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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

From tri- + monthly.

From tour + about.

From type + setter.

From Middle English unchastite; equivalent to un- + chastity.

From Middle English transgressour, from Anglo-Norman transgressour, from Latin transgressor. Equivalent to transgress + -or.

From turn + key. (jailer): Compare typologically Russian вертуха́й (vertuxáj) (akin to верте́ть (vertétʹ)).

From un- + apprehensive.

From un- + bellicose.

From un- + calculating.

From tyrant + -ship.

From un- + deflowered.

Mid 19th century, from Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós, “heat”) + -ic.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek τετρασκέλιον (tetraskélion, “four-legged”).

Ancient Greek θρηνητικός (thrēnētikós, “inclined to lament, querulous”). By surface analysis, threne + -etic.

Blend of table + seamount.

From top + knot.

PIE word *tewtéh₂ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂der. Latin Teutonēsbor. English Teuton Borrowed from Latin Teutonēs, Teutonī (“the Teutons”) (compare Ancient Greek Τεύτονες (Teútones)), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). First attested in the early 1700s.

From tom + fool.

From thing + -ify.

From tap + -er.

PIE word *kʷetwóres From tetra- (prefix meaning ‘four’) + (itera)tion, from the fact that tetration is in fourth place after addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. The word was coined by the English mathematician Reuben Goodstein (1912–1985).

From synonym + -ic, after French synonymique.

From Middle English tuwel, from Old French tueil, tuel, tudel (“tube, pipe”) (whence modern French tuyau), from Vulgar Latin *tūta, from Frankish *thūta (“pipe”), from Proto-Germanic *þeutǭ (“pipe, channel, flow”), from *þeutaną (“to howl, roar, resound”), from Proto-Indo-European *tu-, *tutu- (“bird-cry, shriek”). Compare Spanish and Portuguese tudel, from the same Germanic source.

From Middle French talc, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq), from Persian تلک (talk), from Middle Persian [Term?] (“medicament”).