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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Borrowed directly from Latin appendix, "something attached," from appendere, "to hang onto."

From Latin antenna, originally the name for a ship's sail-yard (the pole a sail hangs from) — the insect feeler and the radio device were both later compared to that slender pole.

A folk word, first attested in c. 1600s, apparently from a Norfolk (East Anglian) dialect, of uncertain origin: * perhaps from some Low German word (compare dümpeln (“bobbing up and down”)), * or from the rare dialectal adjective dump (“lump, of the consistency of dough”) (first attested in the late 1800s), + -ling (diminutive suffix), although dumpling is recorded much earlier. However, compare dumpy (“short and stout”).

From Persian and ultimately Turkic ordu, "army camp" — the language grew out of the speech used in military camps in Mughal-era India. It shares this root with the English word "horde."

From the Tamil word தமிழ் (tamiḻ), the name Tamil speakers use for their own language.

From French Sioux, a shortening of an Ojibwe word meaning roughly "little snakes", historically used by outsiders rather than the Sioux themselves.

Scottish Anglicized form of Seonag ( =Joan) and an American variant of Shauna.

From Persian panjabi, from panjab, "Punjab," plus an adjective-forming suffix.

From a Dutch rendering of an Algonquian name for the Mohawk people; the Mohawk's own name for themselves is Kanienʼkehá:ka.

From the Malayalam words for "mountain" and "region," describing the hilly area where it is spoken.

Borrowed from Luo, as an ethnic self-designation.

From the Hopi word hopi, meaning roughly "well-mannered" or "civilized". The name replaced an older, offensive exonym once used by outsiders.

From the Gujarati word ગુજરાતી (gujrātī), itself derived from the name Gujarat.

From Latin lumbaris, based on lumbus, "loin."

Formed from Bengal plus the suffix -i, matching the pattern seen in the Bengali word for the language itself.

Origin uncertain; the "useless stored objects" sense came first, and is possibly linked to Lombard pawnbrokers, whose shops were once cluttered storerooms of pledged goods.

From Old English timber, related to a very old Indo-European root meaning "to build" — the same root that eventually gives us words like "domestic" and "dome" in other languages.

From "Bavaria" plus the suffix "-an," meaning "belonging to."

From Middle English mok/muk, borrowed from Old Norse myki ("dung"), related to the idea of something slick or slippery.

Borrowed via French nutrition from Latin nutritio, related to nutrire, "to nourish".

The rowing sense is from Old English rōwan; the "line" and "argument" senses developed separately in Middle English.

From Old French robeor, built on "rob" plus the agent suffix "-er."

From Old English þēof, an ancient Germanic word for someone who steals.

From Middle English podynge, originally referring to a stuffed sausage, from Old French boudin, "blood sausage," from Latin botellus, "small intestine, sausage."