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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Built from over- + pass, ultimately from Latin passus ("step, pace").

From Dutch "jonkheer," meaning "young lord" or "esquire," reflecting the area's early Dutch colonial history.

The letter name is borrowed from Russian ша (sha); the term of endearment developed separately in certain English-speaking communities.

Borrowed from Dutch Hartman.

From Irish Doire, from doire (“oak grove”), from Old Irish daire (“oak forest”), from Proto-Celtic *daru.

From a corruption of *hindie, for *behindie (“behind, rear end, hindward parts”), equivalent to hind + -ie. Perhaps influenced in some way by Heinie (“a German”).

From an older form "shovillaborde," a change of "shove-board" — literally "shove" plus "board."

A compound of ship and yard.

Variant of Finlay.

Anglicized from Scottish Gaelic Fionnlagh (“fair warrior/hero”).

From Old English hramsa ("wild garlic") + īeġ ("island").

Borrowed directly from German Schnitzel ("cutlet").

From Middle English overheten, formed from over- + heat; German has the near-identical überhitzen.

Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic personal name Fearsithe, composed of the elements fear (“man”) + sìth (“peace”).

Variant of Forsythe.

From cord plus -less ("without").

A spelling variant of Christa, a modern short form of Christina, partly borrowed from German Christa.

From the name of the daughter of Hengist and wife of Vortigern in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century pseudohistorical Latin work Historia regum Britanniae. There have been attempts to connect it to some unattested Old English or Common Brittonic name, but without any real evidence. It was revived after Walter Scott used it in his novel Ivanhoe (1819). Some places are named after Lady Rowena in the novel.

From "shaky" plus "-ly".

From re- + heat.

From enhance + -ment.

A variant of the older word registery, ultimately from register plus the suffix -ery/-y.

From Mandarin 商 (Shāng), the name of the dynasty.

From Greek aktis ("ray"), referring to the ray-like arrangement of the filaments it forms, plus the chemical suffix -in.