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 Latin contumāx (“stubborn, obstinate”) + -ious. By surface analysis, contum(ax) + -acious.

From cornhusk + -ing or corn + husking.

From cosmo- + vision.

From Middle French collet. Doublet of collar.

From con- + natural.

From construction + -al.

From Middle English crakenelle, craknel, krakenelle, apparently an alteration of Middle French craquelin.

Borrowed from Latin corȳza, from Ancient Greek κόρυζα (kóruza, “nasal mucus”).

From Middle English commixt, commixte, commyxt (past participle), from Latin commixtus, past participle of commisceō, with the -t later re-analyzed as the past participial ending; equivalent to com- + mix, modelled on Latin commisceō.

From co- + regency.

From Middle English corrigible, corigyble, from Old French corrigible.

From co- + instantial or co- + instance + -ial.

From Latin Curtenus, from curtus (“short”), via Norman.

Borrowed from Dharug guuu-wi, adopted into English by white settlers in Australia from 1790.

From copper + head.

From Latin cōnifer (“bearing cones”), by surface analysis, Latin cōnus (“cone”) + -fer.

From Middle English couherde, from Old English cūhierde, equivalent to cow + herd (“herder”). Doublet of Coward (the surname). Cognate with German Kuhhirte (“cowherd”). Compare shepherd, goatherd, swineherd, etc.

As a term for horse chestnut, derived from the name of the game conkers, which came first. Theories for the original meaning include 19th-century dialect conker (“snail-shell”) (the game of conkers was originally played using snail-shells), from conch + -er, or a variant of conquer.

From cosy + -ness.

Either irregularly from conservative + -ism or from conservate + -ism; ultimately from Latin cōnservāre (“to conserve; to keep, guard, observe”).

From Middle French contresigne. Equivalent to counter- + sign.

From contradict + -able.

Perhaps from obsolete cop (“summit, hilltop”) + land.

From Middle English conspiracioun, from Middle French conspiration, from Latin cōnspīrātiō, cōnspīrātiōnem. Doublet of conspiracy.