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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The name traces to Hebrew Hannah ("grace"); the coin sense comes separately from Hindi ann.

Borrowed from Scots fou, a dialect relative of "full."

From Latin incidens, present participle of incidere, "to happen, befall," from in- + cadere, "to fall."

Probably derived from the Irish surname Houlihan, first used this way in 1890s London.

From Old French troubler, "to disturb or stir up," ultimately from a Latin root meaning a disorderly crowd — the same idea of things being "stirred up" survives in the modern sense.

From Latin taedium ("weariness") via Old French tedieus.

From Old Northern French warderobe, made of garder ("to keep, guard") plus robe ("garment") — literally a place to keep your robes safe.

Originally meant a board or table for displaying valuable dishware — literally a "cup board." Over time the pronunciation shifted and the word came to mean an enclosed storage cabinet instead of an open display shelf.

From Old French presser, "to press," from Latin pressare, based on premere, "to press."

From Old French bloc, ultimately from a Germanic word for a tree trunk or log.

Borrowed from French le ("the"), popularised in English partly through the internet meme phrase "le sigh."

From Ancient Greek hippókampos ("horse" + "sea-monster"), named for its curled seahorse-like shape.

Borrowed via Hindi from Sanskrit pandita, meaning "scholar" or "learned man."

From Latin superfluus, "overflowing", from super ("over, above") + fluere ("to flow") — the same root as "fluid" and "mellifluous".

From French coup ("blow, strike"), from Late Latin colpus — the same root that gives "cope" in one of its senses.

From French première ("first").

From green plus house — literally, a house for growing green produce.

A 19th-century variant of "conch," the word for a large spiral seashell, used figuratively for the nose or head.

From "dine" plus the agent suffix "-er".

The Go sense is borrowed from the Japanese word 劫 (kō); the "knock out" verb comes from the abbreviation K.O.

From Old French question, from Latin quaestio, "a seeking, inquiry," from quaerere, "to seek, ask."

From Old English inn, "a dwelling or lodging."

Old French · 1730

First recorded in 1730; origin uncertain, possibly from Cornish or an old French word for a club.

A learned borrowing from Latin fētus ("offspring"); a doublet of fawn.