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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Formed from cook plus the ending -ing, used both as the ordinary noun for the activity and as an adjective for ingredients meant for the kitchen rather than the table.

From Middle French contentement, built from content + -ment.

From Latin comes, "a companion" — the same root that gives us "count" (the noble title) and the French comte and conte.

From Old French armes, from Latin arma ("weapons, tools").

From "tranquil" plus the suffix "-ity," tracing back through Old French to the Latin "tranquillitas."

The pronoun sense was coined in English; the letter name is borrowed from Russian вэ.

Built from "phenomenon" plus the adjective ending "-al," following the pattern of French phénoménal.

Possibly an alteration of "pesty" (from "pest"), following a pattern similar to "nasty" shifting toward "nasky" in some dialects.

A noun formed from the phrasal verb "hang out."

From Latin sēminārium, "seed-bed," from sēmen, "seed" — the idea being a place where future clergy are "cultivated."

From attend + -ing.

Borrowed via French nordique from nord, "north."

From French bravade, ultimately from Italian bravare ("to brag, to boast") — related to bravo and brave.

A blend of "reinforcing" and "bar."

From re- ("again") plus assess.

Learned borrowing from Latin Ops, from Latin ops (“resources, wealth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-(i)-, *h₃op-(i)- (“force, ability”), from *h₃ep- base

From Old English cealdness, built from cold plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

From productive + -ity.

From Medieval Latin invāsīvus, from invāsus, past participle of invādō, "to invade."

A compound of safe + keeping.

From Middle French terrifier, from Latin terrificare, "to frighten."

Borrowed from Spanish caballero ("horseman, gentleman"), from Latin caballus ("horse") — a doublet of cavalier and chevalier.

From Late Latin cortina, "curtain" — it is actually a doublet of the word "curtain" itself.

Simply betray plus the agent suffix -er, "one who does" — the same pattern as "teacher" from "teach."