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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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From Sanskrit "manohara," meaning "captivating" or "heart-stealing."

From Latin Spartacus, itself a borrowing of a Thracian name.

From Ancient Greek aithēr, "the upper air" — a doublet of the more familiar word "ether."

From Sanskrit प्रीति (prīti, "love, affection").

Borrowed from Japanese 橋本 (Hashimoto, literally “base of bridge”).

From Sanskrit aditi, literally "boundless" or "without limit."

Borrowed from German Nietzsche.

Borrowed from Korean 전 (jeon).

From French, a diminutive of merle ("blackbird"), likely a nod to the grape's dark, blackbird-like colour.

As a surname, an anglicised spelling of the Irish Ó Scolaidhe.

Borrowed from Dutch Mulder.

A transliteration of the Sanskrit कर्ण (karṇa).

Cockney rhyming slang: "Brahms and Liszt" rhymes with "pissed," British slang for drunk.

From Sanskrit, literally meaning "man-lion".

From Sanskrit सिन्धु (síndhu). Doublet of Sindh and Indus.

Borrowed from Spanish Santana.

Borrowed from Spanish Sánchez.

An anglicization of Irish Mac Réamoinn, "son of Raymond."

As a surname, most likely a shortened form of Pollock, a Scottish surname; the verb sense is simply a clipped form of "polka."

From Middle English Phipp, a diminutive of Philip + genitive (mainly patronymic) suffix -s.

From Philip + genitive (mainly patronymic) suffix -s.

* As an English surname, named after various places such as Penn in Buckinghamshire or Staffordshire, of Brythonic origin, from Proto-Brythonic *penn (“(hill) top, head”). * Also as an English surname, from the noun pen (“enclosure”). * Also as an English surname, spelling variant of Parnell. * As a German surname, from Sorbian pien (“tree stump”), from Proto-Slavic *pьňь.

From Old English mos ("peat bog") and leah ("woodland, clearing").

From Old English hōh ("ridge, spur") plus tūn ("enclosure, settlement").