English etymology in numbers

Borrowed, inherited or formed

Each entry counted once: as borrowed if its etymology names a language it was taken from, else as inherited, else as formed within English.

• Borrowed 63% · 4,782 taken from another language
• Inherited 18% · 1,344 passed down from an ancestor of English
• Formed in English 7% · 544 compounds and derivatives of its own words
• Not traced yet 13% · 980 no etymology links yet

Ultimate origins by language family

Where the 6,136 traced words end up when their etymologies are followed back as far as they go, from entry to entry, grouped into families and the branches of Indo-European.

1. Italic 3,367 · 55% Latin 1,262 · Old French 1,206 · Middle French 414 · French 273 …
2. Germanic 1,705 · 28% Old English 1,037 · Middle English 302 · Old Norse 113 · Proto-Germanic 66 …
3. Hellenic 356 · 6% Ancient Greek 348 · Proto-Hellenic 5 · Byzantine Greek 3
4. Indo-European 135 · 2% Proto-Indo-European 135
5. Afroasiatic 39 · 1% Arabic 22 · Biblical Hebrew 12 · Phoenician 3 · Aramaic 1 …
6. Indo-Iranian 30 · 0% Hindi 11 · Persian 11 · Sanskrit 6 · Romani 2
7. Celtic 21 · 0% Irish 9 · Scottish Gaelic 6 · Gaulish 2 · Proto-Celtic 2 …
8. Japonic 10 · 0% Japanese 10
9. Balto-Slavic 8 · 0% Russian 5 · Czech 2 · Serbo-Croatian 1
10. Sino-Tibetan 5 · 0% Chinese 4 · Cantonese 1
11. Austronesian 5 · 0% Malay 3 · Tagalog 1 · Tongan 1
12. Turkic 4 · 0% Turkish 2 · Ottoman Turkish 2
13. Quechuan 2 · 0% Quechua 2
14. Niger-Congo 1 · 0% Zulu 1
15. Uralic 1 · 0% Hungarian 1
16. Eskimo-Aleut 1 · 0% Greenlandic 1
17. Na-Dene 1 · 0% Navajo 1
18. Unclassified 445 · 7% Anglo-Norman 377 · Pre-Greek 28 · Old Northern French 20 · Frankish 5 …

When the words arrived

The 6,219 entries with a first-attestation date, by century and by the language each was borrowed from.

• French
• Latin
• Old Norse
• Middle Dutch
• Italian
• Other borrowings
• Inherited or formed
• Not traced

Words other languages took from English

86 entries of other languages in this dictionary were borrowed from English or its earlier stages.

1. Italian 30 camera, romantico, bar, media
2. French 28 bar, porter, car, net
3. German 16 in, Sport, Klub, Partner
4. Dutch 6 stop, hallo, dollar, baby
5. Latin 4 billa, firma, sterlingus, acra
6. Hungarian 2 hall, oké

Most prolific roots

The words that the most English entries go back to, at the far end of their etymologies.

1. 3 Proto-Italic *korp-os- → corpus, corps, corset
2. 3 Proto-Italic *wīno- → vine, wine, vignette
3. 3 Ancient Greek κορώνη → crown, corona, coroner
4. 2 Proto-Indo-European *dhe- → anathema, terrific
5. 2 Proto-Indo-European *ger- → egregious, gregarious
6. 2 Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- → direct, directory
7. 2 Proto-Indo-European *keh₂id- → decisive, decide
8. 2 Proto-Indo-European *sth₂tu- → state, status
9. 2 Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁-sk-e/o- → nation, nature
10. 2 Latin accuro → inaccurate, accurate
11. 2 Latin adultus → adult, adulthood
12. 2 French automobile → automobile, auto
13. 2 Middle Dutch bolwerc → bulwark, boulevard
14. 2 Italian capriccio → caprice, capricious
15. 2 Spanish cigarro → cigar, cigarette

Longest journeys

The English words whose etymologies pass through the most languages, followed from entry to entry.

1. port 6 languages

   Middle English port ← Old English port ← Old French port ← Middle English porte ← Old French porte ← Middle English pourt ← French porter ← Old French porter ← Latin porto ← English porter ← Anglo-Norman portour ← Anglo-Norman porter

2. pool 6 languages

   Middle English pol ← Old English pōl ← French poule ← Old French poule ← Latin pulla ← Latin pullus ← Proto-Italic *polnos ← Proto-Italic *polwo-

3. gram 6 languages

   French gramme ← Latin gramma ← Ancient Greek γράμμα ← Portuguese grão ← Latin granum ← Proto-Italic *grāno- ← Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂-no-

4. Sabbath 6 languages

   Middle English sabat ← Old English sabat ← Old French sabbat ← Latin sabbatum ← Ancient Greek σάββατον ← Biblical Hebrew שַׁבָּת

5. dent 6 languages

   Middle English dent ← Old English dynt ← Middle French dent ← Latin dens ← Proto-Italic *dent- ← Proto-Indo-European *h₃d-n̥t-

6. smack 6 languages

   Middle English smak ← Old English smæc ← Proto-Germanic *smakkuz ← Middle Dutch smacken ← Dutch smak ← Yiddish

7. mole 5 languages

   Middle English mole ← Old English māl ← Middle English molle ← Middle French mole ← Middle French môle ← Spanish mole ← German Mol

8. bar 5 languages

   Middle English barre ← Old French barre ← Ancient Greek βάρος ← Ancient Greek βαρύς ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷarus ← Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us

9. beer 5 languages

   Middle English ber ← Old English bēor ← Latin biber ← Latin bibo ← Proto-Italic *pibe/o- ← Proto-Indo-European *pi-ph₃-e/o-

10. blaze 5 languages

    Middle English blase ← Old English blæse ← Proto-Germanic *blasǭ ← Middle English blāsen ← Middle Dutch blāsen ← Old Norse blesi