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 endung, formed from end plus -ing.

From Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus ("time"). Doublet of tempo.

From Old English stemn, "stem, trunk," from a Germanic root meaning "to stand" — the same deep root that gives us "stand" and "stamen."

From Latin rēgulāris, "conforming to rule," from rēgula ("rule, ruler").

From Latin neuter, literally "not either," from ne ("not") plus uter ("either") — the same idea behind English "neither."

From French conditionnel, from condition plus -al.

From Old French futur, from Latin futūrus, "about to be" — the future form of the verb "to be." This word pushed the older English term tōweard out of use, which survives today only in the word "toward."

From Old French irreguler, from Late Latin irrēgulāris, from in- ("not") plus regularis ("regular").

From Latin subiectus, "lying under, placed beneath" — from sub ("under") plus iaciō ("to throw"), so literally "thrown under."

Two words merged into one spelling: the "event" sense is from Old French cas ("an event"), from Latin casus ("a fall, an occurrence"); the "container" sense is from Anglo-Norman casse, from Latin capsa ("box").

From Old French masculin, from Latin masculinus, from masculus, "male."

From Latin articulus, "a small joint or part," which also gives us "articulate."

From Old French vouel (compare modern French voyelle), from Latin vocalis, "voiced" — a doublet of vocal.

From Latin imperativus, related to imperare, "to command".

From Latin concretus, past participle of concrescere ("to grow together, harden"), from con- ("together") plus crescere ("to grow").

From Old French accion/aucion, from Latin actio(n)- ("a doing"), from agere ("to do, act").

From Old Norse þeira.

From Old English ūre, tracing back to a Proto-Germanic word meaning "of us."

From Old English hire, the dative and genitive form of "she," going back to a common Germanic root shared with Dutch haar and German ihr.

From Old English his, the old genitive form of he — it originally meant something closer to "of him" before it settled into today's possessive use.

From Old English mīn ("my, mine"), an ancient possessive form shared with many other Germanic languages, such as German mein and Dutch mijn.

From Old French affirmatif, from Latin affirmativus, from affirmare, "to assert."

From Latin centi- ("hundred") + pes/pedis ("foot") — literally "hundred-footed", though real centipedes rarely have exactly a hundred legs.

From Middle English gerle/girle, once used for a child of either sex, of uncertain deeper origin.