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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Room in the sense of lodging, plus board meaning meals — from the old use of board for a dining table, as in boarding house.

A compound of road and map; the planning sense is a metaphorical extension of the literal one.

An initialism of Return Merchandise Authorization.

A metaphor from the rings that spread when something is dropped into water; ripple itself is of uncertain earlier origin.

From the seating in the French National Assembly after 1789, where supporters of the king and the established order sat to the president's right and radicals to the left.

Rhyme comes via Old French rime from Latin rhythmus and ultimately Greek rhythmos 'measured motion'; the modern spelling with h was influenced by rhythm.

From Middle French reveue 'a viewing again', from revoir 'to see again'.

A shortening of reverberation, from Latin reverberare 'to beat back', from re- 'back' plus verberare 'to lash'.

Via Old French requeste from Latin requirere 'to seek again, ask for'.

From Latin repercussio, from repercutere 'to strike back', from re- 'back' plus percutere 'to strike'.

Via Old French from Late Latin reparatio, from reparare 'to repair, restore'.

From re- 'again' plus mind in the verb sense 'to bring to mind'.

From Old English rǣcan 'to stretch out, hand over'.

Recorded in Middle English as Ragamuffyn, the name of a demon in Piers Plowman, and associated from early on with rag in the sense of a tattered garment. The second element is of uncertain origin.

Spanish qué 'what' plus tal 'such, so', literally something like 'what such?'

Spanish qué 'what' plus pasó, the preterite of pasar 'to happen'.

Spanish qué 'what' plus pasa, third person singular of pasar 'to happen, to pass'.

From Latin quantitas 'quantity, extent', itself from quantus 'how much'.

Latin and Greek

A hybrid of Latin quadri- 'four' and Greek plēgē 'stroke, blow', on the model of paraplegic.

American hip-hop slang, popularised through Atlanta rap in the early 2020s. The P is explained variously as standing for player, paper or positivity; no single reading is settled.

An initialism, standing variously for paid time off, power take-off, parent-teacher organisation or please turn over.

Plural of property, from Old French propriete, from Latin proprietas meaning 'ownership' or 'a distinctive quality', from proprius meaning 'one's own'.

Latin and English

From pro-, from Latin pro meaning 'in favour of', plus choice; formed as a movement label in parallel with pro-life.

From medieval Latin primogenitura, from Latin primogenitus meaning 'firstborn', from primus 'first' and genitus 'born'.