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 Old English leogere ("liar, false witness"), from the same root as the verb "lie."

From Portuguese cobra, ultimately from Latin colubra, "female snake."

From the Greek myth of Python, the serpent of Delphi slain by Apollo. The programming language was actually named by its creator, Guido van Rossum, after the British comedy group Monty Python, not the snake.

From Old French cocodril, ultimately from Ancient Greek krokódeilos; the modern spelling was later reshaped to match the Latin and Greek forms more closely.

Origin uncertain; likely traced through Middle Low German to a name given to a monkey character in medieval fables, possibly ultimately from an Arabic word for baboon.

From Old French babouin, probably from a word meaning "grimace" or "muzzle" — the animal was likely named for its expressive face.

From Old French/Anglo-Norman scorpion, ultimately from Latin scorpio, from Ancient Greek skorpios.

From Latin desertor, "one who abandons," from deserere (see "desert").

From Old French lionesse, formed from lion plus the feminine suffix -ess.

From Ancient Greek statikos, "causing to stand," from the same root as stasis and stand.

From French dynamique, itself from Ancient Greek dunamikós ("powerful"), rooted in dúnamis ("power, ability").

Origin uncertain; may be related to Germanic words for "something flat," describing the flag's shape, or to old words for fluttering.

A compound of wart and hog, describing the wart-like facial growths on the animal.

From Greek hippopótamos, literally "river horse" (híppos "horse" + potamós "river").

From Portuguese manguço, borrowed from a Marathi word for the animal that traces back to an old Dravidian root. The English spelling was later reshaped by folk association with "goose" — the plural is properly "mongooses," not "mongeese."

From Old French lion, from Latin leo, from Greek leōn, of unclear ultimate origin. It replaced the native Old English word leo.

From Greek leopardos, itself a blend of leon, "lion," and pardos, "male panther" — early naturalists believed the leopard was a cross between the two.

Passed into English through French "chacal", ultimately from Persian "šaġâl", itself from an ancient Sanskrit word for the animal.

From Old French hiene, from Latin hyaena, ultimately from Greek hyaina — related to hys, meaning "pig," possibly from a resemblance in the animal's bristled back.

Borrowed from Hindi चीता (cītā), ultimately from Sanskrit citra ("spotted, multicolored"), a reference to the animal's coat.

From Portuguese/Spanish flamengo/flamenco, ultimately linked to a word meaning "Flemish" — likely because of a perceived link between a ruddy complexion and the Flemish people, though the exact path is debated.

Borrowed from Afrikaans wildebeest, literally "wild ox" or "wild beast."

Borrowed via French from Arabic ghazāl.

Traced back through Old French and Medieval Latin to a Byzantine Greek word of uncertain origin, originally describing a fierce mythical horned beast before it settled on the real animal.