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 dedust + -er.

From creationary + -ly.

From Middle English derkelyng. By surface analysis, dark + -ling.

From Middle French diamantin, from diamant (“diamond”) + -in (“-ine”).

From Old French crenel ( > modern French créneau), diminutive of cren (“notch”).

From depilate + -or.

From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert.

From Medieval Latin daemonizō, from daemon + -izō. Compare Ancient Greek δαιμονίζομαι (daimonízomai, “to be possessed by a demon”), from δαίμων (daímōn, “demon”). By surface analysis, demon + -ize.

From Crookes + -ite, named after British chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes.

From cream + cups, from its white and yellow flowers.

From curare + -ization.

From derma- + rolling.

From Old French destitution, from Latin dēstitūtiō (“abandoning”), from dēstituō.

From Middle French diaconal, from Latin diaconus (“deacon”).

Inherited from Middle English defoulen, from Old French defouler.

Borrowed from Italian decrescendo.

From decide + -er.

From cult + -ism. The linguistic sense is from Spanish cultismo.

Clipping of curiosity, 1851. Compare cabinet of curiosities and French objet de curiosité.

From Middle English darnel, dernel, from Old Northern French darnelle ( > dialectal French dernelle, darnette), of Germanic origin, possibly Proto-West Germanic *darjan (“to harm, injure”). Displaced native Old English boþen. Related to Walloon darne, derne (“stunned, dazed, drunk”), Middle Dutch verdarnt, verdaernt (“stunned, dumbfounded, angry”). The association with being dazed or drunkenness is due to the well-known intoxicating effects of the plant.

First attested in a glossary in 1826, in a fragment in 1838, and in a grammatical sentence in 1892; formed by the suffixation of cucumi-, the short i-stem of the Latin cucumis (“cucumber”), with the English -form; compare the earlier New Latin cucumeriformis (1703), cucumiformis (1791) and French cucumeriforme (1777), cucumiforme (1804).

From depth + -en.

From Middle French dépendance, equivalent to depend + -ance.

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin crepitātus, perfect passive participle of crepitō (“to creak, rattle, clatter, crackle”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), itself a frequentative of crepō (“to creak, rattle, etc., burst or break with a noise, crash”).