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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

Borrowed from Sanskrit दिव्या (divyā́), feminine of दिव्य (divyá, “divine, charming, heavenly”).

Transliteration of Russian Росто́в (Rostóv). The surname comes from Russian рост (rost, “growth”). The etymology of the city's name is unclear.

Named after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin; renamed Volgograd in 1961.

Coined from "hash" (the # symbol) plus "tag"; the format was popularized on Twitter from around 2007 as a way to group related posts.

interdimensional

From inter- ("between") plus dimensional.

A clipping of Hasselhoff.

Borrowed from Japanese 巫女 (miko), "shrine maiden".

From ugly + -s.

From Hebrew beqa, meaning "half-shekel" — literally "broken," since it was half of a whole shekel.

Named after Zeno of Elea, the ancient Greek philosopher famous for paradoxes about motion being divided into infinitely many steps.

From the German surname Schwarzenegger, used generically after the fame of bodybuilder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Diminutive + -ie.

An abbreviation of "compact disc."

From Greek Πίνδαρος (Píndaros).

From the name Oprah Winfrey — itself a rearranged form of the biblical name Orpah.

From Danish and Norwegian Rasmussen.

Borrowed from Danish and Norwegian Christensen.

Borrowed from Danish Olsen, a patronymic from Ole + -sen.

From Danish and Norwegian Larsen.

Borrowed from Swedish Svensson, literally "son of Sven."

Borrowed from Swedish Olsson.

From Swedish Karlsson, literally "son of Karl" — a close relative of the surnames Carlson and Charlson.

Named after Nellie Melba, an Australian opera singer, for whom the dish "Peach Melba" was created.

Named after the Munchkins, the small people from L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz.