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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A minced oath, a softened stand-in for "God."

From French fleur ("flower"), an ellipsis of fleur-de-lis.

Borrowed from Spanish flor ("flower"), related to English "flower" and "flour."

An onomatopoeic word — it simply imitates the sound cattle make.

From Old French erbier, "meadow, herb garden", related to Latin herba, "grass, herb" — its spelling was later reshaped by the unrelated Latin word arbor, "tree".

From Old French sequelle, from Latin sequēla, from sequī, "to follow."

Borrowed from French soleil ("sun").

From French mot, "word" — a doublet of "motto"; the vehicle-testing sense comes from the acronym MOT (Ministry of Transport), unrelated to the French word.

From Old English moþþe, "destructive insect larva", from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "worm".

From Latin locusta ("locust; also lobster"), via Anglo-Norman and Middle English locuste. A doublet of "langouste." The tree sense arose because carob pods resemble the insect's body shape.

From Old English betera, going back to a Germanic root meaning "good," the same ancestor that gives us "best" and, more distantly, "battle."

From Latin legenda, "things to be read," originally referring to accounts of saints' lives read aloud in church.

From Greek ékleipsis, "a forsaking" or "vanishing," from ekleípō — ek- ("out") plus leípō ("to leave behind") — describing how the sun or moon seems to disappear.

From Latin duo, "two," borrowed via French and Italian.

Borrowed from Japanese kimono, literally "thing worn" — from kiru ("to wear") and mono ("thing").

Borrowed from Japanese obi, "belt/sash."

From Old French corde, from Latin chorda, from Greek khorde ("gut-string"), the same root that gives us "chord."

Borrowed into English from French ogre, ultimately from Latin Orcus, the Roman god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths.

From Old Norse vǫndr, "switch" or "twig," from a Proto-Germanic root meaning a slender rod — related distantly to the idea of something that bends or twists.

Portuguese · 1915

From Portuguese tanque ("reservoir, container"), itself borrowed from an Indian language word for a cistern. The armoured-vehicle sense began in 1915 as a deliberate cover story — early prototypes were called "tanks" so they would be mistaken for water carriers.

Originally imitative of a short, sharp sound; the computing sense comes from the ping network utility, itself named for sonar pings.

From Old French voide, "empty," ultimately from Latin vacuus ("empty") — related to "vacuum" and "vacant."

Borrowed from Middle French nul, from Latin nullus, "none at all".

From Latin nīl, itself a shortening of nihil ("nothing") — the same root that gives us nihilism.