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 night (as in "bedtime") + stand, a piece of furniture that supports objects.

Adapted from Cantonese 嘛 (maa3), a similar sentence-final particle.

From freshen plus the agent suffix -er, "a thing that does the action."

From waste + basket.

As a name, a diminutive of Cassandra or Cassidy formed with -ie.

From the Latin family name Porcia, feminine form of Porcius, ultimately from porcus ("pig"). The name is now most associated with the clever heroine of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and one of Uranus's moons is named after her.

From presume + -ably, presumable + -ly.

From Rolex + -ie.

As a name, borrowed from Dutch and German forms of Peter.

Named after the Sicilian port city of Marsala, whose own name likely comes from Arabic for "Ali's harbor" or "God's harbor."

From Alaska + the adjective-forming suffix -an.

From Italian fiasco ("bottle, flask"), via the theatrical phrase far fiasco ("to make a bottle"), meaning to flop on stage — the exact origin of the failure sense is debated.

Italian · 1469

From Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), the Italian political writer whose book The Prince argued that rulers may need to use ruthless, unscrupulous methods to gain and keep power.

From inaudible plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From loose plus the agent suffix -er.

Related to fray, in the sense of being worn thin and frayed at the edges, extended to describe someone worn out emotionally.

From the Latin "valere," meaning to be strong.

A less common spelling of Sally; see -ie.

Borrowed in the twentieth century from French Paulette, a diminutive feminine form of Paul.

Likely from a clipped form of the names Patricia or Patrick, with the informal -sy ending.

A German blend combining the names Maria and Magdalene.

An anglicized form of the Welsh name Eluned, popularized by Tennyson and later reshaped by folk etymology to resemble "Lynn" + "-ette."

A variant spelling of Linda, from the Germanic languages.

From Spanish Lola, a pet form of the given name Dolores; in Filipino usage the word separately came to mean "grandmother."