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 Old English Eofurheard, Eoferard, from Proto-West Germanic *Eburahardu, from *ebur (“wild boar”) + *hardu (“hard, brave”). Reinforced by cognate names from Anglo-Norman and Middle Dutch.

From Ancient Greek ἐπανόρθωσις (epanórthōsis, “correction”).

From extirpate + -ive.

Learned borrowing from Latin excursus (“excursion”). Doublet of excurse.

From Middle English donek, dunok, from Old English *dunnuc, equivalent to dun (“brownish grey”) + -ock (diminutive suffix). Compare Old High German doniklīn (“hedge-sparrow; dunnock”). Compare ruddock.

From extortion + -er.

Hiberno-English and Scottish English pronunciation of idiot.

From Old French fay neant, alteration of feignant (“idler”), present participle of feindre, modelled on fait (“does”) + neant (“nothing”).

From dyspnea + -al.

From Latin aequ(us) (“calm”) + animus (“mind”). By surface analysis, equ- + animus.

From everyday + -ness. Compare the similarly-formed German Alltäglichkeit (alltäglich + -keit).

Borrowed from Medieval Latin febrīlis, from Latin febris (“fever”). By surface analysis, Latin febr- + -ile.

Learned borrowing from Old English ǣfenglōm, as the term began being used soon after the publication of Early England and the Saxon-English in 1869, where the word is first listed in this form. By surface analysis, even + glome (“gloom”).

From feck + -ly.

From Ancient Greek ἐννεάς (enneás), ἐννεάδος (enneádos, “body of nine”) + -ad (suffix designating a unit); analysable as ennea- + -ad. The Greek words ἐννεάς and ἐννεάδος are derived from ἐννέᾰ (ennéă, “nine”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”)) + -ᾰ́ς (-ắs, suffix forming abstract nouns of number from numerals) or -ος (-os).

From earth + work. First attested in the 1630s.

Inherited from Middle English equinoctial, equinoccial, equinoxial, from Old French equinoxial, from Latin (circulus) aequinoctiālis, from aequinoctium + -alis.

Borrowed from Latin extensus.

A variant of Elijah.

From Middle French épithète, from Latin epithetum, epitheton, from Ancient Greek ἐπίθετον (epítheton, “epithet, adjective”), the neuter of ἐπίθετος (epíthetos, “additional”), from ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, “to add on”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “in addition”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put”) (suf. possibly related to title in the sense of "ascribed appellation") (from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, to do”)). Doublet of epitheton.

From Latin fecundātus, perfect passive participle of fecundō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, fecund + -ate. Compare French féconder.

From ear + sore. Compare eyesore.

Partial calque of German Feldspat, formed from Feld (“field”) + Spat (“spar”), the second element replaced with the English cognate spar.

Borrowed from Latin excipiēns, present participle of excipiō. See except.