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 hebdomadālis. According to The Poly-Olbion Project, coined by John Selden in 1612.

From the genus name, New Latin Hortensia, from hortēnsius (“of the garden”), from hortēnsis.

From Middle English housholdere, equivalent to household + -er. The Buddhist sense is a semantic loan from Pali gahapati (literally “house-master”).

From hyper- + lexis + -ia.

From Middle English graithen, greithen, graiden, grathen, from Old Norse greiða (“to make ready, prepare, arrange, disentangle”), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaną (“to prepare, put in order”). Cognate with Old English ġerǣdan (“to arrange, dispose, order, provide for, harness”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (garaidjan, “to enjoin”).

From hob (“elf”, from Hob, a variant of Rob, short for Robin Goodfellow, an elf in Germanic folklore) + goblin.

From Middle English graynes, greynes; equivalent to grey + -ness.

Borrowed from Latin helluo (“glutton, squanderer”).

The name of the drink, first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food", is derived from the surname of its developers, James (1844–1921) and William Horlick (1846–1936); equivalent to Horlick + -'s (possessive marker). The term later became a euphemism for bollocks (“mess; to make a mess of”).

From im- + morigerous.

From idiot + -i- + -cy.

From impart + -ation.

UK 16th century. Possibly gore + belly or gormand + belly. Compare Swedish går-bälg.

historiographer

From historiography + -er.

Borrowed from French hérésiarque, from Ecclesiastical Latin haeresiarcha (or directly from the Latin word), from ecclesiastical Byzantine Greek αἱρεσιάρχης (hairesiárkhēs, “leader of a sect”), from Ancient Greek αἵρεσῐς (haíresĭs, “heresy”) + -ᾰ́ρχης (-ắrkhēs, “leader, ruler”), corresponding to heresy + -arch.

From im- + modesty or immodest + -y.

From hepat- + -ectomy.

From hot + dish.

Medieval variant of Honoria, feminine form of Honorius.

Borrowed from Latin immānis.

From Ἕλληνες (Héllēnes, “Greeks”), most probably a derivation of Ἑλλοί (Helloí) or Σελλοί (Selloí), the Greek inhabitants of the area around the sanctuary of Dodona (Δωδώνη (Dōdṓnē)). In Greek mythology Ἕλλην (Héllēn), whom the Ἕλληνες (Héllēnes, “Greeks”) were named after, was the son of Δευκαλίων (Deukalíōn) and Πύρρα (Púrrha).

From Middle English habil, from Old French habile, from Latin habilis (“suitable; apt”), from habeō (“to handle”). Doublet of able.

From a Middle English [Term?], a diminutive of Hick, from Richard.

From Middle English gourmaunt, gormond, gromonde, from Old French gormant (“a glutton”, noun), from gormant (“gluttonous”, adjective), of uncertain origin.