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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Transliteration of Russian Пётр (Pjotr); a doublet of Peter.

Variant of Garrett, a medieval form of Gerard and Gerald.

A medieval spelling variant of Ralph.

A shortened, informal form of "renaissance," used within the renaissance-fair community itself.

A re-spelling of Rosalie.

From Rose + Anna.

A pet form of Ruth, made by adding the affectionate ending "-ie."

From Old English Budda, a nickname of uncertain meaning.

Rare non-standard spelling of Eula.

A shortened form of names like Cleopatra or Cleon, ultimately from Greek kleos, "glory."

Borrowed from Irish Inis.

From Latin Callistus, from Ancient Greek Κάλλιστος (Kállistos, "most beautiful").

Diminutives + -ie.

Borrowed from German Gottlieb.

From Old English words for "neck of land" and "island," describing a place's shape.

Borrowed from Yiddish הירשעל (hirshel), a diminutive of הירש (hirsh, “deer, buck”).

From Hebrew יַעְבֵּץ.

* As an English surname, variant of Massey. * As a Slavic surname, Americanized from Slovak Macej, Carpathian Rusyn [script needed] (Mačej), Polish Maciej, all variants of Matthew.

Several etymologies: * Borrowed from Italian Dalia * Borrowed from Arabic دَالِيَة (dāliya), a surname mainly found in Egypt * Borrowed from Bengali ডালিয়া (ḍaliẏa)

Broderick is originally an Anglicised Irish/Welsh surname; the slang verb and noun sense (meaning a beating) grew out of British and Irish underworld slang, likely from rhyming-slang-style wordplay rather than any connection to a real person named Broderick.

Borrowed from Dutch Koen.

Shortened from McIntyre.

Transliteration of Russian Ната́лья (Natálʹja). Doublet of Natalie.

From Old English ēast ("east") + tūn ("settlement"); a doublet of Aston.