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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Borrowed from German Hauptmann.

Anglicization of Irish Ó hIonmhaineáin, from Ionmhaineán, a given name derived from the diminutive of Ionmhain (“beloved, dear”).

From Latin Agrippa, of disputed origin, possibly linked to an Ancient Greek word.

From French Mathis.

From retract + -or, "one that retracts."

Shakespeare's spelling of a historical British name appearing as Cordeilla, etc., possibly derived from the Latin saint's name Cordula.

Borrowed from Mandarin 鄧／邓 (Dèng).

From Jane + -y, q.v. Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.

A compound of ridge and way.

Popularized by Karel Čapek's 1920 play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots).

From Old English dīc (“dyke”) + Old Norse býr (“settlement”). The town in Nova Scotia is named after admiral Robert Digby (1732 - 1815).

The female name comes from a 20th-century Welsh coinage meaning "darling"; the male name derives from the Irish name Tadhg via Teagan.

From Irish Conán, from Middle Irish Conán, from Primitive Irish ᚉᚑᚅᚐᚅᚅ (conann), a derivative of Proto-Celtic *kū (“dog”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ.

Likely an invented, sound-based term of endearment, related to similar baby-talk coinages like "poochie."

Named after the Stanhope family; the carriage after an English design associated with the Earls of Stanhope, and the optical device after Charles, third Earl Stanhope, whose work inspired it.

Variant of Khloé, a fanciful spelling variant of Chloe, made known in the 2000s by American TV personality Khloé Kardashian.

Inflected forms.

From Middle English na, from Old English nā.

Likely an occupational surname from German Brücke ("bridge").

The Polynesian sense comes from Māori "kāne," meaning "man"; the surname sense is an Anglicized form of an Irish name.

From Old English fenn (“fen, marsh”) + wīc (“abode, dwelling-place”), equivalent to fen + -wick.

A rare spelling variant of Vivian.

sky + net. From sky and network. The first satellite, Skynet 1A, was launched on 22 November 1969.

An imitative (onomatopoeic) word formed to represent the sound people make when startled or frustrated.