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 freet + -y.

From Old French flagitieux or Latin flāgitiōsus, both ultimately from flāgitium (“shameful crime”), related to flagrum (“whip”).

From fore- + passed.

From fire + raising.

From Middle English fleshmongere, from Old English flǣsċmangere; equivalent to flesh + monger.

From flesh + space.

From Fitz- + Hugh.

From fore- + begotten.

From for- + pass.

From Middle English fordrenchen, from Old English fordrenċan (“to make drunk, intoxicate”), equivalent to for- + drench. Cognate with Middle Low German vordrenken.

From fence + -er.

Learned borrowing from Latin foliātus (“having leaves, leafy, leaved”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), a participial adjective derived from folium (“leaf; (Late Latin) leaf or sheet of paper”) + -ātus (participial adjective-forming suffix) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”) or *dʰelh₁- (“to be green”)).

From forth- + putting.

From Latin folium (“a leaf”) + -vore, Latin vorō (“to devour”).

From Latin formīdō (“to fear, dread”) + -ability.

From French finité, from Old French finité, from fini (past participle of finir (“to bound”)) + -ité.

From fortune + -less.

From Middle English foretokne, fortacne, from Old English foretācn, foretācen (“foretoken, presage, prognostic, prodigy, sign, wonder”), equivalent to fore- + token. Cognate with Dutch voorteken, German Low German Vörteken, German Vorzeichen.

From fore- + tale; compare foretell.

From fettle + -er.

Borrowed from Spanish filipina f (feminine form of filipino).

From Middle English forwhy, forwhi, from Old English forhwī, forhwȳ (“why, wherefore”). Equivalent to for + why.

Phonetic spelling of FUBAR, which is either an acronym for "fucked up beyond all recognition", or derived from foo.

From flat + land.