English words first recorded in the 12th century

It is inherited from Middle English amendement, borrowed from Old French amendement (“correction, improvement”), from amender (“to amend”) and the suffix -ment. See amend.

It is inherited from Middle English anger, angre, borrowed from Old Norse angr (“grief, sorrow, affliction”), with the verb from angra (“to grieve, vex”), from Proto-Germanic *angaz, the source also…

It is a compound, from English any + way. The form anyways has the adverbial genitive -s.

It is inherited from Middle English article, borrowed from Old French article, from Latin articulus (“a small part, a joint; the article in grammar”), a diminutive of artus (“joint”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English autorite, auctorite, borrowed from Old French autorité (“authority, prestige, right, permission; the Scriptures”), also auctorité, from Latin auctōritās…

1. Aye, ever, is inherited from Middle English ai, borrowed from Old Norse ei (“ever”), cognate with Old English ā (“always”), from Proto-Germanic *aiwi, from Proto-Indo-European *aiw- (“vital…

It is inherited from Middle English bait, borrowed from Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite, hunt; food, bait”), the causative of bíta (“to bite”), from Proto-Germanic *baitjaną, cognate with Old…

It is inherited from Middle English balaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman balaunce, a variant of Old French balance “scales”, from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx (“having two…

It is inherited from Middle English basme, also bame and baume, borrowed from Old French basme, later baume, from Latin balsamum (“balsam”), from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon, “balsam, aromatic…

1. The slope is inherited from Middle English banke, probably borrowed from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse *banki, a variant of bakki (“ridge, river bank, mound”), compare Old Danish banke…

It is inherited from Middle English banere, borrowed from Old French baniere (“flag, banner, standard”), banere, from Late Latin bandum (“standard”), from a Germanic source, Proto-Germanic *bandwa-…

It is inherited from Middle English baptiste, borrowed from Old French baptiste, from Ecclesiastical Latin baptista, from Ancient Greek βαπτιστής (baptistḗs, “one who baptizes”), from βαπτίζω…

1. The rod is inherited from Middle English barre, borrowed from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra (“bar, barrier”), of unknown origin. Some derive it from a…

It is inherited from Middle English baron, borrowed from Old French baron, the accusative of ber (“military leader”), from Medieval Latin barō (“man, warrior”), or directly from Frankish *barō…

It is inherited from Middle English barain, also bareine and barren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman barain, feminine baraine, from Old French baraigne, also brahaigne and barhaine, the feminine of…

It is inherited from Middle English bacin, borrowed from Old French bacin (modern bassin), from Late Latin bacchinon, bacinus, a wooden vessel used by the Gauls according to Gregory of Tours…

It is inherited from Middle English bastard, borrowed from Old French bastard (“acknowledged child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife”), probably from fils de bast (“packsaddle son”), a…

1. The club is Middle English batte, inherited from Old English batt (“cudgel”), a rare late Old English word, probably of Celtic origin: compare Irish and Scottish Gaelic bata (“staff, cudgel”)…

It is inherited from Middle English beste, borrowed from Old French beste (“animal, wild beast; fool”) (modern French bête), from Vulgar Latin *besta, from Latin bēstia (“beast, wild animal”), a…

It is inherited from Middle English beggen, a word of uncertain origin. It may be from the rare Old English bedecian, to beg, from the Germanic base of bid (compare Gothic bidagwa, a beggar), or…

It is inherited from Middle English bisiden, biside, from Old English be sīdan (“by the side”), from be (“by”) (see by) and sīdan, the dative of sīde (“side”) (see side). In Old English the phrase…

It is inherited from Middle English bisides, formed from beside and the adverbial genitive ending -s, -es.

It is inherited from Middle English birthe, earlier burthe and birde, borrowed from Old Norse byrð (“birth, descent”), which displaced the cognate Old English ġebyrd (“birth, descent, race”). It is…

It is inherited from Middle English blamen, borrowed from Old French blasmer (“to rebuke, reprimand, condemn”), later blamer (modern French blâmer), from Vulgar Latin *blastēmō, an alteration of…

1. The flower is inherited from Middle English blome, borrowed from Old Norse blóm (“flower, blossom”), also blómi (“prosperity, flowers”), from Proto-Germanic *blōmōn, cognate with Old Saxon blōmo…

It is inherited from Middle English blunt, of uncertain origin. It may be Scandinavian, related to Old Norse blunda (“to shut the eyes, doze”) (see blind), or to Old English blinnan (“to stop…

It is a Middle English variant of band “something that binds”, at first interchangeable with it, and influenced by the unrelated bond “serf, tenant farmer”, from Old English bōnda “householder”. It…

It is inherited from Middle English bothe, probably borrowed from Old Danish bōþ (“temporary dwelling, stall”), from East Norse *bōa, to dwell (Old Norse búa, búð), from Proto-Germanic *bōwan-, from…

It is inherited from Middle English brethen, formed from the noun breath. It is not found in Old English, but it keeps the original long vowel of the Old English noun bræþ.

1. The blow is inherited from Middle English buffet, also bofet, borrowed from Old French buffet, also bufet, a diminutive of buffe (“a blow, slap; puff of wind”), the source of buff "a blow". The…

It is inherited from Middle English biriel, a mistaken singular of buriels, inherited from Old English byrgels (“tomb, burial place”), from byrgan (“to bury”) (see bury) and the suffix -els, from…

It is inherited from Middle English burgh (“refuge of an animal; lair, den”), also spelled burh, borewe and borwȝ, which the MED derives from the word for a stronghold, borough, influenced by berg…

1. The verb is Middle English butten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman buter, boter (“to thrust”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish -: compare Old High German bōzan (“to beat”) (see beat). 2. The target…

It is inherited from Middle English biggere, byer, an agent noun from buy with the suffix -er.

It is borrowed from Old French cage (“cage, prison”), from Latin cavea (“hollow place, enclosure for animals, coop”), from cavus, hollow (see cave). It is related to jail.

It is inherited from Middle English callen, probably borrowed from Old Norse kalla (“to cry loudly, summon; to name”), from Proto-Germanic *kallōjanan, from Proto-Indo-European *gal- (“to call…

1. The adjective is inherited from Middle English capital, borrowed from Old French capital, from Latin capitālis (“of the head; chief, first”), from caput (“head”) (genitive capitis), from…

It is probably borrowed from Old Norse kartr or a similar Scandinavian word, replacing and partly continuing, by metathesis, Old English cræt, cart, wagon, chariot (before 800), and probably…

It is inherited from Middle English casten, borrowed from Old Norse kasta (“to throw”), a word of uncertain origin, related to Old Norse kǫs “heap”. Merriam-Webster suggests a possible link with…

It is inherited from Middle English cacchen (“to chase, catch”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman cachier (“to catch, capture (animals); to chase, hunt”), an Old North French variant of Old French chacier…

It is inherited from Middle English cause, borrowed from Old French cause (“cause, reason; lawsuit”) and directly borrowed from Latin causa (“a cause, reason; a lawsuit”), which is of uncertain…

It is inherited from Middle English centurioun, also centurio, first borrowed from Latin centuriō (“commander of a century”) and later also borrowed from Anglo-Norman centurioun or Middle French…

The verb is inherited from Middle English chalengen, calengen “to accuse, claim”, borrowed from Old French chalengier, chalongier, Old Northern French calengier, from Latin calumnior (“to accuse…

It is inherited from Middle English chaumbre, borrowed from Old French chambre (“room, apartment”), from Late Latin camera (“a chamber, room”), in Latin “vault, arch”, from Ancient Greek καμάρα…

It is inherited from Middle English chaumberlein, chamberleng, borrowed from Old French chamberlenc (“chamberlain, steward, treasurer”) (modern French chambellan), from Frankish *kamerling, compare…

It is inherited from Middle English champiun, champioun, borrowed from Old French champion (“combatant, champion in single combat”), 12th century, from Medieval Latin campiō (“gladiator, fighter…

It is inherited from Middle English changen, borrowed from Old French changier (“to change, alter; to exchange”), from Latin cambiō (“to barter, exchange”), a Late Latin extension of cambiō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English chapitre, chaptre, borrowed from Old French chapitre (“chapter of a book; article of a treaty; cathedral chapter”), 12th century, an alteration of earlier…

The verb is inherited from Middle English chargen (“to load”), borrowed from Old French chargier (“to load, burden, weigh down”), from Late Latin carricō (“to load a wagon or cart”), from Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English charitable, borrowed from Old French charitable, from charité (“charity”) (see charity).

It is inherited from Middle English chartre, borrowed from Old French chartre (“charter, document, covenant”), from Latin chartula (“little paper”), a diminutive of charta (“paper, document”) (see…

It is inherited from Middle English chere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman chere (“the face”), Old French chiere, face, countenance, look, from Late Latin cara, face (source also of Spanish cara)…

It is inherited from Middle English ches, borrowed from Old French esches (“chessmen”) with its first syllable dropped, earlier eschecs, the plural of eschec (“check, the game of chess”) (see…

It is inherited from Middle English cite, citie, borrowed from Old French cité (“town, city”), earlier citet, from Latin cīvitās (“citizenship; the citizens; the state”) (accusative cīvitātem), from…

1. The sound is inherited from Middle English clappen, also cleppen, inherited from Old English clæppan (“to throb, beat”), also clappian, from Proto-West Germanic *klappōn, from Proto-Germanic…

1. The verb is inherited from Middle English closen, borrowed from Old French clos-, the past-participle stem of clore (“to shut”), from Latin claudō (“to shut, close; to block up”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English clubbe, borrowed from Old Norse klubba (“cudgel, club”) (also klumba), from Proto-Germanic *klumbō, whose -mb- was assimilated to -bb-. Its cognates include…

It is inherited from Middle English cunfort, confort, borrowed from Old French cunfort, confort (“consolation, solace; pleasure”), with the verb from conforter (“to help, strengthen, console”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English coni, also coning, cunin and conyng, borrowed from Anglo-Norman coniz (“rabbits”), the plural of conil (“rabbit”). The OED explains the English word partly from…

It is borrowed from Old French conscience (“conscience, innermost thoughts”), a learned borrowing of Latin cōnscientia, joint knowledge, consciousness, moral sense, from cōnsciēns, present…