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 Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) + -ite; the chemistry sense comes via the name of the element selenium.

Short for self-synchronizing.

From shanty + town.

From Ancient Greek σκύφος (skúphos, “cup”) + στόμα (stóma, “mouth”).

From scrutiny + -ise.

Equivalent to shrivel + -ed.

Either a back-formation from or an apocopic form of scrummage, a variant of scrimmage.

From selen- + -ic.

From Seres + -ian, from Latin Seres (“the ancient northern Chinese”), from Ancient Greek, possibly from the Old Chinese word for silk.

From Latin sententiōsus, from sententia (“opinion, purpose”).

Learned borrowing from Latin senātrīx. By surface analysis, senator + -trix.

From Middle English sensat, from Late Latin sensatus (“able to sense”), from sensus (“sense”).

From scruff + bag.

Deverbal from sell down.

From semi- + pellucid.

From Latin senēscere (“to grow old”).

From shave + -ling.

A parallel form of sheave, from Middle English schyve, from Proto-West Germanic *skībā, from Proto-Germanic *skībǭ, presumably through an Old English *sċīfe (though it is not attested before the Middle English period). Cognate with German Scheibe, late Old Norse skífa (“slice”), brauðskífa (“slice of bread”) (whence Danish skive (“disc, slice”)), Dutch schijf (“disc, slice”).

From scum + hole.

From French sépale, from New Latin sepalum.

From Middle English schern, from Old English sċearn (“sharn, dung, muck, filth”), from Proto-West Germanic *skarn, from Proto-Germanic *skarną (“manure”), from Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“dung, manure”). Cognate with North Frisian skern (“dung, manure”), Danish, Swedish, and Icelandic skarn (“dung”), German Harn (“urine”). Doublet of skarn.

From secession + -ism.

From Middle English sholes, scholes, equivalent to shoe + -less. Compare Dutch schoenloos (“shoeless”), German schuhlos (“shoeless”), Old Norse skólaus (“shoeless”).

From scoffing + -ly.