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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Variant of McGee.

From mono- + cycle, thus literally "one wheel".

From mon- + aural. First use appears c. 1888

From milli- + litre, from French millilitre.

Borrowed from translingual Moringa, probably from Malayalam മുരിങ്ങ (muriṅṅa).

From mount + -er.

From micro- + biome or blend of microbiota + genome.

From mix + -ling. Compare German Mischling (“hybrid, mongrel, half-breed”), French mélange (“mixture”), German Low German Mischling (“half-breed, hybrid, mongrel”).

From Middle English mousere (“a hunter of mice”), equivalent to mouse + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix). The “moustache” sense is apparently an extended usage (i.e., a cat’s whiskers, jocularly transferred to human beings), possibly with influence from moustache.

Learned borrowing from Latin lactātiō, lactātiōnis. Equivalent to lactate + -ion.

From the noun phrase lower case, which itself consists of an adjective modifying a noun; when used as a noun adjunct then, to render its syntactical function clearer and simpler, it is written as a single word or with a hyphen as a sort of chunking.

Borrowed from Late Latin ligatio, ligationis, from Latin ligo. Doublet of liaison.

From Ancient Greek λανθάνω (lanthánō, “to escape notice”) + -um (“a chemical element”), because it had gone long undetected in mineral ores.

From Sanskrit महासत्त्व (mahāsattva, “a great creature, great being”).

Unadapted borrowing from French luminaire. Doublet of luminary.

15th century partial re-Latinization of early 14th century Middle English lettorne, lettron, from Old French leitrun, from Medieval Latin lectrinum, from Late Latin lectrum, from lectus (from whence also lecture), form of Latin legō (“to read”).

From lion + back, modelled on horseback.

From Russian лима́н (limán) or Ukrainian лима́н (lymán), from Turkic, compare Turkish liman (“port, harbor”). Ultimately from Ancient Greek λιμήν (limḗn, “harbor”).

Borrowed from Latin lilia, plural of lilium (“lily”), or a Latinization of the English Lily.

From knee + -let.

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin lātrātus, perfect passive participle of lātrō (“to bark”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare Spanish ladrar (“to bark”). Originally seemingly attested as a ghost word.

From list + maker.

Borrowed from Latin lambdacismus. By surface analysis lambda + -cism (phenomenon related to a specific phoneme).