Etymology — The Origins of English Words

ascribe

Origin

From Middle English ascriben, from Old French ascrivre (“inscribe, attribute, impute”), from Latin āscrībere (“to state in writing”), equivalent to a- + scribe.

ambon

Origin

Ultimately from Old Javanese Ambwan (“Ambon”), attested in the Nagarakṛtāgama, likely through Classical Malay and reinforced by modern Indonesian. Compare nearby names such as Fordata Yabun. See also Amboyna, ultimately from Portuguese, and likely from a similar source.

altercative

Origin

See altercation.

adnoun

Origin

From Latin ad + English noun.

arpent

Origin

From French arpent, from Late Latin arepennis (“surface of a field”), from Gaulish *are-penno- (“end, extremity of a field”) (see Proto-Celtic *Kʷennowindos).

ameen

Origin

From Arabic أمين (ʔamīn, “loyal, reliable, trustworthy”).

antizenith

Origin

From anti- + zenith.

aerospatial

Origin

From aero- + spatial.

antiquary

Origin

From Latin antīquārius (“pertaining to antiquity, one fond of or employed in antiquities”), from antīquus (“ancient”) + -ārius; equivalent to antique + -ary.

aero

Origin

Back-formation from aero- (prefix), from Ancient Greek ἀέρος (aéros).

allheal

Origin

From all + heal. Compare Latin panax and panacea.

anomal

Origin

Borrowed from French anomal.

agnosy

Origin

By surface analysis, a- + -gnosy; diachronically, probably from the same borrowing as agnosia, which see.

alexandria

Origin

From Middle English Alexandria, from Old English Alexandria, from Latin Alexandrīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia), from Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros, “Alexander”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming place names”), initially chiefly places founded by Alexander the Great of Macedonia and subsequently usually with reference to Alexandria in Egypt, a major Hellenistic cultural center, center of early Christianity, and continuing major international port. Compare Antioch, Seleucia, and Ptolemais. Doublet of Kandahar, Iskenderun, Scandaroon, and Alexandretta.

ambergris

Origin

From Old French ambre gris (“grey amber”). Though the term was initially spaced as two words, single-word forms predominated by the 19th century. In the 17th century, folk etymologies interpreting the term as amber grease or amber [of] Greece enjoyed some popularity.

alee

Origin

From a- + lee.

aleksandra

Origin

Borrowed from Russian Алекса́ндра (Aleksándra).

anthumous

Origin

Formed by analogy with posthumous, replacing the prefix post- by its antonym ant-.

apposable

Origin

From appose + -able.

alaina

Origin

A variant of Alana coined in the 20th century from Alain, the French equivalent of Alan.

anoxia

Origin

Internationalism, from an- (“without”) + ox- (“oxygen”) + -ia (“disease”).

archpriest

Origin

From Middle English archepreest, archeprest, archiprest, ercheprest, erchepreste; compare Old French archeprestre and Medieval Latin archipresbyter; equivalent to arch- + priest. Piecewise doublet of archpresbyter.

afterhand

Origin

From after + hand.

afterknowledge

Origin

From after- + knowledge.