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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

Borrowed from French surface, itself built from sur- ("over") + face ("face") — literally the "over-face" of something.

From Old French consolacion, from Latin consolatio, built on consolari, "to comfort" — con- plus solari, "to soothe."

Borrowed from Malay gong, likely imitative of the sound itself.

Borrowed from French le jade, ultimately from Spanish piedra de ijada ("flank stone"), because the stone was once believed to cure pain in the side.

The verb comes from Old English fealdan, an ancient Germanic word for bending something over on itself; the noun meaning "sheep pen" is a separate, older English word that happens to share the same spelling.

From Old Norse reisa, "to erect" or "cause to rise" — the causative partner of the verb "rise".

Borrowed from Middle French ceder, from Latin cedere ("to yield, withdraw") — the same root behind "concede," "precede," and "recede."

Borrowed directly from Latin dominus, "master" — a doublet of "don," "dom," and "domine."

From Old English weddung ("betrothal, pledge"), built from wed plus the -ing ending.

A back-formation from masturbation, itself traced to Latin masturbari, whose deeper origin is uncertain.

From Latin dissentire, "to disagree," from dis- + sentire ("to feel, think").

From Old English blindnes, built from blind plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

From Old French enlargier, from en- + large.

From Old English bathian, from the same ancient root as "bath."

From Old French soudier ("mercenary"), ultimately from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin — a soldier was originally "one who is paid" for military service.

From Latin vulgaris, "of the common people," from vulgus, "the crowd, the masses."

From Middle English smutten ("to defile, blacken"), related to German Schmutz ("dirt, filth").

From Old English fylþu, related to the word foul.

From Old Norse steina, "to colour or paint," related to steinn, meaning stone.

From Old Norse drit, meaning "excrement" — the word originally referred to dung before shifting to its modern sense of "soil" or "filth."

From Latin cataracta, "floodgate, waterfall," from Ancient Greek katarraktes, "rushing down" — the eye condition sense developed from the idea of a clouded, "waterfall-like" veil over vision.

From Old French chevalerous, from chevalier ("knight, horseman") — ultimately from the same root as "cavalry."

From Old English ears, a very old Germanic word for the buttocks — related to German Arsch and Dutch aars.

Unknown (14th century). Perhaps abbreviated from Gilbert, the name of the cat in the medieval fables of Reynard the Fox, Romaunt of the Rose, and so on.