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 Old French conoissant, the present participle of conoistre, from Latin cognoscere 'to get to know', formed from co- 'together' and gnoscere 'to know'. The spelling with a g was restored later on the Latin model.

Formed from the prefix co- 'together' plus dependent; the term arose in addiction treatment to describe the partner of a dependent person.

From linguistics, where code means a language or language variety; switching between codes gave the term, which later broadened to cover social and behavioural adjustment.

From the colour-coded emergency alert systems used in hospitals and emergency services, in which red marks the most urgent category.

From Middle English coppeweb, from Old English coppe 'spider' plus web; the first element survives only in this compound.

An initialism; the expansion depends on context — Certified Management Accountant, Competition and Markets Authority, or comparative market analysis.

From Old English clathas, the plural of clath 'cloth, garment'; clothes and cloth are historically the same word.

Closed because the text is carried hidden in the signal and must be decoded and switched on by the viewer, as opposed to open captions which are burned permanently into the picture.

An initialism; the expansion depends on context, most commonly career limiting move or contract lifecycle management.

Climate is from Greek klima, a slope or region of the earth, via Latin; change is from Old French changier, from Latin cambiare 'to exchange'.

From Latin cliens, a citizen under the protection of a wealthier patron, related to clinare 'to lean'.

From Old French clamer 'to call, cry out', from Latin clamare 'to shout'.

From the Latin prefix cis- 'on this side of', paired against trans- 'across, on the other side of'.

From the Latin prefix cis- 'on this side of', the opposite of trans- 'across', applied to gender by analogy with its long-standing use in chemistry.

From the Latin prefix cis- 'on this side of', the counterpart of trans- 'across, on the other side of', borrowed from its established use in chemistry and geography.

chronological order

From Greek khronos 'time' and logos 'account, study', via chronology.

From Greek khroma 'colour' and graphein 'to write', from the technique's first demonstrations separating plant pigments into visible coloured bands.

chip on your shoulder

From an American practice of placing a wood chip on one's shoulder and daring another person to knock it off as a challenge to fight; the phrase is recorded in this literal sense before becoming figurative.

From French charcuterie, from chair cuite 'cooked flesh', originally the trade of the pork butcher.

Borrowed from Hindi छपरी (chaprī).

An initialism; the expansion depends on context, most commonly chronic fatigue syndrome or cubic feet per second.

cease and desist

A legal doublet: cease and desist both came into English from Old French (cesser and desister), from Latin cessare and desistere. Such pairings were common in English legal drafting, where two near-synonyms were set together to close any gap in meaning.

From carbon copy and blind carbon copy, referring to the sheets of carbon paper once used to produce duplicates of a typed letter.

From Old North French cauquer, from Latin calcare 'to tread or press down', reflecting the original sense of pressing material into a ship's seams.