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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Spelling variant of Bradley.

From bill + fish.

From be- (prefix meaning ‘about; around’) + trim.

From bowl + -ful.

From Latin bipartītus (“bisected”), perfect passive participle of bipartiō (“to divide into two parts, bisect”). By surface analysis, bi- + part + -ite.

From Middle English bestriden, from Old English bestrīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *bistrīdan; equivalent to be- + stride. Compare Dutch bestrijden, German bestreiten.

From breech + clout.

From butyro- + -aceous.

From butt + load. Butt in this context may be possibly one or both of: * butt (“large wooden cask”) (Etymology 3) * butt (“two-wheeled cart”) (Etymology 5) Alternatively, the term may either be a corruption of English boatload or have been influenced by that term (except for the specific, West Country dialect sense). All senses above also synchronically reanalyzed as buttocksful.

From black + heart.

bronchodilatory

From broncho- + dilatory.

From Middle English blere, related to Low German bleeroged (“bleareyed”), Middle High German blerre (“double vision”), German Blerre (“double vision”). Perhaps also related to blur.

From Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων (kakodaímōn), from κακός (kakós, “bad, evil”) and δαίμων (daímōn, “divinity, genius”).

By surface analysis, an appellativization from Canid(ae) minus -ae (a pattern that recurs with many -idae names).

Blend of by + our + lady.

From Middle English bukler, bokler, bokeler, bokeleer, from Old French bocler, boucler, bucler, (French bouclier) from Vulgar Latin *bucculārius (“bossed”), from Latin buccula (“boss”). Merged with buckle + -er.

From blackened + -ness.

Borrowed from Russian богаты́рь (bogatýrʹ), Old East Slavic богатꙑрь (bogatyrĭ), from a Turkic language, probably Khazar, from Old Turkic [script needed] (baɣatur, “hero”), from Proto-Turkic *bagatur (“hero”). Cognates include Turkish bahadır, Tatar баһадир (bahadir), Chuvash паттӑр (pattăr), Kyrgyz баатыр (baatır), Tuvan маатыр (maatır), Yakut баатыр (baatïr), Turkmen batyr, Middle Turkic baɣatur. Doublet of bahadur.

From bitter + weed.

From Middle English burnet, from Old French brunet, brunete (“brunette”). Doublet of brunette.

From bulb + head.

From blue + screen; derived from "blue screen of death".

Borrowed from Hindi भिंडी (bhiṇḍī, “okra”), a feminine form of Sanskrit भिण्डा (bhiṇḍā).

From bush + land.