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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Borrowed from French dérangement, equivalent to derange + -ment.

Latin crenatus (“scalloped, notched”).

From Middle English cruelnesse; equivalent to cruel + -ness.

From demi- + god. Calque of the Latin semideus (“half-god”), which is probably a coining by the Roman poet Ovid for less important gods such as dryads.

From Middle French desfrayer, French défrayer, from dé- + Old French fraier (“to spend”).

From deutero- + -on. From deuterium, from Ancient Greek δεύτερος (deúteros, “second”).

From French démystifier, or de- + mystify.

Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēscrīptōris. Compare describe.

From a medieval diminutive of Dick + the patronymic suffix -s.

From day + pack.

From crime + fighter.

Borrowed from Koyukon Deenaalee (“the tall one; the high one; the great one”) (/dinæli/, variously rendered Dinale or Denali), from -naał- (“be long, tall”).

From de- + odor + -ize.

From Latin dēlectiō. By surface analysis, delect + -ion.

From crap + house.

From defray + -ment.

See croceous, + -in.

From day + bed.

From cramp + fish.

From creatable + -ness. First attested in 1900.

de- + stink + -ify

From dark + -some.

From cum + hole.

From de- + complicate.