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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

From Middle English phisik, ultimately from Greek phusike ("natural science"), from phusis ("nature").

From methyl + the chemical suffix -ane.

Coined in New Latin from Latin silex, "hard stone, flint."

From the Greek "Andreas", derived from "andros", meaning "man".

From Latin fulcrum, "bedpost" or "prop," from fulcio, "to support."

From the old past form of the verb "nim" ("to take" or "to seize"); the silent "b" was added later and was never actually pronounced.

From Middle English linke, going back to Old English and Old Norse words for a ring or chain loop, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "bendable."

From Old English help, going back to a Germanic root meaning "to help."

From Old French image, tracing back to Latin imago, meaning "a likeness or copy." Related to the word "imitate."

From Old French veue, the feminine past participle of veoir ("to see"), which is also the ancestor of the modern French word vue.

A back-formation from "editor," reinforced by the French verb éditer.

From Old French fil, meaning "thread," ultimately from Latin filum. The tool sense (metal rasp) comes from a separate, unrelated Old English word, fil.

From Old French papier, going back through Latin papyrus to Greek papyros — the same word that gives us "papyrus," the reed the ancient Egyptians made writing material from.

From "air" plus "-craft" (as in "watercraft").

From Latin granarium, a storeroom for grain, itself built on granum, "grain." It shares a root with the word "garner."

From enlist + -ment.

Coined in 1807 by British chemist Humphry Davy from potash (the ash-derived compound it was first isolated from) plus the chemical suffix -ium.

Coined by the Scottish chemist Thomas Thomson, adapting an earlier name from Latin silex, "flint," by analogy with "carbon."

Coined in French from Greek roots meaning "sharp/acid" and "birth/producer," because early chemists wrongly believed oxygen was essential to forming all acids.

Coined in 1808 by chemist Humphry Davy, from "soda" + the element-naming suffix -ium.

Borrowed from French nitrogène, coined by chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1790 from "nitro-" plus "-gen" ("producing").

From Latin perseverare, "to continue steadfastly," from per- ("thoroughly") + severus ("strict, serious").

From Old French estraier ("to stray"), ultimately from Latin extra ("beyond") plus vagari ("to wander").

From Old French deriver, from Latin derivare, "to draw off (water) from a stream," from de- + rivus, "stream" — the same root as "river" and "rival".