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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Borrowed from Sanskrit मधु (madhu), meaning "honey" or "sweet".

Borrowed from Sanskrit श्रेया (śreyā).

Borrowed from Sanskrit कुणाल (kuṇāla).

Borrowed from Sanskrit यश (yaśa, “fame, glory”).

From Sanskrit "santosha," meaning contentment.

From Sanskrit niśā, meaning "night."

Borrowed from Sanskrit आशीष (āśīṣa).

Borrowed from Arabic سحاب (saḥāb, "cloud").

Borrowed from Ojibwe.

Borrowed from Sanskrit kusuma, meaning "flower."

From Hindi नंदिनी (nandinī), from Sanskrit, also used as an epithet of the goddess Durga.

A playful corruption of "croissant," shaped by the sound of the Sanskrit-derived name Prashant, meaning "calm" or "peaceful."

Said to derive from a Romani word meaning "to awake"; also possibly a Walloon form of the French name Jean.

From Ellen spelled backwards. Popularized by author Harper Lee, whose first name Nelle was so derived from her grandmother’s.

Borrowed from French Valmont.

Originally a pet form of the given names Augustus and Augusta; the slang senses developed separately in regional and informal use.

Borrowed from Russian and Ukrainian Женя (Ženja)

From Middle English drinkere, drynkere, from Old English drincere (“drinker”), from Proto-Germanic *drinkārijaz (“drinker”), equivalent to drink + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Drinker (“drinker”), West Frisian drinker (“drinker”), Dutch drinker (“drinker”), German Low German Drinker (“drinker”), German Trinker (“drinker”), Danish drikker (“drinker”), Swedish drickare, drinkare (“drinker”).

From Latin caelestis, "heavenly."

From Mandarin 烏當 /乌当.

From Persian رِضَا (rizā), from Arabic رِضَا (riḍā, "satisfaction, fulfillment").

A transliteration of the Russian name Ю́лия (Júlija).

Named after Tuxedo Park, New York, a wealthy community where the style of jacket was popularised among American high society in the 1880s.