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 Irish Maolmhaodhóg or Maolseachlainn, later influenced by the unrelated Hebrew name Malachi.

Borrowed from Tamil பெருமாள் (perumāḷ).

From Tamil மீனாக்ஷி (mīṉākṣi), meaning "fish-eyed," a traditional description of beautiful eyes.

Simply mole (the burrowing animal, or the skin mark) with the adjective ending -y added, the same pattern as in "holey" or "stony".

A trademarked name built from "benzhydryl," referring to the drug’s chemical structure.

Variant of Leanne.

The nickname plays on the idea of a donkey as clumsy and slow-witted compared to a "bronco," a strong, spirited horse — a bit of self-deprecating humor turned into a fan nickname.

Borrowed from Sanskrit Draupadī.

Borrowed from French Sauvage.

A variant of Albinson.

Borrowed from Korean 아저씨 (ajeossi), meaning "uncle" or "mister."

Borrowed directly from Korean hyeong, meaning "older brother" (used by a male speaker).

Borrowed from Korean 누나 (nuna), meaning "older sister of a man."

From stone + bridge.

From an Aboriginal Australian language of southern Australia.

Named after singer Barbra Streisand, whose 2003 lawsuit to remove a photo of her house from the internet backfired spectacularly and made the photo famous.

In the sense of skills, a now figurative use that originally referred to literal ropes. The phrase “he knows the ropes” written on a seaman’s discharge meant that he was inexperienced and only familiar with a ship’s principal ropes.

Derived from Haverfordwest in Wales.

Borrowed from Hindi नेहा (nehā). Doublet of snow.

From Arabic فَلُّوجَة (fallūja).

From the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary in Stephen King's novella and its 1994 film adaptation The Shawshank Redemption, in which a prisoner escapes after tunnelling out over many years.

From "cap" plus "-y."

Abbreviation of McDonald's.

Borrowed from German Dachau.