English words first recorded in the 13th century

It is inherited from Middle English graunge, also grange and gronge, borrowed from Anglo-Norman graunge, Old French grange (“barn, granary; farmstead”), from Medieval Latin grānica, also grānea, in…

It is inherited from Middle English grevaunce, also grevance, borrowed from Old French grevance, from grever (“to harm, burden, afflict”), with the suffix -ance. The Anglo-Norman noun, recorded from…

The noun is of uncertain origin. Most likely it is inherited from Middle English grim (“dirt, filth”) in an altered form, recorded about 1300 in “Havelok the Dane”, borrowed from Middle Low German…

The verb is inherited from Middle English grubben, also grobben and gruben, probably inherited from Old English *grybban or *grubbian, a verb not recorded in Old English, from Proto-West Germanic…

It is Middle English garden, gardein, borrowed from Anglo-Norman gardein, garden, gardenc (“keeper, custodian”), from Frankish *warding-, from the Germanic source of guard (compare ward and warden)…

It is inherited from Middle English goter, also guter and gutter, borrowed from Anglo-Norman gotere, and Old French gotiere, also goutiere and gutiere (modern French gouttière), from goute (“a…

It is a natural utterance, found in most European languages, including Latin and Old French, but not in Old English in its simple form, which did have ha-ha.

It is formed from hand and -y. Hoad explains the early sense, manual, as evolved from handiwork, and the later senses as a new formation replacing Middle English hende, from Old English gehende, at…

1. The farm implement is inherited from Middle English harwe, also haru and harow, answering to an unrecorded inherited from Old English *hearwa. It is apparently related to Middle Low German harke…

It is probably from Middle English harske, rough, coarse, sour, a northern word of Scandinavian origin, compare Danish and Norwegian harsk (“rancid, rank”); Hoad, NODE and SOED derive it instead…

It is inherited from Middle English haste, also hast, borrowed from Old French haste (“haste, urgency”) (modern hâte), recorded in Anglo-Norman from about 1150. The French word is probably of…

It is Middle English hatred, hatereden, from hate and the rare suffix -red, indicating a condition or state, from Old English rǣden, state, condition, related to rǣdan, to advise, rule, read (from…

It is inherited from Middle English haulen, a variant spelling of halen (“to drag, pull”) (see hale), borrowed from Old French haler, of Germanic origin, akin to Middle Dutch halen (“to pull”). The…

It is inherited from Middle English helpere, formed from Middle English helpen (“to help”) + -er. The verb help is from Old English helpan (“to help, support, succour”), from Proto-Germanic…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman heraud, Old French heraut, hiraut, from Frankish *hariwald (“commander of an army”), a compound of words represented in Old High German heri (“army”) (see harry) and…

It is inherited from Middle English heiroun, also heroun and hern, borrowed from Anglo-Norman heiroun, also hayrun and heyrun, and Old French hairon, heron (about 1150 in Old French), now héron. The…

It is formed from her and the possessive -s (see 's), so it is a double possessive.

It is inherited from Middle English henge, also heng and heeng, and is not found in Old English. The OED and the MED trace it to an unrecorded Old English *henge (“a hanging, suspension”), a…

1. The exclamation is Middle English ho, a natural cry, partly from Old Norse hó or Old French ho (“halt!”). 2. The slang word is an alteration of whore, representing an African-American…

It is inherited from Old English holh (“hollow place, hole, cave”), used as an adjective, obscurely related to hol (see hole), from a Germanic base Proto-Germanic *hul- that Etymonline traces to a…

It is inherited from Middle English honest or oneste, borrowed from Old French honeste (“virtuous, honourable; decent, respectable”) (French honnête), from Latin honestus (“honourable, respected”)…

It is inherited from Middle English hospital, borrowed from Old French hospital (“hostel, shelter, lodging”), also ospital, from Medieval Latin hospitāle (“guesthouse, inn”), the noun use of the…

1. The dwellings sense is inherited from Middle English housinge, earlier husing, formed from house and -ing, partly as a noun of action from the verb housen “to house”. 2. The covering is an…

It is inherited from Middle English impossibile, borrowed from Old French impossible, and directly from Latin impossibilis (“not possible”), from in- (“not”) and possibilis (“possible”). See possible.

It is inherited from Middle English enclinen, later inclinen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman encliner, also Middle French incliner, and directly borrowed from Latin inclīnō (“to cause to lean, bend…

It is inherited from Middle English income (“entrance, arrival”), in early use probably from Old Norse innkoma (“arrival”), and later a new formation from the phrase come in, from English in + come…

It is inherited from Middle English enfaunce, also infaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman enfaunce and directly borrowed from Latin infantia (“early childhood; inability to speak”), from infāns…

It is inherited from Middle English enqueren, also anqueren, borrowed from Old French enquerre (“to ask, inquire about”), now enquérir, and, according to Etymonline, directly borrowed from Medieval…

It is inherited from Middle English entenden, later intenden, borrowed from Old French entendre (“to direct one's attention”), intendre, from Latin intendere (“to turn one's attention, strain…

It is inherited from Middle English ire, borrowed from Old French ire, also yre ("anger, wrath, violence"), recorded from the 11th century, from Latin īra (“anger, wrath, rage”). The MED derives the…

It is inherited from Middle English issue, borrowed from Old French issue (“a way out, exit; final event”) (earlier eissue), the feminine past participle of issir (“to go out”), through a Romance…

1. The stone is inherited from Middle English jaspre, also jaspe, borrowed from Anglo-Norman jaspre, a variant with an unetymological -r- of Old French jaspe (12th century), from Latin iaspis…

It is inherited from Middle English jai, borrowed from Old French jai (Old Northern French gai, modern French geai), from Late Latin gaius (“jay”), perhaps from the Roman name Gaius, following the…

It is inherited from Middle English geste, borrowed from Old French geste (“action, exploit; a romance in verse”), also jeste, itself a learned borrowing from Latin gesta (“deeds, exploits”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English jeuel, also juel, jowel and joel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman juel, also jeuel and jewel, beside Old French joel, jouel and joiel, modern French joyau. The French…

It is inherited from Middle English jolif, also joli, borrowed from Old French jolif, also joli, festive, merry, amorous, finely dressed, pretty, now joli (“pretty”). The Anglo-Norman word is…

It is inherited from Middle English joious, also joieus, borrowed from Anglo-Norman joyous, Old French joios or joieus, now joyeux. The Anglo-Norman adjective, meaning happy or joyful, is recorded…

It is inherited from Middle English justifien, borrowed from Old French justifier (“to submit to court proceedings”), from Christian Latin iūstificāre (“to do justice to, vindicate; make just”)…

It is inherited from Middle English keper, an agent noun from keep with the suffix -er.

It is inherited from Middle English lable, borrowed from Old French label (“ribbon, fillet, fringe”), probably from a Germanic word with a diminutive suffix, compare Old High German lappa “flap”…

It is inherited from Middle English labour, borrowed from Old French labour (“toil, work, exertion, task; suffering”) (modern French labeur “ploughing”), from Latin labor (“toil, exertion; hardship…

It is inherited from Middle English ladde, of obscure or unknown origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare Norwegian -ladd in compounds such as askeladd, the youngest son of folk tales…

It is first recorded about 1300 as inherited from Middle English lasce, in two northern works, the “Metrical Homilies” and the “Cursor Mundi”; about 1390 it appears as las and lasse. Its origin is…

1. It is inherited from Middle English launchen, borrowed from Old Northern French lancher, lanchier, corresponding to Old French lancier “to fling, hurl, throw”, from Late Latin lanceō (“to wield a…

It is inherited from Middle English lorel, a variant by dissimilation of lorer, laurer, borrowed from Old French lorier, laurier (“bay tree, laurel tree”), from lor (“laurel”), from Latin laurus…

It is inherited from Middle English lavendre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman lavendre, from Medieval Latin lavendula (“lavender”), also written lavandula and livendula, which the OED finds in glossaries…

1. It is an alteration of laund, launde, a glade or pasture (probably before 1300), borrowed from Old French lande (“heath, moor, clearing”), of Celtic origin, from Gaulish: compare Breton lann…

It is inherited from Middle English lees, also lese and leshe, borrowed from Old French lesse, also laisse, the modern form being French laisse. The Old French noun is from laissier (“to let go…

It is borrowed from Old French lecture, and directly Medieval Latin lectura (“a reading”), from Latin lectus, past participle of legere (“to read”), originally to gather, pick out (see legend), from…

It is inherited from Middle English leiser, borrowed from Old French leisir (“permission, leisure, free time”), a variant of loisir, the noun use of a verb meaning to be permitted, from Latin liceō…

It is inherited from Middle English lente, a shortened form of lenten (“spring, Lent”), inherited from Old English lencten (“spring, the fast of Lent”), from Proto-West Germanic *langatīn…

It is inherited from Middle English letuse, borrowed from Anglo-Norman letuse, a singular inferred from letues, the plural of letue, recorded from about 1130 (French laitue). Most other dictionaries…

It is inherited from Middle English likli, probably borrowed from Old Norse líkligr (“likely”) (also glíkligr), formed from líkr (“like”) and -ligr (“-ly”). Old English had the cognate gelīclīc…

It is northern inherited from Middle English lengeren (“to dwell, remain”), formed from Middle English lengen (“to tarry, prolong”) + -eren, a frequentative. The base is from Old English lengan (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English lokker, formed from lokken (“to lock”) (see lock) and -er. The NODE thinks it probably related to Flemish loker.

It is inherited from Middle English lous, loos, borrowed from Old Norse lauss (“loose, free; dissolute”), from Proto-Germanic *lausaz, the source also of German los and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃 (laus) “empty”…

It is inherited from Middle English lure, borrowed from Anglo-Norman lure, loirre, also luere and leurre, a device for recalling hawks, now leurre, probably of Germanic origin. Etymonline, Klein and…

It is inherited from Middle English lurken, also lorken. The OED, Hoad, Klein and the Shorter Oxford explain it as from Middle English luren (“to frown, lurk”) + -k, the verb that became lower or…

It is inherited from Middle English madame, borrowed from Old French madame, originally the phrase ma dame (“my lady”), from ma (“my”) and dame (“lady”) (the source of dame). The French phrase goes…

It is inherited from Middle English mageste, majeste, borrowed from Old French majesté (“grandeur, nobility”), from Latin maiestās, maiestātem, greatness, dignity, sovereign power, from the stem of…