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 pollūtiō, "defilement," ultimately from polluō, "to soil or contaminate."

Formed from finance plus the adjective suffix -ial.

From French industriel, built from industry plus -al.

From Old French curant, present participle of courre, "to run," from Latin currere, "to run" — the same root as "currency" and "courier."

From Old French mortier, from Latin mortarium — the same word originally covered both the grinding bowl and, later, the building paste and the weapon, all linked by the idea of "pounding" or "mixing".

From Old Norse "skil," meaning "distinction" or "knowledge," ultimately from a root meaning "to split or divide."

From Middle English "skilful," from "skill" plus "-ful."

From a Shona phrase meaning "houses of stone," referring to the stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe.

Named after the Zambezi River, which runs through the country.

From Arabic al-yaman, thought to derive from an ancient Semitic root meaning "right" or "right-hand side" — the region lying to the right (south) when facing east from Mecca.

From Vietnamese Việt Nam. The extended, figurative sense of "an unwinnable quagmire" comes directly from the Vietnam War.

From Spanish, said to mean "little Venice," after stilt houses early explorers saw on Lake Maracaibo.

Borrowed via Polish or Russian from an Old East Slavic word usually translated as "borderland", though some scholars argue it originally meant "homeland" or "region".

A blend of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the two territories that merged to form Tanzania in 1964.

Originally applied to the guinea fowl, an African bird imported to Europe through Turkey; the name later transferred to the unrelated North American bird now called turkey.

The country's name comes from a Polynesian word meaning "south." The carriage sense is unrelated, from a South Asian language.

From Thai + "land" — literally "land of the Thai people," from ไทย (tai).

The country name comes from Togoville, from Ewe "to" ("to pound") plus "go" ("shore").

Old English · 2010

From the Old English name Ceadda; the "alpha male" slang sense emerged from a stereotype about men named Chad, spreading widely through internet slang in the late 2010s.

From Latin Syria, from Ancient Greek Suria, likely a shortened form of "Assyria," though the two names came to refer to different regions over time.

Possibly from a Portuguese transliteration of the Zenaga people's name, or from Serer words meaning "body of water."

First recorded in German in 1586, derived from the Slovak name for the country plus the place-name ending "-ia."

From "Slovene" plus the place-name ending "-ia."

From Malay Singapura, from Sanskrit सिंहपुर (siṃhá-pura), from सिंह (siṃha, “lion”) + पुर (pura, “city”).