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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The past participle of fall, formed with the ending -en.

From Old English fellan/fiellan, "to cause to fall," the causative partner of "fall" — literally "to make (something) fall."

From Old English eten, the past participle of etan ("to eat").

From Old English etan, an ancient verb going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to eat," shared across nearly all Germanic languages.

From Old English dwellan, "to mislead" or "go astray," which shifted in meaning over time to "linger" and then "reside."

From Old English drāf, meaning a herding or driving of animals — closely related to the verb "drive."

From Old English drifan, "to force onward or move," an ancient Germanic verb.

The past participle of "drink," from Old English druncen — the same root behind "drunken."

An eye-dialect spelling that mimics a Southern US pronunciation of "drink."

From Old English drēam, originally meaning "joy" or "music," which merged with a related Old Norse word draumr meaning "dream" — the exact path from "joy" to "sleeping vision" is debated by scholars.

The past participle of draw.

From Old English fyr, going back to a very old Germanic root shared with German Feuer and Dutch vuur, ultimately tracing to an ancient Indo-European word for fire.

From Old English gedōn, the past participle of dōn ("to do") — the same ending pattern survives in words like "gone" and "known."

A back-formation from "lecher" — people shortened the noun into a new, cruder verb and noun.

From Old English dȳfan ("to dip") merging with dūfan ("to sink or duck"), both from a Germanic root related to deep and dip.

From earlier dugge ("pap, teat"; compare also English dialectal ducky, dukky (“the female breast”)), apparently connected to Danish dægge (“to suckle”), Swedish dägga (“to suck”), Old English dēon (“to suckle”). More at doe. Compare also doug.

From Middle English diggen, related to Old English dician, "to dig a ditch" — the same root that gave us dyke/dike.

From Middle English cutten, likely of North Germanic origin, related to Old Norse words for cutting or carving with a knife.

From Old English creopan, "to crawl", from a prehistoric Germanic root meaning "to twist" — related to "crawl" and "cripple".

From Old French coster/couster, from Latin constare, "to stand together" or "to be settled at a price."

Attested from the 17th century, of unknown origin. Possibly from kame (“a ridge”). Compare Scots came (“comb”), Scots kame (“combing; a ridge”), and Middle English camet (“silver”).

From Old English cuman, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to come," ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to step" or "to arrive." Distantly related to Latin venio ("to come").

Ancient Greek · 1980

From Ancient Greek eikōn, meaning "likeness" or "image" — the religious sense came first, and the computing sense only arrived in the 1980s with graphical interfaces.

From Old English clingan, "to adhere" or "hold fast," from an old Germanic root also seen in Danish klynge, "to cluster."