old French and Middle English.

Likely a shortened form of "hocus", itself probably tied to "hocus-pocus", the classic magician's phrase.

From Old English holh, "a hollow place," ultimately going back to a very old Germanic root also connected to the word "hole."

From Middle English hurlen, likely imitating the sound of something being flung violently — related to hurry and hurtle.