English words first recorded in the 16th century

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐκστατικός (ekstatikós, “unstable, inclined to depart”), directly or through Middle French extatique and Medieval Latin ecstaticus. The Greek adjective comes from…

It is formed from English excruciate + -ing, the present participle of the verb used as an adjective. The verb excruciate is from Latin excruciātus, the past participle of excruciō (“to torture…

It is an altered form of the obsolete fixure, borrowed from Late Latin fīxūra (“a fastening”), from fīxus (“fixed”), the past participle of fīgō (“to fix”). The t was inserted on the pattern of…

It is formed from English former + -ly. Former is a comparative, first recorded in the 12th century, of forme (“first”), on the analogy of formest, now foremost. The positive is from Old English…

It is a compound from English gun + man. The OED compares the older names of soldiers by their weapon, pikeman, bowman and swordman.

It is borrowed from Latin horridus (“bristling, rough, shaggy; savage; terrible”), from horreō (“to bristle, tremble, shudder”). The American Heritage Dictionary and Barnhart see it instead as an…

It is of uncertain origin, probably imitative, perhaps a variant of harry or a West Midlands sense of Middle English hurren, to vibrate rapidly, buzz, from Proto-Germanic *hurza-, to move with…

It is borrowed from Latin indignāns (“being indignant, regarding as unworthy”), the present participle of indignor (“to regard as unworthy, take offence”), from indignus (“unworthy”), from in-…

It is formed from English industry + -al, in later use influenced by French industriel, from Medieval Latin industriālis, from Latin industria (“diligence, activity”). It is related to industry and…

It is borrowed from Latin ingenuitās (“the condition of a freeborn person; noble-mindedness, frankness”), perhaps through French ingénuité or Italian ingenuità, which the OED names as possible…

It is borrowed from Latin īnsānitās (“unsoundness, especially of the mind”), from īnsānus (“mad, insane”) and the noun suffix -tās; the adjective is the source of insane, and is formed from in-…

It is from English measure + -ment.

It is formed from English memory + -ize. Memory came into Middle English from Anglo-Norman memorie and directly from Latin memoria (“memory, remembrance”), a noun from memor (“mindful…

It is borrowed from Latin mīlitia (“military service, warfare”), from mīles (“soldier”) (stem milit-; see military).

It is borrowed from Latin mīmicus (“of mimes, farcical; sham; as a noun, a writer of mimes”), from Ancient Greek μιμικός (mīmikós, “characteristic of a mime”), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, mime”)…

It is formed from English occupant + -ancy. occupant is partly from Middle French occupant and partly occupāns, the present participle of occupō (“to take possession of”), the source of occupy…

It is formed from English ostentation + -ious, after pairs such as contention and contentious. The OED analyses it instead as a past-participial stem from Latin with the suffix, modelled on the…

It is borrowed from Middle French pluche, a contracted variant of peluche (“a velvet-like fabric, originally of silk”), from Old French peluchier (“to pick, pluck, untangle hair”), from Vulgar Latin…

It is formed from English shag + -y, from the noun shag in the sense of rough, matted hair or wool. The noun is from Old English sceacga (“rough matted hair”), although Etymonline calls the link…

It is borrowed from Middle French symboliser, also spelled symbolizer. The OED and Merriam-Webster derive the French verb from Latin symbolizō (“to express by a symbol; to be alike in quality”)…

It is borrowed from Latin torridus (“dried with heat, parched”), from torreō (“to dry with heat, parch”), with the suffix -idus, from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“to dry”). Hoad, the Shorter Oxford…

It is an agent noun formed from English trail + -er.

It is borrowed from Latin trānsfīxus (“pierced through, impaled”), the past participle of trānsfīgō (“to pierce through”), from trāns- (“through”) and fīgō (“to fix, fasten”). The OED compares Old…

It is borrowed from French tube (15th century) or directly borrowed from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), of unknown origin, related to Latin tuba “trumpet”.

It is formed from English wear + -able.

It is partly borrowed from Middle French anorexie, recorded in 1584, and partly borrowed from Late Latin anorexia (“lack of appetite”), from the 6th century, which Etymonline, Barnhart and…

It is borrowed from French billard, the name of both the game and the cue, originally a stick with a curved end, like a hockey stick. Barnhart and Merriam-Webster call the French form Middle French…

It is from English censor + -ship.

It was first camerade or camarade, borrowed from Middle French camarade, also camerade (originally feminine), from Spanish camarada, originally "a roomful", hence "a roommate", from cámara (“room…

It is borrowed from Middle French corridor, from Italian corridore, an alteration, under the influence of corridore (“runner”), of corridoio, from Vulgar Latin *curritōrium (“running place”), from…

It is formed from English cuttle + fish. Cuttle is from Old English cudele, through Middle English codel, also cotil and cutil. The Old English word has a Rhine Franconian counterpart kudele, and is…

It is formed from English down + stream, from the prepositional phrase “down the stream”. Middle English had the phrase “down the water”, about 1400.

1. The dish of chopped food is a noun formed from the verb meaning to chop, which is borrowed from Middle French hacher (“to cut into small pieces, chop up”), from Old French hache (“axe”), the…

It is formed from English protest + -er, The verb is from Old French protester and prōtestor (“to declare publicly, testify”), from prō- (“forth, before”) and testor (“to testify”), from testis…

It is formed from English re- + imburse, perhaps after Middle French rembourser or Italian rimborsare; the Shorter Oxford and Weekley give the French model alone. Imburse, to put in a purse, to pay…

It is formed from English reimburse + -ment, perhaps after French remboursement, recorded in Middle French before 1430; Merriam-Webster takes it as probably borrowed from the French word. reimburse…

It is borrowed from Latin squālidus (“rough, coated with dirt, filthy”), and Etymonline and Barnhart add Middle French squalide as a source. The Latin adjective is from squāleō (“to be dry, rough…

It is formed from English sugar + -y. Sugar is from Old French sucre, from Medieval Latin succārum, which goes back through Arabic and Persian to Sanskrit.

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin trānspārentia, from trānspārēns (“shining through”) (see transparent), from trāns (“through”) and pāreō (“to appear”).

It is borrowed from Middle French trufle, also troufle, the fungus (before 1406), formed from truffe with the diminutive suffix -le; Etymonline calls the -l- unetymological. Hoad, the Shorter…

It is imitative, perhaps partly an alteration from Middle English weffe (“a foul smell, vapour”) and partly a new imitative formation. The Middle English noun, also wef, meant a bad smell or stench…

It is formed from English apprentice + -ship, and replaced the older apprenticehood, formed with -hood in the late 14th century. apprentice, recorded from about 1300, is from Old French aprentiz…

It is of unknown origin. The noun and verb appear in the 1590s together, at first in the slang of petty criminals. It may be a shortening of abet, in an obsolete noun sense “instigation, support”…

It is a compound from English chair + man.

It is borrowed from French développer, replacing earlier disvelop, from Middle French desveloper, both from desveloper (“to unwrap, unfurl, reveal”), from des- (“undo”) and voloper (“to wrap up”)…

It is borrowed from French économique or directly borrowed from Latin oeconomicus (“of domestic economy; orderly”), from Ancient Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikós, “skilled in managing a household…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin expectantia, from Latin exspectāns, the present participle of exspectō (“to await, look out for, hope”), the source of expect. The verb is formed from ex-…

1. To melt is borrowed from Latin fūsus (“poured, melted”), the past participle of fundō (“to pour, melt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gheu-. Etymonline takes it as a back-formation from fusion…

It is borrowed from Latin locātiō (“a placing; a letting for hire”) (accusative locātiōnem), a noun of action from locō (“to place, put; to lease”), from locus (“a place”), the source of locus and…

It is formed from English re- + assure, after Middle French rassurer (“to restore confidence to”), which is recorded in Old French from the 12th century. The Anglo-Norman rasseurer, to reassure or…

The OED gives two possible sources. One is borrowed from Medieval Latin repatriātiō (“return to one's native country”), recorded from the 12th century in British and continental sources; the other…

It is formed from English state + man, with the first part in the genitive (“state's man”). In its main sense it follows Middle French homme d'état, recorded from the late 14th century; Dutch…

It is probably borrowed from a Flemish or Low German word, such as Hanoverian dialect swutsche, a variant from Low German swukse (“long thin stick”). Merriam-Webster Unabridged suggests Middle Dutch…

It is borrowed from French tarot, also tarault and tarau in the 16th century, from Italian tarocco, plural tarocchi, whose origin is unknown. Merriam-Webster gives the immediate source as Middle…

It is borrowed from Late Latin theōria, used by Jerome, from Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría, “contemplation, speculation; a looking at; a sight, spectacle”), from θεωρεῖν (theōreîn, “to look at…

It is from English un- + aware, or as an adverb a back-formation from unawares.

It is borrowed from Latin vītālitās (“vital force, life”), a word recorded in Pliny, formed from vītālis (“of life”) with -itās, the source of vital. Vītālis is from vīta (“life”), related to vīvō…

The revised OED takes it as formed from English abandon + -ment, comparing French abandonnement. Etymonline, Merriam-Webster, the Shorter Oxford and Webster's Third derive it from that French word…

It is borrowed from Latin adaequātus (“made equal”), the past participle of adaequō, to make equal, equalize, from ad-, to, and aequō, to make level, from aequus, equal (see equal).

It is borrowed from Latin agrārius (“of or relating to land”) with the suffix -an. Barnhart and Etymonline instead take it through Middle French agrarien, recorded in loy agrarienne (“agrarian law”)…