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 dis- + improvement.

Originally a variant of dragonet. By surface analysis, dragon + -ette.

From French domiciliaire, from Medieval Latin domiciliārius, from Latin domicilium (“dwelling”).

From doof + -oid.

From drain + plug.

Dobbin + -s (“patronymic suffix”)

Borrowed from Latin ductus (“leading, conducting”, noun). Doublet of duct and douit.

From dis- + embroil.

From Dodd + -s (“patronymic suffix”). From Middle English Dodd.

From Middle English drinklen, drinkelen, drenklen (“to plunge, drown”), from Old English *drenclian (“to drown”), frequentative form of Old English drenċan (“to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make drunk, ply with drink; soak, saturate; submerge, drown, plunge; sink”), equivalent to drink + -le and drench + -le. Compare dronkle, drunkle.

Learned borrowing from Latin drachma and its etymon Doric Greek δρᾰχμᾱ́ (drăkhmā́). Doublet of dram, diram, dirham, dirhem, adarme, and dam.

From dis- + sympathy.

From dog + sled.

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English dreċċan (“to vex, irritate, trouble, torment, torture, oppress, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *drakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *drakjaną (“to torment”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrag-, *dʰragʰ- (“to bother, torment”). Cognate with Russian раздража́ть (razdražátʹ, “to irritate”), Sanskrit द्राघते (drāghate, “to exert oneself, be tired, torment”).

From down- + lift.

From dis- + enroll.

From Middle English dowtfully, doutefulli, equivalent to doubtful + -ly.

From Middle French dispositif and its source, Latin dispositus. Compare Piedmontese dispositiv.

From discipline + -less.

From French dogmatisme, from Ecclesiastical Latin dogmatismus. Derived from Latin dogma (“philosophical tenet”), from Ancient Greek δόγμα (dógma, “opinion, tenet”), from δοκέω (dokéō, “to seem good, think”). Treated in the 17th and 18th century as Greek, with plural dogmata.

From Old French desuser, equivalent to dis- + use.

From French, from Ancient Greek δρόμος (drómos, “running”). Doublet of dromos.

From dimwitted + -ness.