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 Middle English withdrawen, formed from with- (meaning "away" or "back") plus draw.

The "moving air" noun and the "twist/turn" verb both trace to Old English, but they come from different roots that happened to end up spelled the same in modern English.

* Past participle of win, from Old English winnan.

From Old English wǣt, related to the word "water" itself — both trace back to an ancient root simply meaning "water" or "wet."

From Old English wēpan ("to weep, lament"), from a Germanic root meaning "to cry out".

From Old English weddian ("to pledge, to wed"), from a Germanic root meaning "pledge" — related to "wage" and "engage".

The past participle of "wear," shaped by analogy with similar verbs like "tear" (torn) and "swear" (sworn).

From Old English werian ("to clothe, put on"), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to dress." It was originally a regular verb but became irregular (wear/wore/worn) by analogy with verbs like "bear" and "tear."

Morphologically woke + -n.

Originally the informal past tense of "wake" ("I woke up"). The social-justice sense dates back to the 1930s among Black American speakers, then spread widely online in the 2010s — where it also picked up a critical, mocking use.

From two closely related Old English verbs, wacan and wacian, both meaning "to be or become awake" — they merged over time into one word.

From Middle English upsetten, from up- + set.

From Middle English upholden, from up- + hold.

From Old English unwindan, from un- (\"reversal\") plus wind (\"to coil\").

Past participle form of undo, from un- plus do.

From Old English ondōn, from a Germanic root meaning "to do the opposite of" — un- plus do.

From Middle English undertaken, from under- plus take.

From Old English understandan, literally "to stand among/between," from under- ("among") plus standan ("to stand") — the sense shifted over time from being positioned close to something to grasping it mentally.

From Middle English trod, the past participle of treden ("to tread").

From Old English tredan, "to step on."

From Old Norse þrysta, meaning "to press" or "to force."

From Middle English throwen, from Old English þrāwen, ġeþrāwen, from Proto-Germanic *þrēanaz, from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną. Doublet of thran. Morphologically throw + -n.

From Old English þrāwan, originally meaning "to twist" or "to turn" — it came to mean hurling an object only in Middle English.

From Old English þōht, related to the verb "think" — it is literally the noun form of thinking.