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 Middle English silvery, sylvyry; equivalent to silver + -y.

(vocal capacity): As if one's lungs were composed of pipework.

Formed in 1759 from "valedictory" (a farewell speech) plus the suffix "-an."

From Middle English Bodeltone, ultimately from Old English words for "home, hall" and "enclosure, town."

Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Samhradháin (“son of Samhradhán”), diminutive of samhradh (“summer”).

From the surname of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, itself adopted from Russian stal (\"steel\"), echoing the German word Stahl.

From Latin insula ("island") + -in, named after the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, where the hormone is produced.

From Old French reclamer, from Latin reclamare, "to cry out against, protest" — the sense shifted over time from "call back" to today's "get back" or "restore."

Borrowed from Spanish vigilante ("watchman, guard"), from Latin vigilans ("watchful") — a doublet of "vigilant."

Borrowed from French casserole.

A shortened form of "hurrah."

Formed from "scoot" plus the agent suffix "-er."

Originally a medical term for a wasting fever that caused flushed cheeks, from Greek hektikos, "habitual" or "consumptive." Its modern sense of "frantically busy" developed much later, by association with the feverish, agitated feeling such an illness produced.

From French manucure, built from Latin manus ("hand") and cura ("care").

From "handy" + "man."

From Latin subsidium, "support, assistance" — from sub- ("below") plus sīdō ("to sit, settle"), the sense of a reserve force sitting in support.

Formed from "boss" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

From French peloton, literally "little ball" or "small group," the same root that gives cycling's "peloton."

A shortened form of "synchronization."

An imitative word, related to "shh" and "hush."

Formed from inter- ("between") and state; the highway sense comes from "interstate highway."

From Jacuzzi, originally a trademarked brand name that became a generic term for any jetted hot tub.

From "beep" plus the "-er" ending, meaning "a thing that beeps."

From condition plus the agent suffix -er.