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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Learned borrowing from Latin glāns (“acorn”).

From Middle English *frood, *frode, *frod, from Old English frōd (“wise, prudent; experienced, old”), from Proto-Germanic *frōdaz (“wise, clever”), from Proto-Indo-European *pret- (“to understand”). Cognate with North Frisian frod, Saterland Frisian frod, Dutch vroed (“wise, knowing”), Swedish frod (“wise, experienced, mature”), Icelandic fróður (“knowledgeable”), Lithuanian prõtas (“mind, reason, understanding”).

From Yiddish געשמאַק (geshmak).

From gear + set.

From Middle English glaser, variant of glasier; equivalent to glaze + -er; compare glazier.

From Frigg + -a, with suffix added to make the name more obviously feminine in English.

From front + side.

Borrowed from Japanese げんき (“energetic, peppy”).

From Yiddish פֿאָנפֿען (fonfen, “to speak with a nasal twang, to mumble”) + -er (frequentative suffix). First attested in 1954. Compare fumf.

From a Middle English diminutive of the male given name Giles.

From frog + man, due to the fact that frogs are amphibious.

From Latin frīgorificus, from frigus (“cold”) + facere (“to make”): compare French frigorifique.

From gas + -iform.

Inherited from Middle English gavelkynde; by surface analysis, gavel (“rent”) + kind (“lineage”).

From gain- + strife. Compare gainstrive.

From Middle English fulgent, from Latin fulgēns. By surface analysis, Latin fulg(ere) + -ent.

Inherited from Middle English garnisoun, from Middle French garnison, from Old French garnison, from garnir, guarnir (“to protect, provision”).

From Middle English fulsom, equivalent to full + -some. The meaning has evolved from an original positive connotation "abundant" to a neutral "plump" to a negative "overfed". In modern usage, it can take on any of these inflections. See usage note. The negative sense "offensive, gross; disgusting, sickening" developed secondarily after the 13th century and was influenced by Middle English foul (“foul”). In the 18th century, the word was sometimes even spelled foulsome.

From future + -able. Compare Spanish futurible.

Borrowed from Latin glomerātus, perfect passive participle of glomero (“to glomerate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

From French gigue. Doublet of jig.

From ghost + writer.

From gaol + bait, see jailbait.

From Middle English genitour, from Old French genitor, geneteur, from Latin genitor, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tōr; the Latin is also equivalent to genō + -tor.