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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Blend of greenback + blackmail.

From holiday + maker.

From Middle English ymageour, from Old French imageor; equivalent to image + -er.

From Late Latin hemicrania (“pain in one half of the head”), from Ancient Greek ἡμικρᾱνίᾰ (hēmikrāníă), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “hemi-, half”) + κρανίον (kraníon, “skull”) (from whence also cranium). Cognate to megrim and migraine, which also derive from the Latin.

From immoral + -ize.

Borrowed from Uyghur گۇما (guma).

From homogenital + -ity, equivalent to homo- + genitality.

From haggle + -er.

From Latin hypothēca (“pledge, mortgage”), from Ancient Greek ὑποθήκη (hupothḗkē, “warning, pledge”).

From Welsh Gwenllian.

From the genus name Hedera, in turn from Latin hedera (“ivy”).

From house + girl.

From hoax + -er.

From hack + -ish.

From French identique, from Medieval Latin identicus (“the same”), from Latin identi-, from idem (“the same”).

From illegal + -ise.

Clipping of immortal.

Transliteration of Arabic حُسَيْن (ḥusayn), from the root ح س ن (ḥ s n).

From Old English hassoc (“coarse grass”), of uncertain origin.

From hill + walking.

Alteration (due to breadth) of Middle English handbrede, hondbrede (“handbreadth”); equivalent to hand + breadth. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Houndebratte (“handbreadth”), West Frisian hânbreedte (“handbreadth”), Dutch handbreedte (“handbreadth”), German Handbreite (“handbreadth”) and Handbreit, Swedish handsbredd (“handbreadth”), Norwegian håndsbredd (“handbreadth”), Icelandic handbreidd (“handbreadth”).

First use appears c. 1952, apparently from Gussy (an adjective), schoolyard slang for “overly dressed” (1940); perhaps related to gussie (“an effeminate man”) (1901) and somehow connected to Gussie, the nickname for Augusta and Augustus.

From Middle English immensurable, from Old French, from Latin immēnsūrābilis, from im- (“not”) (variant form of in-) + mēnsūra (“measure”) + -bilis (“able”).

From head + lamp.