English words first recorded in the 15th century

It is inherited from Middle English citen (“to summon”), partly borrowed from Middle French citer (“to summon to a court”) and partly from its source, Latin citō (“to move, excite, summon; to…

It is inherited from Middle English redemen, borrowed from Middle French redimer (“to buy back”), also redemer in Anglo-Norman, and directly borrowed from Latin redimō (“to buy back, ransom”). The…

It is inherited from Middle English corporacioun, from Anglo-Latin use of Late Latin corporationem (“assumption of a body”), used of the Incarnation, a noun of action from the past participle stem…

It is inherited from Middle English donour, borrowed from Anglo-Norman donour and Old French doneur (modern French donneur), from Latin dōnātor (“giver”), an agent noun from dōnō (“to give as a…

It is inherited from Middle English gallerie, borrowed from Middle French galerie (“a long portico”), from Italian galleria “gallery, church porch” and Medieval Latin galeria, of uncertain origin…

It is borrowed from Latin gladiātor (“swordsman, fighter in the public games”), from gladius (“sword”) and the agent suffix -ātor. Barnhart suggests that some later instances spelled with “-our”…

It is inherited from Middle English moquerie, also mokkerie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mokerie and Middle French mocquerie, also moquerie, formed from moquer (“to mock”) and the suffix -erie, the…

It is inherited from Middle English monarke, borrowed from Middle French monarque or directly borrowed from Late Latin monarcha, from Ancient Greek μονάρχης (monárkhēs), μόναρχος (mónarkhos, “one…

It is borrowed from Latin mūrālis (“of or relating to a wall, growing on a wall”), partly through French mural, from mūrus (“wall”) and the suffix -ālis. The OED compares mural (15th century…

It is inherited from Middle English paternite, also peternite, borrowed from Middle French paternité and directly borrowed from Late Latin paternitās (“fatherly care, fatherhood”), from Latin…

It is borrowed from Middle French peinal and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin pēnālis, from Latin poenālis (“of or concerning punishment”), formed from poena (“penalty, punishment”) and -ālis…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman prefecture and Middle French prefecture, and directly borrowed from Latin praefectūra (“the office or district of a prefect”), from praefectus (“overseer, prefect”)…

It is inherited from Middle English pronunciacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman pronunciacioun, as well as Middle French prononciacion, and directly borrowed from Latin prōnūntiātiō (“public…

It is inherited from Middle English repaien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman repaier, also repaier (modern repayer), formed from re- (“back”) and paier (“to pay”), the source of pay, from Latin pācō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English restreinte, borrowed from Anglo-Norman restreinte and Middle French restrainte, the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of restraindre, also restreindre…

It is inherited from Middle English vagraunt, also vagaraunt and vageraunt, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vagarant, also vagerant, wacrant and walcrant, the present participle of vagrer (“to wander…

The noun is borrowed from Middle French adolescent, recorded in Old French from the 13th century, or comes directly from its source, Latin adolēscēns (“young man or woman, youth”) (also adulēscēns)…

It is borrowed from Late Latin agricultūra (“cultivation of land”), probably influenced by French agriculture, from the Latin phrase agrī cultūra, from agrī, the genitive of ager (“field”) (see…

It is inherited from Middle English archerie, also archerye, borrowed from Anglo-Norman archerie, also arcerie, and Old French archerie, formed from archier (“archer”) and the suffix -ie…

It is inherited from Middle English bartren, probably borrowed from Old French barater (“to cheat, deceive; to exchange, haggle”), a word of uncertain origin recorded from the 12th century. Barnhart…

It is inherited from Middle English bache (“process of baking, a baking”), probably from an unrecorded Old English *bæcce (“something baked”) (compare gebæc), from bacan (“to bake”) (see bake). The…

It is probably borrowed from Anglo-Norman brouter and Middle French brouster (“to crop and eat young shoots and leaves”), recorded in Old French as broster from the second half of the 12th century…

It is borrowed from Latin bulbus (“bulb, bulbous root, onion”), from Ancient Greek βολβός (bolbós, “bulbous plant, onion”). Etymonline takes it through Middle French bulbe, recorded from the 15th…

It is inherited from Middle English bolke, bulke, borrowed from Old Norse búlki (“a heap; ship's cargo”), from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell”). The sense…

It is formed from English cheer + -ful, and is recorded in late Middle English as chereful, also cherful. Its base, the noun in the sense of mood or frame of mind, is from Middle English chere, from…

It is formed from English cheese + cake, first as late Middle English chese kake. The first element goes back to Old English cēse, and the second comes from Old Norse kaka.

It is inherited from Middle English columne, partly borrowed from Old French columpne, colombe (modern French colonne), and partly from its source, Latin columna (“pillar, post”), related to columen…

It is borrowed from Latin cōnectō (“to join together”), from com- (“together”) and nectō (“to bind, tie”), from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to bind, tie”). Barnhart notes that it may instead be a…

It is inherited from Middle English contenden, borrowed from Latin contendō (“to stretch out; to strive; to fight, vie”), partly through Old French contendre. The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from…

It is borrowed from Middle French cordon (“ribbon”), from Old French cordon (“ribbon, cord”), a diminutive of corde (“cord, rope, string”), which comes from Latin chorda (“string, rope”), from…

It is formed from English crack + -er, an agent noun from the verb. The verb is from Old English cracian (“to make a sharp noise, resound”), related to Middle Dutch craken, Dutch kraken and German…

It is inherited from Middle English culture (“cultivation, tillage”), borrowed from Middle French culture, a learned borrowing from Latin, and directly borrowed from Latin cultūra (“a tending, care…

It is inherited from Middle English custumer, costomer, borrowed from Anglo-Norman custumer, Old French coustumier, from Medieval Latin custumārius (“toll-gatherer, tax collector”), literally…

It is an agent noun from the verb dance and -er.

It is inherited from Middle English dormitorie, borrowed from Latin dormītōrium (“sleeping place”), the neuter of dormītōrius (“of sleep”) used as a noun, from dormītus, the past participle of…

1. The fish is inherited from Middle English dorre, also dorray, borrowed from Old French doree, in French dorée, originally the feminine past participle of dorer (“to gild”). The French verb is…

It is inherited from Middle English yconomye, borrowed from Middle French économie, yconomie, or directly borrowed from Latin oeconomia, from Ancient Greek οἰκονομία (oikonomía, “household…

It is inherited from Middle English elementare, borrowed from Latin elementārius (“belonging to the elements or rudiments”), perhaps also through Middle French élémentaire, from elementum…

It is inherited from Middle English endaungeren, also indaungeren, formed from Middle English en- + daunger (“power, jurisdiction”). The noun, now danger, then still meant the power of a lord or…

It is borrowed from French ensemble (“together”), the noun being a use of the adverb, from Old French ensemble, from Late Latin īnsimul (“at the same time”), through a Romance form *insemul. The…

It is borrowed from Latin exāctus, the past participle of exigō “to drive out, force out; demand, require; complete, weigh, measure”, from ex- “out” and agō “to drive, lead, do”, from…

1. The group is partly borrowed from Middle French faction (also spelt faccion), recorded in French from about 1355 for a seditious group or action, and partly a direct borrowing of its source…

It is inherited from Middle English fertil, also fertyle, partly borrowed from Middle French fertil (“fruitful, producing abundantly”) and partly borrowed from Latin fertilis (“fruitful…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French fertilité and partly borrowed from Latin fertilitās (“fruitfulness, productiveness”), from fertilis (“bearing in abundance, fruitful”), which comes from ferō…

It is formed from English fly + -er, the agent noun of the verb. The Middle English form was flīer, formed from flīen (“to fly; to flee”) and the agent suffix. The verb goes back to Old English…

It is inherited from Middle English gaggen (“to strangle, suffocate”), apparently imitating the sound of someone choking. The Middle English Dictionary and Barnhart also compare Old Norse gagháls…

It is formed from English glide + -er. The Middle English form was glider, also spelled glydare, from gliden (“to glide”). The verb glide is from Old English glīdan, from Proto-Germanic *glīdaną.

It is formed from English grass + -y, first recorded as Middle English grasī. The base noun comes from Old English græs, from Proto-Germanic *grasą. Similar adjectives meaning covered with or…

It is formed from English hand + ball, recorded in late Middle English as handballe. The first part is from Old English hand, and the second from Middle English bal, probably from an unrecorded Old…

It is inherited from Middle English hytchen (“to move with a jerk”), first recorded in the “Promptorium Parvulorum” (1440), and of uncertain origin. The revised OED takes it as probably an…

It is inherited from Middle English insuren, a variant of ensuren with the prefix in- in place of en-, borrowed from Anglo-Norman enseurer (“to secure, assure”), formed from en- (“make”) and seur…

It is inherited from Middle English enterferen, borrowed from Middle French enterferir (“to strike each other”) (Old French s'entreferir), altered under the influence of inter-, from entre-…

It is inherited from Middle English liberacion, borrowed from Old French libération and directly Latin līberātiō (“a setting or becoming free”), from the past participle stem of līberō (“to set…

1. The adjective meaning luxuriant is inherited from Middle English lusch (“lax, soft”), probably altered from the older lasche (“loose, soft, watery”), earlier lacche, from Old French lasche…

It is borrowed from Latin magma (“dregs of an unguent”), from Ancient Greek μάγμα (mágma, “thick unguent, kneaded mass”), from μάσσω (mássō, “to knead, press into a mould”), from Proto-Indo-European…

The adjective is inherited from Middle English mediat, borrowed from Late Latin mediātus (“placed in the middle, intermediate”), the past participle of mediō (“to be in the middle; to halve”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English melwe, and its origin is uncertain. Most dictionaries take it as an attributive use of melowe, an inflected form of mele (“ground grain, meal”), going back to the…

It was first inherited from Middle English opake, borrowed from Latin opācus (“shaded, shady, dark”). The OED treats that first record as an isolated early borrowing, and the later use as partly…

It is inherited from Middle English pegge, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch pegge (“plug, peg, small wooden pin”), or a similar Low German word; compare Low German pigge (“peg”) and regional…

1. The food word is inherited from Middle English pikel, also pekel and pikkel, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch pēkel (“brine, pickle”) or its cognate in Middle Low German pēkel, whence German…