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 English ǣrest ('earliest'), the superlative of ǣr ('before'), combined with 'while'.

Formed from Greek ergon ('work') plus nomos ('law'), on the pattern of 'economics'.

An initialism of 'emotional quotient' in the first sense, modelled on IQ, and a shortening of 'equalisation' in the audio sense.

From Greek epidēmia ('a stay in a place, prevalence of disease'), from epi ('among') plus dēmos ('people'), plus -logia ('study of').

From Greek epi ('upon') plus kentron ('centre'), literally the point upon the centre.

From French envoyé, the past participle of envoyer ('to send'), from Vulgar Latin inviare ('to send on the way'), from in- plus via ('way').

From French envisager, from en- ('in') plus visage ('face'), originally meaning to look in the face of something.

From Latin enumerare "to count out", from e- "out" and numerare "to count", from numerus "number".

From Greek enthalpein "to warm in", from en- "in" and thalpein "to heat".

From ensure, from Anglo-Norman enseurer, ultimately related to Latin securus "safe, secure".

From Old French enquerre, from Latin inquirere "to seek into", from in- and quaerere "to seek".

From Old French encombrance, from encombrer "to block up, obstruct".

From encroach, from Old French encrochier "to seize, hook on to", from en- and croc "hook", with the noun suffix -ment.

Formed from the prefix en- "in" and compass in its older sense of a circuit or extent.

Formed from the prefix en- "to put into" and code.

From French en route, literally "on the road".

From Latin emulgere "to milk out", because the earliest emulsions resembled milk.

An initialism of emergency medical technician.

From Latin emeritus "having completed one's service", originally used of a soldier who had served his full term.

From embolden, formed from the prefix em- "to make" and bold.

From Late Latin elucidare, from e- "out" and lucidus "clear, bright".

From Latin elocutio "a speaking out, manner of expression", from eloqui "to speak out".

From Greek elleipsis "omission, a falling short", from elleipein "to leave out", via Latin.

An abbreviation of Latin exempli gratia, literally "for the sake of example".