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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An initialism of nerve growth factor.

An initialism, standing variously for not-for-profit, natural family planning or non-farm payrolls.

From never + ending.

An initialism of non-disclosure agreement.

An initialism, most commonly of 'no bullshit'.

An initialism of National Basketball Association.

From Greek myops 'short-sighted', from myein 'to shut' and ops 'eye', describing the habit of narrowing the eyes to see distant things.

A compound of mug, slang for the face since the early eighteenth century — generally traced to drinking mugs moulded into grotesque faces — and shot in the sense of a photograph.

From Arabic muftī, the one who delivers a fatwa, from aftā 'to give a legal opinion'. The 'civilian clothes' sense arose in nineteenth-century British military slang; its connection to the Arabic word is not securely established.

Spanish, literally 'much pleasure', shortened from mucho gusto en conocerle 'much pleasure in meeting you'.

Imitative of the sound of a kiss.

An initialism of male-to-female.

An abbreviation of messenger ribonucleic acid.

From Latin motus, past participle of movere 'to move', via motile.

An initialism of minimum order quantity.

monkey business

From monkey, long used of mischievous or tricky behaviour, plus business in the sense 'goings-on, activity'.

From Latin moneta 'mint, coinage', via French monétiser.

Plural of moment, from Latin momentum 'movement, an instant of time'.

From medieval Latin modalis, from Latin modus 'measure, manner, mode'.

From Greek mikros 'small', bios 'life' and -logia 'study of'.

microaggression

Formed from micro- 'small' and aggression.

Spanish, literally 'my house', from mi 'my' and casa 'house'.

Abbreviation of Maung. Borrowed from Burmese မောင် (maung).

Plural of the initialism MF, from motherfuckers.