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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 of the surname Gold.

Borrowed from German Geiger.

Equivalent to east's, from east + 's.

From the English surname, itself from the noun darnel, a type of ryegrass.

From Scottish Gaelic Cuimeinich, tracing back to a Norman surname of French toponymic origin.

A Scottish habitational surname from Old English ċīese ("cheese") and holm ("piece of dry land in a fen").

Variant of Staal.

From Grant + -s. The city was named after three brothers, Angus A., John R. and Lewis A. Grant, who were awarded a contract to build a section of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad through the region. Their camp was first called Grants Camp, then Grants Station, and finally Grants.

The banknote sense comes from Sir John Bradbury, the Treasury official whose signature featured on the wartime notes; the surname itself derives from Old English words meaning "broad fortified place."

Formed from the city name Bonn plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one from Bonn."

Borrowed from French Blanchard, related to blanc, "white."

From Old English elements meaning either "bean" or "bent-grass," plus tūn, "settlement" or "enclosure."

Variant of Beesley.

English, Dutch, and French surname, variant of Bernard. This sense is also found in Slavic borrowings (Polish, Slovenian, Czech). Also Americanized from German Bernhard, Bernhardt, of the same meaning.

From John Jacob Astor, likely ultimately from Occitan astur ("hawk").

A less common spelling of Claire.

The English village was originally Wadehelle, from Old English wād ("woad") + hyll ("hill").

From a diminutive form plus the informal suffix "-ie," also spelled "Aussie" for the Australian sense.

A variant of Osborne.

From Sander + -son. From the Middle English Sander, a shortened form of Alexander + suffix -son.

From Middle English clerc (“cleric”) + -son, equivalent to Clark + -son.

From Old Norman Ode/Odes, a Germanic name meaning "wealth"; in some cases an anglicization of the Irish surname Ó Cuirc.

A variant of Reeve with an added -s, from the medieval English office of "reeve."

English surname, from Old English fearr (“bull”). As a German surname, of the same meaning and source (Farre).