English words first recorded in the 16th century

It is an agent noun from English compose + -er.

It is probably the surname Dickens used as a substitute, from English devil, chosen because it begins with the same sound, as deuce was used in the same way. The surname, recorded as Dicones in…

It is borrowed from Middle French essai (“trial, attempt”), from Late Latin exagium (“a weighing, a weight”), from exigere (“to drive out; to examine, weigh”), from ex- and agere (“to drive”). It is…

It is borrowed from Latin ēvolvō (“to roll out, unroll, unfold”), used especially of unrolling a book and, figuratively, of making clear or developing. The verb is made of ē-, a form of ex- (“out”)…

It was first written fuge, and most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Italian fuga (“fugue; literally flight”), with the modern spelling from French fugue, itself from the Italian word. The OED…

1. The fine fluff is probably a back-formation from English fuzzy, although that word is recorded only from 1616. Barnhart prefers to derive it from fusse, 1601, or by shortening from fusball, a…

It is borrowed from Latin glūten (“glue”), perhaps through French gluten (“sticky substance”), recorded from the 16th century. The Latin noun is related to glūs (“glue”), the source of glue, and de…

It is borrowed from Arabic إمام (ʾimām, “leader, one who goes before”), from an Arabic verb meaning "to go before, precede, lead". The OED notes that the Shia sense was partly taken from the Persian…

It is formed from English invest + -ment.

It is borrowed from Late Latin irresistibilis, formed from in- (“not”) (assimilated as ir-) and resistō (“to withstand”), the source of resist, itself from re- (“against”) and sistō (“to stand…

It is borrowed from Middle French legume (“fruit of a leguminous plant”), now légume, from Latin legūmen (“pulse, leguminous plant”). The further origin of the Latin word is uncertain. Varro derived…

It is borrowed from Latin mūcus (“nasal mucus, snot”), also spelled muccus. The Latin noun is related to ēmungō (“to blow the nose”) and mūceō (“to be mouldy or musty”), and is cognate with Ancient…

It is an agent noun from English operate, or it is borrowed from Late Latin operātor (“a worker”), from operātus, past participle of operor “to work”, from opus “work”.

It is formed from English provision + -al, perhaps after French provisionnal, now provisionnel, recorded from 1484, and Medieval Latin provisionalis, recorded from before 1595. Johnson derived it…

1. The dance is borrowed from Latin pyrrhicha, from Ancient Greek πυρρίχη (purrhíkhē) (with orkhēsis “dancing” understood), the war dance of ancient Greece, said to be named after its inventor…

It is borrowed from Latin sēpticus (“putrefying, corrosive”), a word Pliny used of medicines, from Ancient Greek σηπτικός (sēptikós, “putrefactive”), from σηπτός (sēptós, “rotten”), the verbal…

It is formed from English un- + authorized. The verb authorize is from Old French autoriser (“to give authority to”), also auctoriser, and partly from Medieval Latin auctōrizō, from Latin auctor…

It is formed from English un- + safe, from the prefix meaning "not" and the adjective safe. The adjective safe goes back, through Old French sauf, to Latin salvus (“uninjured, safe”).

It is borrowed from Italian zebra, partly borrowed from Portuguese zebra, also zevra, the Italian being recorded from 1591, in the passage that the first English record translates, and the…

It is borrowed from French alerte (“vigilant”), earlier à l'herte, à l'erte “on the watch”, from the Italian military phrase all'erta (“on the watch; to the lookout”), from erta “lookout…

It is formed from English awe + -some.

It is borrowed from Dutch bamboes, which gave the earlier English forms bambos, bambus and bambous; their final -s was later taken as a plural ending and dropped. The Dutch word is related to…

It is an alteration of dialect bounder (16th century), from English bound + -er, ⟨bound⟩ being the verb “to limit”, perhaps on the pattern of limitary; Etymonline and MWU describe it as bound and…

The noun is borrowed from French caresse, recorded in the 16th century and in Middle French also as charesse and carresse, from Italian carezza (“endearment, fondness”), formed from caro (“dear…

It is probably formed from English chuck (“to cluck”) + -le, a frequentative, and the OED calls it echoic. Chuck is from Middle English chukken (“to make a clucking noise”), itself of imitative…

It is probably borrowed from Dutch koffie, from Ottoman Turkish kahveh, from Arabic قهوة (qahwa, “coffee”), which Arab etymologists connected with a word meaning “wine”. Etymonline suggests it may…

It is borrowed from Latin cohaereō (“to cleave together; to be consistent”), formed from co- (“together”), a form of com, and haereō (“to stick, cling”), the verb behind hesitate.

It is formed from English commerce + -ial.

The noun is borrowed from French concert (16th century), from Italian concerto (“concert, harmony”), and the verb is from French concerter, from Italian concertare “to bring into agreement”…

It is formed from English condition + -er, the agent suffix added to the verb. The verb comes from the noun condition, which is from Middle English condicioun, from Old French condicion…

It is borrowed from Middle French convoquer, a learned borrowing, recorded in French from the 14th century, from Latin convocō (“to call together”), formed from com- (“together”) and vocō (“to…

1. It is borrowed from Tamil கறி (kaṟi, “sauce, relish for rice”), an earlier form carriel (1598) having come through Portuguese caril from Kannada karil. Etymonline thinks it a blend of various…

It is borrowed from Latin dēmentia (“madness, insanity, folly”), from the stem of dēmēns (“mad, out of one's mind”), the source of dement, with the abstract noun suffix -ia. The Latin adjective is…

It is borrowed from French densité or directly borrowed from Latin dēnsitās (“thickness”) (accusative densitatem), from dēnsus (“thick, dense”) (see dense). French densité continues Old French…

It is borrowed from Latin dēstinātio (“purpose, design; determination”), perhaps through French, from dēstināre (“to determine, appoint, make firm”) (see destine), from dē- (“completely”) and a form…

The noun is borrowed from Middle French desgoust (“strong dislike, distaste”), now dégoût, though the OED, Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English also allow Italian disgusto (“distaste”); the…

It is formed from English down + stair + -s, from the prepositional phrase down the stairs; the OED takes it partly as down with the plural of stair, partly as down with the singular, which gives…

It is borrowed from French équitable, in Merriam-Webster's account from Middle French equitable, from équité (“equity”) and the suffix -able. The Shorter Oxford notes that the suffix has an active…

It is borrowed from Latin fascēs, the plural of fascis (“bundle”), from Proto-Italic *faski- (“bundle”). The Latin noun is related to fascia (“band”). Beyond Latin its cognates are Celtic: Middle…

It is a compound from English fire + fly. The OED compares Dutch vuurvlieg, recorded in 1620 for a fly thought to live in fire and in 1726 for a tropical fire beetle.

It is borrowed from Italian fresco (“cool, fresh”), used as a noun for fresh plaster and for coolness or fresh air. It was first recorded in English in the phrase “in fresco”, which Hoad, the Oxford…

It is borrowed from Latin frūgālis (“thrifty, virtuous”), perhaps partly borrowed from Middle French frugal, from frūgī (“useful, fit; economical”), an indeclinable adjective that was originally the…

It is formed from English fuck + -er, an agent noun from the verb. The OED notes that slightly earlier use is implied by ficker and probably by windfucker, and calls very doubtful the suggestion…

It is borrowed from Latin fūnereus (“of or appropriate to funerals, mourning, deadly”), with the suffix -al, from fūnus (“funeral, dead body, death”). Etymonline suggests that the ending was perhaps…

It is formed from English fur + -y. Fur comes from the verb, Anglo-Norman *furrer, forrer (“to line, sheathe”) (modern French fourrer), from fuerre (“sheath, scabbard”), from Frankish *fodr or…

It is formed from English gold + fish, from the golden markings or colour of the fishes it named. The OED compares German Goldfisch, used from the 15th century for various gold-coloured fishes, such…

It is borrowed from Arabic حشيش (ḥašīš, “dry herb, hay; powdered hemp”), which Barnhart derives from a verb meaning "it was dry". The revised OED finds a more complicated route: the earliest English…

It is borrowed from Late Latin illūstrātor (“an enlightener”), a word of ecclesiastical Latin, used by Lactantius; later it was taken as formed from English illustrate + -or, and the OED treats it…

The OED takes it as borrowed from Latin improbābilis, formed from in- (“not”) and probābilis (“probable, likely”), and compares improbable, first recorded in Cotgrave in 1611. The Shorter Oxford…

It is borrowed from Latin innocuus (“harmless”), with the English suffix -ous. The Latin adjective is formed from in- (“not”) and nocuus (“hurtful”), from the root of noceō (“to harm, hurt”), from…

It is borrowed from Latin interceptiō (“a seizing, taking away”), a noun of action from interceptus, the past participle of intercipiō (“to take or seize between, to intercept”). The Latin verb is…

It is borrowed from Portuguese jágara, also jagra, jagre and xagara, in the Portuguese of India. The Portuguese word is usually traced to Malayalam ചക്കര (cakkarā, “jaggery”), probably so in the…

It is formed from English lone + -ly. The adjective at its base dates from the 14th century and is a shortening of alone, either through weakened stress or through a misdivision of all and one. The…

It is formed from English manage + -ment. The verb manage is probably from Italian maneggiare (“to handle, especially to control a horse”), from Vulgar Latin *manidiō, from Latin manus (“hand”), and…

It is borrowed from Latin mīlitō (“to serve as a soldier, wage war, strive”), from its past participial stem mīlitāt-, from mīles (“soldier”). Merriam-Webster Unabridged adds that the Latin noun is…

It is borrowed from Middle French mission and directly borrowed from Latin missiō (“act of sending; release; discharge from service”) (accusative missiōnem), from missus, past participle of mittō…

It is formed from English mix + -er. The verb mix is a back-formation from Middle English myxte (“mingled, blended”), from Anglo-Norman mixte, from Latin mixtus, the past participle of misceō (“to…

It is borrowed from Latin pungēns (“pricking, piercing”), the present participle of pungō (“to prick, pierce, sting”), which was also used figuratively for to vex, grieve or afflict. In…

It is borrowed from Latin rabiēs (“rage, madness, fury; savageness”), used in New Latin for the disease, from rabiō (“to rage, rave, be mad”), of uncertain origin. The Latin noun is also the source…

It is borrowed from Latin radiātus, the past participle of radiō (“to emit rays, shine”), from radius (“ray, beam; spoke of a wheel”). Barnhart instead takes the verb as a back-formation from…