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 cynic plus -ism; ultimately from Ancient Greek kunikos, the root of the ancient Cynic philosophical school.

From behead + -ing.

From impassion plus -ed.

From Greek tektonikos ("pertaining to building"), from tekton ("builder, carpenter"). Its geological sense dates from the 1890s.

From Old English regndropa, simply "rain" plus "drop" — one droplet of falling rain.

From the verb cope ("to cover, to manage") plus -ing.

From plate plus the suffix -ing.

From Middle English "blastyng," formed from "blast" plus the "-ing" ending.

Simply "royal" plus the adverb ending "-ly."

From "re-" plus "shape".

From French maternité, from Latin māternitās.

Past-tense/adjectival form of "kidnap."

From im- + pass + -able.

unconditionally

From unconditional + -ly.

From "conscious" + the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

From new + man: a "newcomer".

From the given name Hendry (a form of Henry) plus the patronymic suffix "-son".

Probably an American alteration of an older English word "hurtleberry," meaning whortleberry — first recorded in American English in the 1660s.

From close plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

Formed from gimp plus the adjective ending -y.

From Old English swīn (“swine, pig”) + denu (“valley”), similar to the name Swinden. The first element could instead be from the Old Norse personal name Sveinn, or its Old English equivalent swān.

From Old English Sċrobbesburh (literally “fort in the scrubland region”), from *sċrob (“shrub, scrub”) + burh. Compare Shropshire from Sċrobbesċīr, short form of Sċrobbesbyriġ sċīr (literally “shire of Shrewsbury”).

The Romano-British name was Latin Dānum, from the common Celtic river name Proto-Celtic *Dānu << Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂-, + the Old English suffix ceaster (“town”), found in many placenames.

Perhaps from Cornish try (“three, very”) + berow (“a boiling”), meaning "(a place of) great water turbulence", where the two fast rivers of Allen and Kenwyn meet to form the Truro. Alternatively, from the Gaulish tribal name Treveri, from Celtic trē ("through") + uer ("water, wet"), meaning "water crossing", in reference to "the people of the river crossing". The town in Nova Scotia is named after the city in England.