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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Old Norse · 1500

Origin uncertain, first recorded in the mid-1500s; possibly linked to an Old Norse word meaning to chase or drive back and forth.

From Old English "geara," related to the word "year" and literally meaning something like "of years [past]."

From Anglo-Norman heir, from Latin hērēs, meaning the same thing. The silent "h" survives from this French-Latin route into English.

From French pétrole, ultimately from Greek petra ("rock") plus elaion ("oil") — literally "rock oil."

From Old English gewunod, "accustomed," related to the verb wunian, "to dwell, be used to."

From Latin cantare, "to sing," probably through Old French. A doublet of "chant."

From Latin successus, from succedere ("to succeed"), from sub- plus cedere ("to go").

From Middle English frounen, "to frown," originally describing a threatening or lowering appearance, as of storm clouds.

A simple compound of "snow" and "man."

Borrowed directly from Latin hernia, meaning a protruding organ.

From Middle English happenen, built from hap ("chance, occurrence") plus the verb-forming suffix -en.

From Middle English graspen, related to "grab" and ultimately to a very old root meaning "to seize".

From Old French jus, ultimately from Latin ius meaning "broth" or "sauce" — the same root that gives us the word jus in cooking.

From Old Norse gestr, merging with an Old English word, both from a very old root shared with "host" and "hospitality."

From Middle English gessen, likely of Scandinavian origin, related to Old Norse words for "to get" or "to seize" — the idea of grabbing at an answer.

Variation of light (in the sense of lacking weight, substance, etc.)

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus ("a running, a course"), from currere ("to run") — the same root behind "current" and "cursor."

Originally the same word as "course", it split off in spelling during the 1700s after developing the meaning "ordinary" and then "rough" or "unrefined".

From Old English hās, related to Old Norse forms with the same meaning.

From Old French pale, from Latin pallidus ("pale, pallid"). The noun sense meaning "boundary" comes from a separate root, Latin palus ("stake"), referring to a fence of stakes marking a territory's limits — the origin of the phrase "beyond the pale."

Abbreviation of disrespect.

From early childhood speech — one of the simplest sounds a baby can make — related to "dad" and "dada."

A compound of pea + nut, likely reshaping an earlier word (pinda) borrowed via West African languages.

From Old Norse agi, "terror, dread", from Proto-Germanic *agaz.