English words first recorded in the 17th century

It is formed from English short + hand, with short in the sense "rapid" and hand in the sense "handwriting". The OED compares the earlier short writing. The verb is formed from the noun.

It is borrowed from Late Latin abductiō (“a leading away; a forcible carrying off”), from abdūcō (“to lead away, take away”), formed from ab- (“away”) and dūcō (“to lead”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is partly borrowed from French affiliation (“adoption”) and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin affiliātiō (“adoption”), from the past participle of affīliō (“to adopt as a son”), which is formed…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek αὐτονομία (autonomía, “independence”), perhaps influenced by Middle French autonomie (1596), from αὐτόνομος (autónomos, “living by one's own laws”), from αὐτός…

It is borrowed from Latin condōnō (“to give up, remit, forgive, pardon”), formed from com-, here an intensive prefix, and dōnō (“to give, present”), from dōnum (“gift”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is borrowed from Late Latin convectiō (“a carrying or bringing together”), a noun of action from Latin convehō (“to carry together”), formed from com- (“with, together”) and vehō (“to carry”)…

It is from English cow + boy.

It is borrowed from Latin cremātiō (“a burning”), accusative cremātiōnem, a noun of action from cremō (“to burn, consume by fire”), which was also used of burning the dead. Etymonline derives the…

It is formed from English curve + -y, from the noun curve and the adjective suffix. The OED compares the earlier adjectives curved and curving. The OED records the noun from 1596 and Etymonline from…

It is borrowed from French évoquer, or directly borrowed from Latin ēvocō (“to call out, rouse, summon”), formed from ē- (“out”), a form of ex-, and vocō (“to call”). The Shorter Oxford takes it…

1. The rope is, on the usual account, inherited from Middle English gye (“a guide”), borrowed from Old French guie (“a guide; a crane”), from guier (“to guide”), from Frankish *witan (“to show the…

It is borrowed from Latin haesitātus, the past participle of haesitō (“to stick fast, stammer, be undecided”), a frequentative of haereō (“to stick, cling, hold fast”), the verb behind adhere. The…

It is borrowed from Latin indulgeō (“to be kind or complaisant, to yield; to grant as a favour”). Barnhart and Etymonline think it was partly a back-formation from the older English nouns indulgence…

It is borrowed from Late Latin inhālātiō, which the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English call Medieval Latin, a noun of action from inhālō (“to breathe upon”), formed from in- (“on…

It is borrowed from Latin īnsomnia (“want of sleep, sleeplessness”), from īnsomnis (“sleepless”), formed from in- (“not”) and somnus (“sleep”), with the noun suffix -ia. The Latin word for sleep…

It is borrowed from Latin īnspectus (“looked into, examined”), the past participle of īnspiciō (“to look into, inspect, examine”), or īnspectō (“to look at, observe”), its frequentative. The Latin…

It is borrowed from Spanish junta (“council, meeting, assembly”); Portuguese has the same word, junta, which the OED and Etymonline also name as a source, and Italian has giunta. The Spanish noun is…

It is probably borrowed from Dutch kink (“twist, curl in a rope”), originally a sailors' word, or the related Middle Low German kinke (“twist in a rope, spiral snail shell”), which the Oxford…

It is borrowed from Latin līberātus, the past participle of līberō (“to set free”), from līber (“free”), the source of liberal. Barnhart thinks it was in some cases a back-formation from the older…

It is borrowed from Latin migrātus, the past participle of migrō (“to change one's residence, move from place to place”). Barnhart and Weekley take it rather as a back-formation from migration…

It is borrowed from Latin sēlēctiō (“a choosing out, choice”) (accusative sēlēctiōnem), a noun of action from sēlēctus, the past participle of sēligō (“to choose out, single out; to separate…

It was formed from English active + -ate in English. Merriam-Webster thinks it was probably modelled on activer, a derivative of actif (“active”); the OED compares that French verb, used from the…

It is a compound from English black (“disgraceful, censured”) + list (“a list”), with black in its sense of disgrace or punishment, which Etymonline records from the 1590s in black book. The verb is…

It was formed in English, either from obsolete currence, modelled on from Medieval Latin *currentia (“a current of a stream”), or from current, on the pattern of decent, decency. Both go back to…

It is borrowed from Latin ēlicitus (“drawn forth”), the past participle of ēliciō (“to draw out, draw forth”), the English verb being formed on the Latin participial stem. The Latin verb is formed…

It is formed from engage and the suffix -ment, after French engagement, from engager (“to pledge”). Engage is from French en (“in”) and gage (“pledge”) (see gage).

It is formed from English feasible + -ity. The adjective feasible is from Anglo-Norman faisible, from Old French faisable (“possible, that may be done; easy, convenient”), from the stem of faire…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin heterogeneus, from Ancient Greek ἑτερογενής (heterogenḗs, “of different kinds”), formed from ἕτερος (héteros, “other, different”) and γένος (génos, “kind, race…

It is formed from English in- + conceivable, with the negative prefix meaning "not". Conceivable itself is formed from conceive and -able, and is recorded from the mid-15th century. The OED compares…

It is a compound of law and suit, also written law-suit.

It is borrowed from Latin nāscēns (“being born, arising”), the present participle of nāscor (“to be born”), an inchoative verb with past participle nātus (“born”), earlier gnātus. It comes from…

It is borrowed from Latin pneumaticus (“concerned with air pressure, worked by air or wind”), and partly directly borrowed from Ancient Greek πνευματικός (pneumatikós, “of wind or air, of the…

The adjective is borrowed from Medieval Latin sensōrius (“belonging to sensation”), recorded from before 1540, formed from sēnsus, the past participle of sentiō (“to feel, perceive”), and the suffix…

It is borrowed from Latin splendidus (“bright, shining; sumptuous, illustrious”), partly also borrowed from French splendide, from splendeō (“to be bright, shine”). Etymonline and Barnhart think it…

It is a compound of stair and case, the latter in its sense "frame, enclosure", as in the older compounds for the frames of windows and doors. The word stair goes back to Old English stæger (“stair…

Its origin is uncertain. It may represent an Old English *swamp, cognate with Old Norse svǫppr (“sponge, fungus”) and Swedish svamp, from Proto-Germanic *swampuz, from a root meaning spongy, also…

It is formed from English un- + specified, the second part being the past participle of specify.

The OED takes it as borrowed from Medieval Latin apocalypticus (“of the biblical Apocalypse; of the nature of revelation”), recorded from the 15th century, from Ancient Greek ἀποκαλυπτικός…

It is borrowed from Chinese 請 (qǐng, “please”), usually doubled, a polite expression and a specific use of the verb meaning “to ask, to invite”. The OED gives both the Cantonese and the Mandarin…

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek διαγνωστικός (diagnōstikós, “able to distinguish”), from διαγνωστός (diagnōstós, “distinguishable”), the verbal adjective of διαγιγνώσκω (diagignṓskō, “to…

It is formed from disappear and -ance, on the model of appearance. The verb is from dis- and appear, after Anglo-Norman desaparer (13th century).

It is borrowed from French gala or its source Italian gala; Merriam-Webster and Barnhart take it from the Italian word, and Barnhart has the French one as a later source. The Shorter Oxford and Hoad…

It is borrowed from French hypnotique (“inclined to sleep, soporific”), recorded in French in the 16th century, in Paré, from Late Latin hypnōticus, from Ancient Greek ὑπνωτικός (hupnōtikós…

It is borrowed from French juvénile and directly Latin iuvenīlis (“of youth, youthful”), from iuvenis (“young; a young man”) (see young). In Roman use a iuvenis was in the age just beyond…

It is formed from English legitimate + -acy. The adjective legitimate comes from Medieval Latin lēgitimātus (“made lawful”), from Latin lēgitimus (“lawful”), from lēx (“law”). The older noun in…

It is borrowed from New Latin missiōnārius (“relating to a mission; a missionary”), formed on Latin missiō (“a sending”) with the suffix -ārius, from mittō (“to send”). French has missionnaire and…

It is borrowed from Late Latin ōrālis, from Latin ōs (“mouth”) (genitive ōris), perhaps reinforced by French oral, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *os- (“mouth”), also the source of Sanskrit आस् (ās…

It was formed from English relevant + -ance in English, or perhaps as a back-formation from the earlier relevancy. The adjective relevant comes from Medieval Latin relevāns (“legitimate…

It is formed in English from select and -ive, from Latin sēlēctus, the past participle of sēligō (“to select”).

It is borrowed from Turkish sofa, partly through French sofa, from Arabic صُفَّة (ṣuffa, “bench, ledge, dais, couch”). The OED, revising the entry in 2025, notes that in Ottoman Turkish the word…

It is borrowed from Late Latin territōriālis, from Latin territōrium (“territory”) (see territory).

It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish یوغورت (yoġurt), recorded from 1451, modern Turkish yoğurt. In early use the word partly came through other European languages: compare Italian iogurt (recorded…

It is borrowed from French acide or directly from Latin acidus (“sour, sharp”), from aceō “to be sour”, from Proto-Indo-European *ak- (“to be sharp, pierce”). It is related to acrid, acerbic and…

Like chare and char, an odd job, of which it is a variant, it is inherited from Middle English cherre (“a turn, an odd job”), inherited from Old English cierr, also cerr (“a turn, change; a time…

It is borrowed from French clinique and Latin clīnicus (“physician who visits patients in bed”), from Ancient Greek κλινική (klinikḗ, “practice at the sickbed”), from κλινικός (klinikós, “of the…

It is borrowed from Latin contāctus (“a touching”), perhaps through French contact, from the past participle of contingō (“to touch closely, border on”), from com- (“with, together”) and tangō (“to…

It is borrowed from Latin ēmittō (“to send forth”), formed from ē- (“out”), a form of ex-, and mittō (“to send, let go”). The Latin verb is also the source of emission and emissary, and through…

It is formed from English enrich + -ment. enrich, recorded from 1382, is from Old French enrichir, also enrichier, formed from en- and riche (“rich”).

It is borrowed from Latin hydraulicus, probably by way of, or under the influence of, Middle French hydraulique; the Shorter Oxford dates the French word to the 15th century. The Latin adjective is…

It is formed from English in- + coherent, with the negative prefix. The OED compares French incohérent, which it finds only from the 18th century. The base adjective is from French cohérent, from…