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 Igbo ụnụ. Compare Jamaican Creole unnu.

From zoo- + -erastia.

Contraction of what for.

From French Ouisconsinite. By surface analysis, Wisconsin + -ite.

From wing + woman, modelled on earlier wingman.

From X chromosome.

From Middle English withsetten (“to resist, set against”), from Old English wiþsettan (“to resist; condemn”), equivalent to with- (“against”) + set.

From work + around.

Transliteration of Hebrew יְהוּדִית (y'hudít, “Judith”). Doublet of Judith.

From word + -craft.

From wretch + -ock (“diminutive suffix”).

Contraction of yes, ma'am.

From wind + burn.

Borrowed from Russian Ефре́м (Jefrém). Doublet of Ephraim.

From wine + tasting.

From word + stock, probably influenced by German Wortschatz or Danish ordforråd, among others.

Unknown. First seen in print around 1960. One theory is that it comes from donkey's ears; another is that it is an abbreviation of years, months and weeks.

From zealot + -ic.

From wing + dog, by analogy with wingman.

From wind + pump.

Possibly a compounding of dialectal forms of white + earth.

A revival of Middle English withspeken (“to speak against, contradict”), from Old English wiþsprecan (“to contradict, gainsay, revile”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþisprekan, equivalent to with- + speak. Cognate with Old Frisian withspreka (“to disagree”), Saterland Frisian wierspreeke (“to contradict”), West Frisian wjersprekke (“to contradict”), Dutch weerspreken (“to contradict”), German widersprechen (“to contradict, gainsay”).

From wide + screen.

Spelling pronunciation of Middle Scots Ȝetland with the letter ⟨ȝ⟩ confused with ⟨z⟩.