MarcusBennevall/EtymologyTaggerDataset huggingface dataset:
convulse
From Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere (“to pluck up, dislocate, convulse”), from com- (“together”) + vellere (“to pluck, pull”). Doublet of convel.
coolie
From Hindustani क़ुली / قلی (qulī, “hired laborer”), possibly from Ottoman Turkish قول (kul, “servant”). Another theory says that it is named after Gujarati કોળી (koḷī), a Gujarati tribe or caste. Other forms occur in Bengali কুলি (kuli) and Tamil கூலி (kūli, “daily hire”). Possibly also influenced by Hindustani کولی (kolī) / कोली (kolī, “weaver; low-class”). In Kurdish Koile (کۆیلە) and Quli (قولى): Slave, Servant. Kawli (Keweli): Low-Class, Gypsy.
Mandarin 苦力 (kǔlì, “hard labor”) may have been influenced by cognates of the above Hindi word in other languages and may have further influenced English.
coop
From Middle English cǒupe, cupe, from Old English cȳpe (“basket, cask”) or possibly from Middle Dutch cûpe (compare modern Dutch kuip, Saterland Frisian kupe, Middle Low German kûpe), from Old Saxon *kûpa, côpa (“cask”) (compare Middle Low German kôpe, Old High German chôfa, chuofa, Middle High German kuofe, modern regional German Kufe f (“cask”)), probably from Latin cūpa, Medieval Latin cōpa (“cask”) (thus a doublet of coupe, cup, and keeve). However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that if the word is from Latin, “it is difficult to account for the umlaut in Old English cýpe”.
casual
From Middle French casuel, from Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”) (whence English cadence).
catalepsy
From Ancient Greek κατάληψις (katálēpsis, “act of seizing”), from καταλαμβάνω (katalambánō, “to seize”), from κατά (katá, “against”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”). By surface analysis, cata- + -lepsy.
pizzle
From Dutch Low Saxon pesel or West Flemish pezel, diminutive of Middle Dutch pese (“a sinew, tendon, string, pizzle”), from Old Dutch *pisa (“sinew, string, fibre”), possibly ultimately related to vezel (“fiber”), from Proto-West Germanic *fas-il-, from Proto-Indo-European *pē̆s- (“to blow”) (see Old High German faso (“fiber”)); in which case this alternation *pes- / *fes- may indicate a repeated borrowing from a (non-Indo-European?) substrate language.
Cognate with Dutch pees, Middle Low German pese (“tendon, bowstring”), Dutch pees (“sinew, tendon”), German Low German Peserick, Pesel (“pizzle”), dialectal German Pisel (“penis”).
journal
From Middle English journal, from Anglo-Norman jurnal (“daily”), from Old French jornel (“day”) (whence modern French journal), from Latin diurnālis, from diurnus (“of the day”). Doublet of diurnal and the journal from French.
From French journal. Doublet of diurnal and the journal from Middle English.
Unknown, apparently of Scots origin. Perhaps from chirnel, from English kernel (“lump in the flesh”), owing to resemblance in shape.
vaccine
Learned borrowing from Latin vaccīnus (“of or derived from a cow”), from vacca (“cow (female cattle)”) + -īnus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Sense 1 refers to the early use of the cowpox virus as a vaccination against smallpox: see New Latin variolae vaccīnae (“cowpox”, plural, literally “infectious diseases of cattle causing pustules”), coined by the British physician and scientist Edward Jenner (1749–1823).
The noun is probably partly:
* derived from vaccine (adjective) (see etymology 1); and
* borrowed from French vaccine (“cowpox (short for variole vaccine); vaccination against smallpox using material from cowpox”), vaccin (“cowpox material used for smallpox vaccination”), both noun uses of vaccin (adjective), from Latin vaccīnus (see etymology 1).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Italian vaccina
* Portuguese vacina
* Spanish vacuna
bifurcate
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin bifurcātus. Surface Analysis bi- + furcate.
tritium
Borrowed from New Latin tritium, from Ancient Greek τρίτος (trítos, “third”) + New Latin -ium. By surface analysis, trit- + -ium.
radioactive
Coined by Pierre Curie and Marie Curie in 1898 as French radio-actif, equivalent to English radio- + active.
William
From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will”) + *helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European roots *welh₁- (“to choose, wish, want”) and *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”) respectively. Cognate with Dutch Willem, German Wilhelm, etc.; cognate borrowings outside of Germanic include Guillaume and Guillermo.
indulgence
From Middle English indulgence, indulgens, from Middle French indulgence and its source, Latin indulgentia.
kowtow
From either Cantonese 叩頭 /叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) or Mandarin 叩頭 /叩头 (kòutóu). Literally, “knock head”.
notify
From Middle English notifien, a borrowing from Old French notifier, notefiier.
exponent
From Latin expōnēns, present participle of expōnō (“to expose; to exhibit, display, set out; to explain”), from ex- (“out, away”) + pōnō (“to lay, place, put”).
fuller
Inherited from Middle English fullere, from Old English fullere, from Latin fullō (“fuller”) + -ere; equivalent to full (“to densen cloth”) + -er.
synapse
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σύναψις (súnapsis, “conjunction”), from συνάπτω (sunáptō, “to clasp”). Introduced by neurophysiologist Charles Scott Sherrington.
synapsis
From Ancient Greek σῠ́νᾰψῐς (sŭ́năpsĭs, “contact”).
chipotle
From Spanish chipotle, from Classical Nahuatl chīlpōctli, compound of chīlli (“pepper”) + pōctli (“smoke”).
dog days
Calque of Latin diēs caniculārēs (“puppy days”), a calque of Ancient Greek κυνάδες ἡμέραι (kunádes hēmérai, “dog days”), from κυνάς (kunás, “of or related to dogs”), from Κῠ́ων (Kŭ́ōn, “the Dog”) in reference to the star Sirius, which appears in Homeric Greek as "Orion's dog". The return of Sirius to the night sky (its heliacal rising), occurring in antiquity around July 25 (Athens) or 29 (Rome), was considered by the Greeks and Romans to herald what were considered the hottest, least healthy, and least lucky days of summer.
irrefutable
From Late Latin irrefūtābilis, from ir- (“not”) + refūtābilis (“refutable”), from refūtō (“to refute”) + -bilis (“-able”), equivalent to ir- + refutable.
longitude
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French longitude, from Latin longitūdō (“length, a measured length”), from longus (“long”).
enema
Learned borrowing from Late Latin enema, itself borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔνεμα (énema, “injection”), from ἐνίημι (eníēmi, “to send in, inject”).
meridian
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *me
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-?
Proto-Indo-European *-dʰe
Proto-Indo-European *médʰi
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos
Proto-Italic *meðjos
Latin medius
Proto-Indo-European *dyew-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws
Proto-Italic *djous
Latin diēs
Latin medīdiēs
Latin merīdiēs
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Italic *-nos
Latin -nus
Latin -ānus
Latin merīdiānusder.
Middle English meridian
English meridian
The noun is derived from Late Middle English meridian, meridien (“midday, noon; position of the sun at noon; the south; longitude of a place; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman meridien (“midday”), Middle French meridien (“midday; the south; terrestrial meridian; (astronomy) celestial meridian”) (modern French méridien), and Old French meridiane, meridiiene, and from their etymon Latin merīdiānum (“midday; position of the sun at noon; the south”), a noun use of the neuter form of merīdiānus (“relating to midday; southern”); see further at etymology 1.
Sense 1.1 (“celestial meridian”) is ultimately modelled after Latin merīdiāna līnea (“meridian line”). Sense 5.2 (“midday rest; siesta”) is modelled after Late Latin meridiana (“midday; midday rest”), probably short for Latin merīdiāna hōra (“midday time”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
PIE word
 *médʰyos
From Late Middle English meridian, meridien (“relating to midday or noon; southern; (astronomy) relating to the celestial meridian”) [and other forms], from Middle French meridien, Old French meridiane (“relating to midday; southern”) (whence Anglo-Norman meridien; modern French méridien), and from their etymon Latin merīdiānus (“relating to midday; southern”), from merīdiēs (“midday, noon; the south (due to the southward orientation of the sun at noon in the Northern Hemisphere)”) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Merīdiēs is a dissimilated form of Old Latin medīdiēs (with the -d- sound shifted to -r-), from medius (“middle”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”)) + diēs (“day”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“heaven, sky; to be bright”)).
Borrowed from French méridien or German Meridian (“pathway on the body along which life force is thought to flow”), from Latin merīdiānum (“midday; position of the sun at noon; the south”) (see further at etymology 2); the French and German words are calques of Mandarin 經 /经, 经 (jīng, “pathway on the body along which life force is thought to flow; longitude; warp of woven fabric; to go or pass through”).
peruse
From either Medieval Latin perūtor, perūsitō (“wear out”)) or Anglo-Norman peruser (“use up”)), originally leading to two concurrent meanings, but only those derived from "to examine" survive today. By surface analysis, per- + use.
dialectic
From Old French dialectique, from Late Latin dialectica, from Ancient Greek διαλεκτική (dialektikḗ, “the art of argument through interactive questioning and answering”), from διαλεκτικός (dialektikós, “relating to dialogue”), from διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to participate in a dialogue”), from διά (diá, “through, across”) + λέγειν (légein, “to speak”).
From Latin dialecticus, from Ancient Greek δῐᾰλεκτῐκός (dĭălektĭkós).
diary
From Latin diārium (“a daily allowance for soldiers, in Late Latin also ‘diary’”), neuter of *diārius, from diēs (“a day”) (whence also journal). Cognate with Spanish diario (“daily; diary”).
From Latin diārius.
haul
From Middle English hālen, hailen, haulen, halien (“to drag, pull; to draw up”), from Old French haler (“to haul, pull”), from Frankish *halōn (“to drag, fetch, haul”) or Middle Dutch halen (“to drag, fetch, haul”), possibly merging with Old English *halian (“to haul, drag”); all from Proto-Germanic *halōną, *halēną, *hulōną (“to call, fetch, summon”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, cry, summon”). The noun is derived from the verb.
Cognates
The word is cognate with Danish hale (“to haul”), Middle Dutch halen (“to draw, fetch, haul”), Dutch halen (“to fetch, bring, haul”), Old Frisian halia, Saterland Frisian halen (“to draw, haul, pull”), Low German halen (“to draw, pull”), Old High German halôn, holôn, German holen (“to fetch, get”), Norwegian hale (“to haul”), Old Saxon halôn (“to fetch, get”), Swedish hala (“to hale, haul, pull, tug”), and related to Old English ġeholian (“to get, obtain”).
verdict
From Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman verdit (> Medieval Latin veredictum), from veir (“true”) + dit (“saying”); possibly a calque of a Germanic term such as Old English sōþword, sōþsprǣċ, sōþspell, sōþsagu, or sōþcwide, all meaning "true story, statement of truth, account, history". Doublet of veredictum.
vegetate
Borrowed from Latin vegetātus, perfect passive participle of vegetō (“to enliven, to arouse”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
veneer
From German Furnier, from furnieren (“to inlay, cover with a veneer”), from French fournir (“to furnish, accomplish”), from Middle French fornir, from Old French fornir, furnir (“to furnish”), from Old Frankish frumjan (“to provide”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjaną (“to further, promote”). Cognate with Old High German frumjan, frummen (“to accomplish, execute, provide”), Old English fremian (“to promote, perform”). More at furnish.
palsy
From Middle English palesie, from Anglo-Norman paralisie, parleisie et al., from Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis, “palsy”), from παραλύω (paralúō, “to disable on one side”), from παρα- (para-, “beside”) + λύω (lúō, “loosen”). Doublet of paralysis.
neophyte
Borrowed from Latin neophytus, from Ancient Greek νεόφυτος (neóphutos, “newly planted”), from νέος (néos, “new”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant, child”). By surface analysis, neo- + -phyte.
truly
From Middle English truely, treuly, treuli, trewely, treoweliche, treowliche, from Old English trēowlīċe (“faithfully; truly”), equivalent to true + -ly. Cognate with Dutch trouwelijk, Middle Low German truwlike, German treulich, Swedish trolig, Icelandic trygglega.
Nijubashi
Borrowed from Japanese 二重橋 (nijūbashi, literally “double bridge”).
Greenwich
From Middle English Greenwich, from Old English Grēnawīċ, Grēnewīċ (literally “green harbour, green settlement”). Equivalent to green + -wich.
The civil parish in New Brunswick may have been named after Greenwich near London, after Greenwich Village, or after Greenwich Street in Hampstead, New York.
blacken
From Middle English blaknen, blakkenen, equivalent to black + -en (verbal suffix).
bricklayer
From Middle English brekelayeer, brekelayer, equivalent to brick + layer.
teachable
From Middle English techeable, techeabyll, techeabylle, equivalent to teach + -able.
parish
From Middle English parisshe, from Old French paroisse (compare the obsolete variant paroch, from Anglo-Norman paroche, parosse), from Late Latin parochia, from Ancient Greek παροικία (paroikía, “a dwelling abroad”).
burial
From Middle English biriel, a backformation from biriels, which was re-interpreted as a plural, itself from from Old English byrġels, from byrġan (“to bury”) + -els. By surface analysis, bury + -al, but originally unrelated to this suffix.
clandestine
From Latin clandestīnus (“secret, concealed”); compare French clandestin.
cloak-and-dagger
Calque of French de cape et d'épée (“of the cloak and the sword”); first attested 1840. The French term referred to a genre of drama in which the main characters wore cloaks and had swords. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the “cloak and sword” term in 1840, whereas Charles Dickens preferred “cloak and dagger” a year later.
secrecy
Alteration (on model of primacy, etc) of Late Middle English secretee, from Old French secré.
surveillance
Unadapted borrowing from French surveillance (“a watching over, overseeing, supervision”), from surveiller (“to watch, oversee”), from sur- (“over”) + veiller (“to watch”), from Middle French, from Old French veillier (“to stay awake”), from Latin vigilāre (“to be watchful”). More at vigilant.
suspicion
From Middle English suspecioun, borrowed from Latin suspīciō, suspīciōnem, from suspicere, from sub- (“up to”) with specere (“to look at”). Perhaps partly through the influence of Old French sospeçon (or rather the Anglo-Norman form suspecioun). Equivalent to suspect + -ion.
suspect
From Old French suspect, from Latin suspectus, perfect passive participle of suspiciō (“mistrust, suspect”), from sub (“under”), + speciō (“watch, look at”).
imagine
From Middle English ymagynen, from Middle French imaginer, from Latin imāginor, from imāginem, the accusative singular of imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”).
bizarre
Borrowed from French bizarre (“odd, peculiar, bizarre”, formerly “headlong, angry”), then either from Italian bizzarro (“weird, eccentric, frisky”) or, less likely, from Basque bizar (literally “beard”, from the notion that bearded Spanish soldiers made a strange impression on the French).
mutate
First attested in 1796; back-formation from mutation on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), ultimately from Latin mūtō (“to exchange; to change, to vary”). Doublet of moult.
mutatis mutandis
Unadapted borrowing from Late Latin mūtātīs mūtandīs (“with [the things] to be changed having been changed”).
poise
From Middle English poys, poyse, from Anglo-Norman pois, Middle French pois (“weight”) and Anglo-Norman poise, Middle French poise (“measure of weight”), from Latin pendere (“to weigh, ponder, think”). Doublet of peise.
countermand
From Old French contremander, from Medieval Latin contramandō, from contra + mandō (“to order; to command”).
ablutophobe
From Latin ablutio (“a washing”) + Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear”).
abydocomist
From Ancient Greek Ἀβυδοκόμης (Abudokómēs), after the town Ἄβυδος (Ábudos, “Abydos”), the inhabitants of which were known for inventing slanders and boasting of them.
ablutophobic
From Latin ablutio (“a washing”) + Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos, “fear”).
acrocephaly
From acro- + -cephaly, from Ancient Greek ἄκρος (ákros, “highest, on the extremity”) + κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”).
sailing
From Middle English saylinge, seilinge, variants of sailende, seilende; equivalent to sail + -ing. Cognate with Dutch zeilend (“sailing”).
From Middle English seyling, sayling, from Old English seġling, seġlung (“sailing”), from Proto-West Germanic *siglingu, *seglungu, from Proto-Germanic *siglingō (“sailing”); equivalent to sail + -ing. Cognate with Middle Low German sēgelinge (“sailing”), Swedish segling (“sailing”), Icelandic sigling (“sailing”).
navigation
Borrowed from Middle French navigation, from Latin nāvigātiōnem, accusative singular of nāvigātiō (“sailing, navigation”), from nāvigātus, perfect passive participle of nāvigō (“sail”). Morphologically navigate + -ion.
astrolabe
From Middle English astrelabie et al., from Middle French astrolabe, Old French astrelabe, from Ancient Greek ἀστρολάβος (astrolábos, “star-taking”), from ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “I take”).
vibrator
From New Latin vibrātor, from Latin vibrō (“to vibrate”). By surface analysis, vibrate + -or.
shipping
From Middle English schipping, schyppynge, from schippen, schipen (“to take ship, navigate”), from Old English scipian (“to take ship; put in order, equip, man a ship”), equivalent to ship + -ing.
penal
From Old French peinal, from Medieval Latin penalis, from Latin poenalis, from poena (“punishment”), from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “punishment”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂.
museum
From Latin mūsēum (“library, study”), from Ancient Greek Μουσεῖον (Mouseîon), shrine of the Muses (Μοῦσα (Moûsa)). Doublet of mosaic.
testator
From Latin testator (“one who makes a will, in Late Latin also one who bears witness”), from testari (“to bear witness, make a will”). See testament.
testatrix
Learned borrowing from Latin testātrīx. By surface analysis, testator + -trix.
resistance
From earlier resistence, from Middle English resistence, from Old French resistence, from Latin resistentia. Morphologically resist + -ance.
liberation
Borrowed from Middle French libération, and from Latin liberatio, liberationem (“a freeing”), from liberare past participle liberatus (“set free”); see liberate. Equivalent to liberate + -ion.
better half
Ultimately from such Latin poetic phrases as animae dīmidium meae (“half of my soul”) (Horace writing about Virgil), when it instead referred to a close friend (compare soulmate). First written instance of it meaning “spouse” was in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney.
isotach
From iso- + Ancient Greek ταχύς (takhús, “fast”) (see tachy-).
isopleth
From iso- + Ancient Greek πλῆθος (plêthos, “a great number”).
Mandel
* Germanic surname (Dutch Mandel, German Mandel, Yiddish מאַנדל (Mandl), all meaning "almond"). Also found in Slovene as Mandelj.
* As a south German and Austrian surname, variant of Mandl, from Mann + -l.
* As a Dutch surname, from mandel (“sheaf of wheat”) (see Mandel below).
* As a Jewish surname, variant of Mendel.
isobar
From Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) + βάρος (báros, “weight”), equivalent to iso- + bar-.
isotherm
From the French isotherme (“of equal temperature”, adjective), itself from Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) + θέρμη (thérmē, “warmth”). By surface analysis, iso- + -therm.
isodrosotherm
From iso- + Ancient Greek δρόσος (drósos, “dew”) + Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós, “warm”) (equivalent to thermo-).
isohyet
From iso- + Ancient Greek ὑετός (huetós, “rain”).
isogloss
From iso- + gloss, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wi- (“to separate”)) + γλῶσσα (glôssa, “tongue; language”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glōgʰs).
gossamer
From Middle English gossomer, gosesomer, gossummer (attested since around 1300, and only in reference to webs or other light things), usually thought to derive from gos (“goose”) + somer (“summer”) and to have initially referred to a period of warm weather in late autumn when geese were eaten — compare Middle Scots goesomer, goe-summer (“summery weather in late autumn; St Martin's summer”) and dialectal English go-harvest, both later connected in folk-etymology to go — and to have been transferred to cobwebs because they were frequent then or because they were likened to goose-down. Skeat says that in Craven the webs were called summer-goose, and compares Scots and dialectal English use of summer-colt in reference to "exhalations seen rising from the ground in hot weather". Weekley notes that both the webs and the weather have fantastical names in most European languages: compare German Altweibersommer (“Indian summer; cobwebs, gossamer”, literally “old wives' summer”) and other terms listed there.
metropolitan
From Late Latin metropolitanus, from Ancient Greek μητροπολίτης (mētropolítēs).
voluntary
From Middle English voluntarie, from Old French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, of free will”), from voluntās (“will, choice, desire”), from volēns, present participle of volo (“to will”). Displaced native Old English selfwille (literally “self-willed”).
restriction
From Middle English restriccioun, from Anglo-Norman restriction, Middle French restriction, and their source, Late Latin restrictiō, from Latin restringō.
Morphologically restrict + -ion.
outbreak
From Middle English outbreken, oute-breken, from Old English ūtābrecan (“to break out”), equivalent to out- + break. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uutbreeke (“to break out, burst out”), West Frisian útbrekke (“to break out”), Dutch uitbreken (“to break out, burst out”), German ausbrechen (“to break out, erupt”).
The noun is cognate with Saterland Frisian Uutbreek (“outbreak”), West Frisian útbrek (“outbreak”), Dutch uitbraak (“outbreak”), and German Ausbruch (“outbreak”), and is comparable to Danish udbrud (“outbreak”), Faroese and Icelandic útbrot (“rash”), Norwegian utbrudd (“outbreak”), and Swedish utbrott (“outbreak”).
orgy
Originally in plural from French orgies, from Latin orgia, from Ancient Greek ὄργια (órgia, “secret rites, mysteries”).
morphine
Etymology tree
Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ)
Ancient Greek -εύς (-eús)
Ancient Greek Μορφεύς (Morpheús)
French -in
French -e
French -ine
French morphinebor.
German Morphinbor.
English morphine
Borrowed from French morphine or German Morphin, from Ancient Greek Μορφεύς (Morpheús, “the god and personification of dreams”).
codeine
From French codéine, from Ancient Greek κώδεια (kṓdeia, “capsule of the poppy, poppy head”) + -ine.
thebaine
From Ancient Greek Θῆβαι (Thêbai, “Thebes”)
pulsation
Inherited from Middle English pulsacioun (“pulsing of the blood, throbbing”), borrowed from Middle French pulsacion (“(of bells) a striking (end of 14th c.); (of a diseased part of the body) a throbbing (1377); pulsation (1575)”), and its source, Latin pulsātiō (“(classical Latin) a beating or striking; (Medieval Latin, medical) rhythmical expansion and contraction (1363 in Chauliac)”). By surface analysis, pulsate + -ion.
patzer
Uncertain, but probably from German Patzer (“bungler”), from patzen.
sensible
From Latin sēnsibilis (“perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible”), from sentiō (“to feel, perceive”).
Gordon
The main etymology, associated with Celtic names, is from the Scots surname Gordon, from a place name, but the origin is debated:
* If the English or Scots name is from a Brythonic language (such as Old Welsh or Old Breton), then possibly from a Proto-Brythonic compound such as *gor (“spacious”) + *din (“fort”);
* If the Scots name is itself from English, then possibly from French Gourdon, derived from Gallo-Roman Latin Gordus, from Gaulish *Gordos;
* Otherwise, possibly ultimately from Old English *gor-dūn (“mud hill”) whence a habitational name.