Etymology — The origins of English words

From Middle English werkehorse, equivalent to work + horse.

From worth + -en.

From work + home.

From Middle English wommankynde. By surface analysis, woman + -kind.

From wound + -able.

From wire + line.

From winy + -ness.

Unknown

From Middle English wommenkynde. By surface analysis, women + -kind.

From wristband + -ing.

From yan, itself from the Old English ān.

From Yiddish זיידע (zeyde, “grandfather”).

From zymo- + -lysis.

From Middle English wīten (“to accuse, reproach, punish, suspect”), Old English wītan (“to look, behold, see, guard, keep, impute or ascribe to, accuse, reproach, blame”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītan, from Proto-Germanic *wītaną. Connected to Old English wīte, see below.

From wing + spread.

From working + -man.

From Wodehouse + -ian.

From wrong + do.

From yield + -ly.

From a medieval diminutive form of the given name William.

From yoke + jocular Latin -ibus. Compare thingumajig.

From Middle English wo-bigon, wo-begon (“(adjective) deeply affected by woe, distressed, sorrowful, wretched; affected by physical impairment or pain; tired, weary; abominable, cursed; (noun) unfortunate person, wretch”), from wo (“distress, misery, woe; physical pain or suffering; etc.”) + bigon (the past participle form of bigon (“of a state: to come upon or overtake (someone), beset, overwhelm, bego; of a person: to be overwhelmed by grief, etc.”)): * wo is derived from Old English wā (“woe”), from Proto-West Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), from Proto-Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (“ah!, oh!; alas!, woe!”, interjection). * bigon is derived from Old English begān (“to go over, traverse; to beset, surround; to occupy; to overrun; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bigān, from *bi- (from Proto-Germanic *bi- (prefix meaning ‘at; by’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi (“at; near; on”)) + *gān (“to go”) (from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go; to walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to go; to reach; to abandon, leave”)). By surface analysis, woe + begone (the past participle form of bego (“(obsolete) to affect”)). Noun s

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 莊子 /庄子 (Zhuāngzǐ).

From womanlike + -ness.