Etymologically

1800s · Modern English

English words first recorded in the 19th century

891 English words whose earliest known written record dates from the 19th century, earliest first (page 5). Words dated only to part of the century follow the ones with a year.

  1. prenatal

    1826

    It is formed from English pre- (“before”) + natal. The adjective natal is from Latin nātālis (“of or belonging to birth”), from nāscor (“to be born”). The OED compares the earlier antenatal, and…

  2. sanitation

    1826

    It is formed from English sanitary + -ation, irregularly, from the stem of the adjective. Sanitary was made after French sanitaire (“of public health and hygiene”) from Latin sānitās (“health”)…

  3. semester

    1826

    It is borrowed from German Semester (“half-year course at a university”), from Latin sēmēstris, of six months, half-yearly, in cursus sēmēstris, a course of six months, from sex, six (see six), and…

  4. sterilization

    1826

    It is formed from English sterilize + -ation. The verb sterilize is from sterile with the suffix -ize, or from French stériliser; sterile is from stérile and Latin sterilis (“barren, unproductive”)…

  5. subgroup

    1826

    It is formed from English sub- + group. The OED compares French sous-groupe, recorded from 1819 or earlier. Group itself is from French groupe, from Italian gruppo (“group, knot”), probably of…

  6. contractual

    1827

    It is formed from English contract + -al, on the stem of the Latin noun behind contract, contractus (“a drawing together; in Late Latin, a contract”); the OED compares French contractuel. Contractus…

  7. ex

    1827

    The noun is a shortening of words formed with the prefix ex-, “former”, such as ex-husband and ex-wife; Etymonline says it was first short for ex-Catholic. The preposition is borrowed from Latin ex…

  8. manipulate

    1827

    It is a back-formation from manipulation, perhaps after French manipuler, which was itself formed in French from its noun; the OED thinks both are independent of Italian manipolare and of the rare…

  9. snowman

    1827

    It is formed from English snow + man. The OED compares West Frisian snieman, German Schneemann and Danish snemand.

  10. socialist

    1827

    It is formed from social and -ist, or from French socialiste, at first in reference to the teachings of Saint-Simon, the founder of French socialism. In the 18th century Latin socialista had been…

  11. spaghetti

    1827

    It is borrowed from Italian spaghetti, the plural of spaghetto (“thin string, twine”), a diminutive of spago (“cord, string”). The origin of spago is uncertain. The American Heritage Dictionary…

  12. wallpaper

    1827

    It is a compound from English wall + paper.

  13. breakaway

    1828

    It is formed from English break + away, as a noun and adjective use of the phrasal verb break away. Etymonline dates that verb phrase, in the sense "to free oneself suddenly, escape", to the 1530s.

  14. cupcake

    1828

    It is formed from English cup + cake, originally in American English. Etymonline thinks the name probably comes from the cups the cakes were baked in, but possibly from the small measures of the…

  15. entrepreneur

    1828

    It is, borrowed a second time, borrowed from French entrepreneur (“one who undertakes, a manager”), from Old French entreprendre, to undertake (see enterprise), and -eur (see -or).

  16. morphology

    1828

    It is borrowed from French morphologie, recorded in French from 1809, from German Morphologie, a word coined by Goethe. Etymonline, Barnhart, Klein and Merriam-Webster take the English word straight…

  17. psychiatry

    1828

    The OED takes it as formed from English psycho- + -iatry, after German Psychiatrie, which is first recorded in 1808, as Psychiaterie, in a collection edited by J. C. Reil and J. C. Hoffbauer. It…

  18. runway

    1828

    It is formed from run and way.

  19. bloke

    1829

    The origin is unknown. Chambers calls it obscure. Several dictionaries derive it from Shelta, the argot of Irish tinkers: Weekley calls it 19th-century thieves' slang of Shelta origin, and Webster's…

  20. boredom

    1829

    It is formed from English bore + -dom. The OED takes the base as the noun bore, a tiresome thing or person, Etymonline and Dictionary.com as the verb, to weary. That bore appeared suddenly as a…

  21. choreographer

    1829

    It is formed from English choreography + -er, or, as the Shorter Oxford puts it, from the same base with -grapher. Choreography is from French chorégraphie, written notation of dance, the title of…

  22. consortium

    1829

    It is borrowed from Latin cōnsortium (“fellowship, partnership, participation”), from cōnsors (“partner; sharing the same lot”), from com- (“with, together”) and sors (“lot, share”), from…

  23. deterrent

    1829

    It is borrowed from Latin dēterrēns (“deterring”), the present participle of dēterreō (“to frighten off, discourage”), from dē- (“away”) and terreō (“to frighten”), the source of terrible and…

  24. flashlight

    1829

    It is formed from English flash + light. The OED takes the first part as the noun flash, Etymonline as the verb.

  25. omnibus

    1829

    It is borrowed from French omnibus, also voiture omnibus (“carriage for all”), from Latin omnibus (“for all”), the dative plural of omnis (“all”), the source of omni-. Merriam-Webster suggests that…

  26. realistic

    1829

    It is formed from realist and -ic.

  27. seasonal

    1829

    It is formed from season and -al.

  28. solidarity

    1829

    It is borrowed from French solidarité (“joint liability, mutual responsibility”), a coinage of the Encyclopédie (1765), from solidaire (“interdependent, complete, entire”), from solide (see solid).

  29. standpoint

    1829

    It is formed from English stand + point, as a loan translation modelled on German Standpunkt, a compound of Stand (“a standing, stand”) and Punkt (“point”). Etymonline dates the German word from the…

  30. accordion

    1830

    It is borrowed from German Accordion, the name under which the instrument was patented in Vienna in 1829, later spelled Akkordion and now Akkordeon. The German word is formed from Accord (“chord”)…

  31. collaboration

    1830

    It is borrowed from French collaboration, a noun of action from Latin collabōrāre (“to work with”), from com- (“with”) and labōrāre (“to work”) (see labour).

  32. confidentiality

    1830

    It is formed from English confidential + -ity. confidential is from Latin confīdentia (“confidence”) with the suffix -al; the OED compares French confidentiel. The Latin noun comes from confīdēns…

  33. developmental

    1830

    It was formed from English development + -al in English.

  34. fledgling

    1830

    It is formed from English fledge + -ling, from the now obsolete adjective fledge, fit to fly, on the pattern of nestling. The adjective is from Middle English flegge, also fligge, from Old English…

  35. geothermal

    1830

    It is formed from English geo- + thermal; Merriam-Webster classes it as International Scientific Vocabulary, from geo- and thermal or thermic. The prefix comes from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê, “the earth…

  36. hex

    1830

    1. The verb meaning to bewitch is borrowed from Pennsylvania German hexe (“to practise witchcraft”), from German hexen (“to bewitch”), which is related to Hexe (“witch”). The German noun goes back…

  37. myth

    1830

    It is from French mythe (1818) and directly Modern Latin mythus, from Greek μῦθος (mûthos, “speech, word, story, myth”), a word of unknown origin, which Beekes finds quite possibly Pre-Greek. It is…

  38. redevelopment

    1830

    It is formed from English re- + development. The verb redevelop is recorded slightly later, from 1835.

  39. specificity

    1830

    It is formed from English specific + -ity, although Etymonline allows that it may instead be borrowed from French spécificité. The OED compares the French noun, recorded of a medicine's specific…

  40. capitalization

    1831

    It is formed from English capitalize + -ation, and the OED compares the earlier nouns capitalizing and, for the writing sense, capitalling. Merriam-Webster takes it from French capitalisation, from…

  41. evaluate

    1831

    It is a back-formation from evaluation (18th century), or else borrowed from French évaluer, itself formed from évaluation, from es-, out (Latin ex-), and Old French value (see value).

  42. fussy

    1831

    It is formed from English fuss + -y. The origin of fuss is itself uncertain: Etymonline mentions an alteration of force or Danish fjas (“foolery, nonsense”), and the OED suggests that it is echoic…

  43. genetic

    1831

    It was formed in English from genesis, on the pattern of pairs such as antithesis and antithetic, or as if from Ancient Greek γενητικός (genetikós), the word was coined by Carlyle in 1831.

  44. specialization

    1831

    It is formed from English specialize + -ation. The OED compares French spécialisation, recorded from 1830 and at first used of becoming a specialist in a particular kind of work or field of study…

  45. thermostat

    1831

    It is formed from English thermo- + -stat, or, as the OED puts it, from thermo- and Ancient Greek στατός (statós, “standing”), like heliostat. Klein compares aerostat and static. The combining form…

  46. visa

    1831

    It is borrowed from French visa, from Latin carta vīsa, verified paper, literally paper that has been seen, from the feminine (or neuter plural) past participle of vidēre (“to see”), from PIE…

  47. welterweight

    1831

    It is a compound of welter (“heavyweight horseman”) (1804) and weight. The word welter in this sense is of uncertain origin, possibly formed from the colloquial verb welt “to beat severely” with the…

  48. bus

    1832

    It is a shortening of omnibus, which comes from Latin omnibus (“for all”), the dative plural of omnis “all”. Etymonline remarks that the English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending. The…

  49. chic

    1832

    It is borrowed from French chic, which the OED records as a noun from 1793, also spelled chique, first meaning a relaxed manner, then subtlety and refinement (1823), in painting the use of the…

  50. cigarette

    1832

    It is borrowed from French cigarette (by 1824), a diminutive of cigare, cigar, from Spanish cigarro (see cigar).

  51. conservatism

    1832

    It is formed from English conservative + -ism, or, as the OED analyses it, from the stem of conservative and -ism; Klein calls it short for conservativism. The OED records conservatist slightly…

  52. grader

    1832

    It is formed from English grade + -er, from the verb grade. Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism. The verb comes from the noun, which is from French grade (“grade, degree”), from Latin gradus…

  53. interactive

    1832

    It is from interact, probably on the model of active, or from inter- and active.

  54. jihad

    1832

    It is borrowed from Arabic جِهَاد (jihād, “struggle, contest, effort; holy war”), the verbal noun of a verb meaning "to endeavour, to strive, to wage holy war", from جَهَدَ (jahada, “to strive…

  55. lockdown

    1832

    It is formed from English lock + down, from the verb lock and the adverb down; in its modern sense it follows the phrasal verb lock down. Dictionary.com suggests that it was probably modelled on…

  56. orientation

    1832

    It is a noun of action from the verb orient, with the suffix -ation.

  57. prehistoric

    1832

    It is formed from English pre- + historic. Barnhart and Etymonline think it was probably modelled on French préhistorique, and Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English derive it from the French…

  58. pretentious

    1832

    It is borrowed from French prétentieux (“making an exaggerated display, showy”), from prétention (“pretension”) and the suffix -eux, from Medieval Latin praetentiō (“pretension”), a noun of action…

  59. snoop

    1832

    It is borrowed from Dutch snoepen (“to eat on the sly, eat sweets”), first in American English. Barnhart gives the Dutch verb the further senses "to sneak" and "to steal food", and Merriam-Webster…

  60. toothpaste

    1832

    It is formed from English tooth + paste. Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism. Compare the similar compounds Dutch tandpasta and German Zahnpasta.

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