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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Possibly from Danish Jørg.

Coined by the poet Edmund Spenser in his poem "The Faerie Queene" (1590) to represent Elizabeth I, built from Latin gloria ("glory") plus a suffix meaning "pertaining to."

Ultimately of Breton origin.

From Gaelic "Mac an t-Saoir," meaning "son of the carpenter."

A shortened, informal form of "Hercules," the aircraft's full name.

Acronym of the French "Fédération Internationale des Échecs."

Borrowed from Middle Mongol ᠲᠡᠮᠦᠵᠢᠨ (temüǰin). Possibly from Proto-Turkic *temürči(n) (“blacksmith”).

Traced back through Hindustani and Persian to Arabic habba, meaning a single grain or seed — the same idea behind describing a tiny quantity as "not a grain's worth."

A patronymic surname from a shortened form of "Abel".

Borrowed from Sanskrit कल्याण (kalyāṇa, “welfare, prosperity”).

* As a German surname Klöss, from the personal name Kloss, shortened from Nikolaus. Compare Klos. * Also as a German surname, from the noun Kloß (“lump, block”). * Also Germanized from several of Slavic surnames, such as Upper Sorbian kłós, Lower Sorbian kłos, and Polish kłos, all meaning "ear or spike of cereal;" see also Klos.

From Old English heord ("herd") + wīc ("village"); shares its origin with Hardwick.

Variant of Rennie.

From Spanish and Portuguese, literally "looks at the sea."

An anglicized borrowing of the Belgian French surname De Mille.

Patronymic from Mather.

From "kid" (young goat) + "man," an old occupational surname for a goatherd.

Borrowed from Spanish Taño. This surname is mostly found in the Philippines.

From Polonius, the long-winded, interfering courtier in Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

* As an English surname, variant of Mear, topographic surname for someone who lived by a pond, from Old English mere (“lake, pool”), or near a boundary, from ġemǣre (“boundary, border”). * As an Irish surname, from Ó Meidhir, from meidhir (“mirth”). Compare Myers.

Americanized spelling of German Kühler.

Variant of McRae.

Patronymic from Spire.

* Borrowed from Dutch and German Mein, from the personal name Maino, Meino, from a derivative of Proto-West Germanic *magan (“to be able, be strong”). * Also as a German surname, from the adjective (ge)mein (“mean, nasty”). * As a Scottish surname, variant of Main.