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

Borrowed from Japanese ED(エンディング) (endingu), from English ending.

From Old English rāp, part of a large Germanic family of words for cord or strap, related to Dutch reep and German Reif.

From Middle English folishnesse, follissnesse, equivalent to foolish + -ness.

From Old English folgere, built from "follow" plus the agent suffix "-er."

Origin uncertain; one popular theory links it to "gardyloo," a warning shouted in old Edinburgh before emptying chamber pots from windows, itself possibly from French gardez l'eau ("watch out for the water").

From Latin dēfunctus, past participle of dēfungor ("to finish, discharge, be done with").

From French harpechord, "harp string," via New Latin harpichordium, combining harpa ("harp") and chorda ("string").

From Old Norse gabb, "jest, mockery," inherited via Middle English gab.

The food sense comes from Tamil kaṟi via French, first appearing in English cookbooks in the 1300s-1700s. The "curry favor" sense comes from an unrelated Middle English word meaning to groom or dress down a horse.

Portuguese · 1580

Borrowed via Portuguese manga from a South Indian word combining terms for "mango tree" and "unripe fruit." First recorded in English for the fruit in the 1580s.

Originally just a spelling variant of "flower" — flour was seen as the "flower," or finest part, of ground grain. The two words split apart in spelling around the early 1800s.

From Late Latin locālis, "belonging to a place", ultimately from Latin locus, "a place".

From Old French label/lambel, "a strip of cloth or ribbon," ultimately from a Germanic word for a flap or rag — the same root that gives English "lap" and "lapel."

The origin is debated, but it likely comes from "truckle," itself linked to a Greek word for a wheel — early "trucks" were small wheels or rollers before the word came to mean the vehicle.

Borrowed from Italian scenario, from scena ("scene") — ultimately from Greek skēnē, meaning "stage."

From Middle French methode, from Latin methodus, from Greek méthodos, literally "a following after" (meta- + hodos, "way, path").

From Latin āerius, from Ancient Greek ἀήρ, "air," plus the ending -ial.

From Middle English batteren, a repeated-action form of "bat" — literally "to keep hitting."

From Biblical Hebrew "sarah," meaning "lady" or "princess."

Borrowed directly from Latin corpus, "body." A doublet of "corpse" and "corps".

From French beau, "handsome" or "fine," going back to Latin bellus ("beautiful"). English borrowed it whole in the 17th century for a fashionable man, and it later softened into the word for a boyfriend or suitor.

From French bureau, originally meaning the coarse woolen cloth used to cover writing desks, later coming to mean the desk itself and then the office.

From New Latin bactērium, from the Ancient Greek word for "small staff," referring to the rod-like shape common among these organisms.

From Old French tronc, meaning a tree trunk, alms box, or headless body, going back to Latin truncus, "cut off, maimed."