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 shuffle + puck.

Clipping of semisubmersible. Analyzable as semi- + sub.

From Italian sestetto, from sesto (“sixth”), Latin sextus, from sex (“six”).

From Arabic شَهِيد (šahīd, “martyr, witness”).

From sea + -woman.

From shift + work.

From Latin sēdulus (“diligent, industrious, sedulous; solicitous; unremitting; zealous”) + English -ous. Sēdulus is probably derived from sēdulō (“diligently; carefully; purposely; zealously”) (possibly from sē- (prefix meaning ‘without’) + dolō (ablative singular of dolus (“deceit, deception; evil intent, malice”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to count, reckon”))) + -us (suffix forming adjectives).

From scoff + law. Coined simultaneously by Mr Henry Irving Dale and Miss Kate L. Butler for a contest held in Boston in 1923 in which a word for "a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor" was sought during the Prohibition era.

From Middle English seneschal (recorded in English since 1393), from Old French seneschal, from Medieval Latin siniscalcus, from Frankish *siniskalk, from Proto-Germanic *siniskalkaz, from Proto-Germanic *siniz (“senior”) + *skalkaz (“servant”); latter term as in marshal. As an officer of the French crown, via French sénéchal.

The name was relatively common in West Central Scotland until the 1980s, and is sometimes said to derive from Agnes.

From rum + -ery.

Unadapted learned borrowing from Sanskrit ऋत (ṛtá, “order; rule; truth”). Doublet of asha.

From salac(ious) + -ity, from Latin salācitās (“promoting sexual desire or lust”) (whence -acity), from salāx (“prone to leaping, provocative”), from saliō (“leap, jump, bound”).

From French sacristain, Late Latin sacrista, from Latin sacer. Doublet of sexton.

From satin + -y.

Borrowed from New Latin sapiditās. By surface analysis, sapid + -ity.

From school + room.

From salient + -cy.

From Latin rutilus (“red”) because of its common color, named in 1803.

Borrowed from Italian salumi.

From Middle English sakles, sacless (“innocent”), from Old English saclēas (“free from charge, innocent, safe”), from Proto-Germanic *sakalausaz (“free from accusation”), equivalent to sake + -less. Cognate with Danish sagesløs (“blameless”), Swedish saklös (“blamesless”), Icelandic saklaus (“innocent”), Faroese sakleysur (“unoffending, innocent”). More at sake, -less.

From Byzantine Greek σάκκος (sákkos). Doublet of sac, saccus, sack, and saco.

From sarco- + -phagy.

From Ancient Greek Ῥωξᾱ́νη (Rhōxā́nē) of Old Persian or Bactrian origin. Akin to Persian روشن (rowšan).