English words first recorded in the 16th century

It is borrowed from Middle French abolition (“amnesty; complete destruction”) and directly borrowed from Latin abolitiō (“destruction, cancellation, annulment”), a noun of action from abolitus, the…

It is formed from English breed + -er, an agent noun from the verb. breed is from Old English brēdan (“to bring young to birth, procreate; to cherish, keep warm”), from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną…

It is borrowed from Middle French célébration or directly celebratio (“a numerous attendance”), a noun of action from celebrāre (“to celebrate”) (see celebrate), or formed in English from celebrate.

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin correspondeō (“to correspond, harmonize, reciprocate”), partly borrowed from Middle French correspondre (“to be in harmony, agree”), recorded in French from the…

It is borrowed from Latin dīgressus (“turned aside”), the past participle of dīgredior (“to go aside, depart, deviate”), formed from dis- (“apart, aside”) and gradior (“to step, go”), which is…

It is borrowed from Latin extortus (“wrenched out, wrested away”), the past participle of extorqueō (“to wrench out, obtain by force”), formed from ex- (“out”) and torqueō (“to twist”), which the…

It is borrowed from Middle French fourniture (“a supply; the act of furnishing”), from Old French forneture (13th century), from furnir (“to furnish”) (see furnish).

It is borrowed from German Geld (“money”) and also borrowed from Dutch geld, the Dutch word from Middle Dutch ghelt (“payment, money”). In later and Jewish use it is from Yiddish געלט (gelt), from…

It is formed from English house + keeping, after the phrase “to keep house”. Etymonline suggests that it may be a back-formation from housekeeper, which is recorded earlier, from before 1425. The…

It is borrowed from Latin īnferō (“to bring in, carry in; to cause; to introduce”), perhaps partly through Middle French inférer, which in medieval Latin also meant to deduce. It is formed from in-…

It is borrowed from Latin īnsertus, past participle of īnserō, to put in, graft, from in-, in, and serō, to join together, put in a row (see series). Middle English had already borrowed the Latin…

It is formed from English May + pole, from its use in the festivities of May Day.

The origin is uncertain. It is perhaps borrowed from Middle French Perrot, a variant of Pierrot, a pet form of the man's name French Pierre (“Peter”), in line with the habit of giving pet birds…

It is a compound from English pay + day.

The OED takes it as formed from English pene- + ultimate, after Latin paenultimus (“next to last”); the Shorter Oxford, the Oxford Dictionary of English and Hoad derive it from the Latin adjective…

It is from Latin polīticus (“of citizens or the state”) with the suffix -al, the source of politic, from Greek πολιτικός (politikós), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”), from πόλις (pólis, “city”)…

It is formed from English post + man, from the noun in the sense of the riders and horses stationed along a route to carry messages, later the postal system. This noun is from Middle French poste…

It was formed from English register + -ry. Etymonline takes it from the noun register with the suffix -y, the Shorter Oxford from the verb, and the OED explains it as a variant of the earlier…

It is formed from English satiric + -al, the adjective satiric being from Late Latin satiricus (“of satire; a writer of satire”), from satira (“satire, poetic medley”). The OED and the Concise…

It was formed from English sweat + -er in English, an agent noun from the verb, in Middle English swētere. Johnson (1755) explained it the same way.

It is formed from English un- + controlled, the past participle of the verb control. The Shorter Oxford also records the old spelling “uncontroulled”.

It is formed from English whirl + pool. Old English had similar compounds, hwyrfepōl and wirfelmere, and the OED compares them. The first element is probably from Old Norse hvirfla (“to go round…

It is borrowed from French abusif (Anglo-French abusif (“misplaced, wrong”)), from Late Latin abūsīvus (“misapplied, improper”), from abūsus, the past participle of abūtor (“to misuse, use up”) (see…

It is borrowed from Middle French acceptance (Anglo-French), from accepter (“to accept”) (see accept) and -ance.

It is borrowed from Latin aggravō (“to weigh down, burden, make worse”), from its past participle aggravātus, formed from ad- and gravō (“to make heavy, weigh down”), from gravis (“heavy”), from…

It is borrowed from Middle French antique (“old”), from Latin antīquus (“former, ancient, old”) (later antīcus), from ante (“before”) (see ante-), from a PIE compound of Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti…

It is borrowed from Middle French biais (“a slant, slope; sideways”), from Old Provençal biais, of uncertain origin, perhaps irregularly from Greek ἐπικάρσιος (epikársios, “oblique, athwart”)…

1. It is a spelling of by used as a noun, from by- “secondary, subsidiary”, as in the side stakes of dicing and in various sports. 2. The interjection is a shortening of goodbye.

1. To chew noisily is probably imitative. The OED, as quoted by Etymonline, suggests a connection with jam. Earlier forms were cham and chamb (late 14th century). 2. The champion is a clipping of…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin chorālis (“belonging to a chorus or choir”), formed from chorus (“choir”) with the suffix -ālis. Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster also allow a borrowing…

It is borrowed from French classe and directly borrowed from Latin classis (“a division of the Roman people; an army, a fleet”). The Latin word meant especially one of the six classes into which…

It is borrowed from Latin contribūtus, past participle of contribuō (“to bring together, add, unite, collect”), from com- “with, together” (see con-) and tribuō “to allot, pay” (see tribute)…

It is borrowed from Latin convincere (“to overcome; to convict; to prove”), from com-, here intensive, and vincere (“to conquer”) (see victor). It is related to convict.

It is of unknown origin; the word is not recorded in Middle English. The OED notes a comparison with a rare Old Irish cuib (“dog”), but finds no historical link; Etymonline suggests the Old Irish…

It is borrowed from Latin dēfīnītus (“defined, bounded, limited, precise”), the past participle of dēfīniō (“to limit, determine, explain”), from dē- (“completely”) and fīniō (“to bound, limit”)…

It is formed from every and body in its old sense “person”.

1. The verb, first "to droop, decline", is of uncertain origin. The usual view is that it is an alteration from English flag (“to droop, go limp”); Barnhart notes that this would explain the…

1. Its origin is uncertain. The word is in all the modern Germanic languages, as Danish flag, Swedish flagga, Dutch vlag and German Flagge, but seems to be recorded first in English, which may be…

It is a hybrid formed from English guide + -ance, the suffix being of Latin origin; it replaced the 15th-century guying.

It is formed from English hand + kerchief. Kerchief, a cloth for covering the head, is from Anglo-Norman courchief, a variant of Old French couvrechief (“cover-head”), from couvrir (“to cover”) and…

It is borrowed from Middle French harmonieux, also armonieux, from harmonie (“harmony”), also armonie, with its ending matched to -ous. The French adjective is recorded from the 14th century. The…

It is borrowed from Latin indēfīnītus (“indefinite, undefined”), formed from in- (“not”) and dēfīnītus (“defined, set within limits”), the past participle of dēfīniō (“to limit, determine”), itself…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin intentiōnālis, a word used by Herveus Natalis about 1300, from Latin intentiō (“a stretching out, effort, attention; purpose”), from intendō (“to direct one's…

1. The adjective meaning “not valid” is borrowed from Latin invalidus (“not strong, infirm, weak, inadequate”), made of in- (“not”) and validus (“strong”), from valeō (“to be strong”), the source of…

It is formed from English itch + -y. Etymonline traces it to Old English ġiċċiġ, which Random House calls a rare Old English word meaning “purulent, putrid”.

It has no apparent source in Old or Middle English and is probably imitative of the sound of feet coming to the ground, like bump and thump. Another theory derives it from Gallo-Romance dialects of…

It is borrowed from Middle French lien (“band, tie, bond”), from Old French loien, from Latin ligāmen (“bond, tie”), from ligō (“to bind, tie”), from Proto-Indo-European *leig- (“to tie, bind”)…

It is of uncertain or unknown origin, probably from Middle Low German Moneke, or a Middle Dutch or Flemish diminutive such as Monnekin, ultimately from a Romance word, compare French monne, Old…

It is a compound, from English net + work. The verb is from the noun.

It is a respelling of Middle English o, which is inherited from Middle English o, borrowed from Old French ô (also spelled oh), or directly from Latin ō (also ōh). The spelling oh was possibly…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman paramont (“above; pre-eminent”), also paramount, an adjective use of an adverb meaning "above" in place, order or degree, formed from par (“by”), from per (“through…

It is probably a variant or alteration of pike “sharp point”, perhaps influenced by beak. Hoad takes it instead as a back-formation from peaked, a variant of dialect picked “pointed”, from pick. In…

It is borrowed from Latin penetrātus, the past participle of penetrō (“to put or get into, enter”), from penitus (“inner, inmost, to the inmost recesses”), formed after intrō (“to enter”) beside…

It is borrowed from Latin perpetuō (“to make perpetual, make permanent”), from its past participial stem, from perpetuus (“continuous, lasting”), the source of perpetual. Etymonline also allows a…

It is borrowed from Late Latin phrasis (“diction”), from Ancient Greek φράσις (phrásis, “speech, way of speaking”), from φράζω (phrázō, “to point out, tell, declare”), of uncertain origin; it may be…

It is borrowed from Middle French pilote (“steersman”), from Italian pilota, piloto, an alteration of Old Italian pedota, pedoto, usually explained as from Medieval Greek *pēdṓtēs “helmsman”, from…

It is borrowed from Middle French police (“organized government, civil administration”), from Medieval Latin polītia (“citizenship, government”), from Latin polītīa (“the state”), from Ancient Greek…

The verb is borrowed from Latin prōstitūtus (“exposed publicly, offered for sale”), the past participle of prōstituō (“to offer for sale, to prostitute, to put to an unworthy use, to expose to…

It is borrowed from Middle French relater (“to refer, report”) and directly borrowed from Latin relātus, the form serving as past participle of referre (“to bring back; to report”) (see refer), from…

It is formed from require and -ment.