Etymology — The Origins of English Words

entresol

Origin

From French entresol.

emersyn

Origin

Re-spelling of Emerson.

fangirl

Origin

From fan + girl.

evolutionistic

Origin

From evolution + -istic.

estuation

Origin

From Middle English estuacioun, estuation, from Latin aestuātiō. By surface analysis, estuate + -ion.

endarken

Origin

From en- + darken (see en- (“intensifying prefix”)), modelled on enlighten.

espousal

Origin

From Middle English espousal, espousaille, from Old French espousailles, from Latin sponsalia (“a betrothal”), neuter plural of sponsalis, from spōnsus (“one betrothed, a spouse”); see spouse. By surface analysis, espouse + -al.

exarch

Origin

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin exarchus.

duplication

Origin

From Middle English duplicacioun, from Middle French duplication, from Late Latin duplicātiō, duplicātiōnem, from Latin duplicō. Morphologically duplicate + -ion.

eponym

Origin

From Latin eponymus, from Ancient Greek ἐπώνῠμος (epṓnŭmos), from ἐπί (epí, “upon, epi-”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”) + -ος (-os, suffix forming adjectives and nouns). Equivalent to epi- + -nym.

enthrone

Origin

From en- + throne; compare earlier enthronize, inthronize.

eddo

Origin

From a West African language.

extrapolation

Origin

Morphologically extrapolate + -ion

exordium

Origin

Borrowed from Latin exordium (“beginning, commencement”), from exōrdior (“to begin, commence”), from ex (“out of, from”) + ōrdior (“to begin”).

eyepiece

Origin

From eye + piece.

durity

Origin

From Latin duritas, from durus (“hard”).

erse

Origin

From Scots Erse (“Irish”), from earlier Ersche, Ersch, a contraction of Erisch, Erische (“Irish”), from Middle English Erische, Irische, Irisch (“Irish”). Doublet of Irish. Compare also Scots Irisch.

estrange

Origin

From Old French estranger (“to treat as a stranger”), from Latin extraneus (“foreigner, stranger”) (from which also strange, stranger). Also see Spanish extraño.

epitomizer

Origin

From epitomize + -er. Equivalent to epitome + -izer.

eyehole

Origin

From eye + hole.

eudo

Origin

From Latin Otho.

emption

Origin

From Latin emptio, from emere (“to buy”).

excoriate

Origin

First attested in the first part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English *excoriaten (only attested in its past participle), borrowed from Late Latin excoriātus perfect passive participle of excoriō (“to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin”), from ex- (“out off, from”) + corium (“hide, skin”) + -ō. Regular participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English, later archaic.

extenuate

Origin

From Middle English extenuat (“(medicine) made thin, emaciated”), from Latin extenuātus (“diminished, reduced, thinned”), perfect passive participle of extenuō (“to diminish, reduce, thin”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex- (“out-, thoroughly”) + tenuō (“to enfeeble, weaken, wear down; to lessen, reduce; to make thin”), from tenuis (“fine, slender, thin; feeble, weak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- (“to extend, stretch; thin”)) + -ō (first conjugation-verb forming suffix). Compare attenuate.