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 French "toilette," a diminutive of "toile" ("cloth"), originally the cloth spread over a dressing table; the word later shifted to mean the grooming process itself, then euphemistically to the bathroom fixture, a shift that took hold in the US in the late 1800s.

Origin uncertain, likely from Romani posh ("half"), possibly via slang for money like "half a crown." The popular idea that it stands for "port out, starboard home" is a myth with no real evidence.

Formed from merge plus the suffix -er, originally as a legal term for the absorption of one estate, right, or business into another.

From Old English gnagan, from a Germanic root meaning "to gnaw," related to words in Dutch, German, and Scandinavian languages with similar meanings.

From Latin ductus ("a leading, a conducting"), from ducere ("to lead").

From Latin tractus, "a drawing out, an extent," from trahere ("to pull, draw") — the same root behind "traction" and "tractor."

From French brochure ("stitched work"), from brocher ("to stitch"), tracing back to a Latin word for something pointed — the same root behind "broach" and "broccoli."

From Middle English pamflet, ultimately traced to Pamphilus, a popular 12th-century Latin love poem that circulated widely as a short, cheaply bound text — its title became a byword for any small printed booklet.

From leaf plus the diminutive suffix -let, meaning "a small leaf."

A noun formed from the phrasal verb "hand out."

From Old English hendiġ ("skillful"), related to "hand."

From Swahili safari ("journey"), itself borrowed from Arabic safar ("a journey" or "travel").

From Old French palais, from Latin palatium, named after the Palatine Hill in Rome where Roman emperors built their grand residences.

From hand + the suffix -ed.

From Greek pankreas, literally "all flesh" (pan- "all" + kreas "flesh"), likely so named because the organ appeared to be made entirely of soft tissue with no bone or cartilage.

From Greek melankholia ("black bile") — ancient medicine believed an excess of this bodily humor caused sadness and gloom.

A blend of "medical" and "aid," coined when the US program was created in 1965.

Coined in 1852 by physicist Léon Foucault from Greek gyros ("circle") and skopos ("watcher").

From Italian replica, tracing back to Latin replicare ("to fold back" or "to repeat") — a relative of "reply" and "replicate."

Germanic · 1400

Borrowed into English around the 1400s, probably as a gambling term, from Middle Dutch luc — a shortened form of gheluc, "good fortune." It has cousins across Germanic languages, including German Glück and Dutch geluk, both meaning "luck" or "happiness."

From Latin stamina, the plural of stamen, originally meaning "threads" (as in the threads of life spun by fate) — the sense shifted to mean lasting strength or endurance.

Borrowed from Spanish plaza ("town square"), from Latin platea, ultimately from Greek plateia ("broad street"). A doublet of piazza and place.

From over- + weight.

From Old English forloren, the past participle of forlēosan ("to lose") — related to "lorn," meaning lost or abandoned.