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 Latin bulbus, "bulb, onion," from Ancient Greek bolbos, a round-stemmed plant.

From Late Latin attractivus, from attrahere ("to draw toward") — the adjective form of attract.

From Latin attrahere, "to draw toward," from ad- ("to") plus trahere ("to draw, pull").

From Latin attractio, from attrahere ("to draw toward") — the noun form of attract.

From Middle English acros, originally a-croiz — "in the form of a cross" — from Anglo-Norman croiz ("cross").

From French rouge, "red," ultimately from Latin rubeus.

From Old English wīpian, "to wipe or cleanse," from a Proto-Germanic root related to twisting or winding motion.

From Middle English rubben, of uncertain origin, likely from a Germanic root related to scraping or rubbing.

Old English · 1600

First recorded around 1600, likely from an old English word meaning "to crush," possibly influenced by an imitative sound.

From Old English wealcan, originally meaning "to roll" or "to toss about," which gradually narrowed to mean moving on foot.

From color plus -ful.

From Latin marinus ("of the sea"), from mare ("sea") — the same root behind "maritime" and "submarine."

From Old French vacation, from Latin vacatio ("freedom from duty"), from vacare ("to be free, to be empty").

A straightforward compound of finger and nail, going back to Old English forms with the same meaning.

From Old English beorcan ("to bark"), an ancient Germanic word related to sounds of growling or droning; the tree-covering sense is a separate, unrelated word borrowed from Old Norse.

Borrowed from French observatoire, built on the same root as observe.

From Latin obesus, "having eaten one's way to fatness" — from ob- ("away") + edere ("to eat").

From Middle English trampen ("to walk heavily"), from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch trampen ("to stamp"), related to "trample."

From "pig" plus the diminutive ending "-let", first recorded in the mid-1800s.

From Old English tāde, of uncertain older origin, related to similar words in Scots and Scandinavian languages.

From Latin cancer, "crab", echoing the Greek karkinos, applied to tumours because their swollen veins were thought to resemble a crab's legs.

From Old French latis, from latte ("a lath, thin strip of wood").

From Old Norse rót, going back to a Proto-Germanic word for "root" that is also the ancestor of "wort" and a distant relative of Latin radix (source of "radish" and "radical").

From Old English sæd, "seed, that which is sown," from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to sow" — the same root behind "sow" itself.