English words first recorded in the 13th century

It is inherited from Middle English badde, first found in surnames such as Baddecheese (1203), of uncertain origin and without clear relatives in other languages. It was originally two syllables…

It is inherited from Middle English ariven, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ariver, from Old French ariver (“to come to land”) (modern French arriver), from Vulgar Latin *arrīpō (“to touch the shore”)…

1. The round object is inherited from Middle English bal, probably borrowed from Old Norse bǫllr (“ball”), or perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *beall, implied by the diminutive bealluc…

It is inherited from Middle English cable, borrowed from Old Northern French cable (“large rope”), or through Anglo-Norman, from Medieval Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter for cattle”), from Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English kalender, borrowed from Anglo-Norman calender, corresponding to Old French calendier (“list, register”) (modern French calendrier), from Latin kalendārium…

1. The garment is borrowed from Middle French cape, partly from Old Provençal Old Occitan capa (“hooded mantle”) and partly from Spanish capa (“cloak”), both from Late Latin cappa (“hooded cloak…

It is inherited from Middle English legiun, borrowed from Old French legion, from Latin legiō (“a body of soldiers, a levy”), from legō (“to choose, gather, levy”) (see legend), from…

It is inherited from Middle English luke, lewk (“tepid”), a word of uncertain origin. It is perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *hlēoc, an unexplained variant of hlēowe “warm”, from…

It is inherited from Middle English mountaine, borrowed from Old French montaigne (French montagne), from Vulgar Latin *montānea (“mountain, mountain region”), the noun use of the feminine of…

It is inherited from Middle English samoun, salmon, borrowed from Anglo-Norman samoun (“salmon”), Old French salmun, saumon, from Latin salmō (“salmon”), salmōnem, of uncertain origin, probably…

It is inherited from Middle English senatour, borrowed from Old French senateur, senator, from Latin senātor (“member of the senate”), from senatus “senate”, from senex “old; old man”, from…

It is inherited from Middle English breche, from a fusion of Old English bræc, a breaking, or bryce (“a fracture, act of breaking”), with Old French breche (“breach, opening, gap”), from Frankish or…

1. The pole and bird's roost is inherited from Middle English perche, borrowed from Anglo-Norman perche and Old French perche (“wooden rod”), from Latin pertica (“pole, long staff, measuring rod”)…

1. It is inherited from Middle English pere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman peir, Old French per (“equal”) (modern French pair), from Latin par (“equal”) (see par, pair). 2. It is a variant of piren…

It is inherited from Middle English parlement, borrowed from Old French parlement (“a speaking, talk”), from parler (“to speak”) and the suffix -ment. The spelling was altered about 1400 after…

It is inherited from Middle English aromat, plural aromaz, borrowed from Old French aromat, now aromate, from the plural of Latin arōma (“spice, sweet odour”), from Ancient Greek ἄρωμα (árōma…

1. The bird's bill is inherited from Middle English bec, later bek, borrowed from Old French bec (“beak”), also bec, from Late Latin beccus, which the Romans said was of Gaulish origin. Suetonius…

It is borrowed from Old French cave (“a cave, vault, cellar”), from Latin cava (“hollow places”), the noun use of the neuter plural (or feminine) of cavus (“hollow”), from PIE Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Middle English cliver, of uncertain origin. Barnhart relates it to Middle English clivre, claw, and to Old English clifian (“to stick”) (see cleave), as if “sharp to seize”; MWU…

1. The valley is inherited from Middle English delle, also dele, inherited from Old English dell (“a deep hollow or vale”), from Proto-Germanic *daljō. It is cognate with Middle Dutch delle and…

It is inherited from Middle English dragun, dragoun, borrowed from Old French dragon and directly from Latin dracō (“huge serpent, dragon”), accusative dracōnem, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn…

It is inherited from Middle English liftime, formed from life and time.

1. The artist is inherited from Middle English peyntour, borrowed from Old French peintour, from Vulgar Latin *pinctor, an alteration, influenced by Latin pingō (“to paint”), of pictor (“a painter”)…

It is inherited from Middle English slumeren, later slumberen and slomberen, a frequentative from Middle English slumen (“to doze”), formed with the Germanic verbal suffix that marks repeated or…

It is formed from English spin + -er, in Middle English spinnere. The OED compares Middle Dutch spinnere, now spinner, and Middle High German spinre, now Spinner. The base verb goes back to Old…

It is inherited from Middle English venim, also venym and later venom, borrowed from Anglo-Norman venim and Old French venim, a variant of venin, from Vulgar Latin *venīmen, an alteration of Latin…

1. The adjective meaning serious is inherited from Middle English ernest, inherited from Old English eornoste (“zealous, serious”), from the noun eornost (“seriousness, zeal, battle”), which…

It is inherited from Middle English forman, also foreman, formed from English fore- + man. Similar compounds are Dutch voorman, German Vormann and Danish formand. The OED compares Old Norse formaðr…

It is inherited from Middle English parc, borrowed from Old French parc (“enclosed wood or heath used as a game preserve”), from Medieval Latin parricus (“enclosure, park”), probably from Proto-West…

It is inherited from Middle English abod, also abad, a verbal noun from Middle English abiden (“to wait, abide”), with the same change of vowel as in the past tense of that verb, as in ride and…

It is inherited from Middle English abstinence, borrowed from Anglo-Norman abstinence, also abstenence and abstinance, and Old French abstinence, earlier astenance, and partly directly borrowed from…

It is inherited from Middle English adversite, borrowed from Anglo-Norman adversité, also averseté, and Old French aversite, later adversite, and directly borrowed from Latin adversitās, formed from…

It is inherited from Middle English alas, also allas, borrowed from Old French a las, also ha las, halas and Anglo-Norman allas (now French hélas), from the interjection a (“ah”) and las (“wretched…

It is inherited from Middle English amenden, borrowed from Anglo-Norman amaunder, also amender, as in Old French amender (“to correct, set right, improve”), which is from Latin ēmendō (“to free from…

It is inherited from Middle English anguisse, later angwisshe, borrowed from Anglo-Norman anguisse, also angoisse, now French angoisse, from Latin angustia (“narrowness, tightness; in the plural…

It is inherited from Middle English anoien, also anuien and enoien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman anuier, also anoier, variants of Old French enoier, modern French ennuyer, to bother, harass, weary…

It is inherited from Middle English apostolik, borrowed from Old French apostolique and directly borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin apostolicus, from Ancient Greek ἀποστολικός (apostolikós), formed…

It is inherited from Middle English before hand, also beforen hand, originally written separately, formed from English before + hand. Etymonline finds the sense of hand here unclear, unless the…

1. The verb is inherited from Middle English boillen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman boiller and Old French boillir (earlier bolir, modern French bouillir), from Latin bulliō (“to bubble, seethe”), from…

It is Middle English bunsen, to beat, thump, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Dutch bonzen, to thump, or Low German bunsen, or of imitative origin; its sense has probably been influenced by bound…

1. The agent noun is inherited from Middle English breker, formed from English break + -er. The verb break is from Middle English breken, from Old English brecan. Old English had the agent noun…

It is inherited from Middle English brinke, also brenke, not recorded in Old English and probably of Scandinavian origin: the Shorter Oxford takes it as borrowed from Old Norse brekka (“slope”)…

It is inherited from Middle English burgeis, borrowed from Anglo-Norman burgeis, borgeys, also Old French borjois, the source of the later bourgeois, from Late Latin burgēnsis (“belonging to a fort…

It is inherited from Middle English celer, borrowed from Anglo-Norman celer, also Old French celier (now cellier), a storeroom above or below ground, especially for wine, and partly its source…

It is inherited from Middle English chaere, chayere, borrowed from Old French chaiere (“chair, seat, throne”) (modern French chaire “pulpit, throne”), from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient…

It is inherited from Middle English chapele, borrowed from Old French chapele (modern French chapelle), from Medieval Latin cappella, a chapel, sanctuary for relics, canopy, literally a little cape…

It is inherited from Middle English circumcisioun, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman circumcisiun, also circumcisioun and circoncision, and partly directly borrowed from Late Latin circumcīsiō…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman circumstaunce, also sercunstaunce, and Old French circonstance, recorded about 1220 for surroundings and about 1265 for a factor of a situation, with influence from…

It is borrowed from Old French clause (“stipulation”) (12th century), a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin clausa, close of a rhetorical period, conclusion, used for classical Latin clausula, end…

It is inherited from Middle English clergie, borrowed from Old French clergié (“the clergy as a body”), from clericatus (“the office of a priest”), and also from clergie (“learning; the status of a…

It is inherited from Middle English colour, colur, borrowed from Anglo-Norman culur, coulour, Old French color, colour “color, complexion, appearance” (modern couleur), from Latin color (“color of…

It is inherited from Middle English contemplacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman contemplaciun, also contemplation, and directly borrowed from Latin contemplātiō (“act of looking at, consideration”)…

It is inherited from Middle English covent, also cuvent, borrowed from Anglo-Norman covent and directly borrowed from Latin conventus (“assembly, meeting”). In Old French the word was covent or…

It is inherited from Middle English counseil, borrowed from Old French counseil (“advice, counsel; deliberation”), conseil, from Latin consilium (“plan, opinion; consultation; a deliberating body”)…

It is inherited from Middle English counseiler, also counseilour, borrowed from Anglo-Norman cunseiler, from Latin cōnsiliārius (“adviser”), and conseilleor, from cōnsiliātor; in Anglo-Norman the…

It is inherited from Middle English curteisie, corteisie, borrowed from Old French curteisie (“courtliness, courteousness, generosity”) (modern courtoisie), from curteis, courteous, and -ie, -y.

It is inherited from Middle English cosin, borrowed from Old French cosin, cusin (“nephew; kinsman; cousin”), from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“mother's sister's child”), from com- (“with, together”) and…

It is inherited from Middle English cravant, later cravaunde, and its origin is disputed. Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Old French cravanté (“overcome, vanquished”), the past participle…

1. The verb is probably borrowed from Old Norse krafla (“to paw, scrabble with the hands”), in Middle English craulen, earlier creulen. Barnhart and the OED compare kravle, kravle (“to crawl, climb…

It is inherited from Middle English crengen, also crenchen, apparently inherited from Old English *crengan, an unrecorded causative verb, from the same base as cringan (“to fall in battle, give way…