Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Irvine

Welsh

Probably from Celtic roots related to Welsh ir/yr ("green, fresh") plus afon ("river").

Donato

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Donato.

Fabio

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Fabio, Italian Fabio and Portuguese Fábio.

Kiowa

Origin

Borrowed from the people's own name for themselves, Kiowa Cáuigù.

Leander

Latin

From Latin Leander, from Ancient Greek Λέανδρος (Léandros), from λεώς (leṓs) (Attic form of λᾱός (lāós, “people”)) + ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”) + -ος (-os).

wahoo

Origin

The fish's name may derive from "Wahoo", an old spelling of Oahu, one of the Hawaiian islands where it is commonly caught.

trog

Origin

A shortened form of "troglodyte."

tivo

Origin

From the brand name TiVo, a pioneering digital video recorder service.

Bueller

Origin · 1986

Popularized by the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, in which a teacher repeatedly calls the absent student's name — "Bueller... Bueller..." — to total silence.

Rosalia

Latin

Learned borrowing from Latin Rosālia. Doublet of Rosalie.

Orly

Latin

From Latin Aureliacum.

momo

Chinese

Borrowed via Tibetan from Mandarin Chinese mómo, meaning steamed bun.

standish

Middle English

From Middle English standisshe, likely built from "stand" plus a suffix, describing an object that holds writing tools upright on a desk.

Jahan

Persian

From Persian jahân, meaning "world."

mui

Cantonese

Borrowed from Cantonese 梅 (mui4), meaning "plum."

arkwright

Middle English

From Middle English arkewrytte, built from ark + wright ("maker").

senpai

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese senpai.

Allegra

Italian

Borrowed from Italian allegra ("cheerful"), inspired by the musical term allegro.

Winona

Origin

From Dakota winúŋna (“firstborn daughter”). While not originally used as a personal name by the Dakota, it has been adopted as such by English speakers. John Koontz suggested that the name was a compound of wi- (“female”) + no (“first”) + -na (a diminutive suffix) and thus a reflex of Proto-Siouan *rǫ/*nǫ (“one”). That root is otherwise unattested in the Sioux languages, which use reflexes of *wį(y)ą (“one”) instead, and a more prosaic analysis identifies the first elements of the name with winyan (“woman”).

Dmitry

Russian

From Russian Дми́трий (Dmítrij), from Byzantine Greek Δημήτριος (Dēmḗtrios), from Δημήτηρ (Dēmḗtēr, “Demeter”) + -ιος (-ios, “pertaining to”). Doublet of Demetrius, Dimitri, and Dimitris.

thoracotomy

Latin

From thoraco- (relating to the chest) plus -tomy (a cutting), from Greek roots meaning "to cut."

Sinan

Origin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 思南.

Osmond

Old Norse

From Old Norse Ásmundr, from áss ("god") + mund ("protection").

Kadir

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic قَادِر (qādir, “powerful, capable”). This surname is predominantly found in Indonesia and India.