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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From Anglo-Norman cuncile, ultimately from Latin concilium ("assembly, meeting").

Anglicized from Irish Mag Uidhir.

From Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish surname, from a medieval form of Bonaventura, Buenaventura, meaning "good fortune."

Borrowed from Japanese 伊賀 (Iga).

A marketing name coined from German Fantasie, "imagination," when employees were asked to invent something creative for the new drink.

Short for "venomous agent X."

A stage name formed from the initials M and M, standing for Marshall Mathers.

Borrowed from French Leclerc.

Borrowed from French Broussard.

From Old French "marchand," meaning "merchant."

From French Lefebvre.

Variant of McConaghy.

Borrowed from French Lafleur.

Named for Northern Pacific Railway director and Wells Fargo Express Company founder William Fargo.

From a Taíno word meaning roughly "land between rivers."

From the "i-" prefix Apple uses across its product line (iPod, iPhone) plus "pad," evoking a flat writing tablet.

From Russian Троцкий (Trockij), from Polish place name Troki.

Coined by cartoonist Carl Barks in 1944 for a Donald Duck comic, blending "duck" with the common town-name ending "-burg."

Borrowed from Italian Zito.

From the Italian surname Lombardi.

Borrowed from Old Italian and Neapolitan Rizzo and/or front Sicilian Rizzu.

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Bróithe, "descendant of Bróth."

Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Tiarnaigh "descendant of Tiarnach", a diminutive of tiarna (“lord, master”).

From Old English words for "high" and "woodland clearing" — a settlement on high, cleared ground.