English words first recorded in the 13th century

It is inherited from Middle English draggen, probably borrowed from Old Norse draga (“to draw, pull”), or a dialect variant of Old English dragan (“to draw”), both from Proto-Germanic *draganą…

1. It is unrecorded in Old English, though it may have existed, and corresponds to Low German drake and the second element of Old High German anutrehho (German Enterich), from West Germanic *drakō…

It is inherited from Middle English dressen, borrowed from Old French dresser (“to arrange, prepare, set up”), earlier drecier, from Vulgar Latin *dīrēctiō (“to make straight”), from Latin dīrēctus…

It is inherited from Middle English drounen, also drunen, at first a northern English and Scottish word. Its origin is disputed. Many dictionaries assume an Old English *drūnian that is not…

It is inherited from Middle English eclipse (also clips), borrowed from Old French eclipse, a learned borrowing from Latin eclīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “a failing, a forsaking…

It is inherited from Middle English element, borrowed from Old French element and directly from Latin elementum (“rudiment, first principle”), which translated Greek Ancient Greek στοιχεῖον…

It is inherited from Middle English olyfaunt, borrowed from Old French olifant (“elephant, ivory”), elefant, from Latin elephantus, from Greek ἐλέφας (eléphās, “elephant; ivory”) (genitive…

It is inherited from Middle English engyn, borrowed from Old French engin (“skill, cleverness; trick; war machine”), from Latin ingenium (“inborn qualities, talent”), in Late Latin also “a war…

It is inherited from Middle English entre, borrowed from Old French entree (“entry, entrance”), the noun use of the feminine past participle of entrer (“to enter”), from Vulgar Latin *intrāta, from…

It is inherited from Middle English envious, borrowed from Anglo-Norman envious, Old French envieus (modern envieux), from Latin invidiōsus (“full of envy”), from invidia (“envy”). The Oxford…

It is inherited from Middle English errour, borrowed from Old French error (“mistake, flaw, defect, heresy”), errour, from Latin error (“a wandering, straying; doubt; mistake”), from errō “to…

It is inherited from Middle English evidence, borrowed from Old French evidence, from Late Latin ēvidentia (“proof”), in classical Latin “clearness, vivid presentation” in rhetoric, from ēvidēns…

It is inherited from Middle English escheker, also cheker, borrowed from Anglo-Norman escheker, from Old French eschequier (“chessboard, counting table”) (modern échiquier), which corresponds to…

It is inherited from Middle English exhibicioun, borrowed from Old French exhibicion (“show, display”), from Late Latin exhibitiō (“presentation; maintenance”), a noun of action from exhibeō (“to…

The noun is inherited from Middle English exil, borrowed from Old French exil (“banishment”) (earlier essil), from Latin exilium (“banishment, place of exile”), from exul (“a banished person”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English espleit, borrowed from Anglo-Norman espleit and Old French esploit (“deed, achievement, profit”) (modern French exploit), from Latin explicitum (“a thing settled…

It is inherited from Middle English fable, also fabel and fabul, borrowed from Old French fable, from Latin fābula (“discourse, story, play, fable”), literally "that which is told", from for (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English face, borrowed from Old French face (“face, countenance, appearance”), from Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance, figure; visage”). Most…

It is inherited from Middle English faint and feint, borrowed from Old French faint and feint (“feigned, sluggish, cowardly”), the past participle of faindre and feindre (“to feign”), which in early…

It is inherited from Middle English fairie, fayrye, borrowed from Old French faerie (“land of fairies, meeting of fairies”), from fae, fee, a fairy (see fay), and -erie (see -ery), from Latin fata…

It is inherited from Middle English feithful, formed from English faith + -ful.

It is inherited from Middle English ferme (“fixed rent, lease”), borrowed from Old French ferme (“a rent, lease”), from Medieval Latin firma (“fixed payment”), from Latin firmō (“to fix, settle…

It is inherited from Middle English ferten, also farten, inherited from Old English *feortan, a verb that Old English records only in the verbal noun feorting (“breaking wind”), which glosses Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English fasoun, facioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman fasun, Old French façon “face, appearance; construction, design; manner”, from Latin factiō (“a making, doing; a group…

It is inherited from Middle English favour, borrowed from Old French favor (“a favour; approval, praise; partiality”) (13th century), from Latin favorem (“good will, inclination, support”), coined…

It is inherited from Middle English fe, from Anglo-Norman fee, Old French fié, fieu, variants of Old French fief, from Medieval Latin feudum, feodum, probably from Frankish *fehu-ōd…

It is inherited from Middle English fenden, a shortening of defenden, defend. That verb comes from Old French defendre and directly from Latin dēfendō (“to ward off, protect”), formed from dē-…

It is inherited from Middle English festival, first an adjective, borrowed from Old French festival (“suitable for a feast; solemn, joyful”) and directly from Medieval Latin festīvālis (“of a church…

It is inherited from Middle English fede, feide (“enmity, hostility”), with an altered spelling, borrowed from Old French fede, faide (“war, hostility, vengeance”), from a Germanic source, compare…

It is inherited from Middle English firi, also spelled fuyri, furi, vuiri and feri, formed from Middle English fir (“fire”) + -y. The spelling with “ie” reflects the different ways of writing the…

It is inherited from Middle English fightere, inherited from Old English feohtere, an agent noun formed from Old English feohtan + -ere (see fight). Dutch vechter and German Fechter are comparable…

It is inherited from Middle English firre, also fir and firr, probably borrowed from Old Norse fyri- (“fir”), known only in compounds such as fyriskógr (“fir wood”), or perhaps from Danish fyr. The…

It is inherited from Middle English flaunneol (“a kind of woollen cloth or garment”), apparently a variant of flanyn (“sackcloth”). The traditional explanation, given by Skeat and others, derives it…

1. The level is inherited from Middle English flat, borrowed from Old Norse flatr (“flat”), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, which is also the source of Old Saxon flat “flat, shallow” and Old High…

It is Middle English flavour, an alteration, influenced by savor, of Old French flaor (“smell, odour”), flaur, probably from Vulgar Latin *flātor, odour, literally that which blows, from Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English flingen, also flengen, probably of Scandinavian origin. Most dictionaries relate it to Old Norse flengja (“to flog”), with Swedish flänga (“to romp, race”) and…

1. The verb meaning "to fly up suddenly" is inherited from Middle English flusshen, recorded first in past forms such as fliste and fluste in the 13th century. It is perhaps imitative: the OED…

1. The grass is inherited from Middle English fogge, probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian fogg (“long grass in a moist hollow”). Watkins, as cited by Etymonline, derives it from a root…

It is inherited from Middle English force (also fors), borrowed from Old French force (“force, strength; courage; violence, compulsion”), from Late Latin fortia, the neuter plural of Latin fortis…

It is inherited from Middle English forein, also ferren and foreyne, borrowed from Old French forain (“strange, foreign; outer, external”), from Late Latin forānus (“on the outside”), also Medieval…

It is borrowed from Old French fortune (“lot, good fortune, misfortune”), a learned borrowing of Latin fortūna (“chance, fate, good luck”), also personified as the goddess Fortuna, from fors…

1. The adjective is inherited from Middle English franc (“free, generous”), borrowed from Old French franc (“free, sincere, genuine”), from Medieval Latin francus (“free, exempt from service; a…

It is inherited from Middle English front (also frount), borrowed from Old French front (“forehead, brow”), from Latin frōns (“forehead, brow; front, facade”) (accusative frontem), which de Vaan…

It is inherited from Middle English furre, probably from the verb furren, to line or trim with fur, from Old French forrer, fourrer, to line, sheathe, cover, from fuerre, a sheath, covering, from…

1. The pledge is inherited from Middle English gage, borrowed from Old French gage, also guage, recorded from the 11th century in the senses pledge of battle, security, and pay. It is of Germanic…

It is inherited from Middle English galeie, borrowed from Old French galie, also galee, from Medieval Latin galea, from Byzantine Greek γαλέα (galéa), also γαλαία (galaía). Barnhart and the American…

It is inherited from Middle English gap, gappe, borrowed from Old Norse gap (“chasm, empty space”), related to gapa “to gape”, the source of gape. The Germanic verb is from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Middle English gardiner, also gardener and gardinier, probably borrowed from Anglo-Norman gardiner (“gardener”), a variant of jardiner, beside Old French gardinier of northern…

It is inherited from Middle English gay, borrowed from Old French gai (“joyful, happy; pleasant, charming; pert; light-colored”), which is also the source of Spanish gayo, Portuguese gaio and…

It is inherited from Middle English gemme, borrowed from Old French gemme, from Latin gemma (“bud; precious stone, jewel”), from Proto-Italic *gebma- (“bud, sprout”), related to Lithuanian žembėti…

It is inherited from Middle English gendre, borrowed from Old French gendre (“kind, species; character; gender”), genre (modern genre), from the stem of Latin genus (“race, stock, family; kind…

It is inherited from Middle English gastlich, also gastli, formed from Middle English gasten (“to frighten, terrify”) + -lich. Etymonline and Barnhart take the first part as gast (“afraid”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English gurle (also girle, gerle), “a child or young person of either sex”, of uncertain origin. The OED proposed an unrecorded Old English *gyrele, a diminutive from…

It is inherited from Middle English gliteren, earlier glideren, also gleteren, probably borrowed from Old Norse glitra (“to glitter”), from Proto-Germanic *glitrōną. This is a frequentative verb…

1. The explanatory note is inherited from Middle English glose, borrowed from Old French glose or Medieval Latin glōsa, from Latin glōssa (“an old or foreign word needing explanation”), from Ancient…

The noun is inherited from Middle English gorge, borrowed from Old French gorge (“throat; narrow passage”), from Late Latin gurga, also written *gurga, *gorga, usually taken as a variant of Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English governen, borrowed from Old French governer, with the Anglo-Norman variant governir, now gouverner, from Latin gubernō (“to steer a ship; to direct, rule”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English governour, borrowed from Old French governeor (“prince, ruler, administrator; helmsman”) (French gouverneur), and directly from Latin gubernātor (“steersman…

It is inherited from Middle English goune, borrowed from Old French goune (“robe, coat; nun's habit”), also gone and gonne, from Late Latin gunna (“a fur or leather garment”). The word is shared by…

It is inherited from Middle English grein, grain, borrowed from Old French grain (“seed, grain”), grein, from Latin granum (“grain, seed”), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gre-no- (“grain”), also the…