English words first recorded in the 15th century

It is formed from English poison + -ous. Poison is from Old French poison (“a drink”), from Latin pōtiō (“a drinking”).

It is inherited from Middle English populous, borrowed from Latin populōsus (“full of people”), formed from populus (“people”) and the suffix -ōsus. The OED treats the source as classical Latin…

It is formed from Middle English practic “dealing with practical matters” or the noun practic “method, practice, use” and the suffix -al, partly from Medieval Latin practicalis. Practic is from Old…

It is inherited from Middle English preceden, borrowed from Middle French preceder, modern French précéder, and directly borrowed from Latin praecēdō (“to go before”). Etymonline, the Middle English…

It is inherited from Middle English predicament, borrowed from Middle French predicament, recorded in Old French from about 1245 as a term of philosophy, and directly borrowed from Late Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English preparatori, borrowed from Latin praeparātōrius (“that serves to prepare”), from praeparātus, the past participle of praeparō (“to make ready beforehand”), with…

It is inherited from Middle English preventen, borrowed from Latin praeventus, past participle of praeveniō (“to come before, anticipate, hinder”), from prae- (“before”) and veniō (“to come”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English primarie, borrowed from Latin prīmārius (“of the first rank, chief, principal, excellent”), in Late Latin also “basic, primary”, from prīmus (“first”), the source…

It is from Medieval Latin proba (“examination”), in Late Latin a test or proof, from Latin probō, to test, prove (see prove).

It is inherited from Middle English producen, borrowed from Latin prōdūcō (“to lead forth, bring forth, draw out”), from prō- (“forth”) and dūcō (“to lead, bring”), from Proto-Indo-European *deuk-…

It is inherited from Middle English progresse, borrowed from Latin prōgressus (“an advance, a going forward”), partly through Old French progres, from the past participle of prōgredior (“to go…

It is inherited from Middle English prohibiten, borrowed from Latin prohibitus, the past participle of prohibeō (“to hold back, hinder, forbid”), formed from prō- (“in front, forth”) and habeō (“to…

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman prohibicion, also spelled prohibicioun, and Middle French prohibition, and partly a direct borrowing of Latin prohibitiō (“a hindering, prevention; a legal…

It is inherited from Middle English prolongen, borrowed from Middle French prolonguer, also prolonger, and directly borrowed from Late Latin prōlongō (“to lengthen, extend”), formed from prō-…

It is inherited from Middle English prosecuten, borrowed from Latin prōsecūtus, the past participle of prōsequor (“to follow after, accompany; to chase, pursue”), which is formed from prō-…

It is inherited from Middle English prospecte, borrowed from Latin prōspectus (“outlook, distant view”), from the past participle of prōspicere (“to look out on, look forward”), from prō-, forward…

It is inherited from Middle English prosperous, also prosperose, prosperus and prospereux, borrowed from Old French prospereus, from prosperer (“to prosper”), with the suffix -ous. Etymonline and…

It is inherited from Middle English provocacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman provocacion and Middle French provocation, and directly borrowed from Latin prōvocātiō (“a calling forth, a summoning, a…

It is borrowed from Late Latin quālitātīvus (“concerned with quality”), which the OED records from the 6th century and frequently from the 12th in British sources; Etymonline, Klein, the AHD and the…

It is inherited from Middle English quil, also quille, of uncertain origin. The OED takes it as probably a Germanic word cognate with Low German quiele and kīl and Middle High German kīl (“shaft of…

It is a Scottish and northern English form, inherited from Old English rād (“a riding, journey; expedition, raid”), the source of road, cognate with Old Norse reið (“a riding, raid”).

It is inherited from Middle English rarite, borrowed from Middle French rarité, also rareté, and directly borrowed from Latin rāritās (“looseness of texture, sparseness, infrequency”), from rārus…

1. The proportion is inherited from Middle English rate, borrowed from Middle French rate (“price, value”) and directly Medieval Latin rata, short for Latin prō ratā parte (“according to a fixed…

It is formed from English read + -able, first as inherited from Middle English redable, originally after Medieval Latin legibilis (“legible”). The verb goes back to Old English rǣdan (“to advise…

It is inherited from Middle English recent (“new, fresh”), borrowed from Latin recēns (“lately done or made; new, fresh, young”), accusative recentem, also through récent. Latin recēns is of…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin receptīvus (“capable of receiving”), common in British sources from about 1200, formed from receptus, the past participle of recipiō (“to take back, receive”), and…

It is inherited from Middle English reclinen, borrowed from Middle French recliner and directly borrowed from Latin reclīnō (“to bend back, lean back; to lay down”), formed from re- (“back…

1. The verb meaning to refresh is inherited from Middle English recreaten, borrowed from Latin recreō (“to create anew; to restore, refresh, revive”), from its past participle recreātus, formed from…

It is borrowed from Latin reflexus (“a bending back, turning point”), a verbal noun formed from reflex-, the past participial stem of reflectō (“to bend back”), itself formed from re- (“back”) and…

It is inherited from Middle English refunden, borrowed from Old French refunder (“to restore”) and directly Latin refundō (“to pour back, give back, restore”), from re- (“back”) and fundō (“to…

It is inherited from Middle English regulaten, borrowed from Late Latin rēgulātus, the past participle of rēgulō (“to control by rule, direct”), from Latin rēgula (“rule, straight piece of wood”)…

It is inherited from Middle English reiteraten, borrowed from Late Latin reiterātus, the past participle of reiterō (“to repeat”), recorded from the 6th century. The Latin verb is formed from re-…

It is inherited from Middle English relaxacioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman relaxacion, also relaxation, and directly Latin relaxātiō (“an easing, loosening, mitigation”). The Anglo-Norman noun is…

It is inherited from Middle English relegacioun, also religacioun, partly borrowed from Middle French relegacion, recorded in French from before 1374, and partly directly borrowed from Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English renovacioun, partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman renovation and renovacion, partly borrowed from Latin renovātiō (“a renewing, renewal”), a noun of action from…

It is inherited from Middle English repellen, also rapelen, borrowed from Latin repellō (“to drive back, repulse, reject”), and partly borrowed from Old French repeller. The Latin verb is formed…

It is inherited from Middle English repeticioun, borrowed from Middle French repeticion and directly borrowed from Latin repetītiō (“a repeating”). In Old French the word is recorded from 1295 for…

It is inherited from Middle English replicaten (“to repeat”), borrowed from Latin replicātus, the past participle of replicō. In classical Latin the verb meant to fold or bend back, to unroll a…

It is probably partly borrowed from Middle French repressif, partly borrowed from Medieval Latin repressīvus, and partly formed from English repress + -ive. Etymonline gives the French and Latin…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French repulsif (“that repels or resists”) (modern répulsif), recorded from about 1400, and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin repulsīvus (“repellent”), found in…

It is borrowed from Latin resolūtus (“loosened, slack, unrestrained”), the past participle of resolvō (“to loosen, untie, relax”), which is formed from re- (“back”) and solvō (“to loosen”), the…

It is inherited from Middle English restriccioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman restriction and Middle French restriction, as well as restrictiō (“limitation”), a noun of action from restrictus, the…

It is inherited from Middle English restrictif, borrowed from Middle French restrictif and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin restrictīvus (“tending to stop the flow of body fluids”). In French…

It is inherited from Middle English reviven, borrowed from Anglo-Norman reviver, also revivre, and its source Late Latin revīvō (“to live again”), recorded from the 5th century, formed from Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin rigidus (“stiff, unbending, frozen, stern”), formed on rigeō (“to be stiff”) with the adjective suffix that became -id. Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford allow a…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman rigorous and Middle French rigoreux, now rigoureux, formed from the noun for rigor with the suffix that gives English -ous. Etymonline takes the French word from…

1. The bell-ringer is formed from English ring + -er, from the verb meaning to sound a bell, first as Middle English ringer, from ringen. The verb ring is from Old English hringan (“to cause a bell…

It is a compound from English river + side, formed in Middle English. Dictionary.com gives the Middle English spelling river-syde and dates it 1325–75.

It is borrowed from Middle French rouge (“red; red colouring”), a noun use of the adjective meaning red, which is recorded in Old French from about 1130, from Latin rubeus (“red, reddish”), related…

It is inherited from Middle English ruptūre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman rupture (also Middle French rupture), and directly borrowed from Latin ruptūra (“breaking of a limb, fracture”), from ruptus…

It is inherited from Middle English sanccion, borrowed from Middle French sanction or directly borrowed from Latin sānctiō (“the act of decreeing; a decree, ordinance”), beside Medieval Latin…

It is inherited from Middle English sanite (“health”), borrowed from Middle French sanité (“health”), and directly borrowed from Latin sānitās (“health, soundness of body; soundness of mind…

It is the noun use of the adjective scurvy “covered with scurf” (early 15th century), formed from scurf and the suffix -y, at first only a variant of scurfy. As the name of the disease it was…

It is inherited from Middle English sensual, also sensuel, borrowed from Middle French sensuel and directly borrowed from Late Latin sēnsuālis (“relating to the senses; endowed with feeling”), which…

It is inherited from Middle English separaten, borrowed from Latin sēparātus, past participle of sēparō (“to pull apart”), from sē- (“apart”) and parō (“to make ready, prepare”), from…

It is inherited from Middle English servitude, borrowed from Anglo-Norman servitude and Middle French servitude, recorded in Old French from the late 13th century, and directly borrowed from Late…

It is inherited from Middle English synnes, syns, a contraction of sithenes, formed from sithen (“after that, since”) with the adverbial genitive ending -es; sithen is in turn inherited from Old…

It is inherited from Middle English sinus, borrowed from Medieval Latin sinus (“a hollow in the body”), from Latin sinus (“bend, fold, curve; bay, gulf; the fold of the toga over the breast…

It is formed from English stink + -y. A Middle English adjective stinkī, having an offensive smell, was formed in the same way from the noun stink, and the Shorter Oxford treats it as the same word…

It is borrowed from Latin strictus (“drawn together, tight, rigid”), the past participle of stringere (“to draw or bind tight”) (see strain). It is a doublet of strait.