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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 Dutch and German Storms.

Borrowed from Japanese きょうこ (Kyōko).

Borrowed from Japanese さぶろう (Saburō).

From Japanese ji ("second") and ro (a common name suffix for sons).

Borrowed from Japanese けんぞう (Kenzō).

Borrowed from Japanese 松島 (Matsushima).

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 高野 (Takano), literally "tall field."

Borrowed from Japanese 北条 (Hōjō).

Borrowed from Japanese 市川 (Ichikawa).

Borrowed from Japanese 瀬川 (Segawa).

Borrowed from Italian Gotti.

Probably from Old English finċ (“finch”) + lēah (“woodland”), equivalent to finch + -ley (“lea”). Doublet of Finkley.

A compound of "lake" and "wood".

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 向陽 /向阳 (Xiàngyáng).

Believed to come from "Walton's Market", after founder Sam Walton; the company traded as Wal-Mart before simplifying its name to Walmart.

(Sense 3) See Satchmo.

Americanized spelling of Dutch Kuipers.

Italian · 1909

From the surname of Italian-born founder Ettore Bugatti, who established the car company in France in 1909.

From Ik Icé-tód.

From Ancient Greek anáklētos ("invoked").

Anglicization of French Antoine.

From Old English halh ("hollow, nook").

c. late 20th c., from the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 沙市 (Shāshì).

From Borrowed from Latin Commodus, ultimately Latin commodus (“suitable; convenient”).