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.

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20th-century variant spelling of Cindy.

From fetch plus -ing, in the sense of something that "draws" the eye.

From Greek Olympias, the four-year span between Olympic Games, via Latin and French — the academic-contest sense was popularized by the International Mathematical Olympiad in the 20th century.

Named after Beaujolais, the wine-growing region in eastern France where the grapes are grown, itself named from the town of Beaujeu.

From super- + boy, popularised by the DC Comics character Superboy, who first appeared in 1945.

Borrowed from Japanese 鎌倉 (Kamakura).

From Japanese characters read as Itō, most often written 伊藤 or 伊東.

An altered form of "wiggings," related to "wig" in the sense of being nervous; popularised by the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997.

From Persian "sarkar," a compound of "sar" ("head") and "kar" ("agent" or "doer").

From Sanskrit अभिमन्यु (abhimanyu).

Probably hypocoristic, circa 1823.

Borrowed from Sanskrit हरि (hari).

A transliteration of the Greek name Ελένη (Eléni), related to Helen and Elena.

Transliteration of Greek Δημήτρης (Dimítris), a male given name used in (modern) Greece. Doublet of Demetrius.

Transliteration of Greek Κώστας (Kóstas), a male given name used in (modern) Greece.

Borrowed from Sanskrit अयोध्या (ayodhyā). Doublet of Ayutthaya and Yodaya.

From Sanskrit, formed from janaka ("father" or "the one who begets"), referring to Sita as daughter of King Janaka.

From Turkish vali, from Arabic وَالٍ (wālin). Compare English vilayet.

From Urdu, ultimately from Arabic nazim, "organizer" or "administrator."

Clipping of Abigail plus the hypocoristic suffix -s.

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic Gille Easbaig, meaning "servant of the bishop."

A compound of sun and dance.

Formed from look plus the suffix -ee, which marks the receiver of an action (as in "employee" or "trainee").

Likely a variant of "mammy," and possibly related to "mummy."