English words first recorded in the 14th century

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…

It is inherited from Middle English encrochen, borrowed from Old French encrochier (“to seize, fasten upon; to perch, hang up”), formed from en- (“in”) and croc (“hook”), which is from Old Norse…

It is inherited from Middle English endeveren, also endover, formed from Middle English en- + dever (“duty”), from the phrase putten in dever (“to make it one's duty”). The phrase is a partial…

It is inherited from Middle English engrossen, also ingrossen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman engrosser and medieval Latin ingrossō, with its senses formed along separate lines from elements that the…

It is inherited from Middle English enrollen, also enroulen, borrowed from Old French enroller (“to record in a register, write in a roll”) (13th century), Anglo-Norman enrouler, modern enrôler. The…

It is inherited from Middle English entreten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman entraiter, also entreiter and entreter, and Middle French entraiter, formed from en- (“make, cause”) and traiter (“to…

It is formed from English especial + -ly. The adjective is from Old French especial (“pre-eminent, important”), from Latin speciālis (“belonging to a particular kind or species”), from speciēs…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἦτα (êta), the name of the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet. Merriam-Webster and Webster's Third give the immediate source as Late Latin ēta. The Greek name…

It is inherited from Middle English evacuacioun, borrowed from Late Latin ēvacuātiō (“an emptying”), a noun of action from ēvacuō (“to empty”), partly through evacuation and evacuation. The Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English exalten, borrowed from Latin exaltō (“to raise, elevate”), formed from ex- (“out, up”) and altus (“high”). Barnhart and Merriam-Webster also allow a route through…

It is formed from English excite + -ment.

It is inherited from Middle English exalen, borrowed from Old French exhaler, and directly borrowed from Latin exhālō (“to breathe out, evaporate”), from ex- (“out”) and hālō (“to breathe”)…

It is inherited from Middle English expiracioun, borrowed from Latin exspīrātiō (“a breathing out, exhalation”) or expīrātiō, a noun of action from the past participle of exspīrō (“to breathe out…

It is inherited from Middle English expiren, borrowed from Old French expirer, which Barnhart and Merriam-Webster call Middle French, from Latin exspīrō (“to breathe out; to breathe one's last…

It is borrowed from Middle French expressif (“that forces or presses out”), recorded from about 1365, and perhaps also borrowed from Medieval Latin expressīvus (“serving to express, significant”)…

It is inherited from Middle English expulsioun, also expulcioun, borrowed from Old French expulsion or directly borrowed from Latin expulsiō (“a driving out”), a noun of action formed from expulsus…

It is inherited from Middle English extensioun, borrowed from Middle French extension or directly from Late Latin extēnsiō (“a stretching out”), a noun of action from the past participle of Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English extensive, borrowed from Middle French extensif, or it is borrowed from Late Latin extēnsīvus, from extēns-, past participle stem of Latin extendō “to stretch…

It is borrowed from Latin exstinctiō (“extinction, annihilation”), also spelled extinctiō, a noun of action from the past participle stem of exstinguō (“to quench, wipe out”), the source of…

It is inherited from Middle English extollen, borrowed from Latin extollō (“to place on high, raise; to exalt, praise”), formed from ex- (“up”) and tollō (“to lift, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Middle English extremite, borrowed from Old French extremite, also estremite, from Latin extrēmitās (“the end of a thing”), from extrēmus (“outermost, utmost”), the superlative…

It is borrowed from Middle French facilité (“easiness, ease”), or directly from Latin facilitatem (“easiness, fluency, willingness”), from facilis (“easy to do”), from faciō “to do”, from…

It is inherited from Middle English familie, borrowed from Latin familia (“the servants of a household; the household”), a noun formed from famulus (“servant, slave”), from Old Latin famul. Barnhart…

It is inherited from Middle English fece, plural fecis, fecez, also singular fex, borrowed from Latin faecēs (“sediment, dregs”), the plural of faex, which meant grounds, sediment and the lees of…

It is formed from English feed + -er. Middle English had feder and federe, from feden (“to feed”). feed is from Old English fēdan (“to nourish, give food to”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdijaną (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English filtre, borrowed from Old French filtre, a variant of feltre, felt, and directly filtrum (“felt used to strain liquids”), from a West Germanic word related to…

It is inherited from Middle English finaunce, fynaunce, borrowed from Old French finance (“end; payment, expense; settlement of a debt”), 13th century, a noun of action from finer (“to end, settle a…

It is inherited from Middle English finial, also fenial, a variant of final. The OED thinks this variant arose in English, since it finds no similar form in Old English or Medieval Latin, and…

It is inherited from Middle English fissure (“cut, crack”), borrowed from Old French fissure, recorded from the 13th century, and directly borrowed from Latin fissūra (“a cleft”), from fissus…

It is inherited from Middle English forcasten, formed from fore-, before, and casten, to contrive, plan (see cast).

It is borrowed from Old French frontiere (“boundary of a country, front rank of an army”), from front, brow, front (see front), from Latin frōns.

The verb is inherited from Middle English gloumen, also gloumben and glomen, and its origin is unknown. According to the OED it is inherited from Old English *glūmian, an unrecorded verb, and it…

It is inherited from Middle English gratifien, borrowed from Latin grātificor (“to do a favour to, oblige”), also grātificō. The OED, Hoad and the Shorter Oxford give French gratifier, recorded from…

It is inherited from Middle English grinde (“groin”), also grynde, perhaps inherited from Old English grynde (“abyss”), which Etymonline and Ayto take to have meant also "depression, hollow". The…

It is inherited from Middle English grofe, borrowed from Middle Dutch groeve (“furrow, ditch, pit”) (now groef), from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“cavity, pit”). Etymonline also allows a Scandinavian…

It is formed from English ground + work, with work in its older sense of a structure or building. Similar compounds are Middle Dutch grontwerck, Dutch grondwerk and German Grundwerk.

It is formed from English gun + powder, first as Middle English gonne-poudre. The OED compares the earlier use of the second element alone for gunpowder, the Anglo-Norman phrase poudre pur gunnes…

It is inherited from Middle English gushen, also goshen and gusche, but sources dispute its origin. The OED thinks it was probably formed in Middle English as an imitation of the sound, since the…

It is formed from English hand + -some; MWU suggests it may be from an assumed Middle Dutch handsaem, compare Dutch handzaam (“tractable”).

It is inherited from Middle English herdman, also hirdman, inherited from Old English hyrdeman, which Etymonline spells heordman. The present form arose by alteration of herdman, with an -s-…

It is borrowed from Latin haesitātiō (“hesitation, stammering; irresolution, uncertainty”), the noun of action from haesitō (“to stick fast; to stammer; to be undecided”), a frequentative of haereō…

It is formed from English hill + top. Both parts are native: the first goes back to Old English hyll and the second to top (“summit”).

It is inherited from Middle English hostilite, borrowed from Middle French hostilité (“enmity”), or directly borrowed from Late Latin hostīlitās (“enmity”); the OED takes the Late Latin word as the…

It is inherited from Middle English hoveren, a frequentative from Middle English hoven (“to hover, tarry, linger”) + -er, which it replaced. The OED calls the origin uncertain: the word is not known…

It is borrowed from Old French humide (“damp, wet”), or directly borrowed from Latin hūmidus (“moist, wet”), a variant of ūmidus, probably spelled with h- under the influence of humus (“earth”)…

It is inherited from Middle English humidite, borrowed from Old French humidité (“dampness”), from Latin hūmiditās (“moisture”), from hūmidus (“moist, wet”). The AHD calls the Latin noun Medieval…

It is inherited from Middle English huske, of uncertain origin. Most dictionaries take it as probably borrowed from Middle Dutch huuskijn (“little house, core of a fruit, case”), a diminutive of…

The OED takes it partly as borrowed from Middle French imaginable, also ymaginable, recorded in Old French from about 1298, and partly as borrowed from Late Latin imāginābilis (“capable of being…

It is inherited from Middle English imitacioun, also spelled ymytacyoun, borrowed from Old French imitacion, from Latin imitātiō (“a copying, imitation”), a noun of action from imitor (“to copy…

The verb is borrowed from French implanter (“to insert, engraft”), from im- (“in”) and planter (“to plant”); the OED and Etymonline note the older Old French emplanter (“to plant”). The American…

It is borrowed from Latin implicātus, the past participle of implicō (“to entangle, involve, connect closely”), formed from im- (“in”) and plicō (“to fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to…