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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From Middle English hadde (preterite), yhad (past participle), from Old English hæfde (first and third person singular preterite), ġehæfd (past participle), from Proto-Germanic *habdaz, past and past participle stem of *habjaną (“to have”), equivalent to have + -ed. Cognate with Dutch had, German hatte, Swedish hade, Icelandic hafði.

From Arabic ḥabīb 'beloved', with the feminine ending and the first-person possessive suffix, giving 'my beloved (female)'.

From Latin gubernator 'steersman, governor', from gubernare 'to steer', itself from Greek kybernan.

Spanish guapo, historically meaning bold or showy before settling into its modern sense of handsome.

From the North American folk tradition of 2 February; the figurative sense comes from the 1993 film Groundhog Day, in which the main character relives the same day repeatedly.

graveyard shift

By association of the spooky, cold and silent properties of both the night and graveyards.

Google Translate

A compound of the company name Google and translate.

From Middle English gud mornynge (also as goode morne, gode morne), from Old English *gōdne morgen (“good morning”), an ellipsis for an expression such as "I wish you a good morning", equivalent to good + morning. Compare West Frisian goeie moarn, Dutch goedemorgen, German guten Morgen, Danish god morgen, Swedish god morgon, Icelandic góðan morgunn.

From 14th century Middle English gogelen (“to roll (eyes), to look sideways”). Earlier source is unknown. The noun is attested from the 17th century. Compare Irish gog (“a nod, a slight motion”).

A compound of God and fearing, using fear in its older sense of awe and reverence rather than fright.

From Greek gluphē 'carving', from gluphein 'to carve', by way of French glyphe.

From Latin generare, 'to beget or produce', from genus 'birth, kind'.

A closed compound of gender and fluid.

Gender is from Latin genus, meaning kind or sort, via Old French gendre; neutral is from Latin neutralis, from neuter meaning neither of the two.

A compound of gender and fluid, on the model of other modern gender-identity terms.

From Old English giefan, of Germanic origin, reinforced by Old Norse gefa.

From Old French gaaignier, meaning to earn or win, of Germanic origin.

Via Old French frenetique and Latin phreneticus from Greek phrenitis, an inflammation of the brain, from phren meaning mind. Frantic comes from the same root.

From free plus hold, translating the Anglo-Norman legal term for land held without obligation of service to a lord.

An initialism, expanding differently by field — false positive, family planning or freezing point.

From Latin forma, meaning shape or figure, via Old French former.

for what it's worth

The phrase may have originally been used to qualify a statement of advice, opinion, or suggestion by referring to such a statement and describing it separately from making it.

Late Middle English, probably imitative of the sound of a finger being flicked from the thumb.

figurative language

From Latin figura, meaning shape or form, via Old French figuratif.