English words first recorded in the 15th century

It is inherited from Middle English primer, primier, borrowed from Middle French premier (“first, chief”), from Latin prīmārius (“of the first rank, chief, principal”), from prīmus “first”, the…

It is inherited from Middle English adherence, borrowed from Old French adherence, or Anglo-Norman adherance, from Medieval Latin adhaerentia, from Latin adhaerēns (“adhering”), present participle…

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman affirmatif and partly borrowed from Late Latin affirmātīvus (“affirmative”), and late Middle English also had the form affirmatyff. The French word is…

It is borrowed from Latin agitātus (“set in motion”), the past participle of agitō (“to set in motion, shake, stir up, discuss”), the frequentative of agō (“to drive, do”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is inherited from Middle English attentif, borrowed from Middle French atentif, now attentif, formed from Old French atente (“expectation; act of attending”) and the suffix -if. The noun atente…

It is inherited from Middle English bard, first in Scottish use as baird, borrowed from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“poet, singer”); compare Welsh bardd, Breton barz…

It is Middle English, borrowed from Middle French canal (“water channel, pipe”), from Latin canālis (“pipe, groove, channel”), a noun use of an adjective from canna (“reed”) (see cane). It is a…

It is Middle English, borrowed from Medieval Latin considerabilis (“worthy to be considered”), from considerāre (“to look at closely”) (see consider), probably originally to observe the stars, from…

It is inherited from Middle English custodye, borrowed from Latin custōdia (“guarding, keeping; prison”), from custōs (“guardian, keeper”), of uncertain origin; Etymonline and MWU relate it to PIE…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin experimentalis, from experimentum (“a trial, test”) (see experiment) and -alis, from experīrī (“to try”); Etymonline treats it as formed from experiment and -al.

It is formed from English grace + -ful. The base noun is from Old French grace (“pardon, divine grace, mercy; favour; elegance”), from Latin grātia (“favour, esteem; pleasing quality”), from grātus…

It is inherited from Middle English entercours, also intercurse, borrowed from Old French entrecours (“exchange, commerce”), from entrecorre (“to run between”), from Latin intercurrō (“to run…

It is inherited from Middle English envoken (“to summon”), borrowed from Middle French envoquer, also invoquer, which Etymonline records from the 12th century together with envochier; the modern…

It is from the phrase in like wise, in the same manner, from like and wise, manner.

It is formed from English mere + -ly, first as mereli. The adjective is from Old French mier (“pure, entire”) and also comes directly from Latin merus (“unmixed, pure, bare”). Barnhart traces the…

It is inherited from Middle English monastik, borrowed from Late Latin monasticus (“relating to a monk or a monastery”), partly also through Middle French monastique. The Latin adjective is recorded…

It is inherited from Middle English narracioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman narracion, also narration, and directly borrowed from Latin narrātiō (“a narrative, story; in rhetoric, the statement of…

It is borrowed from Latin nebula (“mist, vapour, cloud”), first as inherited from Middle English nebule, from Proto-Indo-European *nebh- (“cloud”). It is related to Ancient Greek νεφέλη (nephélē…

It is inherited from Middle English neighborhode, formed from neighbor and -hood.

It is borrowed from Middle French neutral or directly borrowed from Latin neutrālis (“of neuter gender”), from neuter (“neither of two”) (see neuter). The sense of taking no side probably comes from…

It is inherited from Middle English orbe, borrowed from Middle French orbe (“sphere in which a celestial body moves”), recorded in Old French from about 1265, and directly borrowed from Latin orbis…

It is inherited from Middle English peculier, borrowed from Latin pecūliāris (“of one's own property; private, special”), perhaps partly through Old French peculiaire or peculier; the Anglo-Norman…

It is inherited from Middle English subordinat, borrowed from Medieval Latin subōrdinātus (“placed in a lower order, made subject”), the past participle of subōrdinō (“to place in a lower order”)…

It is inherited from Middle English unavoidāble, formed from English un- + avoidable. Avoidable is from English avoid + -able, and avoid is from Anglo-Norman avoider (“to clear out, withdraw”).

It is inherited from Middle English unberable, formed from English un- + bearable. Merriam-Webster takes the verb beren (“to bear”) itself as its base, with both affixes. bear is from Old English…

It is inherited from Middle English unspoken, also unspokun, formed from English un- + spoken, the past participle of speak. The OED and Etymonline compare ongesproken and ungesproken, and the OED…

It is inherited from Middle English abstraccioun, borrowed from Middle French abstraction and directly borrowed from Late Latin abstractiō (“separation”), from abstractus, the past participle of…

It is inherited from Middle English admirable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman admirable, also admirable; the OED also takes it directly from Latin admīrābilis (“deserving of wonder, astonishing, worthy…

It is borrowed from Latin āversus (“turned away”), the past participle of āvertō (“to turn away”), the source of avert. Barnhart and Etymonline take it partly borrowed from Old French avers…

It is inherited from Middle English bagage, borrowed from Middle French bagage (“belongings taken on a journey; the equipment of an army”), from bague (“a pack, bundle”) or the related verb baguer…

It is a compound from English blood + shed, with the past participle of the verb, modelled on the phrase “to shed blood”. Etymonline traces the verbal phrase to late Old English, as in "there was…

It is borrowed from Middle French brutal or directly Medieval Latin brutalis, from Latin brūtus (“heavy, dull, stupid”) (see brute).

It is formed from English bulk + -y. The MED records bulki, also boulky, from about 1450. The noun bulk first meant a heap or a ship's cargo, and probably comes from a Scandinavian source akin to…

It is a Middle English shortening of chatter, which is itself imitative of the sound of people talking.

It is formed from English child + birth. Child goes back to Old English ċild (“fetus, infant”), and birth was probably taken from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse *byrðr, replacing the…

It is borrowed from Latin circumventus, the past participle of circumveniō (“to come around, surround, beset; to deceive, cheat”), formed from circum- (“around”) and veniō (“to come”), from a…

It is inherited from Middle English commuten (“to change, transform”), borrowed from Latin commūtō (“to change altogether, exchange, interchange”), formed from com- (“together, altogether”) and mūtō…

The musical word is inherited from Middle English counterpoint, earlier conterpoint, borrowed from Old French contrepoint, from Medieval Latin contrapunctum, in cantus contrapunctus (“song pricked…

It is formed from English cream + -y, first in late Middle English as cremy. cream came into Middle English from Old French cresme, also craime, which was a blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”)…

It is inherited from Middle English cubik, borrowed from Old French cubique, used by Oresme in the 14th century, from Latin cubicus, from Ancient Greek κυβικός (kubikós), from κύβος (kúbos, “cube”)…

It is inherited from Middle English cubicle, borrowed from Latin cubiculum (“bedchamber”), from cubō (“to lie down, recline”) and the suffix -culum, forming nouns of place. Etymonline mentions a…

It is inherited from Middle English debite, also dubete, borrowed from Latin dēbitum (“something owed, a debt”), perhaps through Old French debet; the MED derives it from debite. The OED sees the…

It is formed from English deceit + -ful, Middle English desaitful. Deceit is from Old French deceite, the feminine past participle of deceveir, from Latin dēcipiō (“to ensnare, beguile, cheat”)…

It is inherited from Middle English deformacioun, also difformacioun, borrowed from Latin dēfōrmātiō (“disfigurement; also design, representation”) and its medieval variant difformātiō (“alteration…

It is inherited from Middle English departement, borrowed from Middle French departement (“division, sharing out; departure”) (modern département), from departir (“to divide”), from Late Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English dietarie, also diatorie, borrowed from Medieval Latin diētārium (“a book prescribing a diet or rule of living”), recorded from the 13th century in British…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin dīrēctōrium (“a guide”), the noun use of the neuter of Late Latin dīrēctōrius (“directive”), from Latin dīrēctus (“set straight”), the past participle of dīrigō…

It is inherited from Middle English divulgen, borrowed from Latin dīvulgō (“to spread among the people, publish, make common”). The American Heritage Dictionary takes it through Old French…

The adjective is formed from English dog + -y, the suffix that forms adjectives; the OED compares doggish, horsy and fishy. Merriam-Webster gives the Middle English base as dogge (“dog”), with the…

It is inherited from Middle English ejeccioun, borrowed from Latin ējectiō (“a casting out, banishment, exile”), perhaps also borrowed from French éjection. The Latin noun of action is formed from…

The history of the word is unclear. It is probably inherited from Middle English elk, inherited from Old English eolh, also elh and eolc, with k in place of the Old English h sound; Barnhart and…

It is borrowed from Latin ēmergēns (“arising out of”), the present participle of ēmergō (“to rise out, come forth”), from ē-, a form of ex- (“out”), and mergō (“to dip, sink”). Its first sense…

It is formed from English en- + trust, the noun taken with the prefix in its sense "put in". The variant intrust has in- instead. The second element is probably from Old Norse traust (“help…

It is a compound from English eye + brow. It replaced the older eye-bree, from eye and bree, which goes back to Old English ēagbrǣw, a word that meant "eyelid". Brow is from Old English brū, which…

It is inherited from Middle English fabricaten, borrowed from Latin fabricātus (“made, built”), the past participle of fabricor or fabricō (“to make, construct, build”), from fabrica (“workshop…

It is inherited from Middle English formacioun, borrowed from Old French formacion (“formation, fashioning, creation”) and directly from Latin formatio (“a forming, shaping”), a noun of action from…

It is inherited from Middle English formidable, borrowed from Middle French formidable, a learned borrowing from Latin formīdābilis (“causing fear, terrible”), from formīdāre (“to fear, dread”)…

It is inherited from Middle English forte, borrowed from Middle French fort, a noun use of Old French fort “strong, fortified”, from Latin fortis (“strong, brave”), from Old Latin forctus, of…

It is inherited from Middle English fragrant, also fragraunt, borrowed from Latin frāgrāns (“sweet-smelling”), the present participle of frāgrō (“to give off a smell, smell sweet”); the OED and the…

It is borrowed from Middle French fréquent or directly borrowed from Latin frequens (“crowded, repeated, in great numbers”), of uncertain origin; Watkins and Barnhart derive it from PIE…