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 un- ("not") plus documented, the past participle of document.

From love plus the suffix -less, "without."

From "loyal" plus the adverb suffix "-ly."

From smoke plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

Variant of Wadsworth.

* As an English, Dutch and German surname, variant of Lock. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Løkke, from a farm name derived from Old Norse lykkja (“enclosure”). * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lok.

A compound of "loin" and "cloth."

Formed from the phrasal verb "lift off," describing the instant a vehicle leaves the ground.

Formed from life + the agent suffix -er, originally referring to someone serving a life prison term.

From petition + -er, "one who does."

From Latin lēgātiō, related to legate — the group or task assigned to an envoy.

From pudge plus -y.

Formed from life + long, describing something that stretches across a whole lifetime.

A compound of life + blood, formed to describe blood as the thing that sustains living creatures.

From legal plus -ize, "to make."

From Old French lies, going back to a Gaulish word for silt or sediment — related distantly to the place names Loire and Leicester.

From Late Latin liquidatus ("made clear, liquid") plus the verb-forming suffix -ate. The "kill" sense entered English as a borrowed meaning from Russian likvidirovat.

From Old French expectant, from Latin expectans, "awaiting."

A compound of head and shot; the photography sense predates the gaming sense by decades.

From Old French incomparable, from Latin incomparabilis, from in- ("not") + comparabilis ("comparable").

From molest plus the agent suffix -er.

From Latin mutilatus, the past participle of mutilare, "to maim," from mutilus, "maimed."

A straightforward compound of pain and killer, describing exactly what it does.

Borrowed from Russian komissár, itself from German Kommissar ("commissioner") — a doublet of "commissary."