Dr. Grammar - Etymologies - Word Origins

I have tried to avoid answering word-origins questions because the experts who do so require vast resources and time, which I do not have. Please search and enjoy the expert sites below for well-documented, complete, and often amusing etymologies.

Wilton's Word & Phrase Origins

Verbivore (Richard Lederer) ("The web site for wordaholics, logolepts, and verbivores. Carnivores eat meat; herbivores eat plants and vegetables; verbivores devour words. If you are heels over head (as well as head over heels) in love with words, tarry here awhile to graze or, perhaps, feast on the English language."

The Word Detective (Evan Morris)

World Wide Words (Michael Quinion)

Etymologically Speaking

Funwords.com (Martha Barnette) See her list of favorite sites.

Oxford English Dictionary

Origin of Phrases (Chuck Moreland)

Take Our Word For It (Mike and Melanie) This is a weekly word-origin webzine. See their Etymology Bookstore.

Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins.
William and Mary Morris

Family Word Finder.
Reader's Digest

Success With Words.
Reader's Digest

The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.
Edited by C.T. Onions

Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English.
Eric Partridge