English words first recorded in the 16th century

It is borrowed from Spanish patata, a variant of Taino batata (“sweet potato”), from the Carib language of Haiti, probably influenced by or blended with Spanish papa, potato, from Quechua.

It is borrowed from Latin rotatio (“a turning about in a circle”), from the past participle stem of rotāre (“to turn, revolve, roll”) (see rotate), from rota, wheel (see rotary).

1. The adjective meaning covered with rust is inherited from Middle English rusti, inherited from Old English rūstig, formed from Old English rūst + -ig, from rust. It is cognate with West Frisian…

It is borrowed from Late Latin sēgregātiō, a noun of action from sēgregō (“to separate from the flock, set apart, isolate, divide”). The Latin verb is formed from sē- (“apart from”) and grex (“herd…

It is borrowed from Middle French sultan (“ruler of Turkey”), or sultānus, from Arabic سُلْطَان (sulṭān, “power, dominion; ruler, sovereign”). The American Heritage Dictionary, Dictionary.com and…

It is formed from English sun + dial. The second element by itself had already meant a sundial in the early 15th century, and it comes from Old French dyal, apparently from Medieval Latin dialis…

It is borrowed from Middle French surpasser (“to go beyond, exceed, excel”), formed in Old French from sur- (“above, beyond”) and passer (“to pass”). In Old French the verb meant "to transgress"…

1. The prickly pear is borrowed from Spanish tuna, from Taíno. The OED cites Humboldt for the view that the Spanish took it from the language of Haiti. 2. The fish is borrowed from Spanish tuna, a…

It is borrowed from Latin urgēre (“to press hard, push forward, drive, compel”), borrowed under the influence of the earlier English urgent. De Vaan derives the Latin verb perhaps from a…

It is formed from English base + line, and is also written with a hyphen.

It is formed from English cock + pit, first for a pit in which fighting cocks were set against each other.

It is borrowed from Middle French concept, or directly from Medieval Latin conceptum (“draft, abstract”), Late Latin conceptus (“thought, draft”), in classical Latin “a thing conceived; a fetus”…

It is borrowed from Middle French émancipation, recorded in Old French as emancipacion from 1310, and directly borrowed from Latin ēmancipātiō (“the formal release of a son from his father's…

It is formed from English gloss (“lustre, shine”) + -y, from the noun meaning a smooth shine, recorded from the 1530s. That noun is probably of Scandinavian origin, compare Icelandic glossi (“a…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin indispēnsābilis (“not subject to dispensation”), also spelled indispēnsībilis, formed from in- (“not”) and dispēnsābilis, from Latin dispēnsō (“to pay out…

It is borrowed from Latin mediterrāneus (“inland, far from the coast”), with the suffix -an. The Latin adjective is from medius (“middle”) and terra (“land, earth”), which Etymonline and the…

It is borrowed from Middle French rendez-vous (“designated meeting place”), a noun made from the phrase rendez vous (“present yourselves, betake yourselves”), from the wording of orders. The phrase…

It is borrowed from Latin rēx (“king, sovereign ruler”), genitive rēgis, related to regō (“to keep straight, guide, rule”) and rēgīna (“queen”). It comes from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in…

It is probably borrowed from Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”) in an altered form, from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”). The earliest English form, ternado, exists in neither…

It is formed from work and shop.

It is borrowed from Middle French absurde, which goes back to Old French absorde, from Latin absurdus (“out of tune, senseless”), from ab- (“off, away”) and surdus (“deaf, dull, mute”). The prefix…

It is borrowed from Middle French boulette (“small ball”), and boulet, cannonball, diminutives of boule (“ball”) (see bowl), from Latin bulla (“bubble, round thing, knob”).

It is from Scots durk, the usual early spelling, also dowrk, and is of unknown origin. The OED suggests, while noting that the sounds are hard to explain, German Dolch (“dagger”), early modern Dutch…

It is formed from English grow + -th, on the model of health and stealth. Merriam-Webster derives it from Middle English (Scots) grouth, from Old Norse grōthr or grōthi, from grōa (“to grow”)…

The origin of job is uncertain. It first appears in the phrase “jobbe of worke” (1557), and Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged suggest it is a variant of gobbe (“lump, mass”) (see…

It is formed from English pleasure + -able, on the pattern of the earlier comfortable. Pleasure is from Old French plesir, also plaisir (“enjoyment, delight”), the infinitive plaisir, to please…

The OED, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com take it as from Latin residuum (“what is left over”) with the English suffix -al; the Shorter Oxford and Etymonline derive it from residue, and Etymonline…

It is a 16th-century spelling, an attempted classical correction, of Middle English rime, measure, metre (see rhyme), reshaped after Latin rhythmus, movement in time, or French rhythme, from Greek…

It is formed from English scan + -er. The verb scan is from Latin scandō (“to climb; in Late Latin, to scan verse”), first as scanden before 1398 and as scannen from 1440.

It is borrowed from Dutch jaghte (now jacht), short for jaghtschip (“ship for chasing; fast pirate ship”), formed from jaght (“hunting, chase”), a noun from jagen (“to hunt, chase”), and schip…

It is borrowed from Middle French récipient and directly Latin recipiēns (“receiving”), the present participle of recipiō (“to receive, hold, contain”) (see receive), from re- and capiō (“to take”)…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French reverer (“to feel deep respect for, to treat with reverence”), now révérer, and partly borrowed from Latin revereor (“to stand in awe of, to venerate”)…

It is from English shine + -y.

It is borrowed from Late Latin theātricus with the suffix -al, from Ancient Greek θεατρικός (theātrikós), from θέατρον (théātron, “theatre, place for viewing”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to behold”)…

It is borrowed from Middle French chimiste, also chymiste (1548), and directly borrowed from New Latin chimista, also chymista, which was shortened from Medieval Latin alchimista (“alchemist”)…

It is borrowed from Late Latin cōnfigūrātiō (“comparison, shaping”), from Latin cōnfigūrō, to fashion after a pattern, from con-, together, and figūrō, to shape (see figure).

It is a shortened form of geographical, in some cases probably from French géographique or Late Latin geōgraphicus, from Greek geōgraphikós, from geōgraphía (see geography).

It is formed from Late Latin geōgraphicus and -al, from Ancient Greek γεωγραφικός (geōgraphikós), from γεωγράφος (geōgráphos, “geographer”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write…

It is borrowed from Middle French intersection and directly Latin intersectiō (“a cutting asunder”), from the past participle stem of intersecō (“to cut asunder”) (see intersect), from inter-…

It is borrowed from Middle French vertical and directly borrowed from Late Latin verticalis (“overhead”), from Latin vertex (“highest point, summit”) (genitive verticis) (see vertex).

It is formed from English acknowledge + -ment. Etymonline quotes the OED that it is an early instance of -ment added to a verb of English origin. The verb itself is a blend of Middle English aknouen…

The origin is uncertain. Most dictionaries take it as probably borrowed from Middle French brusque (“lively, fierce”), itself from Italian brusco (“sharp, tart, rough”), which Etymonline traces…

It is of imitative origin, echoing a heavy, dull blow, perhaps of Scandinavian origin: compare Middle Danish bumpe, to strike with the fist. It has long been associated with obsolete bum, to make a…

English took the word from Italian and French in the 16th century. It is probably borrowed from Italian caviari, the plural of caviaro, now caviale, and the earlier English form caviarie was altered…

It is borrowed from Middle French demoliss-, the extended stem (compare -ish) of demolir (“to pull or knock down”), now démolir, recorded in French from 1383, and in 1367 as desmolir. The French…

It is from Doll, a pet form of the name Dorothy, with -l- for -r- as in Hal for Harry, Moll for Mary and Sally for Sarah.

It is borrowed from Latin excavātus (“hollowed out”), the past participle of excavō (“to hollow out”), formed from ex- (“out”) and cavō (“to make hollow”), from cavus (“hollow”). The English ending…

It is borrowed from Latin exspectō (“to await, look out for; hope, long for”), also expectāre, from ex- (“thoroughly”) and spectō (“to look”), the frequentative of speciō (“to look at”), from…

It is borrowed from Middle French factorie (15th century), from Late Latin factōrium (“office for agents; oil press, mill”), from Latin factor “doer, maker”, the source of factor, an agent noun from…

It is borrowed from Latin īnsānus (“mad, of unsound mind”), from in- (“not”) and sānus (“healthy, sound”). It is related to sane.

It is apparently borrowed from Middle French envois, plural of envoi (“sending, dispatch of goods”), from envoyer (“to send”), with an altered spelling; in Old French envois was also a nominative…

Its origin is uncertain. Merriam-Webster and Partridge take it as borrowed from Middle French giguer (“to dance, frolic, gambol”), which they take from gigue (“fiddle”), a word of Germanic origin…

It is formed from English lulla + -by, the first part being the soothing refrain lullai, also lollai, common in Middle English cradle songs, which the MED, Barnhart and Etymonline derive from lullen…

It is borrowed from Latin meditor (“to think over, reflect, consider”), formed on its past participle meditātus; Barnhart takes it as probably a back-formation from the much older meditation…

The noun is borrowed from Late Latin polygōnum, from Ancient Greek πολύγωνον (polúgōnon), the noun use of the neuter of πολύγωνος (polúgōnos, “many-angled”), which is formed from πολύς (polús…

It is borrowed from Middle French portrait, the noun use of the past participle of Old French portraire (“to paint, depict”) (see portray), from por- and traire (“to draw”), from Latin trahere (“to…

1. The dog takes its name from an older pug, a term of endearment and a name for an imp, a monkey or a small animal, of unknown origin. Etymonline, Klein and Skeat see it as related to or a variant…

It is borrowed from Middle French rectangle, which meant a right angle from 1484 and a four-sided figure with four right angles from 1556, from Medieval Latin rectangulus (“having a right angle”)…

The OED takes it as from Medieval Latin rectangulum (“rectangle”) with the English suffix -ar, on the model of rectangle; Merriam-Webster likewise derives it from rectangulus (“having a right…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin relevantem (nominative relevans), the present participle of Latin relevō (“to raise up, lighten, relieve”), the source of relieve. Etymonline also points to French…