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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From ram (to strike or drive forcefully) + the agent suffix -er.

From inevitable + the noun-forming suffix -ity.

A variant of hep, used as a marching or driving call.

A shortened form of the slang phrase "rat-arsed."

A trademarked brand name created for marketing purposes.

Altered form of Saintsing.

From Danish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish Georg, ultimately from Latin Georgius.

Contraction of Christina and Christiana. Rare until the second half of the 20th century, reinforced by the German Christa.

A natural grunt-like exclamation first recorded in the 1500s.

Borrowed from Sanskrit आनन्द (ānanda, "joy, delight, pleasure").

From Old French als gernons, roughly "with moustaches" — originally a nickname describing facial hair before it became a family and given name.

From house + boy.

From never plus land, famously used by J.M. Barrie as the name of the magical island in Peter Pan.

From Russian Chechnya, meaning roughly "[land] of the Chechens", ultimately traced to a Circassian source.

Formed as a noun from the phrasal verb "hook up."

From Middle English "scherynge," simply "shear" plus the "-ing" ending.

Borrowed from Danish and Norwegian Morten.

Named after Ferdinand Porsche, the German engineer who founded the company in 1931.

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁 (mazdā, “wisdom”).

Formed from wise (in the sense of "cheeky" or "smart-alecky") plus the slang intensifier -ass.

Origin uncertain — British slang from the 1910s; various theories link it to a person's name, a bird-call word, or Welsh twp ("fool"), but none is confirmed.

Related to "ruddy" and "red" — the fish is named for its reddish fins.

From the Tibetan word shar pa, meaning "eastern people," reflecting the community's origins in eastern Tibet before settling in the Nepalese highlands.

From Japanese みか (Mika), or separately from Hebrew מִיכָה (Micah).