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 Greek hypothesis ("a placing under, a basis for argument"), from hypotithēmi ("to put forward, suggest").

Borrowed directly from Latin fungus, meaning "mushroom."

Borrowed directly from Latin focus ("hearth, fireplace"). The astronomer Kepler introduced the scientific sense in the 1600s, using it for the points where light converges in an ellipse — the same idea a fireplace evokes as a gathering point.

From Greek diagnosis, from diagignoskein ("to discern"), from dia- ("through") + gignoskein ("to know").

From Old French arguer, from Latin arguere, "to make clear, prove, accuse."

From Cantonese 噫 (ji², interjection).

From knock plus the agent-forming ending -er.

From Old English etere, from eat plus the agent suffix -er.

From Latin curriculum, "a course" (literally a running or race course), from currere, "to run" — the same root as "current" and "courier."

From Greek kriterion, "a means of judging," from krites, "judge."

From Middle English *trukere (“one who disappoints, a deceiver”), from Middle English trukien (“to fail, run out, disappoint”), equivalent to truck (“to fail”) + -er (agent noun suffix). Compare trooker.

From Old Italian tarantola, named after Taranto in southern Italy, where a species of wolf spider was once believed — wrongly — to cause a frenzied urge to dance when it bit someone.

From Old French glener, "to gather," ultimately from Late Latin glennare, "to make a collection."

From Old English lust ("desire, pleasure"), a Germanic word related to Dutch lust and German Lust, ultimately from a root meaning simply "pleasure."

From Italian lasagna, possibly tracing back to a Latin word for a cooking pot, via Ancient Greek.

Named after Alfredo Di Lelio, the Roman restaurateur who first served fettuccine Alfredo in the early twentieth century.

Borrowed through Portuguese and Dutch from an Arabic word for "season," related to a verb meaning "to mark" or "brand."

Ancient Greek · 1840

Coined in the 1840s, probably by meteorologist Henry Piddington, from an Ancient Greek root related to kuklos ("circle") or kukloo ("to encircle") — the same family as "cycle" and "wheel."

The word likely traces back to an Arabic term for a violent storm, itself possibly rooted in a Chinese phrase for "big wind," and was reshaped in English under the influence of an old Greek word for whirlwind.

Borrowed from Spanish huracán, which came from a Taíno word for a powerful storm god.

From Latin nebula, meaning "little cloud" or "mist."

From Late Latin systema, "an organized whole," from Ancient Greek sustema, from sunistemi, "to combine, organize" (syn-, "together," plus histemi, "to stand").

From crap plus -er; popularly linked to plumber Thomas Crapper, though the slang word predates and is only coincidentally similar to his name.

From Middle English "killer/kyller," formed from "kill" + the agent suffix "-er."