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 Middle French communicatif.

Blend of confuse + befuddle.

From concert + -ina.

From commit + -ee, or else revival of Anglo-Norman commite, past participle of commettre (“to commit”), from Latin committere, from con- (“with”) + mittere (“to send”). The OED3 prefers the first etymology.

From (the participle stem of) Latin contundere (“pound or beat small”), from com- + tundere (“beat, thump”).

From cook + house. Used in Middle English (1296) in a name (Cokehuse), perhaps referring to a kitchen or a restaurant.

From crackle + -ware.

Borrowed from Irish Conall.

From content + -ness.

From Spanish coleta.

From continued + -ly.

From co- + infuse.

From Middle English confabulacion (“conversation”), from Latin confābulātiōnem, from cōnfābulārī + -tiōnem.

Borrowed from Latin collocatum, supine of collocō. Doublet of couch.

From crab + -like. In sense “moving sideways”, due to crab’s sideways walk.

From French contiguïté (whence -ity), from Late Latin contiguitās, from Latin contiguus (“bordering upon”), from contingō (“to touch or border upon”).

Variant of Cochrane.

Borrowed from Middle French convexe, from Latin convexus (“arched”).

From French corallin, from Latin corallinus, from corallium (“coral”), via Greek probably of Semitic origin. The taxonomic sense is a semantic loan from translingual Corallina and related terms. By surface analysis, coral + -ine.

From counter- + potent.

From co- + requisite.

From Latin confōrmātiō. By surface analysis, conform + -ation.

From Middle English cofre, coffre, from Old French cofre, coffre, from Latin cophinus (“basket”), from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “basket”). Doublet of coffin. Cognate with German Koffer (“a suitcase”).

From Latin coruscātus, perfect passive participle of coruscō (“to flash, gleam”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).