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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

Borrowed from Spanish Guzmán.

From Spanish Gutiérrez.

From Scots Gregor ("Gregory").

Borrowed from Spanish González, meaning "son of Gonzalo."

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic elements meaning roughly "servant of (the Virgin) Mary".

From Spanish Galván, ultimately from Latin Galbanus, from Galba + -anus (“-an”), from galba (“larva, worm, fatty”), from Gaulish of uncertain meaning. Doublet of Galvao, Galvano, and Galvani.

Anglicization of Spanish Fernández.

A habitational surname from Norman de ("of") + Orsay, a town in France.

From Spanish Domínguez.

From Spanish Cortez, variant of Cortés.

Anglicized from Irish Ó Cobhthaigh ("descendant of Cobhthach"), a byname meaning "victorious."

Variant of Cochrane.

From Spanish Chávez, a variant of Chaves.

A variant of Chesney.

Named after American pathologist John Aidan Carney, who first described the condition.

Borrowed from Spanish Cabrera, from Catalan or Leonese.

* As a Scottish surname, from Scots baron, sometimes found as McBarron; see Baron. * As an Irish and Manx surname, from Ó Bearáin (literally “descendant of Bearán”), a personal name from bior (“spear”). See Barnes, Barrington. * As a Spanish surname, augmentative of Barro. * As a French and Spanish surname, variant of Baron.

From Basque ageri, meaning "prominent" or "visible."

Borrowed from Spanish Acosta, from Catalan Acosta.

From Middle High German bluome, "flower."

From Welsh bala ("effluent from a lake").

From Old English fuglere (“fowler, birdcatcher”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

From Irish Ó hEidirsceoil and Ó Drisceoil.

Anglicized from Irish Mac Lochlainn (“son of Lochlan”). By surface analysis, Mc- + Laughlin.