English words first recorded in the 14th century

1. The fuller and the frill is inherited from Middle English tukere (also tokker, touker), formed from Middle English tukken (“to tuck”) + -er (“agent suffix”), that is, from the verb tuck and the…

It is formed from English which + ever, Middle English which ever, written at first as separate words. The pronoun which goes back to Old English hwilc. The emphatic whichsoever is attested from the…

It is inherited from Middle English chaundeler, also chandeler, borrowed from Anglo-Norman chandeler, a form of chandelier (“candle-maker, candle-seller”), formed on chandelle (“candle”), the source…

It is inherited from Middle English collusioun, borrowed from Old French collusion and directly borrowed from Latin collūsiō (“a playing together; collusion”), from the past participle of collūdō…

It is a compound from English market + place. The OED compares Dutch marktplaats and German Marktplatz.

1. The verb meaning to weigh and balance is inherited from Middle English poisen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman poiser, a variant of peiser (“to weigh”), which goes back to pois-, also peis-, the…

It is inherited from Middle English reverend, from Anglo-Norman reverend and Middle French reverend, and directly borrowed from Latin reverendus (“to be respected, venerable”), the gerundive of…

It is formed from English stalk + -er, and Merriam-Webster gives it as a Middle English formation from the verb stalken (“to stalk”). The verb stalk is from Old English bestealcian (“to steal along…

It is inherited from Middle English anoiaunce, borrowed from Old French anoiance, also enoiance, which meant boredom or weariness in the 12th century and irritation from the 14th. It is formed from…

It is inherited from Middle English ardour, also ardure, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ardure and Old French ardour, from Latin ārdor (“a flame, burning heat; eagerness, zeal”), from ārdeō (“to burn”)…

It is borrowed from Old French artificial, artificiel, from Latin artificiālis (“of art; according to the rules of art”), from artificium (“a work of art; skill”) (see artifice), from artifex…

It is inherited from Middle English blusshen, also bluschen and blisshen, probably inherited from Old English blyscan (“to be red, shine”), which glosses Latin rutilō. Barnhart and the OED also…

1. It is inherited from Middle English bobben, perhaps the same word as Middle English bobben “to strike, beat”, before 1325, of a short, jerking or rebounding movement. Etymonline connects it with…

1. The quarrel is first a verb, inherited from Middle English braulen, also brallen, of uncertain origin. Most dictionaries compare Dutch brallen (“to brag, boast”) and Low German brallen, and the…

It is formed from Middle English brothen (“ruined, degenerate”) + -el. brothen was the past participle of brethen (“to go to ruin, waste away”), from Old English brēoþan (“to deteriorate…

The verb is inherited from Middle English chaunten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman chaunter, also chanter, from Old French chanter (“to sing”), Latin cantō (“to sing”), originally a frequentative of…

It is inherited from Middle English commocioun, also commotion, borrowed from Old French commocion (“violent motion, agitation”) and directly borrowed from Latin commōtiō (“violent motion…

1. The altar cloth is borrowed from Medieval Latin corporāle, in full corporāle pallium or corporālis palla, the neuter of Latin corporālis (“bodily, of the body”) used as a noun, from corpus…

It is inherited from Middle English crasschen, craschen, probably of imitative origin, like clash, dash and smash. Barnhart compares Middle English crasen “to shatter”, from Old French crasir, and…

1. The clergyman is inherited from Middle English curat, borrowed from Medieval Latin cūrātus (“person entrusted with a cure of souls”), from cūra (“care; cure of souls”). Dictionary.com places…

It is inherited from Middle English curatour (“parish priest; legal guardian”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman curatour (“guardian, priest with the cure of souls”) and Old French curateur, and in later…

It is inherited from Middle English diurnal, borrowed from Late Latin diurnālis (“daily”), from Latin diurnus (“daily”), from diēs (“day”), from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- (“to shine”). The Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English equal, borrowed from Latin aequālis (“uniform, identical, equal”), from aequus (“level, even, flat; just, fair, impartial; calm”), a word of unknown or uncertain…

It is formed from English feminine + -ity; the Middle English form was femininite, from the adjective feminin. The OED compares Medieval Latin femininitas, recorded about 1300 in a British source…

It is inherited from Middle English frank, borrowed from Middle French franc, which first named a gold coin worth one livre tournois, struck from 1360. The name comes from the Latin legend on the…

It is inherited from Middle English fume, borrowed from Old French fum (“smoke, steam, vapour”), and perhaps in part directly borrowed from Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Old French also had a…

The OED, the Shorter Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Merriam-Webster take it as probably imitative, and Hoad thinks the modern word an independent imitative formation. Others connect it…

It is inherited from Middle English histoire (also historie), borrowed from Old French estoire (also histoire) and directly borrowed from Latin historia (“narrative, account, story”), from Ancient…

It is inherited from Middle English horsback, also written hors-bak, formed from Middle English hors + bak, that is, horse and back. The MED derives it from the Middle English phrase hors(es) bak, a…

It is inherited from Middle English incantacioun, borrowed from Old French incantation, also spelled incantacion and recorded in the 13th century, from Late Latin incantātiō (“art of enchanting”)…

It is inherited from Middle English enheritaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman enheritance (“being admitted as heir; the fact of inheriting”), recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1341 for property or rights…

It is inherited from Middle English injustice, borrowed from Old French injustice (“unfairness, injustice”), a learned borrowing of Latin iniūstitia (“unfairness, injustice”), from iniūstus…

It is inherited from Middle English inspecioun, borrowed from Old French inspeccion (“inspection, examination”), from Latin inspectio (“a looking into”), from the past participle stem of inspicere…

It is inherited from Middle English intelligence, borrowed from Old French intelligence and directly from Latin intelligentia (“understanding, knowledge, power of discerning”) (also intellegentia)…

It is inherited from Middle English interrogacioun, also interrogacion, borrowed from Old French interrogacion (13th century) and directly borrowed from Latin interrogātiō (“a question; questioning…

It is inherited from Middle English interrupcioun, borrowed from Latin interruptiō (“a breaking off, interruption, interval”), a noun of action from interruptus, the past participle of interrumpō…

1. The word for a man or device is inherited from Middle English jakke, the name Jack used as a common noun. The revised OED takes the name, recorded in Britain from 1275 or earlier, as a pet form…

It is inherited from Middle English junipere, also junipur, geneper and gynypre, borrowed from Latin iūniperus (“juniper tree”), with forms influenced by Old French genoivre and genevre. The OED…

1. The verb meaning to fall behind is of uncertain origin: it is recorded from 1530, a little after the noun meaning the last or hindmost person and before the adjective meaning last or slow, and…

It is inherited from Middle English loupe, of uncertain or unknown origin. The OED and Barnhart favour a Celtic source (compare Scottish Gaelic lùb (“loop, bend”) and Irish lúb), perhaps blended…

1. It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman meer, Old French mier, pure, entire, and directly Latin merus (“unmixed, pure, bare”), probably originally clear, bright, from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, to…

It is inherited from Middle English mischevous, borrowed from Anglo-Norman meschevous (“troublesome, grievous, needy”), from meschef (“misfortune”), the source of mischief, and the suffix -ous. Some…

It is inherited from Middle English nasti, of uncertain origin. Barnhart proposes Old French nastre (“bad, spiteful”), short for villenastre, infamous, from vilein (see villain) and the pejorative…

1. It is inherited from Middle English nodden, of uncertain origin. It is not found in Old English, and Etymonline thinks it probably existed there unrecorded; the OED, the Shorter Oxford and the…

It is inherited from Middle English nouel, also nowel and noel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman noel and Middle French noel, now French noël, a variant of Old French nael, from Latin nātālis (“of…

It is inherited from Middle English pamperen, also pampren. The OED's revised entry derives it probably from English pamp + -er, although pamp is first recorded slightly later, and Hoad and Weekley…

It is inherited from Middle English pax, borrowed from Medieval Latin pāx (“peace”), which in Ecclesiastical Latin also meant the kiss of peace. The Latin word for peace is also the source of peace…

It is formed from English pay + -er, perhaps after Anglo-Norman paur and Middle French payeur, poieur; Etymonline takes it straight from Old French paiere, recorded in the 13th century, the agent…

1. The verb meaning to raise oneself briskly is of uncertain origin. Most dictionaries take it as inherited from Middle English perken (“to perch”), perhaps borrowed from Old Northern French perquer…

It is inherited from Middle English pertinent, also pertenant and partinent, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman partenant (“belonging to”), the present participle of partenir (pertain), partly…

It is inherited from Middle English pinappel (“pine cone”), a compound of pine (“pine tree”) and appel (“apple, fruit”). The word for the tree came into Old English from Latin pīnus (“pine tree”)…

1. The sound word is inherited from Middle English poupen (“to blow a horn; to gulp when drinking”), of imitative origin. The OED and the Shorter Oxford compare Middle Low German pūpen (“to break…

It is inherited from Middle English preparacioun, borrowed from Old French preparacion and directly borrowed from Latin praeparātiō (“a making ready”) (accusative praeparationem), a noun of action…

It is inherited from Middle English prostrat, borrowed from Latin prōstrātus (“lying flat, laid low”), the past participle of prōsternō (“to throw down, strew in front”), formed from prō- (“forward…

It is inherited from Middle English protectour, also protectur, borrowed from Old French protectour, also protector, modern French protecteur, recorded from 1234, and also directly from Late Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin Pȳthōn, from Ancient Greek Πύθων (Pū́thōn), the name of the serpent that Apollo killed near Delphi. The Greek name is evidently related to Πυθώ (Puthṓ), the old name of…

It is borrowed from Latin raptus (“seized, carried off”), the past participle of rapiō (“to seize, carry off”), used in post-classical Latin in British sources from the 12th century for someone rapt…

It is inherited from Middle English recepcion, borrowed from Old French reception and directly receptio (“a receiving”), from recipere (“to take back, receive”) (see receive).

It is inherited from Middle English reconciliacioun, also reconsiliacioun, borrowed from Old French reconciliacion and directly from Latin reconciliātiō (“a re-establishing, a reconciling”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English recreacioun, borrowed from Old French recreacion and directly from Latin recreātiō, recreātiōnem, recovery from illness, from recreō, to refresh, restore, revive…