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 rustig, "rusty," built from rust plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

From Old English roots related to Old Norse slydda, describing a mix of rain and snow.

From Old English hægl ("hail"), an ancient Germanic word for icy precipitation, related to a very old root meaning "pebble" or "cold." The greeting sense comes from a separate but similarly old use of "hail" as a shout of welcome.

From Old French cöe/cue, "tail" — the same idea survives in the sense of a line of people trailing off like a tail.

From Old English forehēafod, from fore- + head — cognate with German Vorhaupt.

From Latin notabilis ("worthy of note"), from notō ("to mark, note").

From Greek théma, "something laid down or proposed," from tithēmi, "to put, place."

A shortened form of "alone."

From Middle English oonly, from Old English ānlīċ ("singular, solitary"), literally built from one + -ly.

Origin unknown. First known use as a verb is 1905, as a noun 1948. Perhaps compare regional slang term wang, whang (“to whack or beat”). Compare Dutch wanken (“to move back and forth; move with the hands”).

From Old French sengle/single, from Latin singulus ("one, individual") — related to simplex, the root of "simple."

From Middle English "nauther," a contraction related to "neither" — by surface analysis simply "not" plus "or."

From Old English starian ("to stare, to be fixed or rigid"), related to the word "stark" — both come from a root meaning stiff or fixed.

From Middle English rime, possibly from Latin rhythmus (from Greek rhythmos, "measured flow"), or from an old Frankish word meaning "number, sequence" — the two influences merged over time, giving the modern "rh-" spelling.

From Middle French narratif, from Latin narrativus, ultimately from narrare, "to narrate".

From French essai, "an attempt" or "a trial" — the writer Montaigne coined the modern literary sense in the late 1500s when he called his own writings "essais," meaning tries or attempts at exploring an idea.

From Spanish and Portuguese, ultimately from the Greek name Georgios — the same root as English "George."

From Greek Georgios, from ge ("earth") plus ergon ("work"). The autopilot sense likely honors George DeBeeson, an early autopilot inventor, and echoes the phrase "let George do it."

A learned borrowing from Ancient Greek kôma, meaning "deep sleep."

From Greek periodos ("a circuit, a recurring interval"), from peri- ("around") + hodos ("way").

From Middle English freken/frekel, ultimately from an Old Norse word for a small spot, related to Old English words meaning "to sprinkle."

From colour plus -ful.

From Latin fīat, meaning "let it be done."

From Old French joli, "merry, cheerful" — its exact deeper origin is disputed, possibly linked to Old Norse jól ("Yule feast").