English words first recorded in the 15th century

The adjective is borrowed from Latin dēgenerātus, the past participle of dēgenerō (“to fall away from an earlier standard, to depart from one's kind”), perhaps under the influence of Middle French…

1. The tax is borrowed from Middle Dutch excijs, recorded in Middle Dutch from 1406, an apparent alteration of accijs (“tax”) under the influence of Latin excīsus (“cut out”), the past participle of…

It is borrowed from Middle French memoire (“written account, record, memorandum”), a masculine noun recorded in Old French from about 1190, which was a specialized use of the feminine memoire…

It is formed from English perform + -ance, and Hoad suggests it may come from an Anglo-Norman *performance. The verb perform is from Middle English parfourmen, from Anglo-Norman parfourmer, an…

1. This tee is the name of the letter T, spelled out. The OED notes that some technical senses, a Scottish one of 1494–5 and a mining one of 1653, are obscure and may not belong here. The mark aimed…

It is imitative of the sound made by bees and other insects. Barnhart records the verb as buss in 1530 and the verbal noun bussing in 1495; Etymonline dates the verb to the late 15th century and…

It is formed from English commit + -ee, “one to whom something is committed”, after Anglo-Norman comité, the past participle of cometre “to commit”, which replaced Old French commis, from Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin dēlētus, the past participle of dēlēre (“to destroy, blot out, efface”), a back-formation from dēlēvī, originally the perfect of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”)…

Etymonline and Merriam-Webster form it from English disagree + -ment; the Shorter Oxford derives it from the verb after agreement. The OED, revised in 2017, takes it as dis- plus agreement, after…

It is short for jean fustian, Middle English Gene fustian “fustian of Genoa”, from Gene, Jene, the English name of Genoa, borrowed from Old French Janne (modern French Gênes), from Medieval Latin…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin nōtōrius (“well known, commonly known”), with the English suffix -ous, from Latin nōtus (“known”), the past participle of nōscō (“to get to know”), from…

The verb is a later variant of slent, inherited from Middle English slenten (“to slip, glide or strike obliquely”), which the OED derives borrowed from Old Norse *slenta, comparing Norwegian slenta…

It is probably borrowed from Dutch snappen (“to snap, seize”) or Low German snappen, partly imitative; it is cognate with German schnappen and Old Norse snapa, and probably related to Middle Dutch…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin zēlōsus (“ardent, fervent; full of zeal”), recorded from the 5th or 6th century of an emotion, and of a group of people since the 7th. The Latin adjective is…

It is formed from English bend + -er. Dictionary.com notes that it already occurs in Middle English surnames, and dates it to 1200–1250. The slang sense "drinking bout" is of uncertain motivation…

1. The noun for something that fills is formed from English fill + -er, an agent noun from the verb. Fill is from Old English fyllan. 2. The coin is borrowed from Hungarian fillér. In Hungarian it…

1. The cleaning implement appears first as inherited from Middle English mappe, probably a shortening of the earlier mappel (also mapolt and mappold), a mop for cleaning an oven or a boat, which the…

1. The pledge is inherited from Middle English paun, borrowed from Middle French pan (“pledge, security; booty”) (also pant), from a Germanic source, probably Frankish, from Proto-West Germanic…

It is borrowed from Latin postpōnō (“to put after; to treat as less important; to neglect; to put off”), from post (“after”) and pōnō (“to put, place”), the verb that is also the source of position…

It is borrowed from Middle French victime, and directly from Latin victima (“animal offered as a sacrifice”), a word of uncertain origin. It is perhaps related to vicis “turn, occasion”, as in…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin causātiō (“action of causing”), recorded in British sources from the 14th century, from causō (“to bring about, produce”), from Latin causa (“a cause, reason”). In…

The verb is a back-formation from English dawning, from Middle English dauing, dawninge, which replaced from Old English dagung, from dagian (“to become day”), from the root of dæg (“day”) (see…

The origin is uncertain. Many dictionaries take it as borrowed from French tant pour tant (“so much for so much, tit for tat”), first brought into English as taunt pour taunt and taunt for taunt…

It is inherited from Middle English adopten, borrowed from Middle French adopter and directly borrowed from Latin adoptāre (“to choose for oneself; to adopt as a child”), from ad (“to”) and optāre…

It is borrowed from Middle French agile (“able to move quickly and easily”), recorded in French from about 1327, and directly borrowed from Latin agilis (“nimble, swift, quick, active”), formed from…

It is borrowed from Latin applicāns (“applying”), the present participle of applicō (“to attach, join, apply”), with the ending that became the English suffix -ant; the Latin verb is formed from ad-…

It is borrowed from Latin blandus (“flattering, persuasive, gentle, soothing”), whose origin is uncertain. The OED compares Middle French bland (“flattering”), used of words in the 15th century…

It is probably of imitative origin, or a blend from English clap + crash; compare Dutch kletsen, splash, and German klatschen. Barnhart notes an echoic element in many English words ending in -ash…

The OED takes it either borrowed from Medieval Latin conservantia (“preservation, maintenance”), recorded from the 13th century in British sources, or as formed from English conserve + -ancy; the…

It is probably from children's speech, perhaps imitating a young child's first syllables da, da. Such words are nearly universal and probably prehistoric: compare Welsh tad, Irish daid, Lithuanian…

It is formed from English dad + -y, a colloquial diminutive. Barnhart notes that dadye (before 1529) is recorded before dad (1553), and that both are of uncertain origin but probably from children's…

It is formed from English dive + -er. Etymonline finds it as a surname from the mid 13th century. The verb dive is from Middle English diven, from the merger of Old English dȳfan (“to dip…

It is borrowed from Middle French grandeur, which the OED takes as French in general, formed from grand (“great”) and the suffix -eur; the Old French form was grandor (12th century). Grand is from…

It is formed from English heat + -er, an agent noun from the verb heat. Merriam-Webster traces it to Middle English heter, from heten (“to heat”) with the suffix -er.

The word is of unknown or uncertain origin. It was originally Scots. Jamieson and others connected it with heave, because the eruptions rise above the skin, but the OED and Etymonline find this hard…

It is the same word as human, once an ordinary variant spelling of it, with a form and stress that Etymonline thinks may suggest a closer link with Latin than with French. Both are inherited from…

It is formed from English ill + -ness. Ill is from Old Norse illr (“evil, bad; hard, difficult”), a word of unknown further origin that is not related to evil.

It is formed from English in- + lay, with the first element meaning "into" or, as Etymonline has it, the adverb in. The noun comes from the verb.

It is borrowed from Middle French moderne and directly borrowed from Late Latin modernus, a word used by Priscian and Cassiodorus, probably modelled on hodiernus (“of today”), from Latin modo (“just…

Its origin is unknown or uncertain. The OED suggests it may be a special use of the Middle English noun mund, mund (“hand; protection, guardianship”), and compares the isolated Old English mundbeorg…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French négociation (“commercial activity”) and partly borrowed from Latin negōtiātiō (“business, trade, a commercial transaction”), a noun of action from negōtior…

It is inherited from Middle English normal, borrowed from Late Latin normālis (“in conformity with rule, normal”), in classical Latin “made according to a carpenter's square”, from Latin norma…

It is apparently from English odd, its plural used as a noun, or of the obsolete noun odd, an odd number, although the exact sense development is uncertain.

It is borrowed from Middle French paragraphe and directly from Medieval Latin paragraphus, a sign marking a new section, from Greek παράγραφος (parágraphos, “short stroke in the margin marking a…

It is borrowed from Middle French passeport (“authorization to pass through a port”), from passe, the imperative of passer, to pass (see pass), and port, harbour, seaport (see port).

It is formed from English point + -er, partly from the verb and partly from the noun. The verb and the noun point come ultimately from Latin pungō (“to prick, pierce”). An earlier poyntour…

It is borrowed from Latin potentia (“power, influence, ability, efficacy”), from potēns (“powerful, potent”), with the noun suffix -ia. Etymonline traces the adjective to potis (“powerful, able…

It is borrowed from Arabic رمضان (ramaḍān), in the earlier forms partly through Turkish ramazan and Persian, where the word is pronounced with z, and partly through other European languages: the OED…

It is borrowed from Latin regressiō (“a going back, return, withdrawal”), a noun of action from regressus, the past participle of regredior (“to go back”). The verb is formed from re- (“back”) and…

It is inherited from Middle English revisiten, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman revisiter (“to visit again”) and Middle French revisiter, and partly formed from English re- + visit. The Middle…

1. The plant is borrowed from Middle French roquette, from Italian rochetta, a variant of ruchetta, diminutive of ruca (“a kind of cabbage”), from Latin ērūca (“colewort; caterpillar”), a word of…

It is formed from English run + away, as a noun and adjective use of the phrasal verb run away, to flee. Etymonline dates the verbal phrase, in the sense of fleeing from danger, to the late 14th…

It is inherited from Middle English sausige, borrowed from Old Northern French saussiche, the northern form of salsice (modern saucisse). The French word continues Late Latin salsīcia, which…

It is from Latin silēns (“still, calm, quiet”), present participle of sileō “to be quiet or still”. MWU relates the Latin verb to Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (anasilan) “to subside” and Latin sinō “to let go”…

It is borrowed from French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“little boat”), of Germanic origin, probably from Old High German scif (“ship, boat”), and so related to ship. Hoad gives the immediate…

It is from English slipper (“slippery”) + -y, an extended form of the older adjective, from Middle English sliper, also slipper, inherited from Old English slipor (“slippery, not easy to hold”)…

It is probably an alteration of earlier quease, to press (about 1550). This is inherited from Middle English quysen (“to squeeze”), inherited from Old English cwȳsan, also cwiesan, a word of unknown…

1. The compartment is inherited from Middle English stal, inherited from Old English steall (“standing place, position; stable”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *stallaz. It is cognate with Old…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin tonālis (“of or relating to musical tone”), recorded in the 11th century, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”) and the suffix -ālis. The noun comes from tonāle, the…

It is borrowed from Russian тундра (túndra), from Kildin Sami тӯндар (tūndar, “flat-topped hill”), through its accusative and genitive form тӯндрэ (tūndre). The OED and the Shorter Oxford take the…