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 homosexual + -ity, modeled on the German Homosexualität, coined in the late 19th century.

An acronym of "absent without official leave", originally US military usage.

From regulate plus the suffix -ion.

From Latin centurio, from centum ("a hundred") — a commander of a "century" of roughly a hundred soldiers.

From Old French hostel, from Latin hospitale — a doublet of "hotel" and "hospital," all from the same root meaning "hospitable."

From Middle English snacchen ("to snap, seize"), related to snack.

From Middle Dutch grabben, "to seize or snatch", tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to gather" or "to seize".

A learned borrowing directly from Latin uterus ("womb").

From Latin uterinus, from uterus ("womb").

Origin uncertain, possibly from a Romani word meaning "to stink."

From Old French expert, from Latin expertus, "tried, proven," the past participle of experiri ("to try") — related to "experience."

From Latin expandere, "to spread out," from ex- ("out") plus pandere ("to spread"). A distant relative of the word "spawn."

From Latin descriptio, "a copying down, a sketch," from describere (see "describe").

From Latin describere, "to copy down or sketch out" — from de- ("down, off") + scribere ("to write"), the same root that gives us "scribe."

From Latin descriptivus, "giving a full account," from describere (see "describe").

From Old English ǣfre, probably built from ā ("always") plus an element related to feorh ("life").

From Latin anus, meaning "ring," describing the shape of the opening — related to words like "annular" and "anal."

Middle English · 1900

A variant of "arsehole", from Middle English ers + hole; the insult sense developed in the 20th century.

From Old English efn ("level, equal"), from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz — related to German eben and Dutch even.

From Latin aequalis, "even, level, equal," from aequus ("level, fair").

From urine + -ary.

From Latin ūrīnālis, "relating to urine"; the plumbing-fixture sense dates only to the 1850s.

From Latin ūrīna, ultimately from a very old Indo-European root related to water and liquid.

From "appeal" plus "-ing."