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 English "blandan" or Old Norse "blanda," both meaning "to mix," tracing to a common Germanic root.

Built from drunk plus the suffix -ard, which often marks a person defined by a negative habit (compare "coward," "braggart").

The arrow-case sense comes from Old Dutch by way of Anglo-Norman French; the shaking sense developed separately in Middle English.

From Latin mōtiō ("movement"), from movēre ("to move") — the same root behind move, motor, and motive.

From Latin retrogradus, "moving backward" — from retro ("backward") + gradus ("step").

Built from ballista (a stone-throwing siege engine) plus the -ics ending used for fields of study.

From Middle English rouble, likely related to "rubbish" and ultimately to an Old Norse word for scraping or piling up debris.

Shortened from "caddie," ultimately from French cadet, meaning "chief" or "captain" in an older dialect form.

From Spanish renegado, from Medieval Latin renegatus, "one who has denied [their faith]."

Borrowed directly from Latin silva, "forest, woodland."

From Latin aegis, from Greek αἰγίς, originally the mythological shield of Zeus and Athena, made of goatskin and linked to the Greek word for "goat."

From Old Norse þræll ("slave"), borrowed into Old English as þrǣl.

From Old English īre, ultimately a shortened form of īren ("iron") in an earlier sense; the modern "anger" sense comes via Latin īra through French.

From Old French veincre, going back to Latin vincere, "to conquer" — the same root that gives us "convince" and "invincible."

From Latin annihilare, "to reduce to nothing," from ad- ("to") + nihil ("nothing").

From Latin obliterare, "to blot out, erase," probably from ob- + littera ("letter").

From Old French gesier, ultimately from Latin gigeria ("cooked entrails of poultry").

A compound of "broom" and "stick," referring first to the handle and later to the whole tool.

A shortened form of "gentleman".

Likely from dialectal English "goff," meaning a foolish clown, itself of uncertain deeper origin.

From the earlier form sherris, mistaken for a plural and shortened to sherry. Sherris in turn came from Spanish vino de Xeres ("wine of Xeres"), Xeres being the old spelling of Jerez.

Of uncertain origin, likely a clipping of "doodle" as in "Yankee Doodle Dandy"; first recorded in 1883 New York slang for a fussy, overdressed man.

From Old English into, formed from in plus to.

From German Adler, meaning "eagle."