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 brief, ultimately from Latin brevis ("short") — the same root that gives us "abbreviate" and "brevity".

Traced to Middle English "bugge," meaning a scarecrow or hobgoblin; the "insect" meaning developed later, possibly influenced by a separate, similar-sounding word for beetle.

From Old English ġē, the plural form of "you"; the "the" sense comes from an old printer's abbreviation where a special letter (thorn) was later mistaken for a Y.

From Late Latin involuntarius, from in- ("not") + voluntarius ("voluntary").

Formed from state plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

From Medieval Latin "secretarius" ("one entrusted with secrets"), from Latin "secretus" ("private, secret").

From an Arabic phrase meaning "direction of the head," which passed through medieval Latin into English, picking up an extra "n" along the way through a copying error.

From Old English þunor ("thunder"), the same root that gives us the Norse god Thor and the German word Donner.

From ham ("back of the knee") + string, originally referring literally to cutting the tendon of a horse or animal to disable it — later extended figuratively.

From Middle English "streight," the past participle of "strecchen" ("to stretch") — straight originally meant "stretched out."

From Latin substantia, "essence, being" — from substō, "to stand firm, exist," literally "to stand under."

From Old English specan/sprecan, "to speak," from a Germanic root meaning "to make a sound" — related to German sprechen and Dutch spreken.

From Old English spelt, related to Old Saxon and Late Latin spelta — an ancient grain name unrelated to the verb "spell."

From Old Norse skyrta, a doublet of the English word "shirt" — both ultimately meant a piece of cloth worn on the body, before splitting into separate garments in meaning.

From Old English sceoh, of uncertain deeper origin, possibly linked to a root meaning "to move quickly."

From the verb "spell" plus "-ing," first recorded around the 1400s.

From Old English sċyrte, "a short garment," related to German Schürze ("apron") and a doublet of skirt — both trace to a Germanic root meaning "short."

From Old English spell ("story, news, tale"), from Proto-Germanic *spellą. The "magic words" sense and the "write out letters" sense both branched from this old idea of telling or reciting something.

From Late Latin idealis ("existing in idea"), built on Latin idea; related to "idea".

From Latin comicus (\"comic\"), reshaped in Middle English with the suffix -al.

From Latin comicus, from Greek kōmikós ("relating to comedy"), ultimately from kômos ("revelry, festivity").

From Latin centralis, from centrum ("center").

From explore + the agent-noun ending -er.

From Latin exterior, "outer, further out".