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 "eye" + the suffix -ful, meaning "enough to fill the eye."

From hysterical + -ly.

Formed from "hygiene" plus the "-ist" suffix, meaning "a person who practises."

From bill (a posted public notice) plus board.

Shortened from "acates," related to "cater" — the person who buys provisions.

From mis- + interpret.

Formed from "nasty" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ness."

From Middle English femynynytee, femyninytee, variants of femynyte (archaic modern English feminity), equivalent to feminine + -ity.

From podiatry + -ist, ultimately from Greek pod- ("foot").

Named after Doiley, a 17th-century London draper whose surname gave rise to the word.

A clipped, informal form of "avatar," itself from Sanskrit avatāra ("descent"), used in Hindu tradition for a deity taking physical form.

From Japanese "subaru," meaning "unite," also the traditional name for the Pleiades star cluster.

From hound + -ing.

From "snow" plus the suffix "-mobile," as in "automobile."

From visual + -ly.

From enormous + -ly.

From an Occitan-derived French surname meaning roughly "the little beech tree"; the many American towns named Lafayette honor the Marquis directly.

From Middle English poll ("head") plus the suffix -ard (as in "drunkard"), originally describing an animal or tree with its "head" — horns or crown — cut off.

A transliteration of Arabic صَدَّام (ṣaddām).

Via Latin and Greek from Hebrew Kena'an; the pronunciation shifted over centuries following the Great Vowel Shift in English.

From French droguiste, a dealer in drugs — ultimately tied to the same root as "drug."

From vocation + the adjective-forming suffix -al.

From vocal + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

Formed from harrow plus -ing, from the older sense of harrow meaning "to torment."