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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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Heterographic variant of Westmorland.

A straightforward compound of "water" and "house."

From the Old English personal name Wæddi + -s- + worþ (“enclosure”).

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Suibhne. Compare McSweeney.

Named after John B. Stetson, the American hat maker whose company popularized the style from the 1860s onward.

From an Old English personal name Sicg combined with wīċ, "dairy farm."

From the noun rope plus the agent suffix "-er" — literally, one who ropes.

From Old Norse rauðr ("red") + Old English dūn ("hill").

From an Old English personal name Putta, genitive Puttan, + hȳþ ("landing place").

From Welsh pen ("head, hill") combined with Old English words for "barley" and "settlement."

From the Old English personal name Padda + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“enclosure; settlement, town”).

Anglicized variant of Scottish Gaelic MacLeòid, itself meaning "son of Leòd", derived from Old Norse Ljótr (“ugly”).

Two main origins: * Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Amhalghaidh (“son of Amhalghadh”), a personal name of uncertain origin. * Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Amhlaoibh (“son of Amhlaoibh”), a Gaelicized form of Old Norse Óláfr (“Olaf”).

From Old English mearc (“mark, sign; boundary”) + -s- + denu (“valley”).

Scottish Gaelic Mac (“son of”) + Dougal.

Anglicized form of Irish Mac Cana (“son of Cana”), a nickname from cana (“wolf cub”).

From Anglo-Norman louet ("wolf-cub"), a diminutive of lou ("wolf").

From Old English lufu ("love") + Old French ioie ("joy").

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English [Term?], from hlāw (“hill, ound”) + tūn (“homestead”) (-ton).

From Old English; equivalent to kirk (“church”) + shaw (“grove”).

From Old English hǣs ("brushwood") plus tūn ("settlement, farm").

From Hercé in Normandy. The villages are named after The Hershey Company, which is named after its founder, Milton S. Hershey.

An anglicized form of the Irish Ó hAonghusa, meaning "descendant of Angus".

A straightforward compound of hazel and wood.