English words first recorded in the 11th century

It is inherited from Middle English bilden, earlier bulden, inherited from Old English byldan (“to construct a house”), a verb formed from bold (“house, dwelling”), also botl, from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English felawe, inherited from Old English fēolaga (“partner, one who shares with another”), borrowed from Old Norse félagi (“comrade, partner, shareholder”), from fé…

It is inherited from Middle English shephirde, inherited from Old English scēaphierde, a compound of scēap (“sheep”) and hierde (“herdsman”), from heord (“herd”) (see sheep and herd). Similar…

1. Clutch, to grip, is inherited from Middle English clucchen (“to bend, crook, clench”), a dialect variant of clicchen, inherited from Old English clyċċan (“to bring together, bend the fingers…

It is inherited from Middle English floten, inherited from Old English flotian (“to rest on the surface of water”), from Proto-Germanic *flutōjanan, cognate with Middle Dutch vlōten, Old Saxon…

It is Middle English, late Old English hæfen, hæfne, borrowed from Old Norse hǫfn (“haven, harbour”) (genitive hafnar), from Proto-Germanic *hafnō-, source also of Danish havn, Middle Low German…

It is inherited from Middle English shir-reve, sherref, from late Old English sċīrġerēfa (“representative of the royal authority in a shire”), from sċīr (“shire”) (see shire) and ġerēfa (“chief…

It is inherited from Middle English aforthen, earlier iforthen, inherited from Old English ġeforþian (“to put forth; further, advance; carry out, accomplish”), from the completive prefix ge-, which…

1. The small piece is inherited from Middle English bite (“morsel”), inherited from Old English bita (“piece bitten off, morsel”), from bītan (“to bite”), from Proto-Germanic *bitōn, from…

It is inherited from Old English curs (“a prayer that evil befall someone”), a late Old English word, of uncertain or unknown origin; no similar word exists in Germanic, Romance or Celtic. The…

It is formed from English dark + -ness. The Old English form was deorcnysse, from deorc (“dark”) and the suffix -nysse, and it became derknesse in Middle English. Dark itself goes back to…

It is inherited from Middle English dogge, inherited from Old English docga, a late and rare word, of unknown origin; Etymonline calls it one of the great mysteries of English etymology. Word…

It is inherited from Middle English fostrien, fostren, inherited from Old English fōstrian (“to nourish, feed”), from fōstor (“food, nourishment, bringing up”), from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą, from the…

It is inherited from Middle English osanna, inherited from Old English osanna, borrowed from Late Latin osanna, also hosanna, as in the Vulgate, from Ancient Greek ὡσαννά (hōsanná), from Biblical…

It is inherited from Middle English hulke, inherited from Old English hulc (“light, fast ship”), which glosses Latin liburna, a light sailing vessel. The OED calls it a word of early diffusion among…

It is inherited from Middle English midsomer, also midsumer and missomer, inherited from Old English midsumor, a compound of midd (“middle”) and sumor (“summer”), the ancestors of mid and summer…

It is inherited from Middle English misleden, inherited from Old English mislǣdan (“to lead astray”), formed from mis- and lǣdan (“to lead”), the sources of mis- and lead. The Old English verb is…

It is inherited from Middle English planete, late Old English planete, borrowed from Old French planete (modern French planète) and directly from Late Latin planēta, usually in the plural planētae…

1. The word for a stake or long piece of wood is inherited from Middle English pole, also polle, inherited from Old English pāl (“stake, pole”), borrowed from Latin pālus (“stake, prop”). Barnhart…

It is inherited from Middle English putten, puten (“to thrust, push; to place”), inherited from Old English *putian (“to thrust, push”), a verb implied only by the verbal noun putung (“instigation…

It is borrowed from Late Latin rabbi, from Ancient Greek ῥαββί (rhabbí), a form of address in the New Testament, from Biblical Hebrew רַבִּי (rabbī, “my master”), a title of the scholars of the…

The noun is inherited from Middle English rele, also reel, inherited from Old English hrēol (“reel for winding thread”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrehul, from Proto-Germanic *hrehulaz. It is…

It is inherited from Middle English sale, late inherited from Old English sala (“a sale, act of selling”), probably borrowed from Old Norse sala (“sale”), from Proto-Germanic *salō, the source also…

1. The container is inherited from Middle English scutel (“dish; basket”), inherited from Old English scutel (“dish, platter”), borrowed from Latin scutella (“serving platter”), a diminutive of…

It is inherited from Middle English smothe, inherited from Old English smōþ, a variant of the usual Old English smēþe “free from roughness, not harsh”, of unknown origin. Barnhart compares Old Saxon…

1. The faucet is Middle English teppe, tappe, inherited from Old English tæppa, from Proto-Germanic *tappô, cognate with Middle Dutch tappe, Old High German zapho and Old Norse tappi. 2. The light…

It is inherited from Middle English walnot, also walnote and walnotte, inherited from Old English walhhnutu, also written wealhhnutu, literally "foreign nut", a compound of wealh (“foreigner, Celt…

It is inherited from Middle English westerne, inherited from Old English westerne (“western, westerly, coming from the west”), formed from west and the suffix -erne, which denotes direction. It is…

It is inherited from Middle English wowen, inherited from Old English wōgian (“to woo, court, marry”) (transitive āwōgian), of uncertain or unknown origin with no known cognates. It may be related…

It is inherited from Middle English wrenchen (“to twist, to make a quick turn”), inherited from Old English wrencan (“to twist, turn; to practise wiles”), from Proto-Germanic *wrankijaną. It…

It is inherited from Middle English wrestlere, also wrastlere, inherited from Old English wrǣstlere, an agent noun formed from Old English *wrǣstlian + -ere, the Old English source of wrestle. The…

It was first late Old English canceler, borrowed from Anglo-Norman canceler, Old Northern French cancheler, and later chaunceler, from the Anglo-French variant chanceler, Old French chancelier; the…

It is inherited from Middle English duc, duke, borrowed from Old French duc and directly from Latin dux (“leader, commander”), genitive ducis, from dūcō “to lead”, from Proto-Indo-European *deuk-…

It is inherited from Middle English thurhout, throughout, late inherited from Old English þurhūt (“completely through”), a compound, from English through + out. It was originally written separately…

It is inherited from Middle English wrong (also wrang), late inherited from Old English wrang, borrowed from Old Norse rangr (“awry, unjust”), earlier *vrangr (“crooked, wry”), from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English bridale (“wedding, wedding feast”), inherited from Old English brȳdealu (“wedding feast”), a compound from Old English brȳd (“bride”) + ealu (“ale”), that is, the…

It is inherited from Middle English hitten, inherited from Old English hittan (“to come upon, meet with”) (also hyttan), borrowed from Old Norse hitta (“to light upon, meet with; to hit”), from…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman wrec (“wreckage cast ashore”), from a Scandinavian source: compare Old Norse rek, wreck, flotsam, from older *wrek, related to reka, to drive, push (see wreak).

It is inherited from Middle English coroune, croune, borrowed from Anglo-Norman coroune, Old Northern French curune, Old French corone (modern couronne), and directly from Latin corōna (“crown…

1. The verb meaning to make a knight is inherited from Middle English dubben, inherited from Old English dubbian, first recorded in the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” for 1085 in a phrase meaning "dubbed…

It is inherited from Old English rīdere (“one who rides, trooper, knight”), an agent noun from rīdan, to ride (see ride), compare Dutch rijder and German Reiter; the OED notes it is uncertain how…

1. The monastic superior is inherited from Middle English priour, prior, from late Old English prior, borrowed from Medieval Latin prior (“superior officer”), in Late Latin “administrator…

It is inherited from Middle English aware, earlier iwar, inherited from Old English ġewær (“watchful, vigilant”), from Proto-Germanic *ga-waraz, from the intensive or collective prefix *ga- and…

It is inherited from Middle English chapelein, also chapelain and chaplein, borrowed from Old French chapelain, Anglo-Norman chapelein, from Medieval Latin cappellānus (“clergyman; secretary of a…

It is borrowed from Latin adventus (“approach, arrival”), which in Church Latin also meant the coming of Christ and, from the 7th or 8th century, the season before Christmas. The English word was…

It is formed from Middle English of (“from”) + fer (“far”), with the first word reduced in unstressed position, together with on fer (“at a distance”); both became a fer in the 14th century. The…

It is inherited from Middle English Cristemasse, also Cristes masse, inherited from Old English Crīstes mæsse (“Christ's festival, the mass of Christ”), from Crīstes, the genitive of Crīst…

It is inherited from Middle English drougth, inherited from Old English drūgaþ (“dryness”), also drūgoþ, from drūgian (“to dry up, wither”), from the base of drȳge (“dry”) (see dry), from…

It is inherited from Middle English flanke, also flaunke, from late inherited from Old English flanc, borrowed from Old French flanc (“hip, side”), which is the same word as Old Occitan flanc and…

It is inherited from Middle English knif, inherited from Old English cnīf, probably borrowed from Old Norse knífr (“knife, dirk”), from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, the source also of Middle Low German…

It is inherited from Middle English knowlege, knawlage, earlier cnawlece, probably from the Middle English verb knowlechen “to acknowledge”, from an Old English compound recorded only in the noun…

It is Middle English, inherited from Old English norþwest (“to the north-west”), an adverb compounded of north and west. The noun and the adjective developed from the adverb.

It is inherited from Middle English unyon, borrowed from Anglo-Norman union (Old French oignon), and directly Latin ūniō (“a kind of onion; a pearl”), a rustic Roman word, probably from ūnus…

It is inherited from Old English plot (“small piece of ground”), of unknown origin. Plat is a Middle English collateral form. The sense “secret plan” was probably influenced by the chance likeness…

It is inherited from Middle English plough, also plouh and plow, inherited from Old English plōh, also plōg, which in Old English seems to have meant mainly a measure of land, as much as a team of…

1. It is late inherited from Old English pottere, formed from pott, pot, and -ere, -er, reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman poter, Old French potier and Anglo-Latin pottarius. 2. It is…

It is inherited from Middle English purs, inherited from Old English purs, borrowed from Medieval Latin bursa (“purse”), altered perhaps under the influence of pusa (“bag”). The Medieval Latin word…

It is inherited from Middle English rif, also rive and ryfe, inherited from Old English rīfe (“abundant, frequent, widespread”), recorded once in late Old English, in the spelling rȳfe. It goes back…

It is late inherited from Old English scoru (“twenty”), borrowed from Old Norse skor (“notch, mark, tally; twenty”), related to skera (“to cut”), the cognate of shear, from Proto-Indo-European…

1. The common word is inherited from Middle English servise, late Old English serfise, borrowed from Old French servise (“homage, servitude, service at table, Mass”), from Latin servitium (“slavery…