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

From Old English on līfe, literally "in life" — the same phrase that gives us the shortened word "life" fused into one.

From Old English gelic ("alike, similar"), related to German gleich.

From Old English alihtan, a combination of a- ("off, away") and lihtan ("to make light, to descend"), related to the word "light".

From Latin alibi, meaning "elsewhere" — the legal defence literally claims the accused was somewhere else.

From Latin alias, meaning "at another time" or "otherwise" — the same root as "alien" and "else".

From Old English ealu, going back to a Proto-Germanic word for beer, distantly related to words for "bitter."

Middle English · 1520

From bumble ("to buzz") + bee, first recorded in the 1520s, replacing the earlier Middle English "humbul-be."

From Middle English nonnery, built from nun plus the suffix -ery, which denotes a place or institution.

From Old English nunne, from Late Latin nonna, originally a respectful term of address for an older person, echoing baby-talk words like "nana".

From Old English munuc, from Late Latin monachus, from Greek monakhos, "solitary," from monos, "alone."

From Ancient Greek duás, "a pair," from dúo, "two."

From Latin intervallum, literally "space between two palisades," from inter- ("between") plus vallum ("wall" or "rampart").

A respelling of cord, altered under the influence of Latin chorda ("string of a lyre"), from Ancient Greek khordḗ.

Probably a dialect form of "shame".

From Old Italian all'arme!, literally "to arms!" — a battle cry that passed through French into English as a single word.

A fusion of the phrase "of kin," meaning "related by family," which gradually contracted into the single word "akin."

From Middle English "on char," meaning "on the turn," from Old English cierr ("a turn"). Over time "on char" fused into the single word "ajar."

From air plus the adjective-forming suffix -y, originally meaning simply "full of air" before picking up figurative senses of lightness and vagueness.

Coined in English in 1557 from Latin rhythmus, from Greek rhythmos ("measured flow, movement"), from rheo ("to flow").

From "aim" plus the suffix "-less," meaning "without."

From Old French duracion, ultimately from Latin durare, "to last."

From Middle English aimen, borrowed from Old French esmer, "to estimate," ultimately from Latin aestimare, "to estimate."

From Old French aidier, aider, from Latin adiutare, "to assist repeatedly."

Formed from "a-" plus "head" — originally a nautical term meaning "beyond the front of a ship," later used generally to mean "in front."