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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Possibly from Ancient Greek ἀλκή (alkḗ, “courage, prowess; guard, defense”).

Alteration of askance, apparently after aslant.

From a- + scorbutic, possibly influenced by scorbic.

From French anatase, from Ancient Greek ἀνάτασις (anátasis, “extending, extension”), named for the length of its crystals.

Learned borrowing from Latin ambulans, present participle of ambulare (“to walk”).

From Latin Albina (name of a third-century martyr), feminine form of the Roman cognomen Albīnus, derivative of Latin albus (“white”).

From Middle French à la mort (“to the death”). Compare amort.

From Hebrew עלייה / עֲלִיָּה (aliyá, “ascent”).

Sense 1 is from ass + load and is old; sense 3 is from ass + load and is newer; sense 2 came from sense 1 but is often synchronically reanalyzed as coming from sense 3.

From applicable + -ity.

From agri- + business, or a blend of agriculture + business, coined by American academic and diplomat John Herbert Davis (1904–1988).

Borrowed from Spanish amontillado.

20th-century spelling variant of Ashley.

From Latin appetītiō (“a longing or desire”).

antievangelical

From anti- + evangelical.

From Middle English apert, from Old French apert, from Latin apertus, past participle of aperire. Doublet of ouvert and overt.

From Portuguese albacor, from Arabic اَلْبَكُورَة (al-bakūra, “the young camels”).

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “speech in defense of a position”). Doublet of apology.

Partly from algebra + -ic and partly from French algébraïque.

From affy (“(obsolete) to have faith in, trust; to formally affirm or promise; etc.”) + -ant (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs).

Borrowed from Sanskrit आसन (ā́sana, āsaná, “sitting down”), from आस्ते (ā́ste, “to sit down”).

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀνόρεκτος (anórektos, “without appetite”), from ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ὀρέγω (orégō, “to desire”). By surface analysis, an- + orectic.

From Latin amnion (“membrane around a fetus”), from Ancient Greek ἀμνίον (amníon).

From alcohol + -ist.