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 Old English full, from Proto-Germanic *fullaz, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "full" — related to the English word "plenty."

From Old English æsce, going back to a very old Germanic and Indo-European root connected to fire, burning, and dryness.

From Old French flame/flambe, both going back to Latin flamma, "flame," from a very old Indo-European root meaning "to shine or gleam."

From Old English smoca, "smoke," related to Dutch and German words for smoke from a fire.

Origin uncertain, but probably linked to old North Germanic words for a squall or drifting spray, possibly related to a separate older English "fog" meaning tall marsh grass.

From Old English stan, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to stiffen" — related to "stain" and "stein."

From Old English sand, from an ancient Germanic root meaning the same, related to German Sand and Dutch zand.

From Old English dūst, "dried earth reduced to powder," tracing back to a very old root meaning "to smoke" or "raise a haze" — the same root behind "dusk."

Old English · 1975

From Old English flowan ("to flow"). The psychological sense of total, effortless focus was coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1975.

From Old English plegian, "to play, exercise," related to Old English plega meaning both "game" and, historically, "battle" or "quick movement."

The counting sense traces to Latin computāre ("to calculate") via Old French; the noble title comes separately from Latin comes ("companion, count").

From Old English flotian ("to float"), from a Germanic root related to flow and fleet.

From Old French pousser, from Latin pulsare ("to beat or strike"), the same root that gives us "pulse" and "pulsate."

From Old English pullian, "to pull, draw, tug," of uncertain deeper origin.

First recorded in Scottish English, from a Middle English word for a pointed stick or stake.

From Old English sucan, from Proto-Germanic sukana, ultimately imitative of the sucking sound.

From Greek stomakhos, "throat, gullet," ultimately from stoma, "mouth."

From Latin vomitare, "to vomit repeatedly," from vomere, "to be sick."

From Old English fær, meaning "sudden danger or calamity," related to Dutch gevaar and German Gefahr ("danger").

From Old English libban/lifian, "to live, be alive," a very old Germanic word related to leben in German and leven in Dutch.

From Anglo-Norman rivere, ultimately from Latin riparius ("of a riverbank"), from ripa ("bank"). It is unrelated to Latin rivus ("stream"), despite the resemblance — that root instead gives us "rival."

From Old English rūh, "rough, hairy," from a Proto-Germanic root; related to German rau and Dutch ruig.

From Old English smēþe, "smooth," of unknown deeper origin.

From Old English eald/ald ("aged, ancient"), going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "grown, tall" — the same deep root that gives us "elder" and "eld".