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 Old English myrre, ultimately from a Semitic word related to "bitterness" — the same root behind the Arabic and Hebrew words for myrrh.

From Middle English jueler, from Anglo-Norman jueler, or Old French juelier. By surface analysis, jewel + -er.

decontamination

From de- + contamination.

From meddle plus the adjective suffix -some.

From "hair" and "piece," meaning a piece of false hair.

From Italian cammeo; the "brief appearance" film sense comes from "cameo role," compared to the small, instantly recognizable carved figure on a cameo brooch.

Borrowed from Spanish compadre, literally "co-father" — originally a term for a child's godfather in relation to the parents.

From Middle English forms tied to "cobblestone," probably a small version of an old word for a rounded lump.

From "compress" + the agent suffix "-or."

From Latin incendiarius, "setting alight," from incendium, "a fire," ultimately from candeo, "to be hot" — the same root as "candle" and "incandescent."

From French caramel, tracing back through Spanish and Portuguese to Late Latin calamellus, "little reed" — an odd origin for a sugary treat.

Etymology tree Greek τάμα (táma)bor. English tama Borrowed from Greek τάμα (táma).

Borrowed from Late Latin patriarchālis, from patriarcha + -ālis. Sychronically analyzable as patriarch + -al.

From Old French reveler, "to make merry" or "be disorderly," from Latin rebello, "to rebel" — a doublet of "rebel."

First recorded in 1812 as slang, originally meaning simply "a room," before narrowing to mean a poor, run-down neighborhood.

From Latin salinus, "of salt," itself from sal, "salt" — the same root behind salt, salary, and salsa.

From Old English cristnian, "to baptise," built from cristen ("Christian") plus a verb-forming ending.

From Greek hōroskopos, literally "watcher of the hour" — from hōra ("time") and skopos ("watcher").

From Latin tyrannicus, based on the Greek word for an absolute ruler or despot.

From Latin emigratus, past participle of emigrare, "to move away," from ex- ("out of") plus migrare ("to move, depart").

From uneasy plus the suffix -ness.

A feminine diminutive of the Roman cognomen Prīscus, from Latin prīscus ("former, ancient").

First recorded in the 1890s, likely blending "prim" with either "precise" or "sissy" — probably popularized by the American writer Joel Chandler Harris.

Borrowed from Old French herbal. By surface analysis, herb + -al