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 Latin perniciosus ("destructive"), from pernicies ("ruin, death").

Borrowed into Middle English from Middle French refuser, "to refuse."

From Old French embracer, "to clasp in the arms," ultimately from Latin bracchium, "arm" — the same root as brace and bracelet.

From Old French "disner" ("to eat the day's main meal"), from Vulgar Latin roots meaning "to break one's fast".

From Latin fac simile, literally "make similar" — fac ("make") plus simile ("like, similar").

Borrowed directly from Latin ergō, meaning "therefore."

From Latin tenuis ("thin, slight") + -ous.

From dis- + mount, likely modeled on the Old French desmonter.

From Old English papolstān ("pebble-stone"), of uncertain deeper origin.

From Latin professiō, "public declaration," from profitērī, "to profess."

Borrowed from French disposer, ultimately from Latin disponere, "to arrange."

From Latin manū factus, literally "made by hand" — ironic, since the word now usually means made by machine.

From Latin donatio, "a gift," from donare, "to give."

Borrowed from Latin fundus, "bottom, foundation" — the same root as "fundamental" and "fundus."

From French format, ultimately from Latin liber formatus, "a book shaped" a certain way — the same root that gives us "form."

From Old English webb, from a Germanic root meaning "to weave" — the same root that gives us "weave" and "waspish" cousins in other languages.

Named after the physicist Peter Higgs, who in 1964 proposed the mechanism that gives elementary particles mass.

From Latin sōlitūdō, "loneliness", built from sōlus, "alone".

From Old French zede, ultimately from Greek zēta — the same root behind the American name "zee," which developed later by analogy with "bee" and "dee."

From bean (slang for "head") + the diminutive suffix -ie.

From Japanese origami, combining ori ("fold") and kami ("paper").

From Anglo-Norman "disme" ("a tenth, a tithe"), from Latin "decima (pars)", "tenth part".

From Latin delere, "to destroy or wipe out." The computing sense only caught on in the late 1970s.

In use from the 16th century. Borrowed from Latin Claudia.