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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Origin uncertain; possibly a shortened form of riffle, or an alteration of refrain.

From the older verb "disgruntle," from dis- (intensifier) plus the now-rare "gruntle" (to grumble) — so disgruntled originally meant "thoroughly grumbling."

A blend of motor and cavalcade.

From Middle English prollen, of uncertain origin.

By surface analysis, cool + -ing.

A compound of "racquet" and "ball".

An onomatopoeic word imitating the sound itself.

A compound of "lake" and "side".

Possibly from Old English steorra ("star"), referring to the small star design once stamped on English silver pennies.

Formed from mange plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

From French commandant, the present participle of commander ("to command").

Likely of Scandinavian origin, related to old Germanic words for stirring or whirling; possibly also influenced by "whirl."

From French potée, originally referring to the contents of a pot, from pot.

Origin unclear — first recorded in American slang in the 1860s, possibly linked to theatrical slang or a regional word meaning "peeved."

From French pédicure, ultimately from Latin pes, "foot."

An imitative word, formed to mimic the sound itself.

From Middle English heirlome — literally a "tool" (loom) that gets passed on to one's heirs.

From provide plus the agent suffix -er.

From Spanish rodeo, "a round-up," from rodear, "to surround" — originally referring to gathering cattle.

A compound of feed + back, originally an engineering term for output looped back into a system's input.

From Greek hérpēs, literally "a creeping," from hérpein ("to creep") — a reference to how the blisters spread across the skin.

Borrowed from German heil ("hail, whole, healthy"), the same ancient root that gives English "whole," "hail," and "hale."

Formed from hustle plus the agent suffix -er.

Late Middle English, from Middle Dutch snuffen (“to snuff, sniff, snuffle”). Related to Dutch snuiven (“to sniff”), Middle Low German snûve (“pose, head-cold”), German Schnupfen (“head-cold”). The noun is probably from Dutch snuf (“snuff”), an abbreviation of snuftabak, snuiftabak (“snuff”). Related to sniff (compare Dutch snuffen (“snuff”), German schnupf (“snuff”), French schnouff (“junk”)).