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 French bote, "a high, thick shoe," of uncertain earlier origin. The computing sense of "boot" comes from "bootstrap" — the idea of a system pulling itself up "by its own bootstraps" to start running.

From Late Latin verbalis, "belonging to a word," from verbum ("word").

Formed from "our" plus "-selves," matching the pattern of other reflexive pronouns like "themselves."

From Old English mē selfum ("me self"), later reanalyzed as my + self.

From Old English oferdōn, from over- + done.

From Old English oferdōn, from over- + do.

From Old English ofercuman, "to overcome, conquer," from over- + come.

From Middle English overcasten, from over- + cast — literally "thrown over" (like a cloud thrown over the sky).

Built from "out-" plus "grow."

From Old French atempter, from Latin attemptare, "to try, to test," from ad- ("toward") plus temptare ("to test").

Built from "out-" (surpassing) plus "do."

From French attaquer, ultimately from Italian attaccare ("to join, engage"), sharing a root with "attach."

From Latin apparatus, "preparation, equipment," from ad- ("toward") plus parare ("to prepare").

From Old English onġemang, formed from "on" plus "ġemang" ("crowd, mixture") — literally "in the crowd of".

From Old French adition, from Latin additio, from addere, "to add."

From New Latin chemicus plus the adjective suffix -al, tracing back through alchemy to Arabic al-kīmiyāʔ.

From Multicultural London English, ultimately from Caribbean Creole "blood" meaning a close friend or family member (compare "blood brother").

A shortened form of "brassiere," borrowed from French, ultimately from Latin "bracchium" ("arm").

From "out-" (surpassing) plus "bid."

From Old English māwan, "to mow, reap," a very old word shared across Germanic languages and related to Latin metō, "to harvest."

From Old English hwǣr, literally "at what place," from a Proto-Indo-European interrogative root shared with "who" and "what."

From Old English hwonne, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "at what time" — related to "who" and "what."

From Old English hwȳ, ultimately from the same ancient root as who and what.

From Old English tōgædere, from "to" plus "gadar" ("together") — ultimately from the same root as "gather."