English words first recorded in the 16th century

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 Medieval Latin *cōnstitūtīvus, a form the OED calls a Latin type, perhaps medieval, from the participial stem of Latin cōnstituō (“to cause to stand, set up, establish”), from…

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”)…

It is borrowed from Middle French aloi (“mixture of metals; comparative purity of gold or silver”), also alloy, from Old French aloier (“to combine”), earlier aleier, from Latin alligō (“to bind…

It is formed from English anthropo- + -logy, after New Latin anthropologia (“study of humanity”), which Merriam-Webster and Barnhart give as its source. The Latin word is recorded in an Italian…

The OED, in its 2013 revision, takes it as borrowed from New Latin appretiativus, recorded from 1544 or earlier, formed on the past participle of appretiō (“to appraise, appreciate”) with the suffix…

It is formed from English a- + rouse, on the pattern of rise and arise, wake and awake. The dictionaries class the prefix differently: Etymonline glosses it "on", Merriam-Webster calls it perfective…

It is formed from English auspice + -ous, or, as the OED, Merriam-Webster and Klein put it, from Latin auspicium (“divination from the flight of birds”) and the same suffix. The English noun came…

1. Ready money is borrowed from Middle French casse (“money box”) or its source Italian cassa (“box, money box”), from Latin capsa (“box, chest”) (see case). Barnhart instead derives it from Middle…

It is borrowed from New Latin chronologia, perhaps also influenced by Middle French chronologie, recorded from 1579. The Latin word is formed from Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”) and -λογία…

It is formed from English colony + -ize. The revised OED also allows that the base may be the etymon of the noun, Latin colōnia. Etymonline instead takes the verb from the stem of colōnus (“tiller…

It is formed from English dependent + -cy, also spelled dependancy at first, on the French model. Merriam-Webster derives it instead from Middle French dependance with the English suffix -y, and…

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēscrīptīvus (“serving to describe”), recorded from the 4th century, from dēscrīptus, the past participle of dēscrībō (“to write down, copy; to sketch, represent”)…

It is borrowed from Latin efficientia (“efficient power, influence”), from efficiēns, the present participle of efficiō (“to bring about, accomplish”). See efficient and effect.

It is formed from English ever + green. The OED compares the earlier noun sengreen, the houseleek, from Old English singrēne of the same sense, and the later German immergrün (17th century). In…

It is borrowed from Latin fīdūciārius (“held in trust”), possibly through fiduciaire, from fīdūcia (“trust, confidence”), from fīdō (“to trust”), from Proto-Indo-European *bheidh- (“to trust…

It is borrowed from Middle French harasser (“to pester; to exhaust, tire out”), recorded in French from 1527 in the sense "to pester", and in the sense "to exhaust" by 1583. The OED derives the…

It is formed from English im- + partial, with the form of the negative prefix in- used before m. Partial is from Old French parcial, from Late Latin partiālis, from pars (“part”). In French…

It is formed from English impress + -ive.

It is formed from English induce + -ment. Induce is from Latin indūcō (“to lead into, introduce, persuade”), from in- (“into”) and dūcō (“to lead”), which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin inferentia, from Latin inferēns (“bringing in”), the present participle of īnferō (“to bring in; to conclude, deduce”), from in- (“in”) and ferō (“to carry…

It is formed from English infringe + -ment. The verb infringe is recorded from the mid-15th century as enfrangen, to violate, and in its present form from 1533. It comes from Latin infringō (“to…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin intuitīvus, from Latin intuitus, the past participle of intueor (“to look at, consider, contemplate”), from in- (“into, at”) and tueor (“to look at, watch over”)…

It is formed from English manage + -able. The OED compares Italian maneggiabile (“that can be worked with the hands”), from the first half of the 16th century, and an early English spelling of…

It is formed from English novel + -ist. The OED compares French nouvelliste (a newsmonger from the late 17th century, a writer only from 1852), Italian novellista (1640), Spanish novelista and…

It is borrowed from French option, Old French opcion, from Latin optiō (“choice, free choice”), related to optō (“to desire, pray for, choose”), which is of uncertain origin. Barnhart connects it…

It is an imitative or natural exclamation, which the OED describes as a vocal gesture of puffing something away; Weekley likewise took it as an imitation of blowing away. The OED compares the…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin prōsecūtor, which in Late Latin meant an escort of goods in transit, an agent noun from Latin prōsequor (“to follow, pursue”) (see prosecute), from prō- and sequor…

It is borrowed from Latin secāns (“cutting”), stem secant-, the present participle of secō (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes the noun through…

It is borrowed from Latin sinus (“a bend, curve, fold of a garment, bosom”). The mathematical use goes back to the medieval Latin translations of Arabic geometry: about 1150 Gherardo of Cremona used…

It is from English support + -ive.

It is formed from English un- + familiar. The adjective familiar comes from Old French familier, from Latin familiāris (“domestic, of a household”), from familia (“household, family”).

It is borrowed from French apogée or New Latin apogaeum, from Ancient Greek ἀπόγαιον (apógaion), short for ἀπόγαιον διάστημα (apógaion diástēma, “distance away from the earth”), the neuter of…

It is a compound from English blue + berry, named for the colour of the fruit. Blue is from Old French bleu (“pale, light-coloured; blue”), of Germanic origin, and berry is from Old English berie…

It is formed from English box + -ing, a verbal noun of the verb meaning "to strike with the fist", later "to fight with the fists". The dictionaries agree that it comes from this verb, not from the…

It is borrowed from French compétence, which Merriam-Webster takes as Middle French, from Latin competentia (“meeting together, agreement, symmetry”), from competēns, the present participle of…

It is borrowed from Latin competentia (“meeting together, agreement, symmetry”), which in Medieval Latin also meant suitability or competence; Dictionary.com allows a passage through Middle French…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin cōnsistentia (“a standing together”), or directly from Latin cōnsistēns, standing firm, present participle of cōnsistō, to stand firm, halt (see consist and…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin crēdibilitās, from Latin crēdibilis (“believable”) (see credible), from crēdō (“to believe”).

It is borrowed from Middle French dental (“of or for teeth”) or directly Late Latin dentalis, from Latin dēns (“tooth”) (genitive dentis; see tooth), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *dent- (“tooth”).

It is borrowed from Late Latin edibilis (“eatable”), from edō (“to eat”) and the suffix -ibilis, from Proto-Indo-European *ed- (“to eat”), the root that also gave eat. Klein compares comestible…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman escrowe, escroue, from Old French escroe (“scrap, strip of parchment, scroll”), from a Germanic source, compare Old High German scrōt (“scrap, shred”) (see shred)…

It is borrowed from Latin expiātus, the past participle of expiō (“to make amends, atone for”); the OED and the Shorter Oxford name the participial stem expiāt-. The Latin verb is formed from ex-…