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 Hokkien siān.

From French Rosalie, from the Latin saints' name Rosālia, from rosa ("rose").

From the Russian Ники́та (Nikíta), a male given name, from Ancient Greek Νικήτας (Nikḗtas, “conqueror”) also a male given name (and name of various saints). The Greek word derives from νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”). Made known in the West by Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Union leader in 1953–1964. It was reanalyzed as a form of Nicholas and taken up as a girls' name first in French and then in English.

Originally the French spelling of На́дя (Nádja), an informal Russian form of Наде́жда (Nadéžda, "hope").

Latin natale (“birthday (of the Lord)”), referring to birth on Christmas Day, name of an early martyr.

Scottish Gaelic

An anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Muireall, from muir ("sea") and geal ("white, bright").

First used by the poet Fulke Greville, possibly as an anagram of the name Mary.

As a name, from Old French Melisende, ultimately from Germanic roots meaning roughly "strong worker." As a monetary unit, it is simply "milli-" plus "cent."

From Max + -ine. An English feminine form of Max coined at the end of the nineteenth century. Piecewise doublet of Maxina.

From the Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, variant of McKinney.

From a Norman surname tied to places called Massy in France, ultimately from a Gallo-Roman personal name.

Rare spelling variant of the surname MacKenzie.

An alteration of Madeline with -lyn.

Formed from "a-" (meaning "on") plus "hold."

From Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ), likely from Old Norse via Proto-Finnic, referring to Scandinavian traders who settled near Kiev.

From Middle English chitering, built from chitter (a quick, birdlike chirp) plus the -ing ending.

From Old French sandre, ultimately from the same Arabic-Persian-Sanskrit root as "sandalwood."

The "-ing" form of "tutor", used as a noun for the activity of teaching one-on-one.

Borrowed from French reps, ultimately from English ribs.

From Old English spīwan ("to vomit"), a very old word shared across the Germanic languages.

From play + list.

From Middle English tretable, from treten (“treat”) and Old French traitable, Anglo-Norman tretable; equivalent to treat + -able.

Deverbal from throw away.

From unload + -ed.