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 Old French cambre (“bent”), from Latin camurum, from camur (“arched”).

From a keyword in C++ and derived programming languages, short for Boolean.

From French bricole, from Late Latin briccola, bricola, of uncertain origin.

Deverbal from build out.

Borrowed from Latin caprīnus. The taxonomic sense is a semantic loan from translingual Caprinae.

From bull + -speak.

From Middle English bulrish, perhaps from bule (“bull”) (in the sense of "large") + rish (“rush”).

From bucket + load.

Borrowed from Yiddish באָבע (bobe, “grandmother”), and then either from a Slavic language or from eastern Middle High German bābe (“old woman”), both from Proto-Slavic *baba (“old woman”) and ultimately imitative of a child’s babbling. Doublet of baba.

From brave + -hood.

From boat + building.

From caffeine + -ated.

From bombast (“padding, stuffing”) + -ic, 18th century. Sense evolution possibly influenced by unrelated bomb and bombard; see also bombard phrase.

Compound of block + list.

From Middle Dutch bruun (“brown”) via William Caxton's 1485 translation of a Dutch version of the legend of Reynard the Fox. Bruin is the bear, named for his brown color. Doublet of brown.

From Middle English bragot, braket, from Middle Welsh bragawt, bragaut, bragot, from brag (“malt”).

From Italian carbonari, plural of carbonaro.

From bubbling + -ly.

bull + bat; so called from the loud noise it makes while feeding on the wing, in the evening.

A variant spelling of Braden.

Blend of can + annular.

Likely derived from Basque buru (“head”), referring here to a headland or promontory.

From bling + -ish.

From bog + house.