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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Possibly a clipping of hootchy-kootchy. Alternatively, possibly from cunt with influence from American slang term cookie (“vulva”). References to coochee dance (with various spellings) are attested from the end of the 19th century. The sense of “vagina or vulva” is attested from the early 20th century. Compare hoochie.

From the Irish variant of McKean.

As a Luo surname, a corruption of the by-name Mobam, "born with a crooked back."

Borrowed from Japanese 田(た)中(なか) (tanaka).

Italian · 1500

Named after the 16th-century Italian anatomist Gabriele Falloppio, who is credited with describing these tubes.

From French rationaliser, built from rational plus the verb-forming suffix -ize.

A compound of "mini-" and "bar," describing a scaled-down version of a hotel bar.

Borrowed directly from Spanish huerta, meaning "orchard" or "vegetable garden."

Borrowed from Sanskrit वसु (vásu, “dwelling, dweller”).

From Ancient Greek λάμβδα (lámbda). Doublet of lamed.

Borrowed from Sanskrit सूर्य (sū́rya, “the sun or its deity”). Doublet of sun.

A clipped, shortened form of crayfish; the slang "crazy" sense is an unrelated informal respelling that became popular in internet and pop-culture slang.

From re- ("again") plus calibrate.

From Old French traverser, from Latin trans ("across") plus versus, the past participle of vertere ("to turn").

Borrowed from Danish nisse, a folklore house-spirit similar to a brownie or gnome.

A blend formed by shortening and joining "medical evacuation."

An anglicized form of Irish Ó Scannláin, "descendant of Scannlán."

Borrowed from Latin Marcellus. Doublet of Marcel.

From Rose + Anne.

As a technical term, an acronym of "low-rank adaptation." As a name, from Latin, related to Laura.

Borrowed from Italian Gregorio. Doublet of Gregory.

From the Italian short form of Eleonora, cognate to Eleanor.

Borrowed from the Rwanda-Rundi word Umututsi.

Borrowed directly from the Rwanda-Rundi language, where it is the group's own name for itself.