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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An anglicised form of the Irish surname Ó Maonaigh.

From the first syllable of Philadelphia plus "-y".

From Slavic elements stan ("to become") and slava ("glory").

Probably from that's a with heavy simplification.

From Sanskrit siddha, "achieved," and artha, "goal."

From care + taker — literally "one who takes care" (of a place).

From "mow" plus the agent suffix "-er."

From super- + model, first recorded in 1942 but only widely used from the late 1980s onward.

From non- plus stop.

A compound of life + saver, describing anyone or anything that saves a life — later extended to mean anything hugely helpful.

From Medieval Latin praesidentia, built on "president" plus "-cy."

From re-, "again," plus phrase.

Formed from steam + -y.

A casual clipping of the word "business".

From genetic plus the adverb-forming suffix -ally.

Borrowed from Sanskrit āśrama, a term for a hermitage or stage of spiritual life.

Borrowed from North Germanic, from Latin Laurentius.

From Old French paillete, "bundle of straw," from paille ("straw"), from Latin palea ("chaff") — the straw-bed sense came first; the shipping platform sense developed much later.

From leak plus the noun-forming suffix -age.

From cute + the informal suffix -sy.

From para- + military.

From Middle English untymely (also earlier untimliche), equivalent to un- + timely. First attested in the early 13th century. Compare Middle Danish utimelig, Old English untídlic (“unseasonable”).

Built from "entitle" plus the suffix "-ment," which turns a verb into a noun describing the state or result of that action.

From discretion plus the adjective suffix -ary, "pertaining to."