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 dis- ("undo") plus infect, echoing the French désinfecter — literally "to remove infection from."

From Middle English good wille, built from "good" and "will"; the thrift-shop sense comes from the US charity Goodwill Industries.

From un- plus dressed, the past participle of dress.

From Middle French inconvenient, from Latin inconvenientem, from in- ("not") plus convenire ("to fit, be suitable").

From merry plus the suffix -ment.

From Middle English mokkery, via Anglo-Norman and Old French moquerie, from "mock" plus the noun suffix "-ery."

A clipped, shortened form of "saveloy."

From Welsh Einion, ultimately from Latin Annianus.

From Urdu لاہَور (lāhaur); the ultimate origin of the name is disputed, with several competing legends.

From Middle English nameles, built from name plus -less.

From Middle English brennen, itself from Old Norse brenna — a doublet of the modern word "burn," which comes from the same root.

From Middle English peesfully, peasfullie, paisfulike, paisfullic, equivalent to peaceful + -ly.

From "patent" (in the "obvious" sense) plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

An occupational surname referring to service under an abbot; a variant spelling of "Abbot".

From Latin concoquere, "to boil together, digest" — from con- ("together") plus coquere ("to cook").

From Latin concoctio, related to concoquere ("to boil together, digest").

From un- (\"not\") plus usable.

From Hungarian barack ("apricot, peach"), shortened from barackpálinka, a compound with pálinka ("brandy").

From reflect plus the agent suffix -or.

Borrowed from Sanskrit मार्ग (mārga, "path"), a doublet of marg.

Possibly from West African languages such as Igbo or Yoruba, referring to pooling funds together.

From Hindi/Urdu roti, ultimately from Sanskrit rotika, "bread."

A clipped form of "situation report."

From Middle English stremyng, stremynge, stremande, equivalent to stream + -ing.