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The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible enough to be used by anyone.
- Homing in on Harlequin
The various theories surrounding the name provide intriguing...
- Online Etymology Dictionary
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and how the...
- Sources
A Word or Two. Etymology Entomology. June 17, 2024 at 4:05...
- Snakes of Iceland
A Word or Two. Etymology Entomology. June 17, 2024 at 4:05...
- Reconciliation
reconciliation. (n.). mid-14c., reconciliacioun, "renewal of...
- Woman
woman. (n.) "adult female human," late Old English wimman,...
- Norsk (Norwegian)
Den online etymologi ordboken (etymonline) er internettets...
- Online-Herkunftswörterbuch
Online-Herkunftswörterbuch. Dies ist eine Karte der...
- Homing in on Harlequin
1. 1. Of a fact, piece of information, etc.: not known; that has not been learnt, ascertained, or comprehended; not identified or established as fact or truth. Cf. know v. III. 1.a. attributive and in predicative use. Also with by, to, etc., specifying the person or group to whom the fact or information is not known.
Sep 28, 2017 · unknown (adj.) unknown. (adj.) c. 1300, "strange, unfamiliar" (of persons, places), from un- (1) "not" + past participle of know (v.). Compare Old English ungecnawen. In reference to facts, "not discovered or found out," it attested from early 14c. The noun meaning "unknown person" is recorded from 1590s; the unknown "that which is unknown" is ...
- Old, Middle, and Modern English
- Languages Other Than English
- Assumed Or Reconstructed Forms
- Words of Unknown Origin
- Etymologies of Technical Words
- Compression of Information
- Related Words
The etymology usually gives the Middle English and the Old English forms of words in the following style: 1nap . . . intransitive verb . . . [Middle English nappen, from Old English hnappian . . .] 1old . . . adjective [Middle English, from Old English eald. . .] An etymology in which a word is traced back to Middle English but not to Old English i...
The etymology gives the language from which words borrowed into English have come. It also gives the form or a transliteration of the word in that language if the form differs from that in English: 1mar·ble . . . noun [Middle English, from Anglo-French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Greek marmaros] how·it·zer . . . noun [Dutch houwitser, ultimatel...
An asterisk placed before a word means that it is assumed to have existed or has been reconstructed by means of comparative evidence. In some cases, the assumption may be due to lack of evidence: 4bore noun [Middle English *borewave, from Old Norse bāra] (1601) The word is unattested before Modern English, though the likelihood is strong that it wa...
When the source of a word appearing as a main entry is unknown, the expression "origin unknown" is usually used. Only in exceptional circumstances (as with some ethnic names) does the absence of an etymology mean that it has not been possible to furnish an informative etymology. More often, it means that no etymology is believed to be necessary. Th...
Much of the technical vocabulary of the sciences and other specialized studies consists of words or word elements that are current in two or more languages, with only such slight modifications as are necessary to adapt them to the structure of the individual language in each case. Many words and word elements of this kind have become sufficiently a...
An etymology giving the name of a language (including Middle English or Old English) and not giving the foreign (or Middle English or Old English) form indicates that this form is the same as that of the entry word: ka·pok . . . noun [Malay] 1po·grom . . . noun [Yiddish, from Russian . . .] 1dumb . . . adjective[Middle English, from Old English . ....
When a word of Indo-European origin has been traced back to the earliest language in which it is attested, words descended from the same Indo-European base in other languages (especially Old High German, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit) are usually given: nav·el . . . noun [Middle English, from Old English nafela; akin to Old High German nabalo navel, L...
Aug 11, 2024 · Pages in category "English terms with unknown etymologies" The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 1,980 total. (previous page) ()
Folk etymology, also known as popular etymology, is the process whereby a word is altered so as to resemble at least partially a more familiar word or words. Sometimes the process seems intended to "make sense of" a borrowed foreign word using native resources: for example, the Late Latin febrigugia (a plant with medicinal properties ...
6 days ago · The book draws on Oxford's unrivalled dictionary research programme and language monitoring, and relates the fascinating stories behind many of our most curious terms and expressions in order to offer the reader a much more explicit account than can be found in a general English dictionary. Organized A-Z, the entries include first known use ...
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