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 French déficit, ultimately from Latin dēficit ("it is lacking"). Related to "defect."

From Italian banca, "bench" or "counter" — early moneylenders in Italy conducted business at a bench in the marketplace, and the word carried over directly into English for the institution itself.

From Old English nū, going back to the Proto-Indo-European root for "now" — one of the oldest words in the language, found in nearly identical form across many Indo-European languages.

From "current" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

From Old French "gauge/guage", meaning a pledge or payment, ultimately from a Germanic word for "pledge" — the same root that gives us "wager" and "wed".

From un- ("not") plus employment.

From Latin inflatio, "a swelling, blowing up," from inflare — see inflate.

A calque of Old Norse Grǿnland ("green land"), from grǿnn ("green") plus land.

Spanish · 1500

Named after King Philip II of Spain (Felipe in Spanish) by Spanish explorers in the 1500s.

Coined by 19th-century British geographers from "Malay" plus -sia, roughly meaning "land of the Malays"; popularly (though inaccurately) explained as an extension of the earlier name "Malaya."

A translation of Old Norse Island, literally "ice" + "land."

From Latin Austria, based on Old High German Ōstarrīhhi, meaning roughly "eastern realm." Despite sounding similar, Austria and Australia come from different roots meaning "east" and "south" respectively.

From Old French traitié, ultimately from Latin tractāre, "to handle" — the same root as "treat."

From Pole + land, ultimately from Old Polish Polanie ("Poles", literally "field dwellers"), from Proto-Slavic *poľe ("field").

Ancient Greek · 1500

From Latin Libya, from Ancient Greek Libúē, in use in English since the 16th century.

Named after its capital, Algiers, ultimately from Arabic al-jazair ("the islands"), referring to small islands once found in the bay there.

Named after the country of Morocco, where this leather-making technique was historically associated.

From Old Norse Finnland, literally "land of the Finns," from Finn plus land.

Borrowed through Middle Dutch, originally referring to the Swedish people before it came to name the country itself, eventually replacing older native English names for the region.

From Old English Norþweġ, "the north way" — the sea route north along the coast, as opposed to "south way" (Germany) or "east way" (the Baltic lands).

From Medieval Latin Lithuania, from a Slavic form of the native name Lietuva, possibly linked to a local river name.

From the Latvian name Latvija, the country's own name for itself.

From Medieval Latin Estonia, likely tracing back to the ancient tribal name Aestii recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus.

From French européen, ultimately from the same Greek root as Europe.