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 "maraud" plus the agent suffix "-er"; maraud itself traces back through French to a word for roaming in search of plunder.

First recorded as "tanterum"; its earlier origins are unknown.

Borrowed from Portuguese tapioca, from an Old Tupi word describing the starch extraction process from cassava.

From Middle English schakelen, related to the noun shackle, meaning a metal ring or link used as a restraint.

From Old French, ultimately from Arabic matrah, "the place where something is thrown down" — from a Middle Eastern custom of sleeping on cushions laid on the floor.

From Latin pulsus, "beat" or "stroke," from pellere, "to drive or strike."

From Latin dissolutio, "a loosening, breaking up," from dissolvere.

Borrowed from Latin pollen, "fine flour" or "dust," and applied to flower spores by the botanist Carl Linnaeus in the 1700s.

From Italian risotto, built from riso ("rice").

From French moustache, tracing back through Italian and Byzantine Greek to an ancient word for "upper lip."

A shortened form of advertisement.

From Old French comparer, from Latin comparare ("to pair, match"), from compar ("equal to another").

From Latin comparabilis, from comparare ("to compare").

A shortened, spoken form of "overdose".

From Latin omen, meaning "foreboding" or "sign."

From Ancient Greek Sphinx, possibly linked to the verb "to squeeze" or "strangle" (the same root behind sphincter) — though some trace it instead to an Egyptian phrase meaning "living image."

From Middle English a- + fresh — literally "in a fresh way."

From Middle English affrayed, the past participle of a verb meaning "to disturb the peace," ultimately from Old French — the same root that gives us "affray."

From Old English onforan or ætforan, built from a- ("on") plus "fore."

Literally "on foot," from Old English on fot; the figurative "in progress" sense developed later.

From Old English geforthian, "to further or accomplish" — ultimately related to the word "forth."

From Latin affluens, "flowing toward" or "overflowing," from ad- plus fluere, "to flow" — the wealth sense developed from the image of a plentiful flow of goods.

From Old French afliction, from Latin afflictio, "torment," from the verb affligere, "to strike or beat down" — related to "af-" plus "fligere," to strike.

From Medieval Latin affiliatus, "adopted as a son" — from ad- plus filius, "son."