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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Likely coined as American slang, possibly in showbusiness circles, and spread by a 1930s fashion magazine.

From ghoul plus the adjective suffix -ish.

From Yiddish matse, from Hebrew matzah — the bread that, according to tradition, the Israelites baked in haste while fleeing Egypt, with no time for the dough to rise.

From Old French inequalité, from Medieval Latin inaequālitās — in- ("not") + aequālis ("equal").

From Old English myriġlīċe, related to merry.

From Middle English necligent, negligent, from Old French negligent, from Latin negligēns.

From Latin norma, "carpenter's square" or "rule" — the same root that gives English the everyday word "norm."

From pocket + book (1610s); later popularized as a term for cheap paperbacks by the US publisher Pocket Books after 1939.

A compound of share and holder — literally "one who holds shares."

From Old Norse smiðja, "forge," related to smith.

From shrink + -ing.

From sterile plus the suffix -ization.

From "systematic" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ally."

From sex + -less, "without."

Borrowed from French bloc ("group, block"), ultimately from a Germanic word for a log or beam — a doublet of the English word block.

From bulimia + the adjective suffix -ic.

From disrupt + -ive; the business sense was popularized in the 1990s by writer Clayton Christensen's work on "disruptive innovation."

From down- + stream, describing motion with the current.

Formed from final plus the suffix -ist.

From lung + -ed.

"Mouth" plus "wash" — a wash for the mouth.

From paper + boy.

From French pessimiste, from Latin pessimus ("worst").

From dock + -ing.