Wordorigins.org

Etymological Sources & Links

General Dictionaries

These are general, all-purpose dictionaries that contain excellent etymological information.

American Heritage Dictionary
Dictionary of Americanisms (Mathews)
Macquarie Dictionary
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
OneLook Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
Webster's Third New International Dictionary

Specialty Dictionaries

These are dictionaries specializing in particular aspects of the English language and etymology.

Brave New Words
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology
Colonial American English
Dictionary of 1913 Baseball
Dictionary of American Regional English
Dictionary of Canadian Place Names
Dictionary of Catch Phrases
Dictionary of English Place-Names
Dictionary of Newfoundland English Online
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English
Dictionary of South African English
Dictionary of the Scots Language
Double-Tongued Word Wrester
Etymological Dictionary of Scottish-Gaelic
F Word, The
Fantabulosa
Fifty Years Among The New Words
Hatchet Jobs and Hardball
Historical Dictionary of American Slang
How Not To Say What You Mean
Illustrated Dictionary of Place Names
Jargon Dictionary
Latin Dictionary, A (Lewis & Short)
Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories
Middle English Dictionary
New Dickson Baseball Dictionary
New Dictionary of American Slang
New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
New Words (Hargraves)
Official Dictionary of Unofficial English
Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names
Oxford Dictionary of Catchphrases
Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation
Oxford Dictionary of Slang
Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories
Place-Names of the World (Room)
Polari--The Lost Language of Gay Men
Safire's New Political Dictionary
Scots Dialect Dictionary
Slang (Dickson)
Slayer Slang
Trade Name Origins
Underground Dictionary
War Slang
Word Parts Dictionary
Wordspy

Out-of-Date Sources

These sources are dated and don't reflect current scholarship, but they can often provide useful or historical insight into the development of the English language.

American Dialect Dictionary (Wentworth)
American Dictionary of the English Language
American Language, The
American Thesaurus of Slang
Bailey's Canting Dictionary
Century Dictionary Online
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language
Dictionary of American Slang
Dictionary of Americanisms (Bartlett, 1848)
Dictionary of Forces Slang
Dictionary of the English Language (Johnson)
Dictionary of Word & Phrase Origins (Morris)
Etymological Dictionary of Modern English
Hobson-Jobson
Hog On Ice & Other Books By C.E. Funk
Lexicon Balatronicum
Modern English Usage
Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
Phrase & Word Origins (Holt)
Safire's Political Dictionary
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Slang and Its Analogues
Unusual Words (Radford)
Word Origins (Hunt)
Word origins and their romantic stories

General Language References

These works do not specialize in etymology, although they often contain useful etymological information.

America In So Many Words
American Speech
Anatomy of Swearing
Australian Language, The
Australian Slanguage
Black Talk
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
Classic American Graffiti
Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
Defining The World
Dialects of England
Dictionary of Languages (Dalby)
Doing Our Own Thing
Early American Proverbs
Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe
Euphemism & Dysphemism
Familiar Quotations
Fanboys And Overdogs
Forbidden Words
Handbook of the International Phonetic Association
How Language Works (Crystal)
How We Talk: American Regional English Today
Language Report, The
Larpers And Shroomers
Lover's Tongue
Meaning of Everything
Mighty Fine Words and Smashing Expressions
Modern Proverbs & Proverbial Sayings
Nice Guys Finish Seventh
Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes
Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations
Oxford Guide to World English
Predicting New Words
Quote Verifier
Science Fiction Quotations
Studies In Slang
Swearing (Hughes)
Swearing in English
Think On My Words
Word Myths
Word On The Street
Word Spy
Yale Book of Quotations

Historical Linguistic Sources

These are sources, other than dictionaries, that address etymology, historical linguistics, and the history of the English language.

Adventure of English, The
Book of Middle English
Cobbett's A Grammar of the English Language
Comments on Etymology
Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
Dewdroppers, Waldoes, & Slackers
Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages
Dictionary of True Etymologies
English Language, The (Barber)
Guide to Old English
Historical Linguistics (Schendl)
Historical Linguistics: An Introduction (Campbell)
History of English in Its Own Words
Inventing English
Looking For Dr. Condom
Nineteenth-Century English
Old English and Its Closest Relatives
Origin of Language (Ruhlen)
Origin of the Term "Hot Dog"
Origins of English Words
Origins of the English Language
Power of Babel
Slang Through The Ages
Stories of English, The
Story of English (McCrum)
Word Origins (Liberman)

Oft-Used Sources

These are the sources habitually consulted in the creation of the words on "The Big List." The sources in this category are also listed in the other resources categories, as appropriate.

American Dialect Society Email Discussion List (ADS-L)
American Heritage Dictionary
American Language, The
American Speech
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Dictionary of American Regional English
Dictionary of Americanisms (Mathews)
Dictionary of Canadian Place Names
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
Historical Dictionary of American Slang
Illustrated Dictionary of Place Names
New Dickson Baseball Dictionary
New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
Newspaperarchive.com
Oxford English Dictionary
Proquest Historical Newspapers
Safire's New Political Dictionary
Webster's Third New International Dictionary
Yale Book of Quotations

Online Databases

These are links to online databases of literature, journalism, and other writing; useful for etymological research

19th Century Mormon Publications
Ad*Access
American Colonist's Library
Avalon Project
Brigham Young University Online Collections
British Library Online Newspaper Archive
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online, 1841-1902
Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection
Cornell University Library Historical Monographs
Department of Transportation Online Digital Special Collections
Digital Book Index
Documenting the American South,
Eisenhower Battlefield Communiques
English Online Resources
Eserver.org
Google Books
Historic Missouri Newspaper Project
Historical Ricks College / BYU Idaho Scroll
Internet Public Library
Making of America Database (Cornell)
Making of America Database (Michigan)
Newspaperarchive.com
Online Books Page
Oxford Text Archive
Proceedings of the Old Bailey
Proquest Historical Newspapers
Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image
Southwest Historical Quarterly
Utah Digital Newspapers
Wright American Fiction

Grammar & Style Manuals

Books and sources on style and usage.

Alt.Usage.English Frequently-Asked Questions List
Associated Press Stylebook & Briefing On Media Law
Associated Press Stylebook & Libel Manual
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words
Cambridge Guide to English Usage
Chicago Manual of Style
Common Errors in English Usage
Dictionary of Modern American Usage
Elements of Style
Grammar Girl: Quick & Dirty Tips
Modern American Usage (Barzun)
Modern English Usage, 2nd Edition
New Fowler's Modern English Usage
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog
Sound on the Page
The Underground Grammarian
Webster's Dictionary of English Usage
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It

Popular Press Language Books

These are intended for a mass audience and are generally not useful for research. The quality of the scholarship is variable: excellent in some cases; less than admirable in others.

Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, & Spuds
Berkeley High School Slang Dictionary
Born to Kvetch
Common Phrases & Where They Come From (Korach)
Devious Derivations
Dictionary of Euphemisms & Other Doubletalk
Dictionary of Word Origins (Almond)
Dictionary of Word Origins (Ayto)
Dog Days And Dandelions
Dubious Doublets
Eats Shoots & Leaves
Facts On File Encyclopedia of Word & Phrase Origins
Jesse's Word of the Day
Made In America
Mother Tongue
On Language (series)
Poplollies & Bellibones
Sea of Words
Slang of Sin
They Never Said It
txtng: the gr8 db8
When a Loose Cannon...
Wicked Words (Rawson)

Language Web Sites & Blogs

The following are links to web-based general language sources and blogs about language. Online sources that fall into other categories, such as online dictionaries, are listed in those categories.

AFU & Urban Legends Archive
American Dialect Society Email Discussion List (ADS-L)
Barry Popik's Big Apple Web Site
Bartleby.com
Blue Letter Bible
English 419
Ethnologue.com
Free Dictionary
Funwords.com
Glossarist.com
Grammar Girl: Quick & Dirty Tips
Language Log
Lost For Words
Old English at the University of Virginia
Old English Pages
Online Medical Dictionaries & Glossaries.
OUPblog
Roots of English Dictionary
Separated By A Common Language
Shakespeare Concordance
Silva Rhetoricae
Take Our Word For It
The Word Detective
Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com)
Verbivore
Whonamedit.com
Word Nerds, The
Word Spy
World Wide Words
Yourdictionary.com