English words first recorded in the 15th century

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…

It is inherited from Middle English conduitour, borrowed from Old French conduitor, from Latin conductor (“one who hires, contractor”), in Late Latin also "a carrier", the agent noun of condūcō (“to…

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēgenerātiō (“process of degenerating, decline”), perhaps also borrowed from Middle French dégénération. The OED, revising the entry in 2024, takes it from Latin and…

It is formed from English dis- + approve. The OED compares desapprouver, French désapprouver, to censure (1413, rare before 1535), and the earlier English verb disprove. Barnhart instead takes it as…

It is borrowed from Middle French émeri, also émeril, from Old French esmeril, which goes back to Italian smeriglio. Etymonline and Barnhart take the Italian word from Vulgar Latin *smyrilium, while…

It is borrowed from Latin fallācia (“deceit, trick, artifice”), an abstract noun formed from fallāx (“deceptive”) with the suffix -ia, from fallō (“to deceive”). In post-classical Latin the noun…

It is borrowed from Middle French juriste, which Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary call Old French, with Etymonline dating it to the 14th century. The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford…

It is inherited from Middle English lucke, luk, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch luc, a shortening of ghelucke “happiness, good fortune”, modern Dutch geluk; its cognates include Middle High…

It is either borrowed from Middle French maternel or its probable source borrowed from Medieval Latin māternālis, formed from Latin māternus (“of a mother”) + -ālis; Barnhart suggests that…

It is borrowed from Latin minus (“less”), the neuter of minor, smaller (see minor), from a suffixed form of a root meaning “small”. The sense “subtracted from” did not exist in Latin of any period…

It is borrowed from Middle French severité, modern sévérité, recorded in Anglo-Norman from about 1240, or directly Latin sevēritās (“seriousness, strictness, sternness”), formed from sevērus…

1. The verb is Middle English sheden, inherited from Old English scēadan (“to divide, separate; to scatter”), from Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną, cognate with Old Saxon skēthan, Dutch scheiden, German…

It is inherited from Middle English intercessour, borrowed from Latin intercessor (“one who intervenes, mediator”), and Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford add a French source, Middle French…

It is formed from English out- + set, with the noun set. Merriam-Webster explains the sense "beginning" as modelled on the phrasal verb set out, and the OED compares that phrasal verb and the verb…

The noun is of uncertain or unknown origin. It is not found in Middle English, and in early use it occurs mostly in phrases such as “pangs of death” and those of childbirth. Hoad, the Shorter…

It was formed from English seize + -ure, in Middle English seisure, from seisen (“to seize”). The verb comes from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; to put in possession”), from saciō (“to…

It is formed from English touch + stone, with touch in the Middle English sense of testing metal on such a stone, in Etymonline's account. The OED thinks it was perhaps modelled on Middle French…

It is borrowed from Old French anoncier (“to announce, proclaim”), from Latin annūntiāre (“to bring news to”), from ad- (“to”) and nūntiāre (“to report”), from nuntius (“messenger”), of unknown…

It is borrowed from Late Latin audībilis (“able to be heard”), recorded from the 4th century, perhaps partly through Middle French audible. The Latin adjective is formed from Latin audiō (“to hear”)…

It is borrowed from Latin docilis (“easily taught”), or, according to the OED, borrowed from French docile, recorded in French from the 16th century. Barnhart suspects a passage through Italian…

It is borrowed from Middle French fabrique, from Latin fabrica (“workshop; a skilful production, structure”), from faber, an artisan in hard materials, from Proto-Italic *fafro-, from…

It is borrowed from Middle French harmoniser (“to bring into harmony”), recorded in French in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the English verb was earlier also armonise. The French verb is formed…

It is borrowed from Latin interrogātus, the past participle of interrogō (“to ask, question, examine”), which is formed from inter- (“between, at intervals”) and rogō (“to ask”). Barnhart and…

It is inherited from Middle English paradygme, borrowed from Late Latin paradīgma (“pattern, example”), which was a technical term of rhetoric from the late 3rd century and in grammar meant a table…

It is borrowed from Middle French scolastique, also scholastique, and directly borrowed from Latin scholasticus (“of a school of rhetoric; a student or teacher there”), from Ancient Greek…

It is borrowed from Middle French serf (“vassal, servant, slave”), from Latin servus (“slave”) (accusative servum), see serve. Weekley thought the Latin word originally meant a keeper of cattle…

It first appeared as inherited from Middle English tardive, also tardif and tardyve, borrowed from Middle French tardif (“slow, late”), feminine tardive, with the ending later reduced to -y under…

It is inherited from Middle English unacceptabylle, made up of un- and acceptable.

1. The OED explains it as partly from English bank + -er, formed on the money sense of bank after the French word, and partly borrowed from Middle French banquier, from Italian banchiere (13th…

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman delinquant (“criminal, offender”), also Middle French delinquant, the present participle of delinquer (“to offend, fail”) used as a noun and adjective, and…

It is borrowed from Middle French facile (“easy, straightforward”) and directly borrowed from Latin facilis (“easy to do; of persons, pliant, courteous”). The French word, which the OED records in…

It is formed from English precedent + -ence, probably partly after Middle French précédence (“priority, pre-eminence”), recorded from 1532. Etymonline also allows a borrowing of Medieval Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English prophetik, borrowed from Middle French prophétique (“relating to a prophecy”) and directly borrowed from Late Latin prophēticus (“uttered by a prophet”), from…

It is formed from English up- + bringing, or, as other dictionaries put it, from the obsolete verb upbring, to rear, with the suffix -ing. That verb is upbringen, formed from up and bringen (“to…

1. The instrument is first inherited from Middle English viel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman viele and Old French vielle, later assimilated to or replaced by viole and Middle French viole, with the…

It is borrowed from Middle French avantageux (“profitable, beneficial, favourable”), recorded in French from 1418, from avantage, the source of advantage, and the suffix -eux, English -ous…

It is borrowed from Middle French brave (“splendid, valiant”), from Italian bravo (“brave, bold, fine”) or Spanish bravo (“courageous, wild, savage”), a word of uncertain origin. Many derive it from…

It is borrowed from Middle French élégant and directly Latin ēlegāns (“choice, fine, tasteful”), usually explained as the present participle of an unattested *ēlegō, a parallel form of ēligō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English estraungen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman estraunger and Old French estranger, also estrangier, modern French étranger. These are from Latin extrāneāre (“to treat as…

It is borrowed from Latin exit (“he or she goes out”), the third person singular present of exeō (“to go out”), from ex- (“out”) and eō (“to go”), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *ei- (“to go”). The…

It is borrowed from Latin exportāre (“to carry out, send away”), from ex- (“out”) and portāre (“to carry”) (see port), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to lead, pass over”).

It is formed from English fire + ball. The OED compares Dutch vuurbal (“burning projectile”) (1552), Middle Low German vǖrbal and German Feuerball (1525).

It is formed from English main (“chief, principal”) + stay (“a strong rope supporting a mast”), and began as a sailors' word. Merriam-Webster gives the Middle English form as mayne stay. The rope…

It is a compound from English mid + term, also spelled with a hyphen.

It is inherited from Middle English momentare, borrowed from Latin mōmentārius (“of brief duration, temporary, short-lived”), which the OED treats as classical Latin and Etymonline as Late Latin…

It is borrowed from Late Latin nocturnālis (“of the night”), a word recorded from the 5th century; Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster also allow a borrowing from Middle French nocturnal. The…

It is an agent noun formed from English provide + -er.

It is borrowed from Latin quasi (“as if, as it were, almost”), and in its first uses partly borrowed from Middle French quasi, formed from quam (“as, how”) and sī (“if”). Hoad explains it as a…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin quotātiō (“numbering, reckoning”), from the stem of quotātus, the past participle of quotō (“to number, mark with numbers”), which was formed from Latin quotus…

It is formed from English re- + enforce, in the older spelling inforce, after the earlier verb renforce (about 1473–1668), with which it overlaps in meaning. That verb is from Middle French…

It is borrowed from Latin repositōrium, partly borrowed from Middle French repositoire (“a storehouse”), according to Barnhart, Etymonline, Hoad and Skeat; the OED only compares the French word. In…

It is borrowed from Latin ventilātiō (“exposure to the air”), a noun of action from ventilātus, the past participle of ventilō (“to fan, winnow, brandish, toss in the air”), from ventulus (“a…

The origin is disputed. It is probably borrowed from Middle Low German ballast, recorded from the second half of the 14th century; the OED also allows Dutch ballast (1399) or Middle French ballast…

It is an agent noun from English mark + -er. Old English had mearcere (“writer, notary”), glossing Latin notārius (“clerk”), but the word is not found again until the late 15th century, so the…