A dictionary of word histories
Every word has a past.
Trace the languages, people, and ideas that shaped the English we speak today.
Try: Latin · American English · Old English
Languages of origin
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English is a living archive. Follow its vocabulary back through conquest, commerce, scholarship, migration, and everyday speech.
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Recent etymologies
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Latin
Aura
Aura means the distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround a person, place or thing.
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Latin
Fetus
Fetus means an unborn mammal in the later stages of development; in humans, from about eight weeks after conception until …
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Origin unknown
Simba
Simba is the Swahili word for lion, known worldwide as the name of the lion hero of Disney's The Lion …
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American English
Scallywag
Scallywag means a mischievous or rascally person, often said playfully of a child.
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Old English
Good morning
Good morning is a greeting used when meeting or speaking to someone in the morning.
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Latin Abbreviation (typically functioning as a noun)
Segs
The informal abbreviation "segs" almost invariably originates from the word "segment." This word itself traces its roots back to Latin …
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See language change
How a word travels
Meanings drift. Spellings settle. A borrowed word becomes familiar, then begins a life of its own.
- RootThe earliest recoverable form
- BorrowingA word crosses into another language
- ShiftSound, spelling, or meaning changes
- TodayThe form and sense we now recognize