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, standing for Football Bowl Subdivision, fasting blood sugar or fetal bovine serum depending on the field.

Via Old French from Latin favorabilis, from favor 'goodwill'; the American spelling of favourable.

From far + sighted.

Imitative internet slang, originating as a written sound effect for masturbation in online comics and message boards.

From factor, from Latin facere 'to make, do', with the verb-forming suffix -ise.

Via French from Latin facilis 'easy to do', from facere 'to do, make'.

From Latin explicare 'to unfold, unroll', from ex- 'out' and plicare 'to fold'.

Latin, literally 'from a part' or 'on behalf of one side'.

From Old English æfentid, from æfen 'evening' and tid 'time'.

From French évaluer 'to find the value of', from Old French value, ultimately from Latin valere 'to be worth'.

From euthanasia, from Greek eu 'good' and thanatos 'death'; the American spelling of the past tense of euthanize (British: euthanised).

An initialism; the expansion depends on the field.

An initialism of English for Speakers of Other Languages.

From Greek ergon 'work' and nomos 'law', by way of the noun ergonomics, the study of efficiency in the working environment.

From Late Latin aequivocus 'of equal voice, ambiguous', from aequus 'equal' and vocare 'to call'.

From Latin enuntiare 'to announce, speak out', from e- 'out' and nuntiare 'to report'.

entrepreneurship

From French entrepreneur, literally 'one who undertakes', from entreprendre 'to undertake', plus the English suffix -ship denoting a state or activity.

From Old French 'entrer', from Latin 'intrare' (to go in), from 'intra' (within).

From the verb 'entangle', formed from 'en-' (to put into) plus 'tangle', with the noun suffix '-ment'.

From Anglo-Norman legal French 'entailler', to cut into a particular shape or restrict, from 'en-' plus 'taille' (a cut, a limitation). The general sense 'to involve as a consequence' developed from the legal one.

A spelt-out pronunciation of the initialism NB, standing for 'non-binary'.

From the verb 'enable', from 'en-' (to make, put into) plus 'able', with the noun-forming suffix '-ment'.

From 'emulsion', from Latin 'emulgere' (to milk out), from 'e-' (out) plus 'mulgere' (to milk), plus the suffix '-ify'.

An initialism of 'electromagnetic pulse'.