English words first recorded in the 16th century

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…

It is formed from English side + line. The verb is partly a conversion of the noun and partly a compound of the noun side with the verb line.

It is a compound from English thunder + storm, also written with a hyphen. The first part is from Middle English thonder, from Old English þunor, and the second is from storm.

It is formed from English treat + -ment.

It is borrowed from Latin vīcīnitās (“neighbourhood, nearness”), partly through vicinité according to Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster. The Latin noun is formed on vīcīnus (“neighbouring; a…

It is borrowed from Middle French capable (“able, sufficient; able to hold”), or taken directly from Late Latin capābilis (“receptive; able to grasp or hold”), a word of the theologians, formed…

It is borrowed from Latin chorus (“a round dance, band of dancers and singers”), from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “round dance, dancing place, band of dancers”), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps…

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Late Latin contingentia (“possibility”), in its medieval sense of circumstance, with the later form of the suffix -ency; Merriam-Webster also allows…

It is borrowed from French corrélation or Medieval Latin correlātiō, from com- (“together”) and relātiō (“relation”) (see relation).

It is borrowed from Middle French distinguer (stem distinguiss-), or directly Latin distinguō (“to separate, mark off”), from dis- (“apart”) and -stinguere, perhaps to prick (compare extinguish and…

It is formed from English execution + -er. Its base came into Middle English as execucion, from Anglo-Norman execucioun and Old French execucion (“a carrying out”), from Latin exsecūtiō (“an…

It was first spelled manege, borrowed from Italian maneggiare (“to handle, especially to control a horse”), from Vulgar Latin *manizō, from Latin manus (“hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *man-…

It was first used in the plural, borrowed from Middle French orgies, from Latin orgia, from Ancient Greek ὄργια (órgia, “secret rites”). This is traditionally connected with ἔργον (érgon, “work”)…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin ōvālis (“of an egg”), or Middle French ovale, from Latin ōvum (“egg”) (see ovum). The classical Latin word for egg-shaped was ōvātus.

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin patriarchia (“office of a patriarch; patriarchal see”) and its source borrowed from Byzantine Greek πατριαρχία (patriarkhía, “office of a patriarch”), from Ancient…

It is borrowed from French prédiction and directly borrowed from Latin praedictiō (“a foretelling”), from praedīcō, to make known beforehand (see predict), from prae-, before, and dīcō, to say.

It is formed from English qualify + -er. In the Roman Catholic sense it follows Medieval Latin quālificātor. The verb qualify is from Middle French qualifier and Medieval Latin quālificō (“to…

It is a word of shadowy origin, one of many cant terms recorded from the mid-16th century, perhaps a shortening of roger (with a hard g), thieves' slang for a begging vagabond who pretended to be a…

It is formed from English under- + age, from the phrase under age, below the legal age of majority. Age here is the noun.

It is formed from English youth + -ful. The noun youth is from Old English geoguð (“the early stage of life; young people”), from Proto-Germanic *jugunthi-, from Proto-Indo-European *yeu- (“vital…

Etymonline and Dictionary.com take it as formed from English assert + -ive, and Webster's Third and Merriam-Webster from assertion with the same suffix. The Shorter Oxford takes it instead as…

It is borrowed from Middle French cône or Latin cōnus (“cone, peak of a helmet”), from Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “pine cone, spinning top, cone”). Klein and Merriam-Webster connect it with hone…

It is borrowed from Middle French dénoter, which the OED finds in Oresme in the 14th century, and directly borrowed from Latin dēnotō (“to mark out, point out”), formed from dē- (“completely…

It is borrowed from Latin dexter (“on the right hand, right”), a comparative formation with the suffix -ter, so that it meant, according to Etymonline, "the better direction". De Vaan reconstructs…

It is borrowed from Middle French ferrier (“blacksmith”), which the OED and other dictionaries give as Old French, and which is recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1212 for a farrier. The French word…

It is borrowed from Middle French jasmin, earlier jassemin, jessemin, from Arabic ياسمين (yāsamīn), from Persian یاسمین (yāsmīn), یاسمن (yāsaman). Compare Ancient Greek ἰάσμη (iásmē), the name of a…

It is borrowed from Latin portentum (“sign, omen, prodigy, monster”), the noun use of the neuter of portentus, past participle of portendō (“to foretell, portend”), which is formed from por-…

It is borrowed from Latin saliēns (“leaping”), the present participle of saliō (“to leap, spring”). The OED notes that the English form was often assimilated wholly or partly to French saillant…

It is formed from English small + pox, and until the mid 18th century it was generally spelled with a space between its parts. It follows the slightly earlier small-pock, a pustule of the disease…

It is formed from English spice + -y, from the noun with the adjective suffix.

It is borrowed from Italian squadrone (“body of soldiers in square formation”), the augmentative of squadra (“square; battalion”). The Italian word comes from the same source as square, and is also…

It is formed from English sun + flower, after New Latin flōs sōlis (“flower of the sun”), recorded from 1551 or earlier.

It is formed from English wave + -y, from the noun or the verb, Etymonline taking it from the noun. An earlier Middle English adjective, wauī (“full of waves, billowy”), also spelled wawi, was…

It is formed from English addition + -al.

It is borrowed from Late Latin anonymus, from Ancient Greek ἀνώνυμος (anṓnumos, “without a name”), from ἀν- (an-, “without”) and onuma, the Aeolic form of ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”) (see name), with -ous.

It is borrowed from Middle French architecte, possibly influenced by Italian architetto, from Latin architectus, from Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn, “master builder, director of works”), from ἀρχι-…

It is borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana, from a West African word, compare Wolof and Mandingo banäna, barända, plantain; Word Origins and the NODE name the Mande languages as the…

It is borrowed from Latin callus (“firm flesh; thick, tough skin; a hardened formation on the skin”), a masculine variant of callum (“hard skin”), and the source of callōsus (“thick-skinned”), from…

Its origin is uncertain. It may be Scandinavian, compare Icelandic klunni (“clumsy, boorish fellow”), Swedish kluns (“hard knob, clumsy fellow”) and Danish klunt (“log, block”), or Low German…

It is borrowed from Late Latin cōnservātōrium (“that which preserves”), the noun use of the neuter of cōnservātōrius (“preservative”), from Latin cōnservātus, the past participle of cōnservō (“to…

It is borrowed from Middle French émerger and directly Latin ēmergō (“to rise out or up, come forth”), from ē- (“out”) (a form of ex) and mergō (“to dip, sink”) (see merge).

It is borrowed from Middle French fiscal or directly fiscālis (“of the state treasury”), from fiscus (“treasury, purse; originally a basket of twigs”), of unknown origin (see fisc). MWU compares…

It is borrowed from French fossile (16th century), from Latin fossilis, dug up, from fossus, past participle of fodiō, to dig (see bed).

It is of uncertain or unknown origin, perhaps a dialect survival of a word related to Middle English friken, to move briskly, from Old English frician (“to dance”), or from Middle English freke, a…

It is borrowed from Middle French friction, itself from Latin frictiō (“a rubbing, rubbing down”), a noun of action from frictus, the past participle of fricō (“to rub, rub down”). Etymonline and…

It is borrowed from Latin halōs (“a ring of light round the sun or moon”), or its accusative halō, which the Shorter Oxford and Hoad take through halo, from Ancient Greek ἅλως (hálōs, “threshing…

It is borrowed from Latin helix (“a spiral; a volute in architecture”), which is from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “anything of spiral form”), genitive ἕλικος (hélikos). The Greek word was used of an…

It is borrowed from Latin hiātus (“gaping, opening, gap”), a noun formed from the past participle of hiō (“to gape, stand open”). Etymonline traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *ghieh- (“to yawn…

It is borrowed from Latin impāctus, past participle of impingō (“to push into, drive into, strike against”), from in- (“into, on”) and pangō (“to fix, fasten”) (see impinge). The verb developed from…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μετεωρολογία (meteōrología, “the study of celestial and atmospheric phenomena”). Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster see it as also coming through Middle…

It is borrowed from Middle French piedestal, also pedestal (recorded 1526–37; modern piédestal), from Italian piedistallo (“base of a pillar”), also piedestallo (late 13th century). The Italian word…

It is borrowed from Late Latin profānitās (“profaneness, impiety”), recorded in Tertullian in the late 2nd or early 3rd century of pagan authors, from Latin profānus (“not sacred, unholy”) and the…

It is formed from English reader + -ship. Reader goes back to Old English rǣdere (“reader; counsellor”), an agent noun from rǣdan, the source of read.

It is borrowed from Late Latin septuāgintā (“the seventy”), short for septuāgintā interpretēs (“the seventy translators”), from Latin septuāgintā (“seventy”), from septem (“seven”) (see seven) and…

It is borrowed from Middle French subterfuge and directly borrowed from Late Latin subterfugium (“evasion”), from Latin subterfugiō (“to escape by stealth, slip away, evade”), formed from subter…

It is formed from English un- + licensed. The OED explains it as partly un- with the noun licence and -ed, and partly the same prefix with the past participle of the verb license.