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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Linked to Persian and Urdu āsaf, traditionally associated with the name of Solomon's vizier.

From Spanish alcázar, borrowed from Arabic al-qasr, meaning "the castle" — the same root that eventually gives English "castle" its Arabic-line cousin.

Shortenings + -y.

From a Norman surname referring to a place in France, literally "from the alder grove" in Old French; in Ireland it can also be an anglicization of Ó Dubhshláine.

From the Old Irish name Declán, associated with Saint Declan of Ardmore.

From Irish Ó Leannáin (“descendant of Lover (Leannán)”) and from Ó Lonáin (“descendant of Blackbird (Lonán)”).

Ultimately from the Old English personal name Wigheard, from wīg (“war”) + heard (“hard, brave”), later also used as a Middle English diminutive of the names Guy and William.

From wood + row.

From Old English wil (“will”) + heard (“brave, strong”).

From an Old English female given name Wilburg, from wil (“will”) + burh (“fortress”).

From Dutch rijder, "rider," an occupational surname for someone who rode horses professionally.

A clipping of "victim," and separately, of "Victoria" (as in the Ford Crown Victoria).

From Hindi-Urdu paisā, ultimately tracing back through Prakrit to Sanskrit roots meaning "a quarter part."

Borrowed from Khmer កាក់ (kak). Doublet of jiao.

From Old English words meaning "dark" and "stream."

From the Biblical name Lazarus (the beggar covered in sores in the Gospel of Luke), via Old French lazare and Medieval Latin lazarus, "leper."

From a Proto-Semitic root meaning "king"; the figurative sense comes from Biblical references to human sacrifice associated with the deity.

A compound of state and wide.

From "mid-" + "West", describing the region between the East Coast and the western states.

From the opening words of that Sunday's Latin Mass, quasi modo geniti infantes, "as newborn babes."

Shortened from "Hindu Kush," the mountain range where the original cannabis strain is said to have originated.

Scottish Gaelic

As a given name, an anglicised form of the Irish and Scottish Gaelic Ruairí/Ruairidh, meaning roughly "red-haired king." The adjective senses (dewy; gaudy) come from an unrelated dialect word.

Borrowed from Irish Rónán.

Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Riagáin ("descendant of Riagán").