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 un- + colorful.

From totalist + -ic.

From Anglo-Norman tortfesance, from Old French tort (“a misdeed, a wrong”) + fesance (“act, action, deed”).

From un- + curl.

From trans- + sex.

Back-formation from intransigent.

From Middle English undergangen (“to undego, endure, be baptised”), from Old English undergangan (“to undergo”); equivalent to under- + gang (“to walk, step, go”).

From under- + reckon.

From un- + coif.

From un- + awaking.

Altered spelling of true facts. By surface analysis, tru- + fax (“facts”).

From twilight + -ish.

From treacle + -ly.

From trans- + masculine.

From Middle English underseken, onderseken (also undersechen), from Old English undersēcan (“to investigate, examine”), equivalent to under- + seek. Cognate with West Frisian ûndersykje (“to research”), Dutch onderzoeken (“to investigate, probe, examine”), German untersuchen (“to examine, investigate, explore”).

Uncertain, possibly a Blend of Tyrone + Reese or Maurice

From un- + canonize.

Corruption of betwixt and between. Alternatively: derived from Low German "twiete" (alley)

Borrowed from Ukrainian тризу́б (tryzúb, “trident”), from три (try, “three”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”)) + зуб (zub, “tooth”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth; row of teeth; peg”)). See three, comb.

From under- + see. Cognate with Dutch onderzien (“to see below”), German untersehen (“to see below”).

First attested 1725, from French tumescence, from Latin tumescēns (“swelling”), present participle of tumēscō (“to begin to swell”), from tumeō (“to swell”) + -ēscō (incohative suffix) (English -esce, in this form -escence), stem from Proto-Indo-European *tum-éh₁- (“to be swelling”), stative stem of *tum- (“to swell”).

From trans- + fusus, past participle of fundō (“to pour, to melt”). By surface analysis, trans- + fuse.

From un- + buildable.

From totter + -some.