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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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From Spanish, from Galician Estévez, patronymical surname from Estevo (“Stephan”).

From Middle English seely, "happy"; as a German surname, from Seele, "soul."

* As a German and Dutch surname, from a nickname meaning "curly (haired);" see curl. * As a German and Polish surname, spelling variant of Krol. * Also as a German surname, from Kröll, from the Germanic personal name Rollo, from Proto-Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame, victory”).

From Old English snaw ("snow") and denu ("valley") or dun ("hill").

From Old English hara (“hare”) or hār (“hoar, grey”) + wudu (“wood”).

Anglicized from Irish Ó hÉigceartaigh, meaning "descendant of the unjust one."

From Old English hwīt (“white”) + sīde (“side; slope of a hill”).

An Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Grúgáin, unrelated in origin to the slang sense, which developed later as informal slang.

From either the Old English personal name Ella or ǣl (“eel”) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

From Spanish Menéndez.

Borrowed from Italian and Portuguese Mello.

* As an Italian surname, reduced from Radulfo. See Rolf, Ralph, Raul, etc. * As an Indian surname, from Marathi राव (rāv), Gujarati રાવ (rāv), Telugu రావు (rāvu), etc.; all ultimately from Sanskrit राजन् (rājan, “king”). * As a Chinese surname, from the place name 饒 /饶 (ráo). More at Rao.

Variant of Morel.

Variant of Applegarth.

Two main origins: * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Gealbháin (“descendant of Gealbhán”), a personal name composed of the elements geal (“bright”) and bán (“white”). * Borrowed from French Galvin, either a variant of Gauvain or a nickname for a drunkard, from Old French galer (“to enjoy oneself”).

From Mandarin 郭 (Guō).

From Proto-Germanic *Raginaharduz, composed of elements meaning "counsel" and "strong."

An anglicized form of the Italian occupational surname Tagliaferro, meaning "iron-cutter."

From Mandarin 高 (Gāo).

A shortened form of the surname McCurley.

Variant of Dugan.

From the Old English personal name Rǣdwulf ("Ralph") + tūn ("settlement").

As an Irish surname it comes from Ó Gadhra, linked to a word for "hound"; as an English surname it can derive from a word for "spear" or a Middle English word meaning "unpredictable"; as a German surname it is linked to Gehring or Gehrig.

Borrowed from French durant, present participle of durer (“to last”).