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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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unchancy
Origin
From un- + chancy.
trepidly
Origin
From trepid + -ly.
ulaanbaatar
Origin
A transliteration of Mongolian Улаанбаатар (Ulaanbaatar), a compound of улаан (ulaan, “red”, adjective) and баатар (baatar, “hero”, cognate to bogatyr). The name was adopted in 1924; before that, the city was known by a number of more prosaic names, including Их Хүрээ (Ix Xüree, “Great Camp”), Даа Хүрээ (Daa Xüree, “Great Camp”) (whence, via Chinese, its English names Kulun and Kuren), and Өргөө (Örgöö, “Residence”) (whence Urga).
unbolt
Origin
From un- + bolt.
trull
Origin
From Middle English trul (“travel about”), from Old French troller, treiller (“to hunt”). Doublet of troll.
uncheckered
Origin
From un- + checkered.
uncharactered
Origin
From un- + charactered.
tundish
Origin
From tun + dish.
turtleish
Origin
From turtle + -ish. Piecewise doublet of turtlesque.
uke
Origin
From Japanese 受け (uke), the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 受(う)ける (ukeru, “to receive, to get”).
triplex
Origin
From Latin triplex. Analyzable as tri- + -plex.
twirp
Origin
Onomatopoeia, like chirp.
traitorsome
Origin
From traitor + -some.
unchangeable
Origin
Inherited from Middle English unchaungeable; equivalent to un- + changeable.
underwrite
Origin
From Middle English underwriten, from Old English underwrītan (“to write at the foot of, write under, subscribe”). Compare Dutch onderschrijven (“to endorse”), German unterschreiben (“to sign; endorse”), Danish underskrive (“to sign; endorse”). By surface analysis, under- + write.
uncommenced
Origin
From un- + commenced.
ukase
Origin
Borrowed from Russian ука́з (ukáz, “edict, decree”).
tumbril
Origin
From Old French tumberel (modern French tombereau, in Anglo-Latin tumberellus), from tomber, tumber (“to fall”).
underbring
Origin
From under- + bring.
unblue
Origin
From un- + blue.
transversion
Origin
From trans- + -version. Compare conversion.
traumatise
Origin
From French traumatiser.
totable
Origin
From tote + -able.
unacquire
Origin
From un- + acquire.