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.

Browse etymology by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Recently added

From crave + the suffix -ing, turning the verb into a noun for the feeling itself.

From "glad" plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

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

From calm plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

From Middle English colnes, colnesse, from Old English cōlnes, cœ̄lnes, cēlnes (“coolness; cool air, breeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlinassī, equivalent to cool + -ness. Cognate with Middle High German kuolnisse, küelnisse (“cooling, coolness”).

From Middle French détestable, built on detest + -able.

From French fertiliser, from fertile.

Borrowed from French diligence, from Latin diligentia.

From Latin dēvius, "out of the way, off the main road," from de via, "off the road." The figurative sense of "deceitful" only developed in English in the 1600s.

Formed from "sicken" plus the "-ing" ending.

By surface analysis, sport + -ing.

From un- + protected.

From un- (\"not\") plus yielding.

As a surname, from Middle English schereman ("shear-man"), an occupational name for someone who sheared cloth or sheep. The tank was named after US Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman.

From backpack + -ing.

A clipped form of "tetralogy," "tetrahedron," or "tetra," depending on the field.

Named after the English scientist Michael Faraday, whose surname is an anglicised form of the Irish Ó Fearadaigh.

From Old French pantere, from Latin panthēra, from Greek pánthēr ("panther").

Formed from effective plus the noun-forming suffix "-ness."

Transliteration of the Russian БАРС (BARS), abbreviation for Беспрессовая Аппаратура высокого давления (press-free high-pressure setup).

Borrowed from Arabic, literally "if God has willed it."

From sub- ("under") plus dural, relating to the dura mater, the brain's outer protective layer.

From Latin discus, itself from Ancient Greek diskos meaning a disk or throwing-plate. The same root gave us "dish," "desk," and "dais."

From "kidnap" + "-ing," forming the noun for the act itself.