English words first recorded in the 16th century

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin legendarius (“relating to legends; a collection of saints' lives”), from legenda (“things to be read”) (see legend), from legere (“to read”).

It is borrowed from Latin lēgislātor, usually written as the phrase lēgis lātor (“proposer of a law”). The first part is lēgis, the genitive of lēx (“law”), which is also the source of legal; the…

It is formed from English mystic + -al. The base adjective is from Latin mysticus (“mystical, of secret rites”), partly through Old French mistique (“mysterious”), from Ancient Greek μυστικός…

It is borrowed from French obsession and directly Latin obsessiō (“siege, blockade”), from obsessus, the past participle of obsideō (“to besiege”) (see obsess), from ob- (“against”) and sedeō (“to…

It is borrowed from Latin praetextus (“outward display, show”), a noun formed on the past participle stem of praetexō (“to weave in front, border; to disguise”), or praetextum, the neuter past…

It is from English produce + -er, an agent noun from the verb.

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnītīvus (“inflicting or involving punishment”), recorded in British and continental Latin from the 13th century; Barnhart, Klein, Merriam-Webster and the Shorter…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin quantitātīvus (“relating to quantity”), often found in British sources from the 13th century, formed from Latin quantitās (“quantity”) and the suffix -īvus. The…

Its origin is uncertain. It first appears in Scots, and is usually explained as borrowed from Low German queer (“oblique, off-centre”) (Brunswick dialect), related to quer (“oblique, perverse…

1. The bird is inherited from Middle English raven (also reven), inherited from Old English hræfn (also hrefn, and with a regular change of the consonants, hræmn and hremm), from Proto-Germanic…

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman refuter (“to show to be invalid, reject, contest”), also Middle French refuter, modern réfuter, and partly a direct borrowing borrowed from Latin refūtō (“to…

It is formed from English tire + -some, like wearisome and meddlesome. The verb goes back to tiren, from Old English tēorian (“to fail, cease; to become weary, to weary”), whose earlier history is…

It is borrowed from Middle French trophée, from Latin trophaeum (“a sign of victory, monument”), earlier tropaeum, from Greek τρόπαιον (trópaion, “monument of an enemy's defeat”), the neuter of…

It is a natural exclamation, first recorded in Scots; Barnhart and Merriam-Webster call it imitative. The noun and the verb are from the interjection.

It is late Middle English administratour, from Old French administrateur or directly borrowed from Latin administrātor (“a manager, conductor”), an agent noun from administrātus, past participle of…

It is formed from English grease + -y. Grease is from Anglo-Norman grece, Old French gresse, from Vulgar Latin *crassia (“melted animal fat”), from Latin crassus (“thick, solid, fat”), which is of…

It is an alteration, influenced by inter-, of earlier enterview, borrowed from Middle French entrevue, from s'entrevoir (“to see each other, have a glimpse of”), from entre- (“between”), from Latin…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin affīdāvit (“he (or she) has stated on oath”), the third person singular perfect of affīdō (“to pledge faith, declare on oath”). The verb is formed from ad- (“to”)…

It is a contraction of the phrase “of kin”, formed from English a- + kin, with the first element reduced from of. The noun kin goes back to Old English cynn (“family, race, kind”) and Proto-Germanic…

1. The word for a slattern is of uncertain origin. It is perhaps Celtic, related to Scottish Gaelic drabag (“dirty woman”) and Irish drabóg (“slattern”), from drab (“spot, stain, dirt”), or from…

It is borrowed from Late Latin drāma (“play, drama”), at first through French drame, from Ancient Greek δρᾶμα (drâma, “action, deed; play, spectacle”) (genitive drámatos), from δράω (dráō, “to do…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin exclūsīvus, from exclūs-, past participle stem of Latin exclūdō “to shut out”, the source of exclude. Merriam-Webster takes it through Middle French exclusif.

It is a compound of hard and ware.

It is borrowed from Middle French terrace, from terrace, terrasse (“platform raised on a mound of earth; rubble”), from Vulgar Latin *terrācea, the feminine of *terrāceus (“earthen”), from Latin…

It is borrowed from Latin adiūnctus (“joined, connected, associated; adjacent”), the past participle of adiungō (“to join to, link up, add”), formed from ad- (“to”) and iungō (“to join”). The noun…

It is formed from English clock + work.

It is from English coco + nut, also spelled cocoanut, coco being from Portuguese côco (“grinning skull, goblin; coconut”), probably from Late Latin coccum (“shell”), because the three spots on the…

The noun, a book about plants, is probably borrowed from Medieval Latin herbālis, understood with liber (“book”), or its neuter herbāle used as a noun, on the model of nominale (“name-book”) and…

It is borrowed from Late Latin mētropolis (“mother city; capital; see of a metropolitan bishop”), which the OED, calling it classical Latin, finds in inscriptions from the late 2nd century, and in…

It is borrowed from Latin recessus (“a going back, retreat; a retired place”), and according to Barnhart it is in part borrowed from Middle French reces. The Latin noun is formed from recēdō (“to go…

It is borrowed from Spanish despachar (“to expedite, hasten, send off”) or dispacciare (“to send off, hasten”), the Spanish and Italian verbs being formed with des-, dis-, the reversing prefix from…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman mutilacion, also mutilation, and Middle French mutilation, and partly borrowed from Late Latin mutilātiō, a noun of action from mutilātus, the past participle of…

1. The player is formed from English bowl + -er, from the verb meaning to roll a ball. The verb comes from the noun meaning a ball, from Middle French boule (“ball”), from Latin bulla (“bubble…

It is a compound from English bull + dog. The OED explains the name by the dog's use in bull-baiting, or perhaps by the shape of its head, and Etymonline gives the same two explanations. Klein and…

It is formed from English knowledge + -able, also spelled knowledgable. The OED and the Shorter Oxford derive the early, obsolete sense "recognizable" from the verb, Middle English knoulechen (“to…

It is formed from English town + house, and also appears with a space or a hyphen between its parts. The OED notes that some early forms are from the genitive of town, and compares the earlier town…

It is an irregular compound from English spoke (“spoken”) + man (“man”): spoke, an old past participle of speak, was used in place of the verb itself. The -s- may be the possessive ending, or the…

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Middle French tome, and Etymonline allows it to come directly from Latin; the OED, revised in 2018, treats it as borrowed from Latin a borrowing from Latin…

It is formed from English un- + lucky, like West Frisian ûnlokkich and Middle Low German unluckich; the OED also compares German unglücklich. The base adjective, formed from luck and -y, is recorded…

It is borrowed from Latin accelerātus, the past participle of accelerō (“to hasten, quicken; to make haste”), from ad- and celerō (“to hasten”), from celer (“swift”), which Etymonline derives…

It is borrowed from Latin comma (“a short phrase or clause”), perhaps through Middle French comma, from Ancient Greek κόμμα (kómma, “a piece cut off; a short clause; a stamp, coinage”), from κόπτω…

The origin is uncertain: the OED calls it a dialectal or nursery word, and the AHD, Merriam-Webster and the ODE give it as unknown. The OED suggests that it may be formed from English couth + -le…

It is formed from English pregnant + -cy. An earlier word in the sense was pregnacioun (early 15th century), from Old French pregnacion and Latin praegnātiō.

It is formed from English tomb + stone. The noun tomb came into Middle English from Anglo-Norman tumbe and Old French tombe (“tomb, monument”), from Late Latin tumba, from Ancient Greek τύμβος…

It is borrowed from Middle French valuation (“evaluation”), recorded in French from 1441, formed on valuer (“to value”) with the suffix that became -ation. The French verb comes from the noun value…

It is borrowed from Latin flexus (“bent”), the past participle of flectō (“to bend”), or its stem flex-. Etymonline instead takes it as probably a back-formation from flexible. According to Klein…

It is formed from English black + jack, and the OED treats it as three compounds, each with a different sense of jack. In the oldest sense, a black leather jerkin, the second element is jack…

It is borrowed from Middle French canton (“corner; piece or portion of a country”), from Old French canton (“corner, portion of a country, part of a shield”). The French word is traced by Barnhart…

It is borrowed from Latin aetherius (“of the upper air; heavenly”), also aethereus, with the English suffix -al, from Ancient Greek αἰθέριος (aithérios, “high in the air, heavenly”), from αἰθήρ…

It is formed from English leaf + -y. An older adjective of the same make, leavy, is recorded from about 1440 and is now chiefly literary. Leaf is from Old English lēaf (“leaf of a tree or of a…

It is formed from English on- + set, after the phrasal verb set on, to attack. Etymonline and Barnhart describe it as on and the noun set, and Etymonline notes that the verb phrase to set something…

It is borrowed from Middle French assaillant (“attacking; attacker”), the adjective and noun use of the present participle of assaillir (“to assail”), which is from Old French asaillir, also…

It is probably formed from English badge + -ard, from the white mark that the animal bears on its forehead like a badge; early spellings were bageard and badgerd. Merriam-Webster derives it instead…

It is borrowed from Late Latin dilemma, from Ancient Greek δίλημμα (dílēmma, “double proposition”), formed from Ancient Greek δι- (di-, “twice, two”) + λῆμμα (lêmma, “assumption, premise”) (di- and…

1. It is borrowed from Spanish don, or Portuguese dom, from Latin dominus (“lord, master, owner”), from domus “house”, from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“house, household”). The Mafia sense is from…

It is borrowed from Middle French équiper (“to fit out”), from Old French esquiper (“to fit out a ship”), probably from Old Norse skipa (“to man a ship, fit up, arrange”), a verb formed from skip…

It is borrowed from Middle French pionnier (“foot soldier”), from Old French peonier (“foot soldier”), from peon (“foot soldier”) (see pawn, the chess piece), from Medieval Latin pedō (“foot…

It is borrowed from Latin pollen (“fine flour, fine powder, mill dust”), also pollis. The botanical sense follows the New Latin pollen of the botanists: the OED finds it first in J. Ray's “Historia…

It is a compound from English sale + man, with the first part in the genitive form “sale’s”, like craftsman and tradesman. Dictionary.com describes it as “sales” plus “-man”. The noun sale is from…

It is borrowed from Late Latin sphaericus (“spherical”) with the English suffix -al; Etymonline instead analyses it as sphere and -ical. The Late Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek σφαιρικός…