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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Borrowed from Latin genus ("birth, origin, kind"), from the same root that gives us gender and genre.

From Latin classis, originally referring to a division of Roman citizens called up for military service, later generalised to mean "a group or category."

From Old French plaintif, "complaining" — the same root that gives us "plaintive," making them etymological twins.

From Old French defendant, the present participle of defendre, from Latin dēfendere.

From Old French tort, "wrong," ultimately from Latin tortus, "twisted" — the same root gives us "torture" and "distort."

A shortened, casual form of "dinosaur."

Short for "Music Television," launched as a channel in 1981.

From Late Middle English nik ("notch"), origin otherwise unclear; the slang meanings for stealing, arresting, and police stations developed later in British English.

A shortening of "polymer" — chemists coined "mer" to name the single repeating unit that, strung together many times, forms the whole polymer.

From Peru + -v- + -ian, or from Latin Peruvia.

From New Latin tentaculum, from Latin tentare ("to feel, try").

From motor + cycle, tracing back to the Motorcyclette built in France in 1897.

A 19th-century scientific coinage from "larynx" plus the medical suffix "-itis," meaning "inflammation."

From Old French melodie, from Latin melodia, from Greek melōidia ("singing"), built from melos ("tune") and aoide ("song").

From Latin Neapolis, from Greek "néa pólis" meaning "new city" — the name given when Greek settlers founded the town.

From Tibet + the adjective ending -an.

A clipped form of bicycle, first recorded in the 1880s.

Borrowed from French bicycle, from "bi-" ("two") plus "cycle" ("wheel," from Greek kuklos). First recorded in French in 1847 and in English by 1868.

From Old French bevrage, based on a verb meaning "to drink," ultimately from Latin bibere ("to drink") — the same root that gives us "imbibe."

The bird sense comes from Old English hrōc, an old imitative word for the bird's harsh call; the "cheat" sense grew from the bird's reputation for thieving, and the chess piece comes from a separate, unrelated word for a fortified tower.

From Old English bisceop, from Latin episcopus ("overseer"), from Greek episkopos ("one who watches over"), from epi- ("over") + skopos ("watcher"). The same Greek root gives us words like "scope" and "telescope".

A shortened form of "graphic formula," first used in this sense in the late 1870s.

From Old French sphere, from Late Latin sphēra, from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, "ball, globe").

From Old English line ("rope, row, series"), itself from a Germanic root connected to flax and linen — the oldest sense was literally "cord" or "thread", from which "row" and "mark" later developed.