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 Old English wong/wang, meaning "a flat surface or plain," related to Danish vang.

From Latin excavare, "to hollow out," from ex- ("out") + cavare ("to make hollow"), from cavus ("hollow").

From Old English crocc, crocca ("pot, vessel"), related to similar words for jar or pot across Germanic languages such as Dutch kruik and German Kruke.

From Latin Lucas, meaning roughly "a man from Lucania" (a region of ancient Italy).

From Arabic جَمَال (jamāl, “beauty”).

From Middle English grindstan, a straightforward combination of grind and stone.

From "dominant" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ance."

Formed from Dixie plus land.

From French familial, ultimately from Latin familia ("household, family") — the same root that gives us "family" itself.

From spiritual plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly; spiritual itself traces back to Latin spiritus, "breath" or "spirit."

An Americanism from the mid-1800s, likely referring to farm workers putting down their hoes once the workday was over to socialize and dance.

From Latin Graecia ("Greece") plus the adjective suffix -an, reaching English via Old French grecien.

From Old English words meaning "ash tree" and "settlement" — an ash-tree settlement.

Formed from vast plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From blond + -ie.

From Middle English Ledecestre, itself from an Old English name combining a river-name element with "ceaster," meaning a fortified Roman town.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

A compound of "long" and "time."

From Spanish peón and French peon, both from Late Latin pedōnem, "pedestrian, foot soldier" — a doublet of "pawn."

From knowing plus -ly.

From perfume (noun and verb) + -ed.

From weightless plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

A diminutive form of Charles (or, for women, Charlotte/Charlene).

From Middle English forms of the Old French female name Aveline, diminutive of the Germanic root *avi-, of uncertain meaning, possibly “desired, wished for“ (compare Latin avēre, "to wish for") or aval “strength”. By folk etymology also misunderstood as a diminutive of the feminine given name Eve, q.v. Doublet of Eileen. Also compare Ava.