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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Coined in 1976 by biologist Richard Dawkins, shortened from "mimeme" (built on Greek roots for "imitation") to echo the word "gene." The internet sense developed decades later.

From Old French crocefis, ultimately from Latin crucifixus, "fixed to a cross."

From Latin crucifixio, from crucifixus ("fixed to a cross").

From Old French crucefier, from Latin crucifigo, "to fix to a cross."

From Latin mediānus, "of the middle," from medius ("middle").

From Latin fluens, "flowing," the present participle of fluere ("to flow").

Traced back to Arabic ʕawariyya, "damaged goods," by way of Italian avaria and French avarie — originally a shipping term for cargo-loss costs shared among merchants, later generalized to any calculated "middle" figure.

From Middle English mening, built from mean plus the noun-forming suffix -ing.

From Middle English stutten, stoten ("to stutter"), related to Dutch stotteren.

From Old English stamerian, related to German stammeln and a distant cousin of the word "stumble."

From Old French creissant, "growing", from Latin crescens, present participle of crescere, "to grow" — a doublet of "croissant". The shape refers to the moon in its waxing phase.

From Middle English falteren, of uncertain origin, possibly related to a Norse word meaning "to stagger" or "hesitate."

From Middle English waveren, related to Old English wafian ("to wave"), sharing a root with the word "wave" itself.

Borrowed from Latin haesitare ("to stick fast, to hesitate"), an intensive form of haerēre ("to stick, cling").

From French céleri, ultimately from Ancient Greek selinon — the same root as the herb name "parsley" shares in part.

From Middle English grenes, simply the plural of green used to mean edible leafy vegetables.

Middle French · 1540

Borrowed from Middle French qualification in the 1540s, built on the verb "qualify" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ation."

From Greek plēthōra ("fullness, satiety"), from plēthō ("to be full").

From Latin imperialis ("of the empire or emperor"), from imperium ("command, empire").

Borrowed from the Russian pet form of Tatiana.

From Old English stēorbord, meaning "steering side" — ancient ships were steered using an oar mounted on the right side, which is why that side became known as starboard.

From French dessert, literally "what is served after clearing the table" — from desservir, "to clear away", the opposite of servir, "to serve".

From Old French comandeor, from comander ("to command").

A compound of "micro-" (small) and "wave," referring to the short electromagnetic waves the oven uses to heat food.