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 under- + croft (crypt).

From Late Latin truncātiō, from Latin truncāre, past participle truncātus (“to cut off”). By surface analysis, truncate + -ion.

From track + laying.

From Latin tremulus, from tremō (“to tremble, shake”) + -ulus. Doublet of tremor and tremble. By surface analysis, tremulate + -ous.

From tyrant + -hood.

From tulip + wood.

undemonstrative

From un- + demonstrative.

From un- + cast.

* track + -able

From un- + angelic.

Inherited from Middle English twichel, alteration of twychen (with change of suffix), from Old English twiċen (“fork in the road”).

PIE word *tréyes From Middle English trevet, from Old English trefet, borrowed from Latin tripēs, tripedis (“tripod”).

From un- + biblical.

Borrowed from Tibetan སྤྲུལ་པ (sprul pa, “emanation, magical creation”), equivalent to a calque of Sanskrit निर्मित (nirmita, “build”) or निर्माण (nirmāṇa, “build”).

From un- + bonneted.

From Middle English traunsom; probably an alteration of Latin trānstrum (“crossbeam”).

From under + clothes.

Either back-formed from, or otherwise related to, trepidation.

From Middle English uncouple; equivalent to un- + couple.

From Latin tūtēlārius (“guardian”), from tūtēla (“tutelage, guardianship; dependent, client”) + -ārius (suffix denoting an agent of use); analysable as tutelar + -ary.

From tremble + -er.

From twin + -some.

From un- + begot.

From town + -y (adjectival suffix).