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.

2022年11月25日 · "the people of England; the speech of England," noun use of Old English adjective Englisc… See origin and meaning of english.

2024年7月17日 · As practised by Socrates in the Cratylus, etymology involves a claim about the underlying semantic content of the name, what it really means or indicates. This content is taken to have been put there by the ancient namegivers: giving an etymology is thus a matter of unwrapping or decoding a name to find the message the namegivers have placed ...

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and how the meaning of words has changed over the course of history.

2018年8月19日 · Probably first English use in title of a book was in Sir Thomas Elyot's "Latin Dictionary" (1538). As an adjective, "of or pertaining to a dictionary," from 1630s. Dictionarist "compiler of a dictionary" (1610s) is older than dictionarian (1806 as a …

2018年12月6日 · Old English freodom "power of self-determination, state of free will; emancipation from slavery, deliverance;" see free (adj.) + -dom. Meaning "exemption from arbitrary or despotic control, civil liberty" is from late 14c.

2017年10月25日 · PRINCIPAL SOURCES. Barnhart, Robert K., ed., Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, H.W. Wilson Co., 1988. Beekes, Robert, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Leiden ...

2018年9月25日 · exclamation of greeting, 1862, American English (first recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian), originally to attract attention (15c.), probably a variant of Middle English hy, hey (late 15c.) which also was an exclamation to call attention. The only definition in the "Century Dictionary" [1902] is "An exclamation of surprise ...

2017年9月28日 · Old English hwa "who," sometimes "what; anyone, someone; each; whosoever," from Proto-Germanic *hwas (source also of Old Saxon hwe, Danish hvo, Swedish vem, Old Frisian hwa, Dutch wie, Old High German hwer, German wer, Gothic hvo (fem.) "who"), from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns.

2025年1月3日 · It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin victor "a conqueror," vincere "to conquer, overcome, defeat;" Lithuanian apveikiu, apveikti "to subdue, overcome;" Old Church Slavonic veku "strength, power, age;" Old Norse vigr "able in battle," Old English wigan "fight;" Welsh gwych "brave, energetic," Old ...