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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Borrowed from Italian Valenti.

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fógartaigh (“descendant of Fógartach”), a personal name from fógartha (“proclaimed; banished, outlawed”).

From Spanish Galán, from galán (“gallant”). Doublet of Gallant.

An anglicized form of Irish Ó Searcaigh, meaning "descendant of the beloved one."

Borrowed from Polish Woźniak.

Borrowed from Portuguese and Spanish Garrido.

English surname of Norman origin, from the archaic noun banaste (“basket, wickerwork”); see banne (“wicker basket”). Not related to banister.

Borrowed from Italian Fusco.

From tenant, an occupational surname.

From the Welsh name Caradoc.

From the Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin 江 (Jiāng), meaning "river".

From Old English cran ("crane") plus ford.

From various romanizations of the Chinese surname 妘 (Yún).

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Duinn, a byname from donn ("brown").

From Czech and Slovak Kováč, Slovene Kovač, Serbo-Croatian Kòvač, Hungarian Kovács, Bulgarian ковач (kovač) or Polish Kowacz, all from Slavic words meaning "blacksmith", ultimately from Proto-Slavic *kovati (“to forge”). Doublet of Kovac, Kovack, and Kovacs.

Sometimes shortened from McKee, or borrowed from the Hokkien or Teochew pronunciation of the Chinese surname 紀／纪.

From Old English burg ("castle") + ford ("ford").

From Korean, ultimately from a Chinese character used in several surnames.

As a slang unit ("a wheaton"), it was coined in 2009 by cartoonist John Kovalic, named after actor Wil Wheaton, meaning about 500,000 social-media followers.

An anglicised form of the Irish Ó Rabhartaigh, meaning "descendant of Rabhartach," a name built on rabharta, "flood" or "spring tide."

An anglicized form of the Irish Ó hAonghusa, meaning "descendant of Angus".

From German Kohn, from Konrad, popularized among Jews for its similarity to Hebrew kohén ("priest").

Two main origins: * English habitational surname from the village in Northamptonshire, which is named with the Old English personal name *Cōf + -s- + grāf (“grove, thicket”); recorded as Covesgrave in 1086 (DB). * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Coscraigh (“descendant of Coscrach”), a byname from coscrach (“victorious, triumphant”).

From Irish gleann ("glen, valley").