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 loving + -ness.

From mangan(ese) + -ose + -ite, from German Manganosit. By surface analysis, mangan- + -ose + -ite.

From Middle English mansweren, from Old English mānswerian (“to forswear, perjure oneself”), from mān (“bad, criminal, false”) + swerian (“to swear”).

From West Germanic * As a Dutch and German surname, from kopen (“to buy”). * As a West Frisian surname, shortened from Jakob, a form of Jacob.

From Ancient Greek λεξικός (lexikós, “of words”), from λέξις (léxis, “a saying, speech, word”), from λέγειν (légein, “to speak”). By surface analysis, lexico- + -logy.

From Middle English losenge, from Old French losenge (“rhombus”), of uncertain origin.

From lock + man.

Borrowed from French lagune, from Venetan laguna, from Latin lacūna.

From Chinese KTV. Late 1980s Taiwanese Pseudo-English initialism from Japanese カラオケ (karaoke) + English TV. Modelled after the earlier MTV "movie TV", which in turn repurposed the initialism from the earlier meaning "music TV", copied from the American cable TV network of that name. This term is chiefly used in mainland China, Taiwan and Cambodia and Chinese speakers globally.

From Medieval Latin lachryma + -ate (adjectival suffix).

After the example of 17th-century French army officer Jean Martinet.

As an English surname, spelling variant of Lind and Line; as an Irish surname, spelling variant of Lane.

From link + -er

From Latin lātrans (“barking, ranting”), present participle of lātrāre (“to bark, to rant”). Equivalent to latrate + -ant.

From lunch + -ware.

From Middle English manful, manfull, equivalent to man + -ful.

From long + house. The sense of outhouse possibly derives from Whittington's Longhouse, a public toilet in medieval London, but first attested in a translation of a similar French expression.

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese matamatá, from Nheengatu and Old Tupi matamatá.

Borrowed from Italian loggia, from Old French loge, from Medieval Latin laubĭa, from Frankish *laubijā. Doublet of lobby and lodge.

From mail + shot.

From Middle English loteby, equivalent to lote + by.

From French loge (“arbor, covered walk-way”) from Frankish *laubijā (“shelter”). Akin to Old High German loub (“porch, gallery”) (German Laube (“bower, arbor”)), Old High German loub (“leaf, foliage”), Old English lēaf (“leaf, foliage”). Doublet of lobby, loggia, and lodge. More at lobby, loggia, leaf, lodge.

From Italian mandola. Doublet of pandura.

From low + land.