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 Latin rationalis, "of reason," from ratio, "reason, calculation."

From Latin triangulum, "three-cornered," from tres ("three") plus angulus ("corner, angle").

From Latin perpendiculum, "a plumb line," the weighted string builders used to check for a true vertical.

From Old English fiftEoetha, from fifteen plus -th.

Inherited from Middle English fourtenthe, fourtethe, from Old English fēowertēoþa, equivalent to fourteen + -th.

From thirteen plus the ordinal suffix -th.

From Old English twelfta, built from twelve plus the ordinal ending -th, matched by similar words in German (zwölfte) and other Germanic languages.

From Middle English elleventhe, formed from eleven plus the ordinal suffix -th.

From Latin parallelus, from Greek parallelos ("beside one another").

From Old French cube, from Latin cubus, from Greek kubos, originally meaning a die used in games.

Borrowed via Polish from Old Czech Čech, ultimately a shortened form of a Proto-Slavic word meaning "human being."

From Old French million, from Italian milione, built from mille ("thousand") plus an augmentative suffix meaning "big thousand".

From Old English feowertiene, formed from four plus -teen.

From Old English þrēotīene, a combination of "three" and "-teen" (ten).

From an Irish-English call used to summon poultry, ultimately from Irish words for calling chickens or pigs.

From Old English flemisc, ultimately from the same Germanic root as "Flanders."

From Hungary + the adjective suffix -an.

From Middle English or, partly a contraction of "other" and partly from Old English oththe, both meaning roughly "or."

From the Slovak word "Slovák," ultimately tied to the same root as "Slav."

From Old English of, originally meaning "away from" — the same word that eventually split into both "of" and "off" in Middle English.

From "Swede" plus the "-ish" ending.

Medieval Latin · 1500

From Medieval Latin Russiānus, from Russia; in English use as both noun and adjective since the 16th century.

From Old English Denisċ ("Danish"), from Proto-Germanic *daniskaz — literally "of the Danes."

Formed from "Turk" plus the adjective suffix "-ish"; a doublet of "turquoise," which comes from the same root via French.