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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From Old English bȳle, meaning "boil" or "swelling" — the same root that gave us the modern word "boil."

From Old French Blaise, from Latin Blasius.

Borrowed from the Powhatan word rawrenock, meaning "things rubbed smooth by hand" — describing how the shell beads were polished into shape.

Using the suffix -y.

A clipped, casual short form of "café" or "cafeteria" — the kind of shortening that happens naturally in everyday speech.

From love + -y.

From Welsh Llywelyn.

Variant of Jasmine, often representing a transliteration of the corresponding Arabic and Persian names.

Borrowed from the Japanese surname 高橋 (Takahashi), literally "tall bridge."

Borrowed from Japanese 橘 or 立花.

Transliteration of Japanese 藤原 (Fujiwara).

Borrowed from Japanese 青木 (Aoki).

From Japanese 中村 or 仲村 (Nakamura).

Borrowed from Japanese 渡辺 (Watanabe) or 渡部 (Watanabe).

Borrowed from Japanese 小泉 (Koizumi).

The "cheetah" sense comes from clipping the word down to its first syllable.

Italian · 1960

A brand name coined in the early 1960s by the Italian businessman Michele Ferrero, built from "nut" plus the Italian diminutive suffix -ella.

From "zig" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

From wink plus the informal suffix -y.

From blink plus the adjective suffix -y.

A playful blend of "Phish" and "fan," swapping the F for the band's signature Ph spelling.

As an English surname, from Old English boga ("bow") plus dun ("hill"); as a Scottish surname, from a place in Roxburghshire.

Australian slang, shortened from "orangutan" and popularised by the TV show Summer Heights High.

Origin uncertain; possibly a shortened form of "cullion."