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 — possibly an altered form of Middle English "prange," related to words for gripping or pinching pain, and possibly connected to "prong."

From Middle English paynful, peinful, peynful, paynefull, peynefull, equivalent to pain + -ful. Compare Danish pinefuld (“painful”).

From Latin pagina, meaning "a page of a book."

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on". Unknown, and unclear all senses have common etymology. For sense "ends of a digit", cf. Low German or West Flemish pad (“sole of the foot”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to pass”), which would make it related to both path and find.

From Latin pactum, "something agreed upon," from the verb pacisci, "to agree."

From Old French pervertir, from Latin pervertere ("to turn about, overturn, corrupt"), from per- ("thoroughly") + vertere ("to turn").

A clipped, informal form of "pervert."

From Middle English "pak/pakke," related to Middle Dutch "pak" and German "Pack," all going back to a shared Germanic root meaning "bundle."

From Old French fade ("weak, dull"), probably going back to a Latin word meaning "insipid" or "tasteless."

From Latin orificium, literally "the making of a mouth," combining os ("mouth") and facere ("to make").

From Biblical Hebrew omer, meaning "sheaf" (of grain).

From Ancient Greek Ὀλυμπικός (Olumpikós), from Ὄλυμπος (Ólumpos, “Olympus”).

From Old French offense, from Latin offensa, "a striking against" — from the same root as offend.

From Latin odor, "smell".

From Greek oide, "song", by way of Late Latin oda and French ode.

From "odd" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly".

From Latin occasio, "opportunity, occurrence", from occidere, "to fall down, happen" — from ob- plus cadere ("to fall").

From Latin obtinere, "to gain, hold, possess", from ob- plus tenere ("to hold") — the same root as "tenant" and "contain".

From Latin obstructio, "a blocking, hindrance", from obstruere — see "obstruct".

From tumble + -er. The drinking-glass sense comes from early versions of the glass having a rounded or pointed base, so it would "tumble" over if set down before being emptied — forcing the drinker to finish it in one go.

From Old French pile, from Latin pīla, "pillar" or "pier" — the heaped-up and driven-post senses both trace back to this idea of a solid mass.

Borrowed directly from Latin vagina, meaning "sheath" — the same word used for a sword's scabbard.

From Hebrew and Yiddish, ultimately from Romanian horă and Turkish hora, tracing back to Greek khoros ("dance") — the same root as "choir" and "chorus".

Borrowed from Latin "trans," meaning "across" or "on the other side of."