English words first recorded in the 16th century

1. The verb meaning to arm beforehand is formed from English fore- + arm (“to equip with weapons”). 2. The part of the arm is formed from English fore- + arm (“the limb”).

It is borrowed from Italian madonna (“my lady”), from Old Italian ma donna, recorded in the 13th century, from ma, an old unstressed form of mia (“my”), from Latin mea, and donna (“lady”), from…

It is borrowed from Latin medium (“the middle, midst; interval”), in Medieval Latin also “means”, the noun use of the neuter of medius (“in the middle”), from Proto-Indo-European *medhyo-…

It is partly borrowed from Italian padre, partly Spanish padre and partly Portuguese padre, all meaning "father" and used as a title of priests, from Latin pater (“father”), which in Late Latin was…

It is formed from English re- + produce, probably partly after French reproduire (“to produce again”), recorded from 1539. Produce comes from Latin prōdūcō (“to lead or bring forth”), from prō…

It is formed from English respect + -able, from the verb according to the OED and Etymonline, from the noun according to the Shorter Oxford. In the sense "worthy of respect" it follows French…

It is borrowed from Latin sigma, from Ancient Greek σίγμα (sígma), the name of the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. Etymonline, the American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster and Collins…

It began as a dialect form of strop; the early examples are Scots or nautical, and in Scots the vowel a for o is regular, as in the Scots forms of top and drop. The older word is inherited from…

It is from English up + stairs, from the verbal phrase up stairs.

It is borrowed from Latin vōtīvus (“offered or performed in fulfilment of a vow”), from vōtum (“a vow”) and the suffix -īvus, and so is related to vow and vote. Barnhart adds Middle French votif as…

It is a compound from English arm + chair. Etymonline notes the older name elbow-chair, from the 1650s.

It is borrowed from Latin athleticus, perhaps through French athlétique, from Greek ἀθλητικός (athlētikós), from ἀθλητής (athlētḗs, “contestant in the games”) (see athlete).

It is borrowed from Latin āversiō (“a turning away”), perhaps through French aversion, recorded in the 16th century; Klein derives it from French. The Latin noun of action is formed from āversus…

It is borrowed from Middle French explorer and directly borrowed from Latin explōrō (“to search out, investigate”), possibly also a back-formation from exploration. The Latin is from ex- (“out”) and…

It is formed from English fashion + -able, partly from the verb and partly from the noun.

It is borrowed from French frégate, recorded in French from the 1520s, from Italian fregata, also fragata; Etymonline and Klein give a form Neapolitan fregate. The word is common to the…

It is from English main + stream.

It is borrowed from Arabic مُؤَذِّن (muʾaḏḏin, “one who calls to prayer”), apparently partly through French, where it is recorded as Middle French maizin in 1568 and as muezin in 1654. The Arabic…

It is formed from English periodic + -al, though the OED, which records it before periodic itself, takes it as Latin periodicus with the English suffix, and compares Medieval Latin periodicalis…

It is formed from English re- + action, on the model of French réaction and older Italian reattione, which are from Medieval Latin reāctiō (“reaction”) (accusative reāctiōnem), a noun of action…

Its origin is uncertain. It is possibly an alteration of Middle English sheltron (“a roof or wall of locked shields; a troop in close formation”), from scieldtruma, from scield (“shield”) (see…

It is borrowed from Middle French académique, and directly from Latin Acadēmicus (“of the school of Plato”), from Ancient Greek Ἀκαδημαϊκός (Akadēmaïkós), from Acadēmīa, the place where Plato…

It is formed from English actor + -ess. French actrice was sometimes used instead.

It is formed from English anatomy + -ical, on the model of Late Latin anatomicus, the source of anatomic. The Oxford Dictionary of English derives it from the Late Latin adjective with -al…

1. The hired ruffian is borrowed from Italian bravo (“a bold man; a ruffian”), a noun use of bravo (“bold, wild”), the Italian adjective behind brave. Klein derives the Italian word from Latin…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin cognitivus, or formed from cognition and -ive, from Latin cognit-, the past participle stem of cognōscere (“to get to know, recognize”), from com-, together, and…

It is borrowed from Latin dēvōtus, the past participle of dēvoveō (“to vow, dedicate by a vow”), formed from dē- (“down, away”) and voveō (“to vow”), the source of vow and vote. The OED compares the…

It is borrowed from Latin dictum (“a thing said; a saying, order, precept”), the noun use of the neuter of dictus, past participle of dīcō (“to say, speak”), from Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to…

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Middle French desastreux (now spelled désastreux), from Italian disastroso (“ill-starred”), from disastro (“disaster”), the source of disaster. The OED's…

It is borrowed from Latin disparātus (“separated, divided”), the past participle of disparō (“to divide, separate”), formed from dis- (“apart”) and parō (“to make ready, prepare”), from…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin dissectiō, a noun of action from the Latin verb dissecō (“to cut in pieces”), perhaps directly borrowed from French dissection, used in the 16th century by Paré…

It is formed from English economy + -ist, perhaps after French économiste. The New Oxford takes it from Greek Ancient Greek οἰκονόμος (oikonómos, “household manager”) with -ist.

It is borrowed from Latin ēlīsiō (“a forcing out; in grammar, the dropping of a letter or syllable”), the grammatical use being recorded in Latin from the 3rd century. Barnhart takes the word…

It is from English grand + son.

Its immediate source is uncertain. The American Heritage Dictionary and Barnhart favour borrowed from Middle Dutch grommelen (“to murmur, mutter, grunt”), from grommen (“to rumble, growl”)…

It is borrowed from French insister or directly from Latin īnsistō (“to stand upon, persist, dwell upon, urge”), from in-, upon, and sistō, to take a stand, from stō, to stand (see stand), from…

It is an agent noun from English invest + -or.

It is borrowed from Middle French médaille, from Italian medaglia (“medal”). The origin of the Italian word is disputed. Barnhart, Klein and Watkins take medaglia to have meant first a coin worth…

It is borrowed from Middle French médiocre, recorded in French from 1495, from Latin mediocris (“of middle degree, quality or rank; middling, moderate”), literally "halfway up a mountain". Hoad…

It is borrowed from Middle French module or directly Latin modulus (“small measure”), a diminutive of modus (“measure, manner”) (see mode), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to take appropriate…

It is borrowed from New Latin pathologia (“study of disease”), and partly borrowed from Middle French pathologie. The OED notes that the Latin word meant the branch of knowledge dealing with the…

It is formed from English politic + -ian, or from French politicien.

It is borrowed from Latin spectātor (“viewer, watcher, onlooker”), an agent noun from spectō (“to look at, watch”), the frequentative of speciō (“to look at”), from Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to…

It is formed from English un- + expected, the past participle of expect.

It is formed from English un- + suitable. Suitable, from the 1580s, is itself from the verb suit and -able, probably modelled on agreeable.

It seems to come from English analyse, an anglicized form of analysis used in the 17th and 18th centuries, later influenced by French analyser; Merriam-Webster takes it as an irregular formation…

It is formed from English antiquate + -ed, the verb being from Latin antīquātus, the past participle of antīquō (“to restore to an old state; in Late Latin, to make old or obsolete”), from antīquus…

It is borrowed from Middle French athéisme, recorded in French in the 16th century, formed from athée (“atheist”) and -isme, from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (átheos, “without a god, denying the gods…

It is from English capable + -ity, on the model of Late Latin capābilis.

It is formed from English freed + man, freed being the past participle of free. The OED, in its revised entry, says that it was originally modelled on French libertin and its ultimate source Latin…

1. The cloth worker is inherited from Middle English fullere, inherited from Old English fullere, borrowed from Latin fullō (“fuller”), with its ending altered to the English agent suffix -er. The…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French héroïne and partly borrowed from Latin hērōīna, also hērōīnē. The French word meant the central female character of a story from 1554 and a woman of…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos, “word, speech, discourse, reason, account”), from the ablaut variant of the stem of λέγω (légō, “to pick out, choose; to say”). Etymonline traces it…

It is formed from English mis- + information, after the verb misinform. Johnson (1755) derived it from misinform. The verb is recorded from before 1393, in Gower's “Confessio Amantis”, and is…

It is borrowed from Middle French mousquet, mousquette, from Italian moschetto (“arrow for a crossbow; small artillery piece; sparrowhawk”), a diminutive of mosca (“fly”), from Latin musca (“fly”)…

It is borrowed from Middle French nomade and directly borrowed from Latin nomas (“member of a wandering pastoral people”), plural nomades, from Ancient Greek νομάς (nomás, “roaming in search of…

It is partly borrowed from Middle French pragmatique (“relating to the affairs of a state”) and partly borrowed from Latin prāgmaticus (“skilled in business, especially law”), from Ancient Greek…

It is formed from English re- + place, “to place back again”.

It is formed from English un- + published, published being the past participle of publish, which comes through Old French publier (“to make public”) from Latin pūblicō (“to make public”), from…

It is borrowed from French bombe, from Italian bomba, probably from Latin bombus (“a deep, hollow noise; a buzzing or booming sound”), from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “deep hollow sound, booming…