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 hībernālis (“wintry”), from hiems (“winter”).

From hump + backed.

From Medieval Latin hyle, from Ancient Greek ὕλη (húlē, “wood, matter”), particularly in Aristotle as πρώτη ὕλη (prṓtē húlē, “protomatter, fundamental undifferentiated matter”).

From Middle English gret-herted, equivalent to great + hearted.

Blend of homo + holocaust. See Homocaust.

From Middle English helfe, helve; from Old English hielfe, from Proto-Germanic *halbiją. Probably cognate to English half, although Etymonline claims relation from halter and helm.

From Japanese 東 (higashi, “east”), from the way the eastern or right side of the sumo ranking list is considered more prestigious, by analogy with the rising sun as opposed to the setting sun.

From hobby + -ist.

From Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls).

Borrowed from Late Latin horripilatio, horripilationem.

From Latin igneus (“fiery”). By surface analysis, Latin ign- + -eous.

From Middle English hondfast, past participle of Middle English hondfesten (“to betroth”), from Old Norse handfesta (“to strike a bargain, pledge”), itself from hönd (“hand”) + festa (“to fasten, fix, affirm”), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *pHst-.

From god + fearing, likely an alteration of Middle English goddfrihti (“god-fearing”, literally “god-frighty”) and god-friht (“god-fearing”) (whence modern English god-fright), from Old English godfyrht (“god-fearing”). Compare Old High German gotforht (“god-fearing”).

Borrowed from Middle French implantation.

See horologium. As a location in Rome, a clipping of Latin Hōrologium Augustī (“Sundial of Augustus”). As a constellation, a clipping of Latin Hōrologium Oscillitorium (“Pendulum Clock”), coined in 1763 by the French astronomer De Lacaille to honor the Dutch astronomer and mathematician Christian Huygens, who had written a major work by that name.

Borrowed from German Graben (“ditch”), from the verb graben (“to dig”).

From hep + cat, from hep (“sophisticated, aware”). Compare cat (“jazz enthusiast”). Attested in the sense of “sophisticated person” from the 1920s.

A corruption of goddamn, attested since at least 1963. Popularized by the 2002 television series Firefly.

From a medieval diminutive of the given name Hugh.

Borrowed from Latin hībernāculum (“winter quarters”).

From hair + care.

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Eidhin (“descendant of Eidhin”).

Pseudo-Japonism, derived from 変(へん)態(たい) (hentai, “pervert”), short for 変(へん)態(たい)性(せい)欲(よく)者(しゃ) (hentai seiyoku-sha, literally “person with abnormal sexual desires”).

* hat + stand * (crazy, insane): From the "Roger Irrelevant" strip in the Viz comic, where this was one of Roger's absurd non sequiturs.