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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 Hebrew הָמָן (hāmān).

Borrowed from Hindi चौहान (cauhān), from Sanskrit cāhamāna.

Borrowed from Korean 백 (baek).

From Middle English runkel, related to Old Norse hrukka ("wrinkle") — a rare word, mostly surviving in Scots dialect.

* As a Norwegian surname, from several farmsteads with the name Li, from Old Norse hlíð (“hillside”). * As a Chinese surname, from 連 /连, 连, and 廉 (lián).

Possibly from Old English *hrotiġ (“dirty”) + ford. This would be a reference to the peat-stained water of the stream at the ford.

* As an Italian surname, from the adjective rosso (“red”). This is also found in Croatia as Roso. * As a Greek surname Ρόσσος (Róssos), from the Italian surname above, or sometimes from Ρώσος (Rósos, “Russian”).

Adopted into Spanish as a habitational surname originally rooted in a Basque place name.

From Middle English driere, dreyere (“one who dries”), equivalent to dry + -er (agent noun suffix).

A pronunciation spelling of Cholmondeley, now usually pronounced /t͡ʃʌmliː/. Cf. Chimley and Chulmleigh.

From Hokkien 姚 (Iâu), Cantonese 丘 (jau1), Cantonese 邱 (jau1), Cantonese 尤 (jau4), Cantonese 游 (jau4), etc.

From Middle English waggen (“to move up and down”) + staff (“staff, rod”), an occupational surname for an official who carried a staff.

Borrowed from Punjabi ਖੰਨਾ (khannā).

Reduced form of McCaffrey.

Variant of Vogt, from German. Ultimately from Latin advocātus. Doublet of advocate.

From the German and Jewish surname, from fromm (“pious”).

The romanization of various Chinese and Korean surnames, including Mandarin 雍 (Yōng), Cantonese 楊／杨 (joeng4), Hakka 楊／杨 (Yòng), Cantonese 容 (jung4), Korean 용(龍) (Yong), etc.

From the Bengali title ঠাকুর (ṭhakur), meaning "lord" or "master."

Alternative spelling of Yates.

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic magh ("field, plain") plus fada ("long").

Borrowed from German Posner.

From Cantonese 徐 (ceoi⁴) or 崔 (ceoi¹).

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 錢/钱 (Qián).

Borrowed from Sanskrit शुक्ल (śukla).