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

From sooth (“truth”) + saying.

From smackers (“money”) + -oon (“coin, amount”) + -y (“forming diminutives”) but typically only used in the plural. See also smackeroo & ackers.

From socialize + -ation or social + -ization.

From siege (“seat, toilet seat”) + house.

From slip + over.

From snug + -ery.

From Latin silphium, from Ancient Greek σίλφιον (sílphion).

From Middle English soberly; equivalent to sober + -ly.

From soldier + -ship.

From the French sodalité or its etymon, the Latin sodālitās, from sodālis (“companion”).

From smudge (“blemish; dense smoke; to obscure by smearing; to stifle”) + -y. (The sense "rainy" is related to dialectal use of smudge to mean drizzling rain.)

From soft + head.

From Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”) + -scope.

From slide + -y.

From smoggy + -ness.

From New Latin genus name Sorghum, from Italian sorgo, from Vulgar Latin *syricum (“Syrian”), from Sȳricus. Doublet of the synonyms sorgho (via French) and sorgo (via Italian).

From smudgy + -ness.

From simmer + -stat, modelled on thermostat.

From Latin simia (“ape”) + -ous.

From Middle English sloveyn, from Middle Flemish sloovin (“a scold”). Related to Middle Dutch sloef (“untidy, shabby”), from Proto-Germanic *slup- + Old French -ain, from Latin -ānus.

From Ecclesiastical Latin sine cūrā (literally “without care”), ellipsis of beneficium sine cūrā (“benefice without cure [of souls, i.e. the office of a curate]”), formed from Medieval Latin sine (“without”) + cūrā (“care, charge, cure”).

From soothe + -er.

From snivel + -er.

From soma (“the body excluding its germ cells”) + clone.