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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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recursion
Origin
Borrowed from Latin recursiō (“the act of running back or again, return”), from recurrō (“run back; return”), from re- (“back, again”) + currō (“run”).
ostiary
Origin
Borrowed from Latin ostiārius, from ostium (“door, entrance”). See usher, which may be a doublet.
rearrangement
Origin
From re- + arrangement or rearrange + -ment.
overwater
Origin
From over- + water.
moocha
Origin
From Zulu unmutsha.
indite
Origin
Originally a variant of indict; from Middle English enditen, endyten, from Old French enditer, from Late Latin indictāre, from in- + dictare (“to declare”). Doublet of indict.
mandrel
Origin
From French mandrin, probably from Vulgar Latin *mamphurinum, from Latin mamphur (“a bow drill”), ultimately from Oscan or Ancient Greek μαννοφόρον (mannophóron, “wearing a collar”), from μανά (maná, “collar”) + φέρω (phérō, “to bear”); first element cognate with Latin monile (“collar”).
newsperson
Origin
From news + person.
recursive
Origin
Learned borrowing from New Latin recursīvus. Equivalent to recurse + -ive.
lattermath
Origin
From latter (from Old English lætra, comparative form of læt (“late”)) + math (dialectal, from Old English mæþ (“mowing”), from the Proto-Germanic *mēþą).
illation
Origin
From Latin illātiō (“logical inference, deduction, conclusion”), from illātus, perfect passive participle of inferō (“carry or bring into somewhere; conclude”), from in + ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”).
rapacious
Origin
Perhaps from rapacity + -ous, in any case ultimately from Latin rapāx (“grasping, greedy”) + -acious.
landsman
Origin
From land + -s- + man. In meanings 3 and 4, influenced by Yiddish לאַנדסמאַן (landsman). Compare also German Landsmann, Norwegian landsmann. Doublet of lantzman.
pecuniary
Origin
From Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia (“money”), itself from pecū (“cattle”) and thus related to fee.
quiesce
Origin
Borrowed from Latin quiēscō ("I rest, repose, become quiet").
prow
Origin
From Middle French proue, proe, from Ligurian prua, proa, from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).
mote
Origin
From Middle English mot, from Old English mot (“grain of sand; mote; atom”), from Proto-West Germanic *mot (“grain of dirt or sand, speck”). Perhaps linked to English mud. Compare West Frisian mot (“peat dust”), Dutch mot (“dust from turf; sawdust; grit”), Low German mut (“peat dust, grit”), Norwegian mutt (“speck; mote; splinter; chip”), Italian mota (“mud”), Spanish mota (“speck”).
hummock
Origin
Unknown, but probably a diminutive of hump, equivalent to hump + -ock (diminutive suffix). Compare hillock.
plaint
Origin
From Middle English plainte, borrowed from Anglo-Norman plainte (“lamentation”), plaint (“lament”), and Old French pleinte (“lamentation”), pleint (“lament”) (modern French plainte), from Medieval Latin plancta (“plaint”), from Latin planctus (“a beating of the breast in lamentation, beating, lamentation”), from Latin plango (“to beat one's breast, to lament”); see plain.
neuritis
Origin
From neur- + -itis.
picayune
Origin
The noun is borrowed from southern French picaillon, pécaillon, picayon (“type of small foreign coin; (informal, especially in the plural) cash, money”), and from its etymon Occitan picalhon, picaioun (“cheaply made Savoyan-Piedmontese coin that was rapidly demonetized; (by extension) cash, money”), probably from Occitan piquar (“to ring (bells); to knock, strike”) (referring to the clinking of coins in a pocket), originally imitative. The adjective is derived from the noun.
hierarch
Origin
From Medieval Latin hierarcha, from Ancient Greek ἱεράρχης (hierárkhēs) Derived from ἱερός (hierós, “holy”) + -άρχης (-árkhēs, “ruler”, “leader”). ἱερός from Proto-Hellenic *iherós, from Proto-Indo-European *ish₁ros. There are a number of candidate cognates with this word. Compare Sanskrit इषिर (iṣira, “vigorous, fresh, blooming”) and Oscan 𐌀𐌉𐌔𐌖𐌔𐌉𐌔 (aisusis).
hiddenness
Origin
From Middle English hyddenesse; equivalent to hidden + -ness.
purveyor
Origin
From Middle English purveiour (“one who procures or supplies necessities, provider; city, military, religious, or household employee in charge of provisions, steward; one in charge, overseer; one who goes ahead to prepare the way, forerunner; one who arranges accommodations for a traveller; (figurative) one who gathers greedily”), from Anglo-Norman purveour, Middle French pourveur, pourvoyeur, and (chiefly Northern) Old French purveour (“one who procures or supplies necessities or things in general; one who arranges or prepares something”) (modern French pourvoyeur), from porveoir, purveer, purveir (“to equip, furnish, provide, purvey; to foresee; to look at; to obtain, procure”) (modern French pourvoir) + -or (suffix forming agent nouns). Porveoir is derived from Latin prōvidēre, the present active infinitive of prōvideō (“to care for, look after; to foresee; to provide, see to”), from prō- (prefix meaning ‘before; forward’) + videō (“to see; to look out for, care for, provide, see to”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”)). By surface analysis, purvey + -or (suffix forming agent nouns denoting people or things which do the actions denoted by the stems). Doublet