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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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A variant spelling of "sergeant," originally an occupational surname.

Reduced variant of Sandford.

From Spanish Salas, from salas.

From the Sicilian surname Russu, from russu (“redhead”).

Borrowed from Spanish Rodríguez, equivalent to "son of Roderick".

Borrowed from Portuguese Rocha, from rocha, from Medieval Latin rocca, from Celtic and Germanic, from Indo-European. Cognate English rock

Borrowed from Spanish Padilla.

Borrowed from Spanish Núñez.

Two main origins: * A variant of Neville or Noel. * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Tnúthghail (“descendant of Tnúthgal”), a personal name composed by the elements tnúth (“desire; envy”) + gal (“valor”).

Variant of Muriel.

Borrowed from Spanish Mercado, from mercado (“market”).

Borrowed from Spanish Méndez.

Variant of Meadow, with the patronymic suffix -s.

From Spanish "Martín" plus the patronymic suffix "-ez," meaning "son of Martin."

A Spanish patronymic surname derived from the given name Marcos.

From Russian Левин (Levin), ultimately from Biblical Hebrew לֵוִי ("Levi").

Borrowed from French Leblanc.

Topographic surname for someone who lived at the top of a hill, from a genitive or plural form of Middle English knol (“hilltop, hillock”).

Anglicized from German Kaufmann, an occupational surname meaning "merchant" — related to English Chapman.

Anglicized spelling of the Spanish surname Juárez.

A variant spelling of "joiner," an occupational surname for a skilled woodworker.

Borrowed from Spanish Jiménez.

From Old English words meaning "hollow" and "way" — literally a "hollow way," describing a track worn down over time.

From the Spanish given name Hernando, a variant of Fernando (Ferdinand).