Word origins by topic
Every word origin on the site, grouped by what it is about: phrases and idioms, place names, brand names, words named after people, and the ones whose famous origin story turns out to be wrong.
- Science and medicine 134
Names for elements, diseases, drugs and discoveries, many built from Greek and Latin by the scientists who needed them.
For example: Hadoop, Quarantine, Abracadabra, Adam's apple, Adrenaline
See all 134 → - Arts and entertainment 108
The origins of names from music, film, television, books and games, including more than a few band names with surprising backstories.
For example: Nerd, Anecdote, Atomic bomb, Avant-garde, Camouflage
See all 108 → - Place names 100
What the names on the map actually mean once you translate them, and how a description, a mistake, or a sales pitch became a country or a city.
For example: Bikini, Cantaloupe, Ulaanbaatar, Adobe, Ahura Mazda
See all 100 → - Myths and mix-ups 95
Tidy origin stories that turn out to be wrong, and real origins that turn out to be accidents: typos, misreadings, and legends that outran the record.
For example: Murphy's law, Red herring, Sandwich, Adam's apple, Alchemy
See all 95 → - Named after people 93
Eponyms: words that started as someone's name, whether they wanted the honor or not.
For example: Boycott, Murphy's law, Sandwich, Adidas, Algorithm
See all 93 → - Brand names 77
How companies and products got their names: founders' surnames, invented words, mergers, trademarks, and a few names chosen almost at random.
For example: Hadoop, IKEA, Adidas, Adobe, Airstream
See all 77 → - Mythology and legend 67
Words that came out of Greek, Norse and other myths and legends, and still carry a trace of the original story.
For example: Avatar, Scapegoat, Abracadabra, Adamant, Ahura Mazda
See all 67 → - Animals and nature 63
Where the names for animals, plants and natural phenomena come from, often from what someone thought the creature resembled.
For example: Gobbledygook, Scapegoat, Aardvark, Alcatraz, Antarctica
See all 63 → - Food and drink 60
The origins of what we eat and drink, which are often named after a place, a person, or what someone thought it looked like.
For example: Cantaloupe, Ketchup, Salary, Sandwich, Ambrosia
See all 60 → - Sports and games 53
The origins of sporting terms and game names, from ancient races to modern toys.
For example: Aboveboard, Aerobics, Arcade, Arena, Atari
See all 53 → - Words from wartime 51
Vocabulary that came out of the trenches, the barracks and the battlefield and stayed in everyday speech long after the fighting ended.
For example: Bikini, Agent Orange, Ambulance, Armada, Armageddon
See all 51 → - Politics and law 48
Political and legal vocabulary, much of it coined in a single scandal, election or trial.
For example: Boycott, Gobbledygook, OK, Tycoon, Ulaanbaatar
See all 48 → - Fashion and clothing 35
Garments named after the people who wore them, the places they came from, or the fabric they were cut from.
For example: Bikini, Cardigan, Cravat, Denim, Earmuffs
See all 35 → - Language and writing 24
Words about words: punctuation marks, typography, wordplay and the names we give to the parts of language itself.
For example: Acronym, Ampersand, Asterisk, Crossword, Emoji
See all 24 → - Phrases and idioms 22
Everyday expressions whose literal meaning has been forgotten: where they started, who used them first, and how they drifted into the sense we use today.
For example: Murphy's law, OK, Red herring, Aboveboard, Clapback
See all 22 →