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 shortening of bourgeois, from French, meaning middle-class.

From boot and strap, the small loop used to pull a boot on, via the ironic image of pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps, which was originally a description of something impossible.

From Latin bona fide, meaning in good faith, the ablative of bona fides.

French, literally good journey.

French, literally good appetite.

An early twentieth-century American coinage, widely credited to the humorist Gelett Burgess, who used it of the gushing praise printed on book jackets.

From the hard-wearing blue shirts and overalls traditionally worn for manual work, which showed dirt less than white shirts.

From French blonde, the feminine form of blond, meaning fair-haired.

Formed from bi- meaning two and partisan, a supporter of a party or cause.

From Greek biotikos, meaning of life, from bios meaning life.

A compound of binge, meaning a bout of excessive indulgence, and watch.

From Latin bifurcus, meaning two-pronged, from bi- meaning two and furca meaning fork.

From Latin biennium, a period of two years, from bi- meaning two and annus meaning year.

From Greek biblion, meaning book, and graphia, meaning writing, via French bibliographie.

From Middle English, literally a wether (a castrated ram) wearing a bell so the rest of the flock would follow it.

An initialism of Before Common Era.

banana republic

From banana and republic, originally describing small Central American states whose economies and politics were dominated by foreign-owned fruit companies.

From Japanese baka, meaning fool or foolishness.

From Russian babushka 'grandmother', a diminutive of baba 'old woman'.

From Greek axioma 'that which is thought worthy or self-evident', from axios 'worthy'.

From French avant-garde 'advance guard', the troops sent ahead of the main army, from avant 'before' and garde 'guard'.

From Greek autokrateia 'absolute rule', from autos 'self' and kratos 'power, rule'.

An affectionate form of aunt, which came into English from Old French ante, from Latin amita 'father's sister'.

From French au revoir, literally 'to the seeing again', from au 'to the' and revoir 'to see again'.