English words first recorded in the 13th century

It is inherited from Middle English certein, borrowed from Old French certain (“reliable, sure”), from Vulgar Latin *certānus, an extension of certus (“determined, fixed, sure”), originally a…

It is formed from English certain + -ly in Middle English. Certain is from Old French certain (“reliable, sure”), from Vulgar Latin *certānus, an extended form of Latin certus (“determined, fixed…

It is inherited from Middle English chaene, cheine, cheyne, borrowed from Old French chaeine (“chain”), later chaine (modern French chaîne), 12th century, from Latin catēna (“chain, fetter”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English chanel, borrowed from Old French chanel (“bed of a waterway; tube, pipe, gutter”), a partly latinized variant of chenel, from Latin canālis (“groove, channel…

It is inherited from Middle English charme, borrowed from Old French charme (“magic charm, spell, incantation; song”), from Latin carmen (“song, verse, incantation”), from *canmen, with n…

1. It is inherited from Middle English chacen, chasen, borrowed from Old French chacier (“to hunt, catch”), from Vulgar Latin *captiō, from Latin captō “to try to catch”, a frequentative of capiō…

It is inherited from Middle English chasour, also chaser and chacer, borrowed from Old French chaceor (“huntsman, hunter”), modern chasseur, an agent noun from chacier (“to hunt”), which goes back…

1. The chess term and its many extensions are inherited from Middle English chek, borrowed from Old French eschec (“check at chess; repulse”) (earlier eschac), from Medieval Latin scaccus, which…

It is inherited from Middle English chery, from Anglo-French and Old North French borrowed from Old French cherise (modern French cerise), mistaken for a plural and stripped of its -s, as pea was…

1. The word for a bell or its sound is probably inherited from Middle English chimbe, also chyme and chim, borrowed from Old French chimbe (“cymbal”), a variant of cimble and cimbe, from Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English chois, borrowed from Old French chois (“one's choice”), from choisir (“to choose; to discern, perceive”), from Vulgar Latin *causiō, of Germanic origin: Barnhart…

It is inherited from Middle English cercle, borrowed from Old French cercle (“circle, ring; hoop of a helmet or barrel”) (12th century), from Latin circulus (“circular figure, small ring, hoop”), a…

It is inherited from Middle English citisein, borrowed from Anglo-Norman citesein, citezein, an alteration of citeien (modern French citoyen), formed from cite “city” and the suffix -ien, ultimately…

It is inherited from Middle English cleimen, claymen, borrowed from Old French claim-, the stressed stem of clamer “to call, name, appeal, claim, complain”, from Latin clāmō (“to cry out, shout…

It is inherited from Middle English clarte, borrowed from Old French clarté (“clarity, brightness”), later reshaped as clarite, perhaps by a new borrowing of Latin clāritās (“brightness, splendour…

It is inherited from Middle English cloudi, also cludiȝ, inherited from Old English clūdig (“rocky, hilly”), from clūd (“rock, hill”) and -ig, the ancestor of -y. The Middle English Dictionary takes…

It is Middle English cote, borrowed from Old French cote (“coat, robe, tunic”), from Proto-Romance *cotta, from Frankish *kotta (“coarse cloth”) or another Germanic source; compare Old Saxon kot…

It is inherited from Middle English comanden, borrowed from Old French comander (“to order, enjoin, entrust”), from Vulgar Latin *commandō, an alteration, influenced by mandō (“to commit, entrust”)…

It is inherited from Middle English comandour, borrowed from Old French comandeor (“commander, commandant”), from comander “to order, enjoin”, from Late Latin commandō (“to command”). It is related…

It is inherited from Middle English commencen, also comencen, borrowed from Old French comencier, also comencer, now commencer, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiō, formed from com-, here intensive, and…

It is inherited from Middle English commune, borrowed from Old French comun (“common, general, free, open, public”), from Latin commūnis (“in common, public, shared by all; general; familiar”), Old…

It is inherited from Middle English conduit, also condit, condut and cundit, borrowed from Old French conduit (“escort, protection; pipe, channel”), from Medieval Latin conductus (“a leading; a…

It is inherited from Middle English confyrmacioun, borrowed from Old French confirmacion (“strengthening; proof; ratification”), and directly Latin confirmatio (“a securing, establishing…

It is inherited from Middle English conteinen, borrowed from Old French contenir (tonic stem contein-), from Latin contineō (“to hold together, enclose”), formed from con- “together” and teneō “to…

It is inherited from Middle English converten, borrowed from Old French convertir (“to turn round; change; win over”), from Vulgar Latin *convertio, from Latin convertere (“to turn around…

It is inherited from Middle English coupe, also cupe, a basket, spelled cowpe or coupe from the 15th to the 17th century. The OED points to an unrecorded inherited from Old English *cūpe, a doublet…

It is borrowed from Old French corde (“rope, string”), from Latin chorda, string, catgut, from Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “gut, string of a lyre”), which Barnhart relates to Sanskrit hirā́, band, and Old…

It is inherited from Middle English couple, borrowed from Old French cople (“married couple, lovers”) (modern couple), from Latin cōpula (“tie, connection, bond”), from *co-apula, formed from co-…

It is inherited from Middle English corage, borrowed from Old French corage (“heart, innermost feelings; temper”), curage (modern French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, which also gave…

It is inherited from Middle English cours, borrowed from Old French cours (“course, run, flow of a river”) (also cors, curs), from Latin cursus (“a running, race; journey; course”), from currō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English curteis, also corteis and cortais, borrowed from Anglo-Norman curteis, also curtois, and corteis (“courtly, graciously polite”), now courtois. The Anglo-Norman…

It is inherited from Middle English covenaunt, borrowed from Old French covenant (“agreement, pact, promise”) (12th century), later convenant, the present participle of covenir (“to agree, meet”)…

It is inherited from Middle English cowardise, also couardise, borrowed from Old French couardise, also coardise and cuardise, formed from couard (“coward”) and the noun suffix -ise, from Latin…

1. It is inherited from Middle English crabbe, inherited from Old English crabba, inherited from Proto-Germanic *krabbô. Its cognates include Old Norse krabbi, Middle Low German krabbe, Middle Dutch…

It is borrowed from Old French creature (“created being; all creation”), and probably directly borrowed from Late Latin creatura (“a thing created”), from creatus, the past participle of creāre (“to…

It is Middle English cure, coure, borrowed from Old French cure and directly from Latin cūra (“care, concern, attention, management”), from Old Latin coira-, a noun of unknown origin; Barnhart…

It is inherited from Middle English curraunt (“running, flowing”), borrowed from Old French corant (“running, lively, swift”), the present participle of corre (“to run”), from Latin currō (“to…

1. The verb and noun meaning to strike or touch lightly are inherited from Middle English dabben and dabbe, both first found about 1300, and are of uncertain origin, probably imitative. The OED…

It is inherited from Middle English dauncen, borrowed from Old French dancier (modern danser), of unknown origin. One suggestion is Frankish *dintjan, compare Middle Dutch deinsen “to shrink back”…

Middle English dasshen is of uncertain origin, probably imitative, formed like clash, bash and smash from the sound of a blow or a sudden movement, and perhaps from a Scandinavian source: compare…

The noun is inherited from Middle English debat, borrowed from Old French debat, and the verb inherited from Middle English debaten, borrowed from Old French debatre (“to fight, contend”) (modern…

It is inherited from Middle English deceite, also deseyte and desaite, borrowed from Old French deceite, the feminine past participle of deceveir (modern décevoir), used as a noun. The Old French…

It is inherited from Middle English deceiven, borrowed from Old French deceivre, a by-form of deceveir or decevoir, modern French décevoir. Barnhart and the OED take the English verb from the…

It is inherited from Middle English defense, defens, a merger of two Old French words: borrowed from Old French defense (“defence, prohibition”), from Late Latin dēfēnsa (“defence; vengeance”), a…

It is inherited from Middle English defiaunce, borrowed from Old French desfiance (“challenge, declaration of war”), also defiance, which is recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1155 for a challenge or…

It is inherited from Middle English defien, borrowed from Old French desfier, also defier, from Vulgar Latin *disfīdō (“to renounce one's faith”), formed from dis- (“away, apart”) and fīdus…

It is inherited from Middle English deite, also deitee, borrowed from Old French deité, recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1113–19 for divinity or godhead. The French word, deitet in the 12th century, is…

It is borrowed from Old French delicious, delicios (modern French délicieux), from dēliciōsus (“delicious, delicate”), from dēliciae (“delight, allurement, charm”), from dēlicere “to allure…

It is inherited from Middle English deliveraunce, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman deliveraunce and delivrance (now délivrance), and partly formed from English deliver + -ance. The Anglo-Norman…

1. The hollow made by a blow is inherited from Middle English dent (“blow, stroke”), a variant of dint, inherited from Old English dynt (“a stroke, blow; the mark of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English denyen, borrowed from Old French denier, earlier deneier, denoier “to deny, repudiate, withhold”, from Latin dēnegō (“to deny, reject, refuse”), from dē- “away”…

It is borrowed from Old French descente (“descent, lineage”), formed from descendre (“to come down”) (see descend) on the pattern of nouns such as vente (“sale”) from vendre (“to sell”). A form…

It is inherited from Middle English despit, borrowed from Old French despit (modern French dépit), from Latin dēspectus (“a looking down on, scorn, contempt”), from the past participle of dēspiciō…

It is inherited from Middle English destruccioun, borrowed from Old French destruction and directly borrowed from Latin dēstrūctiō (“a pulling down”), a noun of action from the past participle of…

It is inherited from Middle English devisen, borrowed from Old French deviser (“to divide, dispose in portions, arrange, plan, contrive”), from Vulgar Latin *dēvīsō, for *dīvīsō, the frequentative…

It is the plural of die, the small cube used in games: inherited from Middle English dys, dees, the plural of dy, from Old French dez, the plural of de. The Old French word is usually traced to…

1. The verb meaning to strike is inherited from Middle English dingen, also dengen. Its source is disputed. Etymonline, Klein and the Shorter Oxford take it as probably borrowed from Old Norse…

It is inherited from Middle English dird, dyrt, by metathesis of earlier drit, drytt, mud, dung, borrowed from Old Norse drit (“excrement”), related to drita (“to defecate”) and Old English drītan…

It is inherited from Middle English discrecioun, borrowed from Old French discrecion (“discretion”) and directly Medieval Latin discrētiō (“discernment, power to make distinctions”), which in…

It is inherited from Middle English doseyn, dozeine, borrowed from Old French dozeine (“a dozen”) (modern French douzaine), from doze (“twelve”) and the collective suffix -aine, from Latin duodecim…