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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The mourning-period sense comes from Hebrew shiv'a, meaning "seven," referring to its seven-day length. The deity name is unrelated, from Sanskrit.

From huff (a fit of pique or anger) plus the adjective ending -y.

From "de-" + "brief" — the reverse of briefing someone before a task.

Borrowed from Japanese 吉田 (Yoshida).

From Anglo-Norman "escluse" meaning floodgate, ultimately from Latin "exclūdere," "to shut out" — the same root as "exclude."

Possibly from Spanish honda ("sling"), from Latin funda; the automaker's name simply comes from founder Soichiro Honda.

From French interner, from interne ("inner, internal"), from Latin internus.

An imitative word mimicking the sound of a big laugh, closely related to "yuck."

From Mandarin yuán, originally meaning "round," referring to a round coin — the same root behind the Japanese yen and Korean won.

Formed from ship (the verb, "to send goods") plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

An imitative exclamation, thought to be a playful stretch of "hip" (as in "hip hip hooray").

From Hebrew yeshivah, literally "sitting" — referring to sitting together to study.

From Latin probatio, "a testing or proving," from probare, "to test or examine" — the same root as "probe" and "prove."

From foot (the unit of length) + -age.

From Greek pais/paid-, "child," plus "-iatrics," referring to a field of medical treatment.

Variant of Spalding.

A shortened, casual form of "how are you?", blended with "hi"; first recorded in American English in the 1940s.

A compound of coffee and house, describing a building set up specifically to serve the drink.

From Latin detentio, from detinere, "to hold back".

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

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

From Latin paternitas, "fatherhood," from pater, "father."

From shoot + -er, formed the same way as many English agent nouns.

Formed from in- ("not") plus secure.