Leave a Review Etymonline English Dictionary
My Go-To Resource
Language is in a constant state of flux and the meanings of words change - sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. It’s important to understand definitions during the times the words were written. This makes our understanding more precise and often richer! This app brings that research right to my fingertips!!! It sits in one of the first groups on my phone - and in front of my dictionary apps!Show lessRGShelton
Easy, Witty, Enlightening
The modern world has no shortage of dry wit, but Etymonline is both funny and incisive, making the expository paragraphs more compelling by their unique voice. The app itself is bare-bones, but easy to use. The cross-references in the entries are sometimes haphazard, but the ones borne of winding asides are reliably the most interesting, and make for a fun garden path to wander down. I frequently consult it in conversation with family and friends for a steady supply of amusement. (Did you know a “lord” is a bread-guard?) Nothing quite connects one to our linguistic forebears and punctures our pretensions about the hoary past like learning that their silly word-games are our standard English. (Robins are so named because the personal name alliterated with “redbreast;” the people aren’t named for the birds.) In sum, this is one of my most-used apps. It becomes a game all its own, the Pac-Man of language nerds. Follow the trail of tidbits and find the ghosts still wandering through the halls of diction.Show lessL'Ardente
Want to really understand a word?
Not until I started using this app, and learning the history of how a word developed, combined with other words and its use has been corrupted from outside influences and adopted, have I been able to clear the rub in my head when a word doesn’t seem to be following a rule. I now have some new little mental hints of what to look for when I’m trying to remember what a word means! It’s like gifting myself with an interesting history lesson about the influence of peoples and places through time. Love it!!Show lessjchavez2020
Most Comprehensive Collection of Word Info
Etymonline is the most comprehensive collection of information about words that I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. When wanting to learn about a word in detail, you may want to learn where it came from, the constituents of the word, what time it started being used, etc., and I think etymonline is best in class at providing this information in a concise format.Show lessLuke Epica
🙏 thank you
Thank you for your database I’ve found myself using the online etymology because I’m always curious about the history of words and the etymology brings me greater understanding of a word more so than the standard definition…I am ever grateful 🥹 for the public knowledge and education ❤️Rick Rolly
The best etymology resource
I don’t really write app reviews but when it comes to my modern understanding of English vocabulary, this is my very best resource. 99.9% of the time this resource has your answer. Bravo to this team for a modern relic of humanistic portrait. This resource aided my ability to get closer to the roots of my language, culture, and experience. I love this tool and think it’s special that I can access it from a tiny electronic box in my palms, mechanized by the fluttering of my thumbs on a glass screen. 🤯Show lessBtagge
Authoritative and Reliable
I have been using this for about two years and not a week goes by I don’t use it. It doesn’t have every single word I’ve ever looked up, but it has most of them and many of those feature detailed histories and fascinating tidbits.
I am not one to lazily believe everything everyone writes, so I have checked up on some of the stories and I haven’t found one that was wrong yet.
Thanks for a useful and fascinating resource!Show lessJeffFreemanPresents
My second time using this app
Well it’s my second time using this app. I tried it for the first time last night. & I was really amazed on how accurate this app is. I love writing, & when I write. I look for new word’s to say when I speak. But I also like breaking the word down, to see different meanings of the word. Night number 2 is about to start🙏🏾Show lessR.D.Mc
A Wonderful Resource
I am a mature(putting in kindly) reader. When i was in 4th grade we studied etymology for a period. My father, who strongly encouraged reading and education, had a hardcover book about word origins, not that large of a book, with large print and some illustrative line drawings. He approved me taking it to school and my teacher loved it- used it in some lessons. Now i have this wonderful resource(OED) in my pocket wherever i go. Amazing. Thank you!!!🙏🏼👍🏼🙂❤️🖖🏼Show lesstexas2e_
Where would we be without beautiful references that can guide and help us to better understanding
This app and their website for that matter is a great reference for anyone studying law and word origin. We want to know what our words meant when they were first used. It helps find more appropriate words to use. This app is very helpful in fine tuning my vocabulary to be on point! Love it and thank God for it!!Show lessifgforever
