Start with the source
The source language tells you where the earliest recorded form came from, such as Latin, Greek, Old English or French.
Etymology and word history
Featured word history
Every word has travelled.
Discover where English words began, what they once meant and how they changed as they moved between languages, places and generations.
37
words with recorded origins
4
source languages represented
37
entries with literal meanings
Democracy
From Greek demokratia, built from demos, people, and kratos, power or rule.
Greek demokratia → French and English
Originally meant:
rule by the people
Explore the full word →
Changes every week
Featured word histories
Each entry shows more than a source language. Follow how a word changed in form and meaning before becoming part of modern English.
Arabic
Read its history →
Algebra
From Arabic al-jabr, a term used for restoration or reunion in calculation.
Ancient Greek
Read its history →
Rhetoric
From Greek rhetorike, the art associated with public speaking or oratory.
Ancient Greek
Read its history →
Analysis
From Greek analysis, meaning a loosening or breaking up, later used for examining parts.
Ancient Greek
Read its history →
Pragmatics
From Greek pragma, deed or thing done, through later philosophical and linguistic use.
Ancient Greek
Read its history →
Philosophy
From Greek philosophia, built from philos, loving, and sophia, wisdom.
Latin
Read its history →
Jurisdiction
From Latin iurisdictio, built from ius, law, and dictio, saying or declaration.
Ancient Greek
Read its history →
Economics
Connected with Greek oikonomia, the management of a household or estate.
Latin
Read its history →
Linguistics
Built from Latin lingua, tongue or language, with a modern scholarly suffix.
Arabic
Read its history →
Algorithm
Named through Medieval Latin forms of the name of the mathematician al-Khwarizmi.
Latin
Read its history →
Vocabulary
From Medieval Latin vocabularium, a list or collection of words, from vocabulum, word or name.
Ancient Greek
Read its history →
Mathematics
From Greek mathematike, relating to learning, from mathema, knowledge or lesson.
How to read an origin
Follow the journey, not only the starting point.
Etymology becomes useful when you separate where a word began, how it entered English and how its meaning changed afterwards.
Trace the route
Many words reached English through another language. The route explains the stages rather than jumping straight to today.
Compare the meaning
A literal or earlier meaning reveals what changed, what stayed and why the modern word may carry several shades of meaning.
Explore connected words
Words that share a root or family.
These collections bring related words together, making it easier to see how one root can grow into many modern meanings.
Shared origin
6 connected words
Greek roots that connect words
Word families connected by Greek roots used across science and everyday English.
Shared origin
7 connected words
Greek roots in science
Scientific words connected by reusable Greek roots.
Shared origin
8 connected words
Latin legal vocabulary
Latin expressions and roots that remain important in legal English.
Shared origin
8 connected words
Old Norse words in everyday English
Common English words shaped by contact with Old Norse.
Featured origin story
How Greek Roots Unlock Medical Vocabulary
Greek roots reveal the body part, condition or procedure inside many medical terms. Learn common forms and practise breaking down words such as gastroenteritis and neuropathy.
Take the longer route
Explore the people, languages and historical changes behind a group of words rather than reading one entry in isolation.
Read the featured article
Etymology
Read article →
Why Economics Borrowed Words from Households, Physics and Biology
Economics began with a word about household management and later borrowed equilibrium, elasticity, growth and other metaphors from the physical and living worlds.
Etymology
Read article →
Why Weather Words Come from Sailors, Farmers and Scientists
Weather vocabulary combines old farming words, maritime observation, borrowed storm names and modern scientific terminology.
Etymology
Read article →
From Alchemy to Chemistry: How Old Words Survived a Scientific Revolution
Chemistry did not begin with a clean vocabulary. Modern scientific language grew out of alchemy, craft traditions, Arabic scholarship and early modern attempts to standa…
Etymology
Read article →
From Atomos to Quantum: How Physics Names the Invisible
Physics repeatedly names things before scientists fully understand them. Atom, electron, photon and quantum preserve earlier theories, metaphors and linguistic choices.
Etymology
Read article →
Why Rhetoric Has Greek Names for Things We Do Every Day
Anaphora, antithesis, hyperbole, ethos and other rhetorical terms give technical names to patterns people use naturally in speeches, stories, arguments and jokes.