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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Inherited from Middle English coynage, from Old French coignage, from coignier. By surface analysis, coin + -age.

Written form of a reduction of get you. get + -cha

From deuced + -ly.

From ear + ball. Noun sense 1 and the verb are modeled after eyeball.

From blow + lamp.

From obsolete Italian cognoscente (modern Italian conoscente) from Latin cognōscere (“to know”).

From dactylo- + -graphy.

From Middle English compunccion, borrowed from Old French compunction, from Late Latin compunctionem (“a pricking”), from Latin compunctus, the past participle of compungere (“to severely prick”), from com- + pungere (“to prick”).

From cable + -gram.

From Latin conjectus.

From Middle French confraternité.

From Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere (“to pluck up, dislocate, convulse”), from com- (“together”) + vellere (“to pluck, pull”). Doublet of convel.

From Japanese 大根 (daikon, “big root”).

From Middle English determinate, determynat, determinat, from Latin dēterminātus, perfect passive participle of dēterminō (“to limit, set bounds”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

From New Latin erythēma, from Ancient Greek ἐρύθημα (erúthēma, “a redness or flush on the skin”), from ἐρυθρός (eruthrós, “red”).

From brick + head.

From border + land.

From French fusillade, from fusiller (“shoot with a firearm”), from fusil (“rifle, gun”).

From Middle English glosen, from Old French gloser, from Medieval Latin glossa. More at gloss.

From com- + mingle.

From cool + box.

From boot + licker.

From Middle French évocation.

From Middle English kuggel, from Old English cyċġel (“a large stick, cudgel”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuggil, from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz (“a knobbed instrument”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ (“cog, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ- (“swelling, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), equivalent to cog + -el (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch coghele (“a stick with a rounded end”).