English words first recorded in the 15th century

The adjective is borrowed from Latin dēsignātus (“marked out, indicated; appointed but not yet installed”), the past participle of dēsignō (“to mark out, devise, choose, appoint”), formed from dē-…

It is formed from English dis- + content. The adjective, the oldest use, adds the prefix to the adjective content, satisfied; the verb adds it to the verb, perhaps after Middle French descontenter…

It is inherited from Middle English diversifien, borrowed from Middle French diversifier, recorded in Old French from the 13th century; the Anglo-Norman form diversefier is recorded from 1155. The…

It is borrowed from Old French enforcement (“strengthening; compulsion”), from enforcier “to strengthen, compel”, so that it is related to enforce and force.

It is inherited from Middle English expiacioun, borrowed from Latin expiātiō (“satisfaction, atonement”), a noun of action from expiō (“to make amends for, atone for; purge by sacrifice”), from ex-…

It is inherited from Middle English exterminacioun, borrowed from Latin exterminātiō (“expulsion, banishment”), which in Late Latin also meant annihilation or destruction. It is the noun of action…

It is inherited from Middle English fabricacioun, borrowed from Latin fabricātiō (“a framing, construction”), a noun of action from fabricātus, the past participle of fabricō (“to make, construct…

It is formed from English fish + -y, first recorded in Middle English as fishi.

It is inherited from Middle English generosite, borrowed from Latin generōsitās (“good breeding, nobility, excellence, magnanimity”), which the American Heritage Dictionary takes through Old French…

It is inherited from Middle English hy, probably a variant of Middle English hei, hey, a natural exclamation.

It is borrowed from Latin īnferior (“lower, farther down”), the comparative of īnferus (“that is below or beneath”). Etymonline and Weekley derive īnferus from īnfrā (“below”), while Skeat notes…

It is borrowed from Latin inventus (“found”), the past participle of inveniō (“to come upon, find, devise”), formed from in- (“on, upon”) and veniō (“to come”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷā-…

It is inherited from Middle English itinerarie, borrowed from Late Latin itinerārium (“account of a journey, road-book”), the noun use of the neuter of itinerārius (“of a journey”), from Latin iter…

It is inherited from Middle English legalite, borrowed from Medieval Latin lēgālitās (“lawful behaviour; loyalty”), from Latin lēgālis (“pertaining to the law”), the source of legal, with the suffix…

It is inherited from Middle English mathematicion, borrowed from Middle French mathématicien, recorded in French from about 1371; Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English give Old French…

It is inherited from Middle English menglen, formed from Middle English mengen + -len with a frequentative suffix, perhaps after Middle Dutch mengelen or Middle High German mengeln. The base, also…

It is inherited from Middle English neutralite, borrowed from Middle French neutralité or directly Medieval Latin neutrālitās, from Latin neutrālis (“neutral; of neuter gender”), from neuter…

It is formed from English oil + -y. Etymonline finds it in the late 14th century as oilei. The OED notes that the Scots forms were probably at first oil used before a noun, later taken by speakers…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin permissibilis (“that can be permitted, allowable”), recorded in a British source about 1290, from Latin permissus (“permitted”), the past participle of permittō…

It is inherited from Middle English piteable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman piteable (“compassionate; deserving compassion”) and Middle French pitiable, now French pitoyable. The OED and…

It is formed from English play + -able, first as plaiabil. The verb is from Old English plegan (“to move lightly and quickly; to amuse oneself”), also plegian, from Proto-West Germanic *plegōjanan…

It is formed from English politic + -s, on the model of Middle French politiques (“public affairs, government”), also the title of Aristotle's treatise, and of Medieval Latin politica, ultimately…

It is inherited from Middle English precipitacioun, partly borrowed from Middle French précipitation and partly directly from Latin praecipitātiō (“headlong descent or fall; haste”). In classical…

It is borrowed from Latin praevalēns (“very strong or powerful”), the present participle of praevaleō (“to be stronger, be more able”), the verb behind prevail, a compound of prae- (“before”) and…

It is inherited from Middle English prosodie, also prosodye, partly borrowed from Middle French prosodie and partly borrowed from Latin prosōdia (“accent of a syllable”), from Ancient Greek προσῳδία…

It is borrowed from Latin prōverbiālis (“of the nature of a proverb”), from prōverbium (“proverb”) and the suffix -ālis. The OED dates the Latin adjective to the 2nd century AD and notes that…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman keu, queue, and Middle French queue (“tail”), from Old French cue, coe, recorded from about 1100 for an animal's tail, which continues Latin cauda (“tail”), in the…

It is inherited from Middle English residen (“to remain at a place”), partly borrowed from Middle French resider (“to stay, live, dwell”) and partly from its source, Latin resideō (“to sit; to…

The OED takes it partly as borrowed from Middle French subsistence (“hypostasis; the fact of subsisting by oneself”) and partly as borrowed from Late Latin subsistentia (“existence; substance…

It is inherited from Middle English transgressen, borrowed from Old French transgresser and directly borrowed from Latin trānsgressus, the past participle of trānsgredior (“to step across, go…

It is borrowed from Middle Dutch wagen (“wagon, cart”), from Proto-Germanic *wagnaz, which also gave Old English wæġn, the source of wain, Old Norse vagn, Old High German wagan and German Wagen…

It is formed from English load + -er, in Middle English as loder, from loden (“to load”). The verb is from the Middle English noun lod, and ultimately from Old English lād (“way, course, journey…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman amasser and Middle French amasser, a verb found in Old French from the 12th century, formed from a- (“to”), from Latin ad-, and masser (“to gather into a mass”)…

Barnhart and the American Heritage Dictionary treat it as a fusion of two related words, both from the Latin family of curve. The strap for a horse, inherited from Middle English corbe (1477), seems…

It is borrowed from French déployer (“to unroll, unfold”), in Old French desployer, earlier despleier, from Latin displicō (“to unfold, scatter”), formed from dis- (“apart”) and plicō (“to fold”)…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman directour and French directeur, from Late Latin dīrēctor, from dīrēctus, past participle of dīrigō (“to set straight, arrange, direct”), from dis- (“apart”) and regō…

It is borrowed from Old French desloial, also desleal, modern French déloyal, formed from des- (“not, opposite of”), from Latin dis-, and loial (“faithful, honourable, law-abiding”), the source of…

The verb is from English dis- + order, replacing earlier disordeine (14th century), which was from Old French desordener (“to throw into disorder”), from Medieval Latin disordinō, from Latin dis-…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman dividende, from Latin dīvidendum (“thing to be divided”), the neuter gerundive of dīvidō (“to divide”). Barnhart calls the French form Middle French. Early English…

It is inherited from Middle English extraccioun, borrowed from Middle French extraction, which comes from Late Latin extractiō (the OED calls it medieval Latin), a noun of action formed on…

It is from English graduate + -ation, after Medieval Latin graduātiō.

It is inherited from Middle English industrie (“skill”), borrowed from Old French industrie (“activity; aptitude, experience”), or directly from Latin industria (“diligence, activity, zeal”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English jugge, a variant of jubbe, a fairly large container for liquor recorded from about 1390, whose own origin is uncertain. The origin of jug is likewise uncertain…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French metaphore (Old French metafore, about 1275) and partly borrowed from Latin metaphora, from Ancient Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá, “a transfer, especially of the…

It is borrowed from Middle French mutuel, from Latin mutuus (“lent, borrowed; reciprocal”), related to mūtāre (“to change, exchange”) (see mutate), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“to change…

Most dictionaries take the verb as a back-formation from perplexed, which extended an older adjective of the same spelling, now obsolete. The OED, revised in December 2005, instead derives the verb…

The verb is inherited from Middle English retarden, borrowed from Middle French retarder (“to hold back, delay”) and directly borrowed from Latin retardō (“to make slow, delay, hinder”). The French…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French séduire, whose stem séduis- gave the earliest English form, seduisen, used by Caxton in 1477, and partly borrowed from Latin sēdūcō (“to lead aside or away…

It is borrowed from Middle French trait (“pull, stroke, line, feature”), literally something drawn, from Latin tractus (“a drawing out, dragging; later a line drawn, a feature”), the past participle…

It is borrowed from Old French voyagier, which the OED also gives as veaigier and voyager (modern voyageur); the OED allows that it may instead have been formed from English voyage + -er. Johnson…

1. The adjective meaning slippery is inherited from Middle English sliper, also slipper, inherited from Old English slipor (“slippery”), from Proto-Germanic *slipraz; Heidermanns finds it only in…

It is borrowed from Middle French peste (“epidemic, bubonic plague”), from Latin pestis (“plague, pestilence; destruction, bane”), a word of unknown or uncertain origin. The “Shorter Oxford”, Hoad…

It is borrowed from Middle French amuser (“to divert; to cause to muse”), from amuser (“to fool, deceive, entrap”), formed from a- (“to”), from Latin ad-, and muser (“to ponder, stare fixedly”), the…

It is a back-formation from Middle English mixte (“mingled, blended”) or mixed, borrowed from Anglo-Norman mixte, from Latin mixtus, past participle of misceō (“to mix, mingle, blend”), from…

It is borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, concealed, secret”), the past participle of occulō (“to cover over, hide”), and Etymonline and Barnhart see it as partly also borrowed from Middle French…

It is borrowed from Middle French poterie, from Old French poterie, from potier (“potter”), from pot (“pot”) with the suffix -ier, later with -erie. In Old French the word meant the art of making…

It is borrowed from Middle French proximité (“nearness”), from Latin proximitās (“nearness, vicinity”), from proximus (“nearest, next”), the superlative of prope (“near”) (see approximate and…

It is formed from English stop + -er, an agent noun from the verb. Merriam-Webster gives it as Middle English, from stoppen (“to stop”). The verb goes back to Old English forstoppian (“to stop up…

It is formed from English un- + marked, "not" and the past participle of the verb mark, first in late Middle English as unmarked, with merken, marken for the verb. Similar formations are Old Norse…

It is a blend from Middle English aknow (“to admit”) + knowlechen (“to admit or acknowledge”) (see knowledge), formed perhaps on the analogy of aknow and know. Aknow is from Old English oncnāwan…