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 English cnēowlian, built from knee plus a verb-forming ending, meaning literally "to go to the knee."

From Old English cēpan ("to seize, observe, take heed of"), a Germanic verb originally about watching and taking care.

From Greek polugamía, from polús ("many") and gámos ("marriage").

From Latin inferō, "to carry in, bring about" — in- + ferō, "to carry," related to English bear.

From Old French emplier, from Latin implicare ("to infold, involve"). A doublet of employ and implicate.

From Old English druncen, the past participle of drincan ("to drink") — literally "having drunk".

From Old French pyjon, ultimately from a Latin word meaning "chirping bird" — it gradually replaced the older native English word "dove" in most everyday uses.

From Middle English inputten, formed from in- plus put.

From Old French hurter ("to strike, collide with"), possibly from a Frankish word for a battering ram.

From Old English healdan, meaning "to tend, herd, or keep," ultimately from a very old root meaning "to drive" — related to the word "halt."

From Old English hittan ("to meet with, come upon"), borrowed from Old Norse hitta ("to strike, meet"), tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to fall upon" or "to strike."

From Old English "hydan" ("to hide, conceal, preserve"), ultimately from a root meaning "to cover" — the same root that gives us "hoard," "hut," and "sky."

A compound of "sand" and "box" — the computing sense is a metaphor from the child's play area.

The irregular past tense of hear, going back to Old English forms of the same verb.

From Old English habban, going back to a very old Germanic root meaning "to hold" or "seize" — related to the English word "heave."

The past participle of "hang," from Old English hōn.

From Old English hōn and hangian, both meaning "to hang," from a common Proto-Germanic root.

The past participle of grow, formed with the Middle English ending -en.

From Old English grōwan, meaning to grow or flourish, sharing a root with the words growth, grass, and green.

From Old English grindan, going back to a Proto-Germanic root simply meaning "to grind" — the "hard, repetitive work" sense developed much later as a figurative extension.

From Old English gan ("to go"), an ancient Germanic verb; its past tense "went" was borrowed from a completely different verb, "wend," which is why go/went look so different.

Formed from "hide" plus the past-participle ending "-en."

The past participle of "go," tracing back through Middle and Old English to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to go."

"Went" was originally the past tense of a different verb, "wend" (meaning to travel or turn), but over time it was absorbed into the verb "go" as its past tense, replacing the older form "gaed."