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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Inherited from Middle English verdure, from Middle French verdure, from Old French verdure, from Late Latin *viridūra, from viridis (“green”) + -ūra (abstract noun-forming suffix).

From Latin vitellus (“the yolk of an egg”). Doublet of veal.

From Middle English whelwryghte; equivalent to wheel + wright.

Learned borrowing from Latin vitilīgō.

From Middle English unredy, equivalent to un- + ready. Compare Dutch ongereed and onbereid, German unbereit, Swedish oberedd.

Initialism of Vy, single-engine.

From Middle English unfitting, equivalent to un- + fitting.

From un- + sanity.

From un- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + obtrusive.

From white + boy, from the white smocks the members wore in their nightly raids.

From vasculo- + -itis.

From watch + making.

From Late Middle English, an alteration of whitflaw, with the first element deriving either from Middle Dutch vijt or Low German fit (“abscess”), borrowed from Latin fīcus (“fig-shaped (ulcer)”), though also influenced by white. The Latin loan also existed in other languages, such as Old English fic (“hemorrhoids”). See flaw.

Ultimately from Latin venter (“belly”), with the ending possibly changed by backformation from ventral and/or by analogy to dorsum (“back”).

From un- + enchant.

From un- + veracious.

From un- + prompted.

From town + -s- + -woman, on the model of townsman.

Learned borrowing from Latin Trōglodytae (“cave-dwelling people”), from Ancient Greek τρωγλοδύτης (trōglodútēs, “one who dwells in holes”), from τρώγλη (trṓglē, “hole”) + δύω (dúō, “to get into”).

From un- + arm.

From Latin tripartītus.

Likely from French trépasser (“pass over or beyond”).

From under- + arm. The armpit sense is not old, historically speaking (1920s), and it is believed to have arisen as a euphemism in advertising.

From Old English twēonlēoht (“twilight”, literally “double-/doubtful-/uncertain-light”). The alternative spellings are due to a misassociation with between, erroneously interpreting tweenlight as if it were a shortening of between-light.