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 Cruella de Vil, the villain of 101 Dalmatians — her name is a pun combining "cruel" and "devil."

Borrowed from German IfS (“Institut für Staatspolitik”).

Separate origins as diminutives of British name Odell and Germanic name Odin; later used as nickname for additional given names.

Borrowed from French Valjean.

A back-formation from Thetford.

A 4chan meme word from around 2019, blending "game" with "coomer" (another internet slang term), following the same joke pattern used to name a whole family of Wojak-style internet characters.

From the Cornish place name Dinmelsa, meaning "fort of Melsa".

Borrowed directly from Arabic.

From Mandarin 庵埠 /菴埠 (Ānbù).

Named after artist Andy Warhol, who famously predicted that everyone would be world-famous for fifteen minutes.

Borrowed from Korean 아줌마 (ajumma).

Variant of Hawthorne.

A direct Transliteration of Sanskrit समीर (samīra).

From French Poirot.

From the Sanskrit gaurī, literally "the fair/radiant one," a title of the goddess Parvati.

From Hani Haqniq, probably via Mandarin 哈尼 (Hāní).

From Sanskrit विवेक (viveka), "discernment, wisdom."

Variant of Tate, with excrescent -s.

Variant of Tremaine.

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 遼西 /辽西 (Liáoxī).

Perhaps a variant of Pemberton.

Probably from Old Norse á, meaning "water" or "river."

From medieval French Héloïse, historically linked to the doublet name Eloise.

Borrowed from Russian Чехов (Čéxov), literally meaning "Czech."