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 Middle English tuskyd; equivalent to tusk + -ed.

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twyll, twylle, from Old English twilīċ (“two-threaded”), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis (“twice”) + licium (“thread”).

Variant of Choi.

Inherited from Northern Middle English unbowsom (non-Northern unbuxom); equivalent to un- + bowsome or buxom.

From Latin tunica. Doublet of tunic and maybe distantly related to chiton.

From un- + allowable.

French tournesol

Borrowed from Latin trānspicuus (“transparent”).

From un- + chastised.

From Middle English umbesetten (“to surround”), from Old English ymbsettan (“to set around, surround, beset, encompass”), from Proto-West Germanic *umbisattjan (“to set around, encompass”); equivalent to um- + beset or umbe- + set. Compare also Old English ymbsittan (“to sit around, surround”), Dutch omzetten (“to convert, transpose”), German umsetzen (“to move to another place, convert, transform, transplant, adjust, rearrange”).

From trans- + pierce.

From Latin tūtelāris, from tūtēla (“tutelage, guardianship; dependent, client”) + -āris (suffix used to form an adjective, usually from a noun, indicating a relationship or a pertaining to).

From Middle French uberté, from Latin ūbertās, from ūber.

Borrowed from German trüb (“not clear, turbid”). Related to droff (“turbid, sorrowful, sad”)), Dutch droef (“sad, miserable”).

From French typographie from Medieval Latin typographia from Ancient Greek τυπογράφος (tupográphos, “certified copy”) + -ίᾱ (-íā). By surface analysis, type + -o- + -graphy.

The brand name is said to be a diminutive, twinkle + -ie (or otherwise modified), based on a billboard for "Twinkle Toe Shoes" in St. Louis, although there are also claims for solely one or the other. The meaning in reference to well-assimilated Asians is derived from the slur that they are "yellow on the outside, white on the inside".

From trans- + feminine.

From un- + availing.

From un- + deserve.

From un- + cheery.

Clipping of turpentine + -s (diminutive suffix).

From under- + whelm: a humorous coinage by novel negation of overwhelm first recorded in the 1950s.

From under- + garment.

From trans- + sexed.