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 English hol, meaning "hollow place or cavity," from a very old Germanic root related to the word "hollow."

From Old English ba tha ("both the"), reinforced by a related Old Norse form — an old remnant of a grammatical form once used specifically for pairs of things.

From Middle English jumpen, meaning to walk briskly or leap, probably from a Germanic root meaning "to hop or bounce."

From Old English cyningdom, formed from "king" plus the suffix "-dom," meaning "domain" or "state of."

From Old French verai ("true"), ultimately from Latin verus ("true") — it originally meant "truly" before softening into a general intensifier.

From Middle English theires, formed from "their" plus "-s," on the model of "his."

Formed in Middle English from "our" plus "-s," following the same pattern as "his."

From Middle English hires/heres, formed from "her" plus the possessive ending "-s."

The possessive "mine" traces back through Old English mīn to a very old Germanic root for "my"; the noun/verb "mine" (as in digging) comes from a separate Old French word for an excavation or tunnel.

Old English · 1950

From Old English haccian ("to hack, chop"), related to German hacken and Dutch hakken; the computing sense dates to the 1950s-60s, first meaning clever problem-solving before picking up its darker "break into a system" meaning by the 1960s.

Borrowed directly from Spanish hacienda; related to the Portuguese word fazenda.

From Medieval Latin habitualis, from Latin habitus ("condition, disposition"), the same root as "habit."

From Latin habitat ("it dwells"), originally used by naturalists like Linnaeus in Latin descriptions such as "Habitat in Europa."

From Latin habitabilis, from habitare ("to dwell"), the root behind "inhabit" and "habitat."

From Latin habitus ("condition, dress, bearing"), from habere ("to have or hold") — distantly related to "gift."

From French tulipe, ultimately from Ottoman Turkish tülbent ("turban cloth"), because the shape of the flower reminded early European observers of a wound turban — making it a distant relative of the English word "turban."

From Latin vegetabilis ("able to grow, thriving"), from vegetare ("to enliven") — related distantly to words like "vigor" and "vigil."

From Greek apologia, "a speech made in one's own defense," from apo- ("away/off") plus logos ("speech").

From Old English hreow, "sorrow or regret" — the herb sense comes from a separate, unrelated Latin word, ruta.

From Old English dūcan ("to dip, dive, duck"), related to German and Dutch words meaning "to dive" or "to bend down".

From Norwegia + -n or Old English Norweġ + -ian.

From Dutch pinkje, diminutive of Dutch pink (“little finger”). Cognate with West Frisian pinke (“pinky”), dialectal English pink (“something small or tiny”), and perhaps to Old English pinca (“a point”). Compare also German Low German Pink (“penis”), English pintle (“penis”).

From Middle English forefynger, equivalent to fore- + finger.

From Old English þūma, from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grow" or "to swell" — the same root that gives us "tomb" (a swollen mound).