English words first recorded in the 16th century

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-…

It is borrowed from New Latin fīlāmentum, possibly under the influence of Middle French filament; Merriam-Webster derives it from Middle French, and Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English give…

It is formed from English grizzle + -y, from the adjective meaning grey; Merriam-Webster takes the suffix as -ly. The base is from Middle English grisel, a grey-haired man, from Old French grisel…

Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary take it as borrowed from Middle French gymnaste, a French word the OED finds in Rabelais, while the OED itself derives the English word directly…

It is borrowed from Middle French hostile (“of or belonging to an enemy”) or directly from Latin hostīlis, from hostis, earlier a stranger, foreigner, in classical use an enemy, from PIE…

It is borrowed from Middle French incapable, recorded in French from 1517, and also directly Medieval Latin incapābilis, formed from in- (“not”) and capābilis (“receptive, able to hold”), itself…

It is formed from English puff + -y, from the noun puff according to the OED, from the noun or the verb according to the Shorter Oxford.

It is borrowed from Latin rabidus (“raging, furious, mad”), from rabiō (“to rave, be mad”) and the suffix -idus. In Latin the adjective was used of frenzied feelings and of mad dogs. The Latin verb…

It is formed from English re- + construction, serving as the noun of action to reconstruct.

It is borrowed from Latin seriēs (“row, chain, sequence, succession”), from serō (“to join, link, bind together”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to line up”). Merriam-Webster relates it to Greek…

It is borrowed from Middle French sympathiser, formed from sympathie (“sympathy”) and -iser (“-ize”). The French noun is from Late Latin sympathia, from Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia…

It is borrowed from Latin tangēns (“touching”), the present participle of tangō (“to touch”), used in the phrase līnea tangēns (“touching line”). The Danish mathematician Thomas Fincke used the…

It is formed from English tradition + -al, perhaps after Medieval Latin trāditiōnālis.

It is formed from English un- + solicit + -ed, the adjective being the negative of the past participle of the verb. The verb is from Old French soliciter and directly from Latin sollicitō (“to…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman vendor, earlier vendour (modern French vendeur), the agent noun of vendre (“to sell”), the verb behind vend. The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has the form vendur, seller…

It is borrowed from Latin auctio (“a sale by increasing bids; literally, an increase”), from augēre (“to increase”), from PIE Proto-Indo-European *aug- (“to increase”). It is related to augment…

It is borrowed from Latin dēportātiō, which the Shorter Oxford calls Late Latin, and partly borrowed from Middle French déportation. It is a noun of action from dēportō (“to carry off, transport…

It is formed from English disgrace + -ful, and the OED compares graceful. Etymonline also explains its first sense, "graceless", as dis- and graceful. The noun disgrace is from French disgrâce, from…

It is formed from English employ + -er, the agent suffix.

It is borrowed from Latin impediō (“to entangle, shackle the feet; to hinder”), formed from in- (“in, on”) and pēs (“foot”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”), the root of foot. Barnhart takes…

It is borrowed from French incompétent, from Late Latin incompetēns (“insufficient”), from in- (“not”) and competēns (“suitable, competent”), the present participle of competō (“to strive together…

1. The verb meaning to beat is probably borrowed from Old Norse lemja (“to beat, flog; literally, to lame”), and it has always been a slang, provincial or colloquial word in English. The OED is more…

1. The adjective meaning weak or listless is borrowed from Middle French languide (“weak, fatigued; indifferent, apathetic”), or directly borrowed from Latin languidus (“faint, weary, drooping…

It is formed from English ornament + -al, and Etymonline adds that it was partly modelled on Latin ornamentalis. Ornament goes back through Old French ornement to Latin ōrnāmentum (“equipment…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin paedagogicus (“educative”) with the English suffix -al added. The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek παιδαγωγικός (paidagōgikós, “suitable for a teacher or…

It is formed from English remove + -al. Earlier nouns were remove and removing.

It is borrowed from Middle French resentir (now ressentir), also borrowed from Anglo-Norman resenter, from Old French resentir (“to feel again, feel in turn”), formed from re-, here an intensive…

It is borrowed from French révision, and partly from Late Latin revīsiō (“a seeing again”), a noun of action formed on revīsus, the past participle of revideō (“to see again, go to see again”), the…

It is borrowed from Latin senīlis (“of or characteristic of old age; old, aged”), formed from sen-, the stem of senex (“old; old man”), with the suffix -īlis. Etymonline takes it through French…

It is formed from English un- + healthy. It was preceded by unhealthsome (1540s) and unhealthful (1570s), and Middle English had the noun unhealth, from Old English unhælþ.

It is formed from English waiter + -ess. Waiter is an agent noun from wait, which comes from Anglo-Norman waitier (“to watch”) (Old French gaitier), from Frankish *wahtōn or another Germanic source…

It was formed in English as an agent noun from English warm + -er.

It is formed from English apology + -ize, after Greek ἀπολογίζομαι (apologízesthai, “to give an account”), from ἀπόλογος (apologos) (see apologue); NODE notes that in English the verb has always…

It is borrowed from Middle French aristocratique, from Medieval Latin aristocraticus, from Ancient Greek ἀριστοκρατικός (aristokratikós, “belonging to the rule of the best”), from ἀριστοκρατία…

It is borrowed from Latin chasma, from Ancient Greek χάσμα (khásma, “yawning hollow, gulf”), which is related to χάσκω (kháskō, “to gape, yawn”) and its by-form χαίνω (khaínō), and so to chaos. Ayto…

It is borrowed from Middle French entité or directly from Medieval Latin entitas (“being”), from Late Latin ens (genitive entis), a thing, being, which Caesar proposed as a present participle of…

It is borrowed from Latin genuīnus (“native, natural, innate”). Its origin is disputed. Barnhart, MWU, Collins and Etymonline derive it from the root of gignō (“to beget”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is borrowed from Late Latin hypothesis, perhaps influenced by Middle French hypothèse, from Ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis, “foundation, basis of an argument, supposition”), from ὑπό (hupó…

The origin is obscure. The OED finds that the word looks like an alteration of obsolete jot, to bump or jostle, which has largely the same senses and is recorded from 1530, under the influence of…

It is formed from English laugh + -able. Klein calls it a hybrid of the English verb and the suffix, first used by Shakespeare. Old English had expressed the idea with Old English hleahtorlīc…

It is formed from English lug (“to drag, pull with effort”) + -age, after baggage. The AHD calls it probably lug plus the end of baggage. The verb lug is of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish…

It is borrowed from Latin monumentālis (“of a monument”), which the OED treats as classical Latin of the 1st century AD and Etymonline and Merriam-Webster as Late Latin. It is formed from monumentum…

It is borrowed from Latin negōtiātor (“trader, businessman”), from negōtiātus, the past participle of negōtior (“to carry on business”), with the agent suffix -or. The verb comes from negōtium…

It is formed from English project + -or, partly after Medieval Latin projector (“one who throws, one who throws away”), recorded in British sources from before 1215, from prōiciō (“to throw forth”)…

1. It is of unknown origin. Its earliest sense was a prostitute. The later “worthless person” sense probably comes from American underworld “punk kid”, a criminal's apprentice, and is from either…

It is borrowed from Middle French retirement (1570s), from retirer “to retire”, with the suffix -ment; it is also explained as formed from retire and -ment.

It is formed from English round + -er: according to the OED partly from the noun round (a circuit, a tour of inspection), partly from the verb and partly from the adjective. Etymonline takes the…

It is obscurely related to early Middle English sniken, to creep, crawl (about 1200), from Old English snīcan (before 899), from *sneikanan, cognate with Old Norse sníkja, to desire, hanker, and…

It is borrowed from Latin stigma (“mark, brand; tattoo marking a slave or criminal”), from Ancient Greek στίγμα (stígma, “mark made by a pointed instrument, puncture, tattoo mark, brand”), from…

It is formed from English transform + -er. In the electrical sense it first translated French transformateur. The verb transform is from Middle English transformen, from Old French transformer, from…

It is formed from English un- + canny, in its old Scots and northern English sense "skilful, prudent, lucky", which also included "safe to deal with" and, superstitiously, "skilled in magic". Canny…

It is formed from English un- + titled, from the past participle of the verb title. The OED treats the sense "deprived of a title" as a separate formation with the reversing prefix, from the noun…

It is formed from English use + -ful. The noun use is from Old French us (“custom, practice”), from Latin ūsus (“use, custom, practice, skill”), from the past-participle stem of ūtor (“to make use…

It is borrowed from Late Latin absorptiō (“a swallowing up, engulfing”), found in Augustine in the 4th or 5th century, from absorptus, the past participle of absorbeō (“to swallow up, devour”), the…

It is borrowed from Italian alto (“high”), the Italian adjective used as a noun for a high voice in part music (1580), short for alto canto (“high song”), from Latin altus (“high”). The OED adds…

It is borrowed from Latin animatio (“an animating”), from the past participle stem of animāre (“to give breath to; to give courage to”) (see animate), from anima (“breath, life”), from PIE…

It is borrowed from Latin cactus, also cactos (in Pliny), from Ancient Greek κάκτος (káktos), a prickly plant of Sicily, the cardoon, a word of unknown origin. Partridge thought it probably adapted…

The earliest English forms, cole florye and colieflorie, are, according to most dictionaries, borrowed from Italian cavoli fiori (“flowered cabbages”), the plural of cavolfiore, with the first…