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 English cartlode, cartelode, equivalent to cart + load.

From Latin circumvolvere.

From centrifuge + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Borrowed from Japanese 千代紙 (ちよがみ, chiyogami, “gaily colored paper”, literally “paper of a thousand worlds”).

From chatter + bag.

From child + lover, a calque of Ancient Greek παιδοφίλης (paidophílēs).

First attested in the mid-17th c., from the resemblance to cats' nocturnal cries. From cat + call.

From Middle English chamberere, chamberer, from Old French chamberiere, feminine of chamberier; ultimately from Latin cambra (“room”). By surface analysis, chamber + -er.

From carto- + -mancy.

From Ancient Greek κατα- (kata-, “down”) and ὁδός (hodós, “journey, way”), equivalent to Ancient Greek κάθοδος (káthodos, “way down, descent”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1834 for Michael Faraday, who introduced it later that year. By surface analysis, cath- (alternative form of cata-) + -ode.

Borrowed from French chignon circa 1780, when the hairstyle was in fashion.

From Middle English coket, possibly from Latin quo quietus.

From Charlotte + -zza.

From cobbler + fish.

From French Charline.

From chosen + -ness.

From cat + sitter or catsit + -er.

From choir + master, a calque of German Chormeister. Piecewise doublet of chorusmaster.

From circular + -ise.

A variant of carol (“small closet or enclosure”), from Middle English carole (“round dance with singing; group of people dancing and singing in a circle; circular thing; braid, chain (?); stall for study or writing; writing table; etc.”) (possibly referring to the fact that the item encloses or surrounds the person using it): see further at carol.

From the participle stem of Latin cōgō.

Probably of imitative origin; perhaps from ch(irp) + (y)elp.

From Middle French clystere, or its Latin source, in turn from Ancient Greek κλυστήρ (klustḗr).

From Middle French chimarre, from Spanish zamarra. Cognate with French chamarre, simarre, Italian zimarra, of same origin. Doublet of simar, sable, and zimarra.