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 pit + fall, originally a concealed pit dug as a trap for animals; the figurative sense of a hidden danger followed.

From French piquer, "to prick, sting", which also gives English picket; the noun sense of wounded pride came into English first.

A compound of pillow and talk, describing conversation held in bed.

From pigment, from Latin pigmentum meaning 'colouring matter', from pingere 'to paint', plus the suffix -ation.

An initialism of parental guidance in its film-rating sense.

An initialism, expanded differently by field.

From Greek petra meaning 'stone' and ichor, the fluid said in Greek myth to run in the veins of the gods.

From pet in the sense of 'favourite, particularly cherished' plus peeve, a back-formation from peevish meaning irritable.

From the verb peruse, of uncertain earlier origin, plus the noun suffix -al.

persona non grata

Latin, literally 'person not pleasing', from persona 'person', non 'not' and grata, feminine of gratus 'pleasing, welcome'.

From perish, from Old French perir, from Latin perire meaning 'to pass away, be destroyed', plus the suffix -able.

From Greek perineon, from peri 'around' and inan 'to excrete'.

From Latin perfusio, from perfundere meaning 'to pour over', from per 'through' and fundere 'to pour'.

Latin, literally 'by itself', from per 'by, through' and se 'itself'.

Latin, literally 'by the day', from per 'by' and diem, accusative of dies 'day'.

Latin, literally 'by heads', from per 'by' and capita, plural of caput 'head'.

A compound of peer, meaning an equal or someone of the same age or standing, and pressure.

From Greek paidagogia, from paidagogos, the slave who escorted a child to school, from pais, paidos 'child' and agogos 'leader'.

A shortening of pectorals, from Latin pectoralis, from pectus meaning 'chest'.

An initialism, expanded differently in different fields.

From pay plus the suffix -ee, which marks the person on the receiving end of an action, as in employee and addressee.

From Latin paucitas, from paucus meaning 'few', via Old French paucite.

From Italian patina meaning 'coating' or 'film', from Latin patina, a shallow dish or pan.

pathophysiology

From Greek pathos 'suffering, disease' plus physiology, itself from physis 'nature' and -logia 'study of'.