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 Middle English smellen, of Germanic origin, ultimately tied to an old root meaning "to smoulder or emit fumes."

Named after Newfoundland, the Canadian island where the breed was developed to help fishermen haul nets and rescue people from the water.

From an Ojibwe or Cree phrase referring to the Narrows of Lake Manitoba, roughly meaning "spirit strait."

From Cree kisiskâciwani-sîpiy, meaning "swift-flowing river," after the river that runs through the province.

Formed from Albert plus the feminine ending -a; the province takes its name directly from Princess Louise Caroline Alberta.

Borrowed from Low German or Dutch slim, originally meaning "crooked" or "sly." The meaning gradually softened over centuries into "thin, graceful" in English — what linguists call a rare positive shift in meaning.

From Old English hwelc, literally "of what kind" — built from the same root as "who" and "what".

From Old English hwām, the dative case of hwā ("who").

From Old English hwæs, the possessive form of who, going back to Proto-Germanic *hwaz.

From Old English hwā, part of the same ancient family of question-words as what, when, and where, going back to a shared Proto-Indo-European root.

From Punjabi kaṛā ("bracelet").

From Hindi-Urdu desi, meaning "of the country" or "native," from desh ("country, homeland").

From Latin praecisus, \"cut off short,\" from prae- (\"before\") plus caedere (\"to cut\") — the idea of something trimmed down to exactly the right size.

From Latin perfectus, "completed, finished", from perficere ("to finish, accomplish"), from per- ("thoroughly") + facere ("to do or make").

Originally described a slow, lazy person, likely from a Middle English word for sloth or a lazy oaf; the snail-like mollusk and the bullet sense both grew out of related ideas of a slow-moving or solid lump.

From Latin molaris, "of a millstone," since molars grind food the way a millstone grinds grain.

From Middle English mongrel, built from "mong" (a mixture, related to "among") plus a diminutive ending that originally carried a negative tone.

A shortening of "muttonhead."

Ancient Greek · 1931

Borrowed into English in 1931 from Neapolitan Italian pizza, a word of much-debated origin possibly going back to an ancient Greek word for a flatbread or cake.

Borrowed from Spanish mariposa, meaning "butterfly," likely a reference to the flower's delicate, wing-like petals.

From Old French face, from Latin facies, "form, appearance."

From Old French clause, ultimately from Latin claudere, "to close" — the same root as "close" and "closet."

From Greek idíōma, "peculiarity, particular phrasing," via Latin and French.

From Old English engel, from Latin angelus, ultimately from Greek angelos, meaning "messenger."