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 Latin Saturnus, the Roman god of agriculture, possibly rooted in an Etruscan word and later linked by folk association to the Latin verb serere, "to sow."

From Old English spǣċ/sprǣċ ("speech, discourse, language"), related to German Sprache. Comes from the same root as the verb "speak."

From Old French figure, from Latin figura, "shape, form," ultimately from a root meaning "to mold or shape" — the same root behind "dough."

From Old English roots meaning "to snort" — the same family of sound-words that gave us "sneeze" and "snort."

From Old English bielcan, likely imitating the sound itself, related to Low German words meaning "to bark" or "shout."

From an older English word fnēosan ("to sneeze, snort") — the initial "fn-" sound gradually shifted to "sn-" in English, the same change seen in "snore" and "snort."

From Old French fol, "mad," ultimately from Latin follis, "bellows" or "bag of air" — the idea being a fool is all wind, no substance.

From Old French vernis, tracing back through Medieval Latin to the Greek name for a town in North Africa (Berenice) once linked to resin production.

Built from Ancient Greek seismos, "shaking, earthquake," plus the adjective ending -ic.

From Old English stigweard, combining stig ("hall" or "enclosure") with weard ("guardian"); the same root as "ward."

From Old English lamb, an ancient Germanic word shared across most northern European languages.

The clown sense is named after Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837), the celebrated English clown; the kangaroo sense likely comes from an Australian Aboriginal word.

From a Middle English word for kitten, most likely borrowed through Anglo-Norman French from a diminutive form of "cat" — the same pattern that gave French its word chaton.

From Old French copie ("transcript, abundance"), from Latin copia ("abundance"), since making many copies produces an abundance of a text.

From Old French confortable, from conforter ("to comfort").

From Old French confort, ultimately from Late Latin confortare ("to strengthen greatly"). It gradually replaced the older Old English word frofor.

From Old English cuppe and copp, both meaning "cup" or "vessel," ultimately from Latin cuppa/cupa ("tub, cask"). A distant relative of the word "coupe."

From Middle French crédit, from Latin creditum, "a loan", from credere, "to believe" — the underlying idea is trust that a debt will be repaid.

A compound of "eye" + "glasses."

From Old English cracian, meaning "to make a sudden loud noise" — the "break" and "joke" senses both grew from this basic idea of a sharp snap.

From Middle English duete, ultimately from "due" — something owed — plus the noun-forming ending "-ty."

From Middle English crakou, crawcow.

A shortened form of rehabilitation.

From Old French beauté, going back to a Latin form built on bellus ("beautiful, fine"). It came into English through Anglo-Norman French after the Norman Conquest and gradually replaced the native Old English word for the same idea.