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 French mort gage, literally "dead pledge" — because the arrangement ended ("died") either when the debt was paid off or when the property was taken.

From quarter + -ly.

From week plus the adjective/adverb-forming suffix -ly.

Built from month plus the adjective-forming suffix -ly, following the same pattern as "daily" and "weekly."

From annual plus the adverb suffix -ly.

From French annuité, from Medieval Latin annuitas, based on Latin annuus, "yearly."

From Medieval Latin collateralis, from Latin col- ("together with") and latus ("side") — literally "at the side".

Named after the Grande Chartreuse monastery in France, where the liqueur was originally produced; a doublet of "charterhouse."

From Old French azur, from Arabic lazaward ("lapis lazuli"), itself from Persian lajward, the name of a region famous for the blue gemstone.

Borrowed from French bisque, possibly linked to the Bay of Biscay region.

Traces back through Old Spanish and Arabic qirmiz to a Persian word for a red dye made from insects — the same root behind "kermes" and related to "carmine."

From Old English hū, from a Proto-Germanic root shared with "who" and "what" — the /hw/ sound simplified to /h/ earlier in "how" than in "who" or "which."

From Old English bald/beald, meaning brave or confident, going back to a very old Germanic root shared with Dutch boud and Swedish båld.

From Old English leornian, going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "track" or "trail" — the idea of following a path to knowledge.

From Latin experimentum, "a trial, test," from experiri ("to try, test") — related to "experience" and "expert."

From Old French visiter, from Latin visito, "to go to see," from videre, "to see."

From Latin proicio, "to throw forward," from pro- ("forward") plus iacio ("to throw").

From Latin completus, past participle of complere, "to fill up" — from com- plus plere ("to fill"), the same root as "replete" and "deplete."

From Latin remotus, "moved back or away" — the past participle of removere, the same root that gives us "remove."

From Old French creue, "reinforcement, increase", from croistre, "to grow", from Latin crescere — originally meaning fresh troops sent to reinforce an army, later any team of workers.

Coined from Greek ástron ("star") plus nautēs ("sailor") — literally a "star sailor."

Borrowed from Latin anterior, "that which is before" — the comparative form of ante, "before."

From Middle English former, the comparative of forme ("first"), from Old English forma — related to "first" and "fore."

From Old English wudu, "wood, forest, timber," from a very old Germanic root related to Dutch wede and Icelandic viður.