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

Borrowed from a Tibeto-Burman language of the region where the animal lives.

Borrowed from Japanese 麒麟 (kirin), ultimately from Middle Chinese; a doublet of qilin, the Chinese term for the same legendary beast.

Built from homeo- ("similar") plus -pathic ("relating to disease/treatment") — the core idea of homeopathy being that "like cures like."

Borrowed from French sympathiser, built from sympathy + -ize.

The "nothing" sense comes from zip plus -o; the lighter sense comes from the Zippo brand name, now often used generically.

From an acronym for "freaks, irregulars, defects, oddities," coined by coin collectors in the 1960s.

From Dutch schuyler, "scholar, shelter."

Pronunciation spelling of Schuyler used since the 1980s.

From Dutch, related to German Schüler, "scholar, student"; a doublet of scholar.

Scottish Gaelic

Derived from Scottish Gaelic An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, of long disputed (probably non-Indo-European substrate) origin, with several theories proposed and none widely accepted; see Etymology of Skye.

The sushi-rice sense comes from Japanese 舎利 (shari).

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish شرع (şerʿ, şeriʿ), from Arabic شَرْع (šarʕ).

From shell plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

Scottish Gaelic

An anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic name Sìne, ultimately from the same root as "Jane" and "Joan."

Formed from Shaun plus the feminine suffix -a.

Either a variant of Selina, from Latin caelum ("sky"), or from Selene, the Greek moon goddess.

Italian · 1816

An Italian pet form of Rosa, popularized by the character in Rossini's 1816 opera The Barber of Seville.

From Proto-Germanic elements meaning "horse" and "soft, tender"; later folk-associated with Spanish rosa linda, "lovely rose".

From Ancient Greek Ῥόδη (Rhódē), meaning "woman from Rhodes" or "rose."

Variant of Payton.

From an English place name combining an Old English personal name with "tūn" ("settlement").

From Hindi दीपक (dīpak), literally "little lamp" — someone who brings light or hope to others.

Formed from division plus the adjective suffix -al.

Formed from diversion plus the adjective suffix -ary.