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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 English place names such as Hargrave, ultimately from Old English hār ("hoar") + grǣfe ("grove").

Habitational surname from the village of Stiffkey, in Norfolk, from Old English *styfic (“clearing in a wood”) + īeġ (“island”).

A dialect adjective related to "slattern" and "slather," describing wet, sloppy conditions; also survives as an Irish surname (Anglicized from Ó Slatara).

A Scottish habitational surname from the town of Munday.

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic MacPhaidein and Irish Mac Pháidín.

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Alasdair (“son of Alexander”). By surface analysis, Mc- + Allister.

Anglicization of the Italian surname De Luca.

From Old English scylfe (“deck, shelf”) + tun (“town”). Doublet of Shelton. The alteration of /ʃ/ to /sk/ is down to Old Norse influence.

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Raith (“son of grace”), from mac + rath. Compare the Irish form McGrath.

A common spelling variant of MacCabe, anglicized form of Irish Mac Cába.

English surname, variant of May with genitival -s.

A topographic name, from Old English hearg ("altar; temple") + næs ("headland").

From Irish Flaithbheartach, Flaithbheartaigh (“bright ruler”), from flaith (“prince, ruler”) + Proto-Celtic *berxtos (“bright, shining”), cognate with Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright, shining”).

English surname, from Middle English Ailmer, from Old English Æþelmær.

A variant of the surname Chesney.

An Americanized form of German Breil or Breyhel.

From German Bollinger. Originally a name for someone from any of several places called Bollingen and Bolling.

A variant spelling of the Irish surname McGee.

See diggety, analyzable as dig + -ity, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words.

Genealogy websites offer three or four hypotheses about the surname; none is confirmed. (Ideas include possible cognation with packer or with Pickard; evidence for or against is not presented.) The automotive brand is from the surname, via the brothers James Ward Packard and William Doud Packard. The ghost town in Kentucky, is named after a certain Amelia Packard.

Variant of Jared.

Variant of Rhonda.

From Irish Ó Dochartaigh.

Literally from crab (crab apple) + tree — a tree that bears crab apples.