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 [Term?], a diminutive of the given name Luke.

From translingual Lentulidae, from Latin lentul(us) + -idae, from lentus. By surface analysis, Latin lentus + -ule + -id.

From mal- (“not, badly”) + apert (“open, revealed; direct, straightforward; clever, expert”), or from Middle French malappert, Old French mal apert (“ill-skilled”).

From make + bate (“strife, contention, quarrel”).

From leet + -ness.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix, “cup”).

Borrowed from Sanskrit मालती (mālatī, “Jasmine”).

From massive; probably a blend of massive and a respelling of the letters hu in huge infixed in the former.

From life + lore (“learning, knowledge”).

From New Latin Mantidae.

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin lūcubrātus, perfect passive participle of lūcubrō (“to work by candlelight”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lūx (“light”).

From length + -some.

From Medieval Latin mānsus (“dwelling”), from Latin manēre (“to remain”), whence also manor, mansion. Doublet of mas.

Rare spelling variant of Cohen.

From French malingrer, from adjective malingre (“delicate, fragile”).

From Middle English ladde-bord, latebord, most likely referring to the side of the ship on which cargo was loaded. Changed to larboard in the 1500s by association with starboard. (Texts from the 1500s have spellings like lerbord, leereboord, larboord, corresponding to how they spell sterbord, steereboord, starboord.)

From march (“border region”) + land.

From labyrinth + -al.

From master + stroke.

From Middle English maliciousnes; equivalent to malicious + -ness.

From Lawrence + -ie.

From livery + -man.