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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A figurative compound: a cow that can be milked continuously without further outlay, applied to a source of steady income.

From Turkish kaftan, itself from Persian khaftān, a long robe.

Via Spanish from Nahuatl cacahuatl, the word for the cacao bean in the language of the Aztecs.

From the initial C of executive titles beginning with 'chief', plus suite in the sense of a set of senior offices.

From a minor character named Felisha in the 1995 American film Friday, brushed off with the line that became the catchphrase.

First appeared in the 10th century with literal meaning "by the side of the road", from Old English weġ (which became "way") meaning "road". Soon afterward (circa 1000) it came to mean "during one's journey". The figurative meaning developed in the mid-16th century, with the first instance of the modern meaning being from 1614.

Brazilian Portuguese bunda, generally traced to a West African source in the Kimbundu language, carried to Brazil during the transatlantic slave trade.

An erroneous form of Spanish buenas noches, from bueno ('good') and noche ('night').

Spanish, literally 'good days': buenos, the masculine plural of bueno ('good'), with días, the plural of día ('day').

From Latin bonus ('good'), the same root that gives English bonus, bonny and bounty.

Spanish, literally 'good nights': buenas, the feminine plural of bueno ('good'), with noches, the plural of noche ('night').

From brood, in the sense of a hen sitting on her eggs, from Old English brōd.

From Middle English breke of (“break off, terminate”), a dissimilated form of earlier Middle English ofbreken. By surface analysis, break + off.

A shortening of bohemian, which came into English from French bohémien, originally meaning a native of Bohemia.

From Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), a slang term whose use for the large tapioca pearls carried over into English.

An initialism, standing for different phrases depending on context.

Circa the 1980s in the United States, likely from the phrase bite my ass.

Formed from the prefix bi- ('two', from Latin) and gender.

From the Latin prefix bi- ('two') and annus ('year'), giving annual.

From the Latin prefix bi- 'two' plus monthly. The prefix can mean either 'every two' or 'twice', which is the source of the ambiguity.

From Middle English best frend, best freond, equivalent to best + friend. Compare West Frisian bêste freon (“best friend”), Dutch beste vriend (“best friend”), German bester Freund (“best friend”).

An error for Spanish pendejo, from Latin pectiniculus, a diminutive of pecten 'comb', used by extension of the pubic region.

From boxing, where punches landing under the waistband are a foul. The phrase is associated with the Queensberry rules (1867), though the low blow is barred by later codes rather than by an explicit clause in the rules themselves.

Past tense of begin, from Old English beginnan 'to attempt, undertake'.