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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An acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," coined by physicist Gordon Gould in 1957.

From Old English screawa ("shrew"), ultimately from a root meaning "thin" or "small."

From Old English fox, from a Proto-Germanic root possibly meaning "the tailed one."

The skin-spot and animal senses trace back to Old English mal, meaning "spot" or "blemish." The chemistry unit comes from a shortening of "molecule."

Old English · 1700

From Old English roots referring to a young swine; the slang sense meaning "police officer" has been recorded since at least the late 1700s.

From Old French escurel, ultimately from Ancient Greek skiouros, meaning "shadow-tail" — a nod to the animal's bushy tail.

Entered English from Old French/Middle Dutch roots in the late Middle Ages, originally meaning specifically a young rabbit; it replaced the older word "cony" once that word became a crude euphemism.

Likely influenced by its musky odour and rat-like appearance, though the word may originally come from an Algonquian name that was reshaped to sound like "musk" and "rat."

From Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin furittum, "little thief" — a nod to the animal's sly, thieving reputation.

From Old French ermine, possibly from a Germanic word for the weasel or linked to the word for "Armenian," since traders once associated the fur with Armenia.

From Old English weosule, an ancient Germanic word for the animal.

The verb comes from the noun (via a Middle English word meaning "marked by a badge," referring to the animal's badge-like facial marking), later extended to describe the persistent, nagging behavior once associated with badger-baiting.

From Old French martrine ("marten fur"), ultimately from a Germanic word for the animal.

From Latin lynx, from Ancient Greek lunx, ultimately from a root meaning "light" or "bright" — likely a reference to the animal's glowing eyes.

From Old English otor, tracing back through Germanic roots to a Proto-Indo-European word for "water" — the same distant root behind the word "hydra."

From Old English hara, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "grey," describing the animal's coat colour.

From "wild" + "cat"; the business sense traces back to risky, unregulated "wildcat banks" in 1830s Michigan, named for operating recklessly like a wild animal.

From Middle English heyghoge — "hedge" (because it roots around hedgerows) plus "hog" (for its pig-like snout). The military and philosophical uses of "hedgehog" come from the animal's trademark defense: curling into a spiky, impenetrable ball.

Origin uncertain, first recorded in the late 18th century, possibly a diminutive form built on "dun" (a greyish-brown colour), replacing the older word "ass."

From Old English befer, going back to a very old Germanic and Indo-European root for the animal, related to words like Dutch bever and German Biber. The verb sense ("beaver away") comes from the animal's reputation for tireless, industrious work.

From Latin camēlus, from Greek kámēlos, ultimately from a Semitic root related to Arabic jamal and Hebrew gamal.

From Old Northern French catel, "personal property," ultimately from Latin capitalis ("of the head") — a doublet of both capital and chattel, since livestock counted as wealth measured by the head.

Borrowed via Portuguese or Spanish "búfalo," ultimately from Ancient Greek "boubalos," referring to an antelope or wild ox.

From the Orkney dialect phrase "vole mouse," meaning "field mouse," from Old Norse vollr, "field."