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 Latin seditio, "a going apart" or "discord," from sed- ("apart") + itio ("a going") — the idea of a faction breaking away from the whole.

From Old Norse veikr ("weak, pliant"), related to Old English wāc — the same root that gives us "week" and "wick."

From Latin labia, the plural of labium, meaning "lip."

From Old English sum þing, literally "some thing".

From Old English horn, from a Proto-Germanic root ultimately going back to a very old Indo-European word for "head" or "horn" — the same root that gives Latin cornu and Greek keras. The car/telephone sense comes from the horn-shaped mouthpieces of early sound equipment.

From Old French sentir, "to feel, perceive, smell," ultimately from Latin sentire, "to feel" — the same root behind "sense."

From horse plus radish — "horse" here was likely used the way it often is in old plant and animal names, to mean "coarse" or "large," not literally connected to horses.

Borrowed directly from the Japanese word 山葵 (wasabi).

From Latin atrocitas, from atrox ("cruel, terrible").

From Old French outrage, "excess," ultimately from Latin ultra ("beyond"). It was later reinterpreted by English speakers as out- + rage, which is why it's pronounced that way today — even though the two words aren't actually related.

From Latin receptio ("act of receiving"), from recipio ("receive").

From Old English lippa, going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to hang loosely or droop."

From Old Dutch holt lant, meaning "wood land." A popular but incorrect folk theory instead links it to "hollow land," referring to the country's famously low-lying terrain.

From Old English land, an ancient Germanic word found in nearly identical form across Dutch, German, and the Scandinavian languages.

From Old English seoc ("ill"), from a Germanic root meaning to be troubled or afflicted. The slang sense meaning "excellent" is a much later flip, similar to how "wicked" and "terrific" also came to mean something positive.

From Middle English aslepe, formed from a- ("in, on") plus sleep.

Formed from "Croat" (a member of the Croatian people) plus the suffix "-ian," or from "Croatia" plus "-an."

Named after the German region of Saxony, once a major centre of fine wool production.

From Old French craisse/craisse ("fatness"), ultimately from Latin crassus, "thick" or "fat" — the same root that gives English the word crass.

From Latin prōdigium, "omen, portent, prophetic sign."

From Latin progenies, from progigno, "to beget, produce."

From Latin hybrida, originally meaning the offspring of a domestic pig and a wild boar — a word for "mixed-breed" animal that later broadened to cover anything of mixed origin.

Borrowed from German Hesse.

From Old English ofspring, formed from off- plus spring, in the sense of something that "springs from" a parent.