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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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Various origins: * Borrowed from Norwegian Aga, a habitational surname of uncertain derivation. * Borrowed from Turkish Ağa, an occupational surname from ağa (“lord; chief, boss”). * Borrowed from Amharic አጋ (ʾäga).

From the verb "scale" plus "-ing."

Shortening of Jason.

Rhyming or nickname-style slang, borrowing the Irish surname Donovan (from Ó Donndubháin) as a jokey stand-in for "potato."

Borrowed from Czech, Slovak, and Polish Marek, a form of Mark/Marcus.

Traditionally traced through Biblical Hebrew back to an Old Median word for "treasurer".

From Irish Colm, from Late Latin Columba (literally “dove”), the name of a sixth century saint, one of the patron saints of Ireland and Scotland. Doublet of Calum.

Shortened from McCallum; also a variant of Calum.

From Irish Ó Braonáin, "descendant of Braonán," a diminutive of braon ("moisture, drop").

Italian, from Late Latin marchensis, related to the same root as "march" in the sense of a border region — a marchese originally governed a frontier territory.

A clipped, informal shortening of "evening."

From inextricable + -ly, ultimately from Latin inextricabilis, "impossible to disentangle."

From inexplicable + -ly.

Borrowed from Latin campanella, a diminutive of campana ("bell"), which itself is said to trace back to Campania, the Italian region famous for its bronze bell foundries.

Modern contraction of Tatiana and Christiana. In the USA it is also explained as a form of Diana in such unrelated languages as Samoan and Cherokee (but the author Tiana Bighorse is a Navajo).

From Persian yasamin, referring to the jasmine plant.

An English variant of Chantal.

Borrowed from French Chantal, from the surname of Baroness Jeanne de Chantal, a place name derived from Old Occitan cantal ("stone, rubblestone").

Italian · 1900

A 20th-century English coinage, likely inspired by Italian cara ("dear") or Irish cara ("friend").

By surface analysis, Karl + -a.

A variant of Candace, popularly linked by folk etymology to Latin candida, "whiteness".

Via Latin from Greek Kandake, itself from a Meroitic royal title used by Nubian queens.

From Latin "seselis," ultimately from Ancient Greek "séselis," the name for a related plant.

A variant spelling of Annabel, popularly read as "Anna" plus "belle" ("beautiful").