English words first recorded in the 14th century

It is inherited from Middle English caustik, borrowed from Latin causticus (“burning, corrosive”), from Ancient Greek καυστικός (kaustikós, “capable of burning”), from καυστός (kaustós, “burnt…

It is inherited from Middle English cessacioun, borrowed from Old French cessation and directly borrowed from Latin cessātiō (“a delaying, idling, ceasing”), a noun of action from cessātus, past…

It is inherited from Middle English champayne, also champaigne, borrowed from Old French champaigne (“open country”), from Late Latin campānia (“level country”), the noun use of the feminine…

1. The letter name is borrowed from Ancient Greek χῖ (khî), earlier χεῖ (kheî). It stood for a kh sound (see ch), and its X shape made the name a sign of things placed crosswise, as in χίασμα…

It is borrowed from Latin citrus, which in classical Latin named an African tree, probably the cypress Tetraclinis articulata, and in post-classical Latin from the 5th century also the citron tree…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin commentarius (“notebook, annotation; diary, memoir”), also commentarium, a noun use of the adjective, perhaps short for volumen commentarium, from commentārī (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English composen, also compousen, borrowed from Old French composer (“to put together, arrange; to write”), recorded in French from the 12th century. The Anglo-Norman…

It is borrowed from Old French composite, from Latin compositus (“placed together”), the past participle of compōnō (“to put together, arrange”), from com- (“together”) and pōnō (“to put, place”)…

It is borrowed from Old French compression, and partly a direct borrowing of Latin compressiō (“a pressing together”), a noun of action formed on compressus, the past participle of comprimō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English concussioun, borrowed from Latin concussiō (“a shaking, an earthquake”), a noun of action from concussus, the past participle of concutiō (“to strike together…

It is inherited from Middle English conducen, borrowed from Latin condūcō (“to lead or bring together, collect; to hire; to contribute, serve”), formed from com- (“together”) and dūcō (“to lead…

It is inherited from Middle English confidence, borrowed from Middle French confidence or directly borrowed from Latin cōnfidentia (“firm trust”), from cōnfidēns “firmly trusting, bold”, the present…

The noun, usually in the plural confines, is borrowed from Old French confins (“boundaries”), in the 14th century also confines, from Medieval Latin confīnēs (“bounds”) and Latin cōnfīnia, the…

It is inherited from Middle English congregaten, borrowed from Latin congregātus (“flocked together, assembled”), the past participle of congregō (“to collect into a flock; to assemble”), from con-…

It is borrowed from Latin congressus (“a coming together, meeting; an encounter”), from the past participle of congredior (“to meet with; to fight with”), from con- (“together”) and gradior (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English consolidacioun, borrowed from Late Latin cōnsolidātiō (“a making firm”), partly through Old French consolidation, the noun of action from cōnsolidō (“to make…

It is inherited from Middle English constipacioun, borrowed from Middle French constipation or directly borrowed from Late Latin cōnstīpātiō (“a crowding together”), which in Medieval Latin also…

It is inherited from Middle English constriccioun, borrowed from Late Latin cōnstrictiō (“a binding or drawing together”), the noun of action from the past participle stem of cōnstringō (“to bind…

It is an agent noun from English consume + -er.

It is borrowed from Middle French contingent, recorded from the 14th century in Oresme, or else borrowed from Latin contingēns (“touching; befalling, happening”), the present participle of contingō…

It is borrowed from Old French continuité, from Latin continuitās (“a connected series”), formed on continuus (“joining, following one after another”), the source of continuous, with the suffix that…

It is borrowed from Latin contortus (“twisted; intricate”), the past participle of contorqueō (“to whirl, twist together”), from com-, here "together" or an intensive, and torqueō (“to twist”), from…

It is borrowed from Late Latin contrādictōrius (“containing a contradiction or objection”), which the OED takes from Latin contrādictor (“one who contradicts”) and Etymonline and Klein from…

1. It is inherited from Middle English coupen, copen, borrowed from Old French couper (“to strike, cut”), earlier colper, to hit, punch, from colp, coup, a blow (see coup), from Late Latin colpus…

It is inherited from Middle English corroden, borrowed from Latin corrōdō (“to gnaw away, gnaw to pieces”), and, according to Etymonline, Barnhart and the Middle English Dictionary, also borrowed…

It is inherited from Middle English corrosioun, also corrisoun, borrowed from Old French corrosion and directly borrowed from Latin corrōsiō (“a gnawing away”), a noun of action from corrōsus, the…

It is an alteration from English counsellor by association with council, and Dictionary.com takes it as formed from English council + -or, replacing conseiler (“adviser”). The Century Dictionary…

It is borrowed from Old French coup (“a blow”), earlier colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus, a blow with the fist, a box on the ear, from Greek κόλαφος (kólaphos, “a blow, slap”)…

It is inherited from Middle English cryminall, borrowed from Old French criminel (“criminal, despicable”), and directly from Late Latin crīminālis (“pertaining to crime”), from Latin crīmen…

It is inherited from Middle English crusible, also corusible, borrowed from Medieval Latin crucibulum (“night lamp; melting pot for metals”). Its further origin is uncertain. Hoad, Klein, the…

It is inherited from Middle English cuteler, also coteler, borrowed from Anglo-Norman cuteler, from Old French coutelier (“knife-maker”), from Late Latin cultellārius, from Latin cultellus (“small…

It is inherited from Middle English defensif, borrowed from Old French defensif and directly from Medieval Latin dēfēnsīvus, from dēfēns-, the past participle stem of dēfendō (“to ward off…

1. The verb meaning to make foul is inherited from Middle English defilen, an alteration of defoulen, also defoilen, borrowed from Old French defouler (“to trample down, oppress, violate”), formed…

It is formed from English delight + -ful. The noun, spelled delite until the 16th century, is from Anglo-Norman delite, also delit (“great pleasure”), from delitier (“to please greatly, charm”)…

It is inherited from Middle English depressen, borrowed from Old French depresser (“to press down, lower”), from Late Latin dēpressō (“to press hard”), a frequentative of Latin dēprimō (“to force…

It is inherited from Middle English derisioun, borrowed from Old French derision, from Late Latin dērīsiō (“a laughing to scorn, mockery”), from Latin dērīsus (“mocked”), past participle of dērīdeō…

It is inherited from Middle English desperat, borrowed from Latin dēspērātus (“given up, despaired of”), the past participle of dēspērō (“to despair, lose all hope”) (see despair), from dē “without”…

It is inherited from Middle English devoid, originally the past participle of the verb devoiden (“to remove, expel, vacate”), short for (or a variant of) the regular participle devoided. The verb is…

It is a back-formation from Middle English difficulte (“difficulty”), from Latin difficultās, from dis- and facultās (“ability, power”), the source of faculty. Etymonline calls it unetymological, as…

It is formed from English dig + -er, the agent noun of the verb. The Middle English noun digger, from diggen, is recorded in the “Promptorium Parvulorum”, where it glosses Latin fossor.

It is borrowed from Latin digitus (“finger, toe; finger's breadth”), which in medieval Latin also meant each of the numbers below ten, a use found in British sources from the 12th century. The…

It is formed from English dirt + -y, a metathesis of Middle English dritty “feculent, muddy” (late 14th century).

It is inherited from Middle English discernen, also descernen and decernen, borrowed from Old French discerner (“to distinguish, separate”), recorded in Anglo-Norman from about 1300, and directly…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin dislocātus, the past participle of dislocō (“to put out of place”), formed from dis- (“away”) and locō (“to place”), from locus (“place”), a word of uncertain…

It is inherited from Middle English disobedience, also disobediaunce, borrowed from Old French desobedience (Middle French in Merriam-Webster), from Vulgar Latin *disoboedientia, a formation from…

It is inherited from Middle English dispellen, borrowed from Latin dispellō (“to drive apart, scatter”), formed from dis- (“apart, away”) and pellō (“to drive, push”). Watkins and Barnhart trace the…

It is borrowed from Latin dissuādeō (“to advise against, oppose by argument”), formed from dis- (“off, against”) and suādeō (“to advise, urge”). Barnhart and Etymonline see a borrowing from French…

It is borrowed from Old French distinctif and directly from Medieval Latin distīnctīvus, from Latin distīnct-, the past participle stem of distinguō, to separate, mark off (see distinguish and…

It is borrowed from Latin distortus (“twisted, misshapen”), the past participle of distorqueō (“to twist different ways”), or, in the OED and Hoad, its participial stem. The Latin verb is formed…

It is inherited from Middle English drapen, also draperen, borrowed from Old French draper (“to weave, make cloth”), from drap (“cloth”), from Late Latin drappus (“cloth”). Hoad, the Oxford…

It is inherited from Middle English drēmer, formed from Middle English dremen (“to dream”) + -ere, that is, the verb dream with the agent suffix -er. Similar agent nouns are dromer, Träumer (earlier…

It is inherited from Middle English ertheworm, formed from Middle English erthe + worm, the forerunners of earth and worm. Compare Middle Low German ērtworm and Middle High German ertwurm, the…

It is borrowed from Middle French édition, and directly from Latin ēditiō (“a bringing forth, producing; a statement”), from ēdō (“to bring forth, produce, publish”), from ex (“out”) and -dere, from…

It is inherited from Middle English effusioun, borrowed from Old French effusion and directly borrowed from Latin effūsiō (“a pouring forth”). The OED treats Latin as the source, directly or through…

It is formed from English elder + -ly. The base adjective is from Old English eldra (“older”), the comparative of eald (“old”), which Ayto traces to prehistoric Proto-Germanic *althizon, the…

It is borrowed from Middle French electif, also directly borrowed from Late Latin ēlēctīvus, from ēlēctus (“chosen”), the past participle of ēligō (“to pick out, choose”), and the suffix -īvus. The…

It is inherited from Middle English elementall, borrowed from Medieval Latin elementalis, from Latin elementum (“rudiment, first principle”), the source of element, with the suffix -al. The OED…

It is inherited from Middle English elevaten, borrowed from Latin ēlevātus (“raised”), the past participle of ēlevō (“to lift up, raise; to lighten, alleviate”), formed from ē- (“out”), a variant of…

It is inherited from Middle English eminence, also emanence, borrowed from Old French eminence or directly borrowed from Latin ēminentia (“a distinctive feature, conspicuous part”), from ēminēns…

It is formed from English en- + circle. Its base, the noun for a round figure, is from Old French cercle (“circle, ring”), from Latin circulus (“circular figure, small ring”), a diminutive of circus…