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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Probably from an Old English word meaning "mellow" or "soft," related to a root meaning "honeyed."

From Middle English soile, blending an Anglo-Norman word for "ground" (ultimately confused with Latin solum, "ground, earth") with an Old English word for "mud" or "wet sand."

From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.

Borrowed from Spanish hamaca, which came from a Taíno word for the swinging beds Columbus first described among Caribbean islanders.

From Old English gecynd, "nature, birth, family" — originally meaning something closer to "kin" or "inborn nature" before it split into today's separate meanings of "type" and "gentle/caring."

From Old English grīpan ("to grasp"); the "complain" sense developed later, via an old meaning of griping stomach pains — a gripe was originally a pinching or cramping pain before it came to mean a nagging complaint.

A learned borrowing from Latin familia, the same root that gave English "family."

From Old English freond, literally "loving one," related to an ancient root meaning "to love" — the same root behind "Friday."

Borrowed directly from Spanish amiga, "female friend."

Borrowed directly from Spanish abuela, "grandmother."

From Latin victoria, "victory" — the carriage and plum varieties were both named in honour of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

Named after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who charted the island in 1642.

From Queen + -s- + -land, named in honour of Queen Victoria.

Japanese · 1900

The dust-haze sense was borrowed from Japanese 霾 (bai), first appearing in English texts in the early twentieth century.

From Middle English bad, badde, of uncertain and much-debated origin — possibly linked to an Old English word for a hermaphrodite, or borrowed from a similar Old Norse word meaning trouble or damage.

Borrowed from ancient Egyptian.

From Old English god, an ancient Germanic word originally neuter in gender before shifting to masculine as Christianity spread — it is not related to the unrelated word "good," despite the similarity.

From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.

Originated 1685–95, from Brazilian Portuguese aí, from Old Tupi a'y.

Borrowed from Afrikaans "ag," itself from Dutch "ach."

From "delta," since the symbol is an upside-down delta.

From Old English dubbian, "to knight someone by striking with a sword" — from a Germanic root meaning "to hit or strike".

From Hindi आल (āl).

From Middle English buket/boket, partly from Old English bucc ("pitcher") and partly from Anglo-Norman buket ("pail"), ultimately traced to a Frankish word for "belly, stomach."