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 mooch + -er.

From mud + stone.

From mean + -ling.

From mettle + -some.

From millennian + -ism.

From mis- + compute.

From French messin. By surface analysis, Metz + -ine.

Back-formation from mentor. Although mentor comes from Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr), the name of a mythological figure, it was mistakenly analyzed as terminating in the suffix -or (“doer”), leading to a form using the French patientive suffix -ee on the model of pairs such as donor–donee and employer–employee. Attested since at least 1958.

From Middle French naturaliser. By surface analysis, natural + -ize.

From moon + rise.

See Milwaukee. The city in Oregon was named after the one in Wisconsin.

From Middle English nedefully; equivalent to needful + -ly.

From Mexican Spanish mezcal, from Nahuatl or Classical Nahuatl mexcalli (“intoxicating drink made from fermented agave juice”), perhaps from metl (“maguey (agave)”) + ixcalli (“stew”).

From myo- + cardiopathy.

Borrowed from Japanese メンマ (menma), blend of ramen + machiku.

Variant of Moffat.

From mis- + feel.

From more + -some, to follow on from threesome, foursome, etc.

From monkey + -ish. Piecewise doublet of monkeyesque.

From earlier nauseat, from Latin nauseātus (“nauseated”), perfect past participle of nauseō (“to feel sea sick, nauseate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix, of participial origin)), from nausea, from Ancient Greek ναυσία (nausía), from ναῦς (naûs), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂-. By surface analysis, nausea + -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Dialectal variant of mother * Geordie dialect variant of mother. * Ebonics variant of mother.

Blend of mocha + cappuccino.

Uncertain, but probably from muscadel, muscatel, + -ine.

Variant spelling of Navid.