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 cannula + -ation.

From boofhead + -ed.

From Middle English calketrappe, from Old English calcatrippe, from Medieval Latin calcatrippa (“thistle”), from Latin calx or calcare (“to tread”) + trappa (“trap”).

From bogus (“fake, phony”) + -osity.

Named after butcher Matthew Bramley, who owned the tree from which cuttings were taken in the mid-1800s.

From Middle English *bewarden, from Old English beweardian (“to ward, protect, keep”), equivalent to be- + ward.

From Middle English cardoun, from Old French cardon, from Late Latin cardōnem, from Latin cardus, alternative form of carduus (“thistle”). Respelled on analogy of -oon nouns. Doublet of cardon and chard.

From block + headed.

Variant of Buchanan.

From Middle English bisulien, from Old English besylian (“to soil, stain”), equivalent to be- + sully.

From brim + -ful.

From capacity + -ive.

Ellipsis of various forms of everything looks good but her face, great body but her face, among other phrases, under the influence of butter (perhaps also with connotation of “plainness”, grease, etc.) and buttface. Compare summerteeth.

From bewitch + -ery.

From bird + -woman.

From Middle English breffnes, brevenesse, equivalent to brief + -ness.

From Middle English besaunt, from Old French bezant, nominative bezanz, from Latin byzantius (“of Byzantium”).

From bush + whack.

From Middle English brodnes (also as brednysse), from Old English brādnes, brǣdnys (“breadth, greatness, extent, surface; liberality”), equivalent to broad + -ness.

From Middle English blacchen, from the noun above.

From brain + dance, from its relatively complex (i.e. intellectual) structure and use of elements of dance music. Coined by the label Rephlex Records.

From Persian قلیان.

From Middle English blinnen, from Old English blinnan (“to stop, cease”), from Proto-Germanic *bilinnaną (“to turn aside, swerve from”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley-, *leya- (“to deflect, turn away, vanish, slip”); equivalent to be- + lin. Cognate with Old High German bilinnan (“to yield, stop, forlet, give away”), Old Norse linna (Swedish dialectal linna, “to pause, rest”). See also lin.

Borrowed from Spanish camarilla, from cámara (“chamber”) and the diminutive suffix -illa.