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 down- plus stairs.

From Latin universum, "all things as a whole," from universus, literally "turned into one" — from unus ("one") plus versus ("turned").

From Latin luna ("moon"), reflecting its crescent shape.

From Latin lunaris ("of the moon"), from luna ("moon"), from a very old Indo-European root meaning "to shine."

A natural exclamation recorded in English since around 1600; similar sounds exist in other languages, including Dutch.

From Late Latin lavatorium, "place for washing," from Latin lavare, "to wash."

From Latin labyrinthus, from Ancient Greek labúrinthos, referring to the mythical maze built by Daedalus to hold the Minotaur.

From Latin nātūrālis, from nātūra, "nature," ultimately from nāscor, "to be born."

From the Ancient Greek letter name zeta; the same root gives English "zed," the British name for the letter Z.

From Greek e psilón, "plain e" — distinguishing it from the diphthong sound written with other letters.

From the Greek letter delta (Δ), whose triangular shape resembles a river delta — itself borrowed from an earlier Phoenician word for "door".

Borrowed from Hokkien 哈 (hâⁿ).

From Old English wiþūtan, literally "against the outside of," formed from with plus out.

From Old French test, "an earthen pot used for assaying metals", ultimately from Latin testum. Chemists once judged the purity of gold or silver by heating it in one of these small pots — "putting it to the test" — and the word later spread to mean checking anything for quality.

The "trick" and "convict" senses are shortened forms of confidence (as in "confidence trick") and convict. The older verb sense meaning "to study closely" comes from Old English cunnan, "to know" — the same root as "can."

Traces through French and Italian back to Arabic zarafa, ultimately from a Persian phrase meaning roughly "fast-walker" or "flute-leg" — it displaced the older English word "camelopard".

From Middle English astronomie, astronemy, from Old French astronomie, equivalent to astro- + -nomy. Displaced native Old English tungolcræft.

From Medieval Latin annexatio, "the act of annexing," from the past participle of Latin annectere.

From French annexe, from Latin annexus, "attached" or "bound to."

From down- plus load; the verb is first recorded around 1962, with the noun form following in the 1970s.

Origin uncertain; first recorded in the 1600s, possibly related to an old word for "core," referring to what's left after coal is burned down.

From Chinese 胡 (hú). Doublet of Wu. For less common variants, see Hu.

A learned borrowing from Ancient Greek gámma, the letter's name.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek bêta, itself from a Phoenician letter name meaning "house" — the same root that gives English "beth."