English words first recorded in the 14th century

It is inherited from Middle English dimencioun, from Middle French dimension or directly borrowed from Latin dīmēnsiō (“a measuring”), dīmēnsiōnem, from dīmētior, to measure out, from dis-, apart…

It is inherited from Middle English diminutif, borrowed from Old French diminutif, and directly borrowed from Latin dīminūtīvus, an altered form of earlier dēminūtīvus, from dēminūtus (“lessened”)…

It is inherited from Middle English discontinuen, borrowed partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman discontinuer, also descontinuer, and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin discontinuō (“to stop…

It is inherited from Middle English dissolucioun, partly borrowed from Old French dissolution, recorded from the 12th century, and partly taken directly from Latin dissolūtiō (“a dissolving…

It is a compound from English down + hill, in the adverb from down as a preposition and in the noun mainly from down as an adverb, according to the OED. The OED compares uphill.

It is inherited from Middle English effectuel, later effectual, borrowed from Anglo-Norman effectuel, also effectual, and its own source borrowed from Medieval Latin effectuālis. The OED finds the…

It is inherited from Middle English equalite, borrowed from Old French equalité (“equality, parity”), from Latin aequālitas (“equality, likeness”), from aequālis (“uniform, equal”) (see equal), from…

It is inherited from Middle English essencia, essencie, borrowed from Latin essentia (“being, essence”), respelled essence in the late 15th century on the French model (Old French essence), an…

It is inherited from Middle English ether, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ether, also aether, and directly borrowed from Latin aethēr (“the upper, pure air; sky, heaven”), from Ancient Greek αἰθήρ…

It is inherited from Middle English evaporacioun, borrowed from Old French evaporation and directly borrowed from Latin ēvapōrātiō, a noun of action from ēvapōrō (“to disperse in vapour or steam”)…

The adjective is from English fat + -y, with the suffix that forms adjectives from nouns. The noun, a fat person, adds the diminutive suffix of pet names and nicknames to the adjective.

The verb is inherited from Middle English fermenten, borrowed from Old French fermenter and directly borrowed from Latin fermentō (“to leaven, cause to rise or ferment”), from fermentum (“leaven…

It is borrowed from Latin fētus (“a bearing or hatching of young; offspring, young”), formed with the suffix -tus from the same base as fēmina (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhē(i)- (“to suck…

It is inherited from Middle English ficcioun, borrowed from Old French fiction and directly from Latin fictiō (“a fashioning, feigning”), a noun of action from the past participle of fingō “to…

It is inherited from Middle English frank-encens, also spelled fraunk encense, borrowed from Old French franc encens, from franc (“free; noble, true”) and encens (“incense”). The Middle English…

It is borrowed from Latin Gorgō, genitive Gorgonis, from Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgṓ), from γοργός (gorgós, “grim, fierce, terrible”), a word of unknown origin. Partridge compares Old Irish garg…

It is formed from English hack + -er, from the verb hack, to cut or chop. The verb goes back to a verb found in Old English tōhaccian (“to hack to pieces”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn, the…

It is formed from English handle + -er, an agent noun from the verb handle; Merriam-Webster gives its Middle English base as handelen. The verb handle is from Old English handlian (“to touch or move…

It is inherited from Middle English hedstrong, formed from Middle English hed (“head”) + strong (“strong”). Etymonline compares Old English hēafodbald (“impudent, literally head-bold”), and notes…

It is inherited from Middle English epatik, also epatic, borrowed from Old French hepatique and directly borrowed from Latin hēpaticus (“of or belonging to the liver”), from Ancient Greek ἡπατικός…

It is inherited from Middle English herpēs, also erpes, borrowed from Latin herpēs (“a spreading skin eruption; shingles”), from Ancient Greek ἕρπης (hérpēs, “shingles, literally a creeping”), from…

It is from English horn + -y, formed in Middle English. The slang sense "sexually aroused" comes from horn in the slang sense of an erect penis; Etymonline traces it to a late 18th-century slang…

It is inherited from Middle English ydea, borrowed from Latin idea (“Platonic idea, archetype”), from Ancient Greek ἰδέα (idéa, “look, semblance, form; kind”), from ἰδεῖν (ideîn, “to see”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English imaginatif, borrowed from Middle French imaginatif, and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin imāginātīvus, from imāginātus, the past participle of imāginor (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English immoderat, borrowed from Latin immoderātus (“boundless; unrestrained, excessive”), formed from in- (“not”), here assimilated as im-, and moderātus (“kept within…

It is inherited from Middle English impediment, also empediement, borrowed from Latin impedīmentum (“hindrance; in the plural, baggage”) and partly borrowed from Old French empedement. The…

It is inherited from Middle English impetuous, borrowed from Old French impetueux, also impetuos, and directly borrowed from Late Latin impetuōsus (“violent”). The OED records the French word from…

It is inherited from Middle English impressioun, borrowed from Old French impression (“print, stamp; a pressing on the mind”), from Latin impressiō (“a pressing into; an attack; a perception”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English inclinacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman inclinacioun and Middle French inclination, and directly borrowed from Latin inclīnātiō (“a leaning, bending; tendency…

It is inherited from Middle English incorporaten, borrowed from Late Latin incorporātus, the past participle of incorporō (“to unite into one body, embody”), from in- (“into”) and corpus (“body”)…

It is inherited from Middle English incorporacioun, borrowed from Late Latin incorporātiō (“an embodying, embodiment”), a noun of action from incorporō (“to unite into one body, embody”), which is…

It is borrowed from Latin index (“forefinger; informer, pointer, sign; list, catalogue”) (genitive indicis), literally “anything which points out”, from indicāre “to point out”, from in- “towards”…

It is inherited from Middle English infeccioun, borrowed from Old French infeccion (“contamination, poisoning”) and directly borrowed from Late Latin īnfectiō (“infection, contagion”) (accusative…

It is borrowed from Latin inflexibilis (“that cannot be bent”). Etymonline, Barnhart and the MED add a route through French: Old French inflexible, or Middle French inflexible in Barnhart, and the…

It is inherited from Middle English informatif (“formative, shaping”), borrowed from Medieval Latin informātīvus (“formative; instructive”), from Latin informātus, the past participle of informō…

It is inherited from Middle English inseparable, borrowed from Latin insēparābilis (“that cannot be separated”), formed from in- (“not”) and sēparābilis (“separable”), from sēparō (“to pull apart”)…

It is probably borrowed from Old French instant (“near, imminent; urgent, assiduous”), and directly from Medieval Latin instans (accusative instantem), as in instans tempus “the present moment”…

It is borrowed from Old French instrumental, from Medieval Latin *īnstrūmentālis, from Latin īnstrūmentum, tool, apparatus (see instrument).

It is Middle English, borrowed from Old French intellectuel and directly borrowed from Latin intellēctuālis (“relating to the understanding”), from intellēctus (“discernment, understanding”) (see…

It is inherited from Middle English irascibel, also irascible, borrowed from Old French irascible, recorded from the 12th century, and directly borrowed from Late Latin īrāscibilis (“prone to…

It is inherited from Middle English irracional, borrowed from Latin irratiōnālis (“without reason, not rational”), formed from in- (“not”), in its assimilated form ir-, and ratiōnālis (“of or…

It was first an adverb, borrowed from Latin item (“likewise, just so, moreover”), probably influenced by Old French item, probably from ita “thus” and the adverbial ending -tem, compare id “it” and…

It is inherited from Middle English jure, jurie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman juree (“oath, inquest”), from Medieval Latin iūrāta (“an oath, a judicial inquest, a sworn body of men”), the feminine…

The verb is Middle English lyken, leken, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch leken (“to drip, leak”) or from Old Norse leka, both related to Old English leccan, to moisten, which did not survive…

It is inherited from Middle English litargik, borrowed from Medieval Latin litargicus and Old French litargique, later reshaped after Latin lēthargicus, from Ancient Greek ληθαργικός (lēthargikós…

It is inherited from Middle English liklihod, formed from likely and -hood.

It is partly borrowed from Middle French literal and partly borrowed from Late Latin litterālis (“of letters or writing”), from littera (“letter of the alphabet”), plural litterae (“a letter, piece…

1. The piece of wood is inherited from Middle English logge, first recorded before 1398 in Trevisa and earlier as a surname (about 1210), and is of uncertain origin. MWU takes it as probably…

It is, probably through Old French magnitude and directly, borrowed from Latin magnitūdō (“greatness, bulk, size”), from magnus, great, related to Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) and Sanskrit महा…

It is inherited from Middle English menstrual, also menstruel, borrowed from Middle French menstruel (recorded in Old French about 1268) and directly borrowed from Latin mēnstruālis (“monthly…

It is formed from English milk + -y, first as milkī.

It is inherited from Middle English moderatour, borrowed from Latin moderātor (“manager, ruler, director”), partly also borrowed from Middle French modérateur, from moderātus, the past participle of…

It is inherited from Middle English modulacioun, borrowed from Middle French modulation and directly borrowed from Latin modulātiō (“rhythmical measure, singing, melody”), a noun of action from…

It is inherited from Middle English multiplex, borrowed from Latin multiplex (“divided into many parts, having many forms, many times as many”), formed from multi- (“many, much”) and -plex…

It is inherited from Middle English mutacioun, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman mutation and mutation (“change”) (in Old French mutacion, late 13th century), and partly borrowed from Latin mūtātiō…

It is inherited from Middle English neutre, also neuter, borrowed from Middle French neutre and directly borrowed from Latin neuter (“not one or the other, neither; of neuter gender”), formed from…

It is borrowed from Latin notio (“a becoming acquainted; a concept, idea”), from not-, the past participle stem of nōscere (“to come to know”) (see know), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gno- (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English nowne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman noun (“name, noun”), also nun and num, and Middle French non, also nun and nom, modern nom, from Latin nōmen (“name; in grammar…

It is inherited from Middle English numeral, borrowed from Late Latin numerālis (“expressing a number; of or belonging to a number”), a word used by Priscian in the 5th–6th century, formed from…

It is partly borrowed from Late Latin omega and partly its source, Ancient Greek ὦ μέγα (ô méga, “great O”), made of ὦ (ô), the letter, and μέγα (méga), the neuter of μέγας (mégas, “great”), from…