English words first recorded in the 14th century

The verb, to plunder, is Middle English riflen, borrowed from Old French rifler (“to graze, scratch; to strip, plunder”), probably from Germanic, compare obsolete Dutch rijffelen, to scratch, and…

It is an alteration of earlier hathir (northern dialect), perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *hæddre; the New Oxford cites Old English hadre and hedre in place names. Its origin is unknown. It…

It is inherited from Middle English bullion, also bolion and billon, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bullion (“melting house, mint”), recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1284 with the senses "melting or…

1. The horse is inherited from Middle English nagge (“small riding horse, pony”), of unknown or uncertain origin. Several dictionaries compare Dutch negge, which the OED finds in Junius's…

It is inherited from Middle English passager, borrowed from Old French passageor, passager (“traveller, passer-by”), a noun use of the adjective passager “passing, fleeting, travelling”, from…

It is inherited from Middle English accioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman accioun and action (“action; lawsuit”), a learned borrowing from Latin āctiō (“a putting in motion, doing; public acts…

It is inherited from Middle English auncestrie, also auncetrie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ancestrie (“ancestral descent, lineage”), also auncestrie, a legal word recorded from before 1309, formed…

1. It is inherited from Middle English baille, borrowed from Old French bail (“custody, jurisdiction”), from baillier, to control, guard, hand over, deliver, from Latin baiulō, to bear a burden…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman credenz, also credensse, or Middle French credence, and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin crēdentia (“belief, trust”), from Latin crēdēns (“believing”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English dyal, apparently borrowed from Medieval Latin diālis (“daily”), perhaps taken from a phrase such as rota diālis (“daily wheel”), from Latin diēs (“day”) (see…

It is inherited from Middle English disese, deses, borrowed from Anglo-Norman desease, Old French desaise “lack, want; discomfort, distress; trouble; sickness”, from des- “without, away” and aise…

It is inherited from Middle English dominioun, borrowed from Old French dominion (“dominion, rule, power”), or Middle French in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, and partly directly from Medieval Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English egle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman egle, Old French egle, aigle, from Old Occitan aigla, from Latin aquila (“eagle”), probably feminine of aquilus, dark-coloured…

It is inherited from Middle English epitaphe, epitaf, borrowed from Old French epitaphe, Medieval Latin epitaphium, from Latin epitaphium (“funeral oration, eulogy”), from Ancient Greek ἐπιτάφιον…

It is inherited from Middle English estemen, borrowed from Middle French estimer (“to estimate, value”), from Latin aestimō (“to value, appraise”), of unknown origin; Etymonline mentions a guess…

It is inherited from Middle English extenden, borrowed from Latin extendō (“to stretch out, spread out; increase, prolong”), probably influenced by Anglo-French and Old French estendre “to stretch…

It is Middle English fens, a shortened form of defens (see defence), from Latin dēfendere (“to ward off”). The same shortening gave fend and fender.

It is inherited from Middle English finalle, borrowed from Old French final (“final, last”) and directly borrowed from Late Latin fīnālis (“of or pertaining to an end”), from fīnis (“boundary…

The word has two sources. The northern form gavel is borrowed from Old Norse gafl (“gable”), compare Old Swedish gafl, Swedish gavel and Danish gavl. The southern form gable was probably reinforced…

1. It is inherited from Middle English junke, jonke, an old cable or rope, a nautical word of uncertain origin. It may be the same word as junke, a rush, from Old French jonc, rush, reed, from Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English officer, borrowed from Old French officier (“officer, official”), a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin officiārius (“an officer”), from Latin officium (“a…

1. It is inherited from Middle English unce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman unce and unce (modern French once), and partly directly Latin uncia (“a twelfth part”), the twelfth part of a pound or of a…

It is inherited from Middle English overwhelmen, formed from Middle English over- + whelmen (“to turn upside down”). The OED compares the phrasal verb “whelm over” and the verb overwhelve. The…

It is inherited from Middle English ponderen, also pondren, borrowed from Middle French ponderer (“to assess mentally, appraise, consider”) and directly borrowed from Latin ponderō (“to weigh; to…

It is inherited from Middle English podel, also puddel and poþel. Most dictionaries take it as a diminutive, with the suffix -le, of Old English pudd (“ditch, furrow”), a word Bosworth–Toller and…

It is inherited from Middle English pulpit, also pulpite, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pulpit and Middle French pulpite, and directly borrowed from Latin pulpitum (“scaffold, platform, stage”). In…

It is inherited from Middle English purifien, borrowed from Old French purifier (“to purify, cleanse, refine”), from Latin pūrificō (“to make pure, cleanse”). The OED also names Anglo-Norman and…

It is inherited from Middle English rascaile, also rascaille, borrowed from Anglo-Norman rascaile (“rabble, common people”) and Old French rascaille, modern French racaille. The Anglo-Norman word is…

It is inherited from Middle English remembren, borrowed from Old French remembrer (“to remember, recall”), from Late Latin rememoror (“to call to mind again”), formed from re- (“again”) and memoror…

It is formed from English short + -en, and was shortenen in Middle English, also spelled scorten in the North. Before it, the adjective itself served as the verb, from Old English sceortian (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English sobre, borrowed from Old French sobre (“decent, sober”), or directly Latin sōbrius (“not drunk, temperate, sensible”), from a variant of sē- (“apart, without”)…

It is inherited from Middle English wage, borrowed from Old Northern French wage (“pledge, pay”), from Frankish *wadja- or another Germanic source; compare Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌹 (wadi) “pledge” and Old…

It is inherited from Middle English warantie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman warantie and Old Northern French warantie, a dialect variant of Old French guarantie or garantie, modern French garantie. It…

It is inherited from Middle English aboundance, borrowed from Old French abundance, from Latin abundantia (“fullness, plenty”), from abundāns (“overflowing”), the present participle of abundō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English actif, active, borrowed from Old French actif (feminine active), or directly borrowed from Latin āctīvus, from āctus “a doing”, the past participle of agō (“I…

It is inherited from Middle English adopcioun, borrowed from Old French adopcion or directly borrowed from Latin adoptio (“a taking as one's child”), a shorter form of adoptatio, from adoptō, to…

It is inherited from Middle English adversarie, borrowed from Old French adversarie, adverser, or directly borrowed from Latin adversārius (“opponent, rival, enemy”), a noun use of the adjective…

It is inherited from Middle English avocat, borrowed from Old French avocat (“barrister, spokesman”), from Latin advocātus (“one called to aid; a pleader”), the past participle of advocāre (“to call…

It is inherited from Middle English ambicioun, borrowed from Old French ambicion or directly Latin ambitiō (“a going round, canvassing for votes”), from ambiō (“to go around”) (see ambient), from…

It is inherited from Middle English arrogaunce, also errogaunce, borrowed from Anglo-Norman arrogaunce or Old French arrogance, and partly directly borrowed from Latin arrogantia (“haughtiness…

It is inherited from Middle English autentik, borrowed from Old French autentique (“authentic, canonical”) (modern French authentique) and directly from Medieval and Late Latin authenticus, from…

It is inherited from Middle English belongen, formed from be-, an intensive prefix, and longen “to go along with, belong”, from Old English langian “to pertain to”, of uncertain origin but perhaps…

It is inherited from Middle English benefice, also benefis, borrowed from Old French benefice and directly borrowed from Latin beneficium (“a favour, service, kindness, benefit”), from beneficus…

1. The string is inherited from Middle English corde, the word now spelled cord, respelled in the 16th century after its Latin source. The Middle English word is borrowed from Old French corde…

It is inherited from Middle English comfortable, confortable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman confortable (“comforting; pleasant, agreeable”), from conforter (“to comfort, solace”), the source of the…

It is inherited from Middle English commenden, also comenden, borrowed from Latin commendō (“to commit to someone's care, entrust; to recommend”), with influence from Old French comender. The Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English comparisoun, borrowed from Old French comparesoun, comparaison, from Latin comparātiō (“a comparing”), a noun of action from comparō “to make equal with, liken…

It is inherited from Middle English compassioun, borrowed from Old French compassion (“sympathy, pity”), from Late Latin compassiō (“fellow feeling”), a loan translation of Ancient Greek συμπάθεια…

It is inherited from Middle English comprehenden, borrowed from Latin comprehendō (“to grasp, seize, comprise”), perhaps partly through Old French comprehender, a learned form beside the inherited…

It is inherited from Middle English conclusioun, borrowed from Old French conclusion (“result, outcome”) and directly from Latin conclūsiō (“a shutting up, conclusion”), a noun of action from the…

It is inherited from Middle English conformen, also confourmen, borrowed from Old French conformer (“to make or be similar, agree”), and directly borrowed from Latin cōnfōrmō (“to form, fashion…

It is inherited from Middle English contynuen, borrowed from Old French continuer and directly borrowed from Latin continuō (“to join together, make continuous”), from continuus (“uninterrupted…

It is inherited from Middle English contrarie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman contrarie, Old French contrarie, contraire, and directly borrowed from Latin contrarius (“opposite, opposed; hostile”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English conversacioun, borrowed from Old French conversacion (“behaviour, way of life, monastic life”), and directly from Latin conversātiō (“frequent abode in a place…

1. The verb meaning to talk is inherited from Middle English conversen (“to live, dwell; to associate with”), borrowed from Old French converser (“to live, dwell; to talk”), and directly borrowed…

It is inherited from Middle English conversioun, borrowed from Old French conversion (“change, transformation; entry into religious life”), from Latin conversio (“a turning round; change”), a noun…

It is inherited from Middle English convicten, borrowed from Latin convictus (“proved, convicted, refuted”), the past participle of convincō (“to overcome, conquer, prove wrong”), itself from con-…

The verb is inherited from Middle English correcten, borrowed from Latin corrēctus (“made straight, amended”), past participle of corrigō (“to make straight, reform”), from com-, perhaps intensive…

It is inherited from Middle English correccioun, borrowed from Middle French correction or Old French correccion (“correction, amendment, punishment”), from Latin correctiō (“an amendment…

The adjective is borrowed from Old French corrupt and directly from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere (“to break into pieces, destroy, spoil, bribe”), from cor-, an intensive form of…