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 local + -ize. Compare French localiser.

From news + hound.

The verb is possibly derived from gut (“belly”) + -le (frequentative suffix), perhaps influenced by guzzle (“to drink or eat quickly, voraciously, or to excess; to gulp down; to swallow greedily, continually, or with gusto”). The noun is derived from the verb.

Late 15th century, from Latin intercessor, from Latin intercēdō, from inter (“between”) + cēdō (“to go”) (English cede), literally “go-between”.

Genitive of Latin pubes (“the pubic hair”, collective). The noun was generalized from medical Latin os pubis, the pubic bone.

Coined by Weiler & Panagia (1978), from Ancient Greek πλήρης (plḗrēs, “full”).

Borrowed from Latin nōdulus (“small knot”), from nōdus (“knot”). Doublet of nodulus.

Inherited from Middle English parlour, from Old French parleor, parloir, parleoir, from the verb parler (“to speak”); compare Medieval Latin parlātōrium. Doublet of parloir. Displaced native Old English sprǣchūs.

From Italian libretto, diminutive of libro (“book”), from Latin liber (“book”).

From Middle English potacion, from Old French potacion, from Latin pōtātiō.

From French mutinier.

An alteration, under the influence of hell, of northern English/Scottish dialectal hallion (“scamp, worthless fellow”), of unknown origin.

A common spelling variant of MacDonald, from Scottish Gaelic Mac Dhòmhnaill, equivalent to "son of Donald".

From Middle English mishandlen, equivalent to mis- + handle. Cognate with Saterland Frisian mishondelje, West Frisian mishandelje, Dutch mishandelen (“to mistreat”), German misshandeln (“to mistreat”).

As an adjective, from Middle English numeral, numerall, from Latin numerālis (“pertaining to a number”), from numerus (“a number”). As a noun, via Middle French numeral.

From Ancient Greek μισανθρωπία (misanthrōpía), from μισάνθρωπος (misánthrōpos), from μῖσος (mîsos, “hatred”) + ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “human”). The word is analysable as miso- + -anthropy.

From implicate + -ive.

From private + -eer probably after volunteer, shortened from the original term "Private Man-of-war".

From Latin octāns. Doublet of Octans.

From German Masochismus, coined alongside Sadismus in 1886 by Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his book Psychopathia Sexualis. Named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose novel "Venus in Furs" explores a sadomasochistic relationship, + -ism.

From Middle English oddenesse; equivalent to odd + -ness.

From French pressentiment, from Middle French, equivalent to pre- + sentiment.

From Latin inflōrēscentia, from inflōrēscō (“to begin to flower”), inchoative verb of flōreō (“to flower”).

From Late Latin offertorium, from the participle stem of offere (“to offer”).