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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First recorded in Scots in the late 1500s; its exact origin is debated, but it entered Masonic vocabulary as a term for an outsider or uninitiated pretender.

From "wild," likely shaped by the word "wilderness" and influenced by "wander."

From Old French indigestion, from Late Latin indigestio, from in- ("not") + digestion.

From "conquer" + the suffix "-ing."

From "spark" plus the adjective suffix "-y," suggesting liveliness like an electrical spark.

Tolkien borrowed the word from Old English ent, meaning "giant," reviving a term that had otherwise died out of the language by modern times.

From claustrophobia + -ic.

A compound of "newly" and "wed" (married).

From subtle plus -ly.

A combination of "work" and "space."

From sub- ("within, part of") plus space.

From "sheep" plus "skin" — diplomas were historically written on sheepskin parchment, which is where the informal "diploma" sense comes from.

Borrowed from German Panning.

From Old English oferþenċan, "to think over, consider," built from over- + think.

From unwitting plus -ly.

From emit + the agent suffix -er, meaning "one that emits."

From Latin sacrificialis, from sacrificium ("sacrifice").

From narrow + -er.

From undue plus -ly.

From Latin Liger, borrowed from a Gaulish river name meaning roughly "silt" or "sediment" — the same root gives English the word "lees."

Borrowed from French Metz, from Latin Mediomatrici (later Mettis).

Borrowed from Hawaiian kou.

From French Navarre, from Spanish Navarra.

From nuptial, ultimately from Latin nuptiae, "wedding".