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 strike + breaker.

From super- + brain.

From spew + -y.

From sozzle + -y?

From sports + -person.

From Latin suppūrātus, past participle of suppūrō, from pūr-, stem of pūs.

Borrowed from French stéréotypie, from stéréotype + -ie. By surface analysis, stereotype + -y (suffix forming abstract nouns).

From Middle English stonewerk, stonwerk, ston-werke, stoonwerk, from Old English stānweorc; equivalent to stone + -work.

From the taxonomic name Squamata, from Latin squāmātus.

Borrowed from translingual Staphylococcus. By surface analysis, staphylo- + -coccus.

From Afrikaans springhaas.

From street + -wise.

From super- + psyched.

From splash + -er.

From splay + foot.

From Latin suscitatus, past participle of suscitare (“to lift up, to rouse”), from sub- + citare (“to rouse, excite”). Compare excite, incite, and resuscitate.

From Latin squama (“scale”) + -oid.

From stream + style.

Borrowed from Latin susurrus (“a humming, whispering”); reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to buzz, hum”).

From stone + -craft.

From Middle English *stepmele, *stapmele, from Old English stæpmǣlum (“step by step; gradually, by degrees”), equivalent to step + -meal.

Back-formation from surveillance (but cf. French surveiller and its variant surveille). First attested in 1903.

From spruik + -er (“suffix generating agent noun”).