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 jump plus the adjective ending -y.

From Middle English afterwardes, built from "after" plus an adverbial ending.

A compound of "after" + "thought," likely modeled on the earlier word "forethought."

From Middle English after-non — literally "after noon."

From Old English æftan ("behind"), related to "after."

From Latin Africanus, built from Afri, an ancient name for the peoples living near Carthage in what is now Tunisia.

A blend of French velours ("velvet") and crochet ("hook"), reflecting the hook-and-loop design.

From Old French vermine, from Vulgar Latin verminum, a collective term built from Latin vermis ("worm").

A dialect variant of "vermin," which traces back to Latin vermis, "worm." It became strongly associated with rural American English, especially in hunting contexts.

Germanic · 455

From "Vandal", the ancient Germanic tribe blamed for sacking Rome in 455 CE; the tribe's name became a byword for needless destruction from the 1600s onward.

From French vandalisme, coined in 1794 to describe the destruction of art during the French Revolution, itself named after the Vandals.

From French saboteur, the agent noun of saboter, "to sabotage" — related to sabot, a clog.

Borrowed directly from French sabotage, itself from saboter — traditionally linked to sabot, a wooden clog, from the old idea of workers wrecking machinery with their clogs.

From overbear ("to bear down on, dominate") plus the -ing ending.

From Old English ofer eall, "over all" — literally covering everything.

From Old French guile ("deception"), ultimately from a Frankish word for "ruse," related to "wile."

From French matérialisme, built from material + the suffix -ism.

From Latin tangere ("to touch"), via Late Latin tangibilis and Middle French tangible.

From Old English grunnettan, meaning to grunt, ultimately imitative of the sound itself.

From Old English rarian, of imitative origin — the word was likely invented to sound like the noise it describes.

From Old English hnægan, imitating the sound itself.

An imitative (onomatopoeic) word from Old English crācettan, meaning "to croak" — it was formed to mimic the sound itself, much like "crack."

An onomatopoeic word imitating the sound itself.

Imitative of the sound itself.