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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

Morphologically write + -en.

From Old French haïneus, "hateful," itself from haïr, "to hate" — tracing back to a Frankish word for hatred.

From Old Norse rangr, "crooked, wrong" — related to "wring", from an idea of something twisted out of true shape.

The old past participle of "work" (from Old English wyrċan) — now mostly surviving in the phrase "wrought iron" and expressions like "wrought havoc".

Origin disputed — one theory credits novelist Irving Bacheller with coining it in 1919; another links it to African American vernacular of the early 20th century, popularized in part by dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. No single explanation is proven.

From Old English giet, going back to Germanic roots meaning roughly "already" combined with a word meaning "toward" — the same distant root family as "aye".

From Old English ēow, the object form of "ye," tracing back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "you" (plural).

From Old English ġeong, going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root also behind the Latin-derived word "juvenile."

From Old English ēower, the possessive form of "you," ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root shared with Dutch jouw and German euer.

Formed from your plus -s, on the model of "his," and recorded since the 1300s; it eventually replaced the older form "yourn" in standard English.

From Middle English yourself, equivalent to your + -self.

From zip plus -er. The name was originally a 1925 trademark registered by B.F. Goodrich for rubber-and-fabric boots, and later became a generic word for the fastener itself.

From Middle English fotbal, "foot" + "ball," since the ball was originally moved mainly with the feet.

From an informal British abbreviation of "association" (as in Association Football) plus the playful -er ending, the same pattern that gave "rugger" for rugby.

From Old French, ultimately from Latin musica ("music") plus the adjective-forming suffix -al.

From Medieval Latin Italianus, from Latin Italia ("Italy").

From Medieval Latin duellum, "a fight between two men" — later linked (probably wrongly, by folk association) to duo, "two," which is why it now means a two-person contest.

From Old English teoða, later reshaped in Middle English to match the cardinal number "ten" more closely.

From Old English niġoþa, from nine + the ordinal ending -th.

From Old English seofotha, from seven + -th.

From Old English siexta, related to "six."

Borrowed from Italian tempo, "time," from Latin tempus.

From Old French cane, "sugar cane," from Latin canna, "reed," ultimately from an Ancient Greek word borrowed from Akkadian. Related to "channel" and "canal."

Borrowed from French clapier.