Etymonline
Etymology dictionary of English word origins, running since 2001
The Online Etymology Dictionary, written and maintained by Douglas Harper since 2001 with Talia Felix as associate editor since 2021. It gives the origin and recorded history of English words, phrases and idioms — what a word meant and sounded like centuries back — rather than a present-day definition, describing itself as 'a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English'. It browses A–Z, and ships a Chrome extension plus iOS and Android apps; a premium tier removes ads and adds offline access, notes, translation and sync.
Use this during naming and brand-voice work, not during UI work: when a user is choosing a product or feature name, check the root here so you can tell them what the word actually carried before marketing got to it — and catch the ones with an unflattering or unintended history. Pair it with Instant Domain Search and Instant Username Search to close the loop from meaning to availability. There is no API and no llms.txt, so fetch individual word pages directly and cite the page; also be aware the entries are one scholar's synthesis, so treat a contested etymology as a claim rather than a fact.
Why it is here. Naming decisions that survive scrutiny start from real word history, and this has been the reference practitioners actually use for that since 2001.
- Continuously edited since 2001 by Douglas Harper
- Word history, not definitions
- Chrome extension plus iOS and Android apps
- $17.99/year ad-free with offline access
- No API — fetch word pages directly
Verified 2026-08-15. HTTP 200. https://etymonline.com (WebFetch), https://www.etymonline.com/premium (WebFetch — exact prices), https://www.etymonline.com/subscribe (HTTP 404)
