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 the Old French verb retaillier, "to cut off a piece" — reflecting the idea of selling goods in smaller portions rather than wholesale.

From Middle English ferme, "rent" or "provisions" — originally referred to a fixed rent or the food owed to a landlord, only later coming to mean the land itself.

From Old French transporter, from Latin trans- ("across") plus portare ("to carry").

From Anglo-Norman carier, from Latin carrus ("wagon") — the same root as "car" and "cargo."

From heat + -ing.

From Old French vision, from Latin visio, "a seeing," from videre, "to see."

From Medieval Latin virtualis, "having power or effect," from Latin virtus ("power, virtue").

From the Latin verb videre ("to see"), with the ending "-o" added by analogy with "audio" — video is literally "I see" in Latin.

Formed from manage plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

From Old French code, "system of law," ultimately from Latin codex, an early word for a wax-covered wooden writing tablet — and later, a book.

From Old French procés, "journey, course," from Latin prōcessus, "advance, progress," from prōcēdō, "to go forward."

From Old French front, from Latin frōns, frontem ("forehead, front").

From Old English sċylfe, related to words in Dutch and German for a haystack or ledge.

From Middle English propre, via Anglo-Norman and Old French propre, from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" or "particular to oneself."

From Latin perspectivus, "of sight," from perspicere ("to look through"), from per- ("through") + specere ("to look at").

From Latin participans, present participle of participare, "to take part."

From Dutch kaketoe, borrowed from Malay kakaktua; the English spelling was later shaped by the unrelated word "cock."

From French perroquet, likely a diminutive form of the name Pierre, related to "parrot."

From "hit," used as a slang term for murder, plus "man."

From Middle English subtil, borrowed via Old French from Latin subtilis ("fine, delicate, precise"), from sub- ("under") plus tela ("web, weave"). The modern spelling with a "b" comes from imitating the Latin, though the letter was never actually pronounced.

From an older word for the fly-opening on a pair of breeches, ultimately from Latin braca ("trousers") — the shape of the punctuation mark was compared to that opening.

From Old English beorg ("hill, mound, burial place"), related to the modern word "berg" as in "iceberg."

First recorded in the 1500s from French perrot, likely a nickname derived from the name Pierre.

From Greek Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloníki), from Ancient Greek Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloníkē), named for Thessalonike daughter of Philip II, half-sister of Alexander the Great, and wife of Cassander of Macedonia, from Θεσσᾰλός (Thessălós, “Thessalian”) + νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”), possibly named for her birth on the anniversary of the Battle of Crocus Field.