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 morsel, from Latin morsum ("a bite"), from mordere ("to bite") — the same root that gives us "morsel" and "remorse."

From Late Latin figmentum, "something formed or invented," from the same root as "fiction" and "feign."

From Latin penetrare ("to enter deeply into, pierce"), from penes ("within").

From Middle English rote, "custom, habit," seen in the old phrase "bi rote" (by heart) — its deeper origin is uncertain, and despite the tempting resemblance, dictionaries don't actually connect it to "rotary" or "wheel."

From Middle English outcasten, built from "out-" and "cast," meaning literally to throw or cast out.

From Old French pardoner, from Late Latin perdonare ("to give completely, forgive") — per- ("thoroughly") + donare ("to give"), the same root behind "donate."

From Latin fragmentum ("a piece broken off"), from frangere ("to break").

A straightforward English compound of "fund" and "raiser" — someone (or something) that raises funds.

From Latin exclusivus, from excludere, "to shut out."

From Old French resjoir, related to modern French réjouir ("to delight").

From French option, from Latin optio, "choice," from optare, "to choose."

From Old English roots meaning "to pick, peck, or prick," related to Dutch pikken and German picken.

From Latin selectus, "chosen out," from se- ("apart") plus legere ("to gather, choose").

From Latin electus, "chosen," the past participle of eligere, "to pick out."

Formed from elect plus the suffix -ive.

From manager plus the adjective-forming suffix -ial.

From Middle English bacoun, borrowed via Anglo-Norman from an Old Low Frankish word for cured pork, ultimately related to the same Germanic root as the English word "back."

From Old English hatian ("to hate") and hete ("hatred"), both going back to a very old Germanic root for strong negative emotion.

From Middle English scocchen, "to cut," probably from Anglo-Norman escocher, "to notch." Despite the spelling, it is not related to "Scotch" meaning Scottish.

Borrowed from Spanish Texas (also spelled Tejas), from a Caddo word meaning "friend" or "ally", originally used to describe the Caddo people themselves.

Named by Russian settlers after the ancient Greek town of Odessos, thought to have once stood nearby.

From Latin spīra, itself from Greek speîra, meaning "coil" or "twist."

The pitch-unit sense comes from a shortening of "melody"; the name is a diminutive of longer names like Melanie or Melvin.

From Old English ræċċ, an ancestor word for scent hounds, which survived into Middle English as rache before falling out of everyday use.