English words first recorded in the 14th century

It is inherited from Middle English irreguler, borrowed from Old French irreguler (“irregular; incapable, incompetent”), now irrégulier, from Medieval Latin irrēgulāris (“not regular”), which…

It is inherited from Middle English lawe maker, formed from Middle English lawe + makere, the Middle English forms of law and maker. Lawe is from Old English lagu, from Old Norse *lagu (“law”). The…

1. The verb meaning to move clumsily is inherited from Middle English lomere. Its origin is uncertain. Etymonline thinks it probably Scandinavian, and the American Heritage Dictionary possibly so…

It is inherited from Middle English magik, borrowed from Old French magique, from Late Latin magicē (“sorcery, magic”), from Ancient Greek μαγική (magikḗ), probably with the word for “art”…

It is inherited from Middle English magistrat, borrowed from Latin magistrātus (“magistracy; a magistrate”), perhaps through Old French magistrat. The Latin noun first meant a magisterial rank or…

It is inherited from Middle English magnifien, borrowed from Old French magnifier (“to glorify, magnify”), also magnefiier, and perhaps directly borrowed from Latin magnificō (“to esteem greatly…

It is inherited from Middle English mudde, mode, probably borrowed from Middle Low German mudde (“thick mud”) or Middle Dutch modde, from Proto-Germanic *mud-, cognate with Middle High German mot…

It is inherited from Middle English mutable, borrowed from Latin mūtābilis (“liable to change, changeable, fickle”), from mūtō (“to change”) and the suffix -bilis. Barnhart thinks the borrowing was…

It is inherited from Middle English negatif, borrowed from Anglo-Norman negatif, Old French negatif, and directly from Late Latin negātīvus (“that which denies”), from negātus, past participle of…

The noun is borrowed from Old French object and directly from Medieval Latin obiectum (“thing put before the mind or sight”), a noun use of the neuter of Latin obiectus “lying before, opposite”…

It is inherited from Middle English opposen, borrowed from Old French opposer, formed from Latin ob- (“against, in front of”) and poser (“to place”) (see pose), with its sense blended with that of…

It is inherited from Middle English oppressen, borrowed from Old French oppresser (“to oppress, afflict, torment, smother”), recorded in Old French from about 1200 as the past participle opressé…

It is inherited from Middle English oracle, borrowed from Old French oracle (“temple, house of prayer; oracle”), from Latin ōrāculum (“divine announcement; place where oracles are given”), from ōrō…

It is inherited from Middle English orenge, orange, borrowed from Old French orenge, in pome d'orenge (modern French orange), and Medieval Latin pomum de orenge, which the American Heritage traces…

It is a new comparative from English out + -er, the comparative suffix, on the model of inner, replacing utter, from Old English ūterra (“outer”), comparative of ūt (“out”), which by about 1400 had…

It is borrowed from Middle French palpable (“that may be touched”) and directly borrowed from Late Latin palpābilis (“that may be touched or felt”), from Latin palpō (“to touch gently, stroke”) and…

It is borrowed from Latin particula (“little bit or part, grain”), a diminutive of pars (“part, piece”) (see part), from Proto-Indo-European *pere- (“to grant, allot”).

It is inherited from Middle English perseveren, borrowed from Anglo-Norman parseverer, also perseverer, and Middle French perseverer, and, according to the MED, Etymonline and Barnhart, directly…

It is inherited from Middle English personalite, borrowed from Old French personalité, and directly from Medieval Latin persōnālitās, from Late Latin persōnālis “personal”, the source of personal.

It is inherited from Middle English perspectif, from Old French perspective and directly from Medieval Latin perspectīva (“(the art) of sight, optics”), feminine of perspectīvus “of sight, optical”…

It is inherited from Middle English plungen, also plongen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman plunger, also plungier, and plongier, now plonger. The Old French verb is recorded from about 1130 for jumping…

It is inherited from Middle English poetrie, borrowed from Old French poetrie and directly from Medieval Latin poetria, from poēta (“poet”), probably after Latin geometria. In classical Latin…

It is borrowed from Old French portal (“gate”) and directly from Medieval Latin portāle, city gate, porch, the neuter of portālis, of a gate, from Latin porta (“gate”) (see port). The anatomical…

It is inherited from Middle English possessen, partly a back-formation from possession (1340) and partly borrowed from Old French possesser (“to have and hold, take”), from Latin possess-, past…

It is inherited from Middle English preface, also spelled prefas, borrowed from Old French preface, and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin prefatia, an alteration of praefātiō (“a saying…

It is inherited from Middle English prefect, also prefette, borrowed from Old French prefect, now préfet, and directly borrowed from Latin praefectus (“overseer, director; holder of a public…

It is inherited from Middle English premisse, borrowed from Anglo-Norman premisse and Old French premisse, recorded in Old French as a term of logic from 1310, from Medieval Latin praemissa (“(the…

It is inherited from Middle English pretenden, borrowed from Old French pretendre (“to lay claim”) or directly borrowed from Latin praetendō (“to stretch in front, spread before; to put forward as…

It is inherited from Middle English princesse, a native formation from prince and the suffix -ess, in some later instances borrowed from Old French princesse, the feminine of prince. Compare…

It is inherited from Middle English princieple, principle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman principle, a variant of principe (“origin, cause, principle”), a learned borrowing of Latin principium…

It is inherited from Middle English privat, borrowed from Latin prīvātus (“set apart from public life, belonging to oneself”), originally the past participle of prīvō (“to deprive, release”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English proceden, borrowed from Old French proceder and directly borrowed from Latin prōcēdere (“to go forward, advance”), from pro (“forward”) and cēdere (“to go”), from…

1. The adjective is inherited from Middle English rasch, a Scottish and northern word, probably inherited from Old English *ræsc, not recorded, although Etymonline and Barnhart point to the second…

It is inherited from Middle English recours, borrowed from Old French recours, also recors, and directly borrowed from Latin recursus (“a running back, return, retreat”), from the past participle of…

It is inherited from Middle English refresshen, also refreschen, borrowed from Old French refreschier (“to refresh, renew”), also refreschir, with the Anglo-Norman form refrescher. The French verb…

It is inherited from Middle English regretten, borrowed from Old French regreter (“to long after, bewail, lament the dead”) (variant regrater; modern French regretter), from re-, an intensive…

It is inherited from Middle English renouncen, also renounse and renoncen, borrowed from Old French renoncier (“to give up, cede”), Anglo-Norman renouncer, renouncier, and directly borrowed from…

It is inherited from Middle English reservacioun, borrowed from Middle French reservation and directly Late Latin reservātiō, from the past participle stem of Latin reservō (“to keep back, save up”)…

It is Middle English residence, borrowed from Old French residence, from Medieval Latin residentia, from Latin residēns, the present participle of resideō (“to settle, remain, sit down”) (see reside).

It is inherited from Middle English resounen, also resownen, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman resouner, also resuner, and resoner (modern French résonner), meaning to make a deep or echoing sound…

It is inherited from Middle English respecte, borrowed from Old French respect and directly borrowed from Latin respectus (“regard; a looking back”), the noun use of the past participle of respiciō…

It is from Middle English sacren (“to make holy, consecrate”), its past participle, from Old French sacrer (“to consecrate, anoint”) or directly sacrāre (“to make sacred”), from sacer (“sacred…

It is inherited from Middle English saluten, borrowed from Latin salūtō (“to greet, pay one's respects to”), from salūs (“health, welfare, greeting”). The Latin verb literally meant "to wish health…

1. It is, with loss of the first syllable, borrowed from Old French escouter (“to listen, heed”) (modern écouter), a variant of ascouter, from Vulgar Latin *ascultō, from Latin auscultō, to listen…

It is an agent noun formed from English serve + -er.

It is inherited from Middle English signal, borrowed from Old French signal (“seal, imprint, sign, mark”), earlier seignal, from Medieval Latin signāle, the neuter of Late Latin signālis “used as a…

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman simplicité and partly borrowed from Latin simplicitās (“simpleness, frankness, candour”), from simplex (“simple”) and the suffix that gives English -ity. The…

It is inherited from Middle English site, borrowed from Anglo-Norman site (“place, site, position”), and directly from Latin situs (“place, position, situation”), from the past participle of sinō…

It is formed from English slay + -er, in Middle English sleer, from the verb slēn (“to slay”) and the agent suffix. The OED notes that the compound manslayer is found a little earlier, and compares…

It is inherited from Middle English sorte, borrowed from Old French sorte (“class, kind”), from an altered form of Latin sors (“lot, fate; share; rank, category”) (accusative sortem), from…

It is inherited from Middle English speculatif, borrowed from Old French speculatif (“theoretical”) and directly borrowed from Late Latin speculātīvus, from Latin speculātus, the past participle of…

It is inherited from Middle English spedi, formed from English speed + -y, after or beside Old English spēdig (“prosperous, successful, wealthy”), which matches Middle Dutch spoedich (modern…

It is inherited from Middle English stabben, found before 1530 only in Scots writers, while the noun stabbe is in an English glossary of 1440. Its origin is uncertain. The OED relates it to the…

It is inherited from Middle English stadie, borrowed from Latin stadium (“a measure of length; a course for foot races”), from Ancient Greek στάδιον (stádion, “a measure of length; a racecourse”)…

Used as an adjective, it is the old past participle from English strike, now largely replaced by struck. That verb is from Middle English striken, from Old English strīcan (“to pass lightly over…

It is Middle English sufficient, borrowed from Old French soficient (“satisfactory”) or directly borrowed from Latin sufficiēns (“adequate”) (accusative sufficientem), the present participle of…

It is inherited from Middle English soulfre, also sulphur, solfre and soufre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sulfre and Old French soufre, and partly directly borrowed from Latin sulphur, from Late…

It is inherited from Middle English temperat, borrowed from Latin temperātus (“tempered, regulated, restrained, moderate”), the past participle of temperō (“to moderate, regulate, mix in due…

1. The canopy is inherited from Middle English tester, also testre, testour and testure, probably borrowed from Old French testre (“the upright part of a bed behind the head”) or directly borrowed…

It is inherited from Middle English tradicioun, borrowed from Old French tradicion (“handing over”), and directly from Latin trāditiō (“a handing down, surrender”), a noun of action from trādō “to…