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 Latin ebullire 'to boil up', from e- 'out' and bullire 'to boil' — the same root as 'boil'.

From Late Latin depretiare 'to lower the price of', from de- 'down' and pretium 'price'.

From French dénouement 'an untying', from dénouer 'to untie', ultimately from Latin nodus 'knot'.

An initialism of Consumer Price Index.

From Latin convulsio, from convellere "to pull violently, to wrench", from con- (intensive) and vellere "to pluck, pull".

From Latin convectio, from convehere "to carry together", from con- "together" and vehere "to carry".

From consign, from Latin consignare "to mark with a seal", with the suffix -ee marking the person on the receiving end of the action.

From Latin consecrare "to make sacred", from con- (intensive) and sacrare "to dedicate", from sacer "sacred".

From medieval Latin connotatio, from connotare "to mark in addition", from con- "together with" and notare "to note".

From Latin conjugatus, past participle of conjugare "to yoke together", from com- "together" and jugum "yoke".

From Latin congruent-, the present participle of congruere "to come together, agree".

From Late Latin confluentia, from Latin confluere "to flow together", from con- "together" and fluere "to flow".

From confection, ultimately from Latin conficere "to prepare, put together", with the ending -ery denoting a trade or its products.

From Latin condimentum "spice, seasoning", from condire "to season, to preserve".

Through French from Latin concubina "concubine", from con- "with" and cubare "to lie".

An English respelling of camaraderie, from French camaraderie, from camarade "comrade"; the spelling has been reshaped after the English word comrade.

From French compliment, ultimately from Latin complere "to fill up, complete", by way of Spanish and Italian words for an act of courtesy.

From Latin compendium "a saving, a shortening", from compendere "to weigh together".

From co- "together with" and morbidity, ultimately from Latin morbus "disease".

A rendering of Latin sensus communis, originally the faculty that unites the impressions of the five senses; the modern meaning of ordinary practical judgement developed in English.

From late Latin commensuratus, from com- with and mensurare to measure, from mensura a measure.

From Latin colloquium meaning a conversation, from com- together and loqui to speak.

From Latin collocare meaning to place together, from com- with and locare to place.

Idiomatic sense possibly from a calque of German kalte Füße bekommen (“to get cold feet”), or of Lombard avegh minga frecc i pee (“to have no money”, literally “to be cold in the feet”) (Italian aver freddo ai piedi), said by a person who wishes to stop gambling, allegedly because the person now has cold feet due to being too poor to afford proper footwear.