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.

Word Origins

From Medieval Latin dictionarium, built on Latin dictio ("a speaking, a word") plus -arium, meaning "a place for."

From Old English freo, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "beloved, not in bondage" — the same root that gives us "friend." The core Indo-European idea was "dear" or "loved," which in Germanic languages narrowed to mean someone who belonged to the tribe, as opposed to a captive or slave.

From New Latin encyclopaedia, based on Ancient Greek enkyklios paideia, meaning "general education" or literally "education in a circle of knowledge."

A restored spelling of encyclopedia, borrowed via New Latin encyclopaedia.

From Old English catt, ultimately from Late Latin cattus — the word's deeper origin is uncertain, but it spread across many languages alongside the domestication of cats in the ancient world.

Borrowed from Latin grātīs, a shortened form of grātiīs ("out of kindness, for nothing"), from grātus ("pleasing, thankful").

From Old English "word," tracing back to a very old Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to speak." It's a distant relative of "verb" and "verve."

From Old English boc, ultimately from Proto-Germanic bōks, thought to be related to "beech" — early runic writing may have been carved onto beechwood tablets.

From Old English pund, from a Germanic borrowing of Latin pondo, "by weight" — the currency and the unit of weight share the same root.

From Middle English pond, a variant of pound ("enclosure"), since a pond originally referred to an enclosed body of water.

From non- ("no, not") plus sense, coined around the 1610s.

From Middle English pye, of uncertain origin — possibly linked to the magpie, since a savoury pie mixes several ingredients much like the bird was thought to collect miscellaneous items.

Descended from the Old English letter A, itself adapted from Latin, ultimately going back to the Phoenician letter aleph.

From Old English crāwe, imitating the bird's harsh call — related to the verb "to crow."

From Old English hræfn, going back to a Proto-Germanic word for the bird, likely imitating its harsh call.

From Old French elefant, ultimately from Ancient Greek elephas ("elephant, ivory"), possibly borrowed from an ancient North African language.

From Old English brūn, meaning "brown" or "dark" — the same ancient root gave us "bruin", an old poetic name for a bear.

From Latin December, based on decem ("ten") — it was the tenth month in the old Roman calendar, before January and February were added to the start of the year.

From Old English monath, going back to a Proto-Germanic word for "month" that is itself descended from the same ancient root as "moon" — months were originally counted by moon cycles.

From Latin Ianuarius, "of Janus," the Roman god of doorways and beginnings — fittingly, the month that opens the year.