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 French sulfurique, built from sulfur plus the adjective ending -ic.

From harsh plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From en- + list, literally "to put on a list".

From distaste + -ful or dis- + tasteful.

From Middle English "straungenesse," built from "strange" plus "-ness."

From Middle English styngyng; equivalent to sting + -ing.

From Latin inexplicābilis — in- ("not") + explicābilis ("explicable").

From French neutraliser, first recorded in 1642, built from neutral plus -ize.

From Old English sċipwræc, "jetsam" — a compound of ship and wrack, later reshaped under the influence of the word wreck.

From un- + feeling.

From forward plus the adverbial -s ending.

From routine + -ly.

Formed from lash plus the suffix -ing.

From New Latin laminatus, from Latin lamina, "a thin sheet of metal or other material."

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

From bend plus the adjective-forming suffix -y, going back to the Old English verb bendan, "to bend."

From French billard, from Old French bille ("log, tree trunk"), referring originally to the wooden cue stick.

From Middle English braken, likely of Old Norse origin, related to a root meaning "to break" — probably describing how the fronds snap.

From the phrasal verb break out; the video-game genre sense comes from the 1976 Atari game Breakout.

The past-participle form of the verb "bugger."

From Middle English couren, related to Germanic words meaning "to lie in wait" or "to squat" — unrelated to "coward," despite the similar look.

From "lamp" + "shade." The storytelling sense is a 21st-century coinage, referencing the idiom "hanging a lampshade on it" — making an awkward element more visible rather than less.

From street + light.

A variant spelling of the place name and surname Marlow.