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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Origin uncertain, possibly imitating the sharp, choppy sound of the guitar, or from a term coined by a Jamaican musician.

From row + -ing.

Borrowed from an Algonquian language of southern New England, from a word meaning roughly "he who urinates/squirts", referring to the animal's spray.

A blend of jackass and rabbit, referring to the animal's long, donkey-like ears.

From Old French faon ("young animal"), from Latin fetus ("offspring") — a doublet of "fetus".

Borrowed from Spanish coyote, itself from a Nahuatl (Aztec) word.

From Old English lēaf, an ancient Germanic word for the green parts of a plant, related to German Laub ("foliage").

From mania plus the suffix -ic, echoing Greek manikos.

From Old English lǣst, related to "less," both ultimately from a Germanic word meaning "smallest."

From Old English laessa, "smaller, fewer," a very old Germanic word unrelated to "little" or "least" in origin.

From Old English lȳtel, from a Proto-Germanic root related to "to bow down" or "to bend low" — the same root that gives us the word lout.

From German nix, a colloquial shortening of nichts ("nothing").

From Middle English fixen, ultimately from Old English fyxen, "female fox" — the fox/vixen -f/v- swap comes from southern English dialects.

From Latin māter, "mother" — the same root that gives us "maternal," "material," and "matrix."

Borrowed directly from Latin pater, "father."

From Latin rex ("king"). As a name for short-furred rabbits and cats it entered English around 1920, after the "castorrex" rabbit breed.

From Middle English erthe-worm, joining earth and worm.

From Middle English eri ("fearful"), ultimately from an Old English word meaning "cowardly" — the sense shifted over time from feeling afraid to being the kind of thing that inspires fear.

From Middle English meke, likely borrowed from Old Norse mjúkr ("soft, meek").

From "carburet," an old chemistry term meaning to enrich with carbon, plus the agent suffix -or. First used for engines around 1896.

The generational sense was coined in 1991 by American authors William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book Generations; the older adjective sense comes from Latin mīllennium plus the suffix -al.

From Late Latin annualis, based on Latin annus, "year."

An abbreviation — "role-playing game" in the gaming sense, and (via Russian military terminology) "rocket-propelled grenade" in the weapons sense.

From Old English draca, a shortened form of andraca ("duck-king"), going back to a Proto-Germanic word meaning "duck leader." The dragon sense is a separate, later borrowing from the same root that gave English "dragon."