English words first recorded in the 16th century

It is borrowed from Middle French germe (“shoot, sprout”), from Latin germen (“sprout, shoot, bud”), from gen-, the stem of gignō (“to beget”), and the suffix -men, with dissimilation of n to r from…

It is borrowed from Middle French heredité (“that which is inherited, hereditary succession”) and its source borrowed from Latin hērēditās (“inheritance, position of heir”), formed from hērēs…

It is borrowed from Middle French heroïque and Latin hērōicus (“of a hero, heroic”), from Ancient Greek ἡρωικός (hērōikós, “of or for a hero”), from ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero”). Etymonline describes it as…

1. It is of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative of the sound or action of a blow; it is synonymous with obsolete jert and yerk of the 16th century, and Merriam-Webster takes it as probably an…

It is borrowed from Latin luxuriāns, the present participle of luxuriō (“to grow rank, have to excess”), from luxuria (“excess, rankness”), the source of luxury. Etymonline and Barnhart also allow…

It is borrowed from Middle French maritime and directly from Latin maritimus, of or near the sea, from mare, sea (see marine), with the ending -timus, originally a superlative suffix showing close…

It is borrowed from Middle French monologue (“a speech in a play by a single actor”), recorded in French from the early 16th century, formed with mono- and -logue on the model of dialogue…

It is imitative of the sound a cow makes. The OED compares other imitative words for lowing, such as French mugir, Latin mūgiō, German muhen (15th century) and Lithuanian mūkti, and the…

It is borrowed from Latin nīl (“nothing”), a contraction of nihil (“nothing”), itself a shortening of nihilum, formed from the negative particle ne- (“not”) and hīlum (“a small thing, trifle”), so…

It is borrowed from Middle French plate-forme (“ground plan, diagram”), literally “flat form”, from Old French plat “flat, level” (feminine plate) and forme “form”. It is related to plate, plateau…

It is borrowed from Middle French projection, or its source Latin prōiectiō (“a throwing forward, a stretching out”), a noun of action from prōiectus, the past participle of prōiciō (“to throw…

It is formed from English propense + -ity, the adjective propense meaning inclined or prone, recorded from 1528 and now archaic. The OED instead takes the noun from Latin prōpēns-, the past…

It is borrowed from Middle French rempart, also rampart and rempard, recorded in French from 1370 for a defensive earthen wall around a town. The French noun comes from Middle French remparer (“to…

It is borrowed from French réalité and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin realitas (accusative realitatem), from Late Latin realis (“real, actual; relating to things”), the source of real, from…

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from French reliquaire (“receptacle for relics”), recorded from 1328 in Middle French, and formed from Old French relique (“relic”), which comes from Late Latin…

It is borrowed from Middle French timide (“fearful, easily frightened”), recorded from 1528, and directly borrowed from Latin timidus (“fearful, timorous”), from timeō (“to fear”) and the suffix…

It is borrowed from Latin vacuum (“an empty space, a void”), the noun use of the neuter of vacuus (“empty”), related to vacāre, to be empty (see vacant), from an extended form of Proto-Indo-European…

It is borrowed from Latin vibrāns (“swaying, shaking”), the present participle of vibrō (“to move to and fro, shake”), with the English suffix -ant. Etymonline traces the Latin verb to…

It is borrowed from Middle French accession (“attack of an illness; addition, acquisition”) and its source borrowed from Latin accessiō (“approach; onset of a disease; addition, increase”), a noun…

It is borrowed from Latin astronomicus (“astronomical”) with the English suffix -al, and the Latin word comes from Ancient Greek ἀστρονομικός (astronomikós), a derivative of the Greek words for…

It is borrowed from Middle French athéiste, or, as the OED allows, Italian atheista, formed from athée and -iste, from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “godless, denying the gods”), from ἀ- (a-…

It is borrowed from Middle French cube or directly borrowed from Latin cubus, from Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos, “a cube; a die for playing”). The Greek word also meant a block, a cake, a vertebra and…

It is borrowed from Latin genus (“birth, descent, origin, race, stock, kind”), also "gender". The Latin noun is cognate with Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “race, kind”) and γόνος (gónos, “birth…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin polāris (“of the poles”), or French polaire, from Latin polus, end of an axis (see pole).

It is formed from English re- + print. Print goes back through Middle English to Old French preinte (“impression”), from preindre (“to press”), from Latin premō (“to press”). The noun comes from the…

It is formed from slave and -ery.

Its origin is uncertain. Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Low German smuk (“trim, neat, pretty”), altered, from Middle Low German smucken (“to dress, adorn”), related to Middle High German…

It is borrowed from Middle French spiral (1534, in Rabelais) and directly Medieval Latin spīrālis (“winding, coiling”), from Latin spīra (“coil, twist”) (see spire), from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα…

It is borrowed from Middle French theoreme, now théorème, and also directly borrowed from Late Latin theōrēma, from Ancient Greek θεώρημα (theṓrēma, “spectacle, speculation; proposition to be…

It is formed from English utopia + -an. In its first sense it follows New Latin Utopianus, used in 1516 in Thomas More's Latin Utopia, and Barnhart, Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com and the SOED take…

It is formed from English bride + maid, first as bridemaid. The later form, with the genitive -s, is an alteration of it; Etymonline calls the -s- unetymological. Bride is from Old English brȳd, and…

It is formed from English chop + -er, an agent noun from the verb meaning to cut with a quick blow. That verb is of uncertain origin; Etymonline suggests an Old North French form of Old French coper…

It is formed from English court + yard. The OED, which revised the entry in 2023, describes it as a compound formed within English.

It is borrowed from Latin explōdō (“to drive out by clapping, hiss off the stage”), a variant of explaudō, made of Latin ex- (“out”) and plaudō (“to clap the hands, applaud”), the verb behind…

It is formed from the verb fold with the agent suffix -er.

It is formed from English foot + print. The OED compares the earlier footstep. Old English had fōtspor and fōtswæð for the same idea.

It is formed from English grate (“agreeable, thankful”) + -ful, from the obsolete adjective (1523), grate being from Latin grātus (“pleasing, thankful”) (see grace), from PIE Proto-Indo-European…

It is formed from health and the adjective suffix -y.

1. The adjective is formed from English husk + -y, first in the literal sense "full of husks". Its sense "hoarse" comes from the notion "dry as a husk", or, according to Merriam-Webster's…

It is borrowed from Latin īnscrībō (“to write in or upon”), formed from in- (“in, on”) and scrībō (“to write”), from Proto-Indo-European *skribh- (“to cut”), the source also of scribe. It replaced…

It is borrowed from Middle French majorité, from Medieval Latin māiōritās, from Latin māior (“greater”), the source of major.

It is borrowed from Middle French nautique or its source borrowed from Latin nauticus (“of ships or sailors”), with the suffix -al added; Barnhart takes it from Latin, perhaps influenced by the…

It is formed from English note + worthy. The OED and the Shorter Oxford take the first part as the noun note in its sense of notice or attention, Etymonline as the verb note, to observe.

The noun and the adjective are formed from over- and the noun weight, and the verb from over- and the verb weight. The OED compares Middle Dutch overwicht (modern overwicht (“overbalance”)), Middle…

It is borrowed from French prototype and partly Latin prōtotypus (“original, primitive”) (also written prōtotypon), from Ancient Greek πρωτότυπον (prōtótupon, “a first or primitive form”), the…

It is borrowed from Middle French réjection or directly Latin reiectiō (“a throwing back”), from the past participle stem of reiciō (“to throw back”) (see reject).

It is borrowed from Italian replica (“repetition; copy”), from replicare (“to repeat; to reply”), from Latin replicō (“to fold back; to repeat”), in Late Latin also to reply, from re- (“back…

It is formed from English skill + -ed. The OED and Dictionary.com take the base as the noun, and Etymonline as the verb skill, "to have personal and practical knowledge" (about 1200), which makes it…

1. The smelting waste is borrowed from Middle Low German slagge, which Etymonline and Klein gloss as the splinter that flies off when metal is struck. The OED gives two explanations: a noun formed…

It is formed from English trace + -er, from the verb. The verb is from Middle English tracen, from Old French tracier (“to look for, follow, pursue”), from Vulgar Latin *tractiō (“to delineate…

It is formed from English ware + -y, from the older adjective ware, from Middle English war, also ware, inherited from Old English wær (“prudent, aware, alert”), from Proto-Germanic *waraz. It is…

1. Its origin is uncertain. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was often written Q or q, and writers of the time explained it as an abbreviation of a Latin word, Latin quandō (“when”) or quālis (“of…

It is borrowed from Middle French cultivation, a noun of action from cultiver, or it was formed in English from the past participial stem of Medieval Latin cultivō (“to till”), with the suffix -ion…

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēspicābilis (“contemptible”), from Latin dēspicor (“to look down on, despise”), with -ābilis (“-able”). The Latin verb is related to dēspiciō (“to look down on”), the…

1. It is the nickname Dick, a rhyming form of Rick, short for Richard, one of the commonest English names. The SOED calls it a playful alteration of Ric- in Anglo-Norman Ricard. 2. It is perhaps a…

It is formed from English discover + -y, on the pattern of the pair recover, recovery. It is related to cover and recovery.

It is formed from English enjoy + -ment, from the verb with the noun suffix. The verb is from Middle English enjoyen (“to rejoice, be glad”), from Old French enjoir (“to give joy, take delight in”)…

It is borrowed from Latin frequentia (“an assembling in great numbers, a crowd”), from frequēns (“crowded, frequent”) (see frequent). It gradually replaced Middle English frequence.

It is formed from English hypocritic + -al, and Merriam-Webster derives it from hypocrite with -ical. Hypocritic is from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτικός (hupokritikós, “acting a part, pretending”)…

It is a variant of ensurance “assurance, pledge, guarantee”, borrowed from Old French enseürance (“assurance”), from enseürer, from en- “to make” and seür “safe, secure”, the source of sure…