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gob·lin

(gŏblĭn)

A grotesque elfin creature of folklore, thought to work mischief or evil.

[Middle English gobelin, from Old French : Vulgar Latin *gobalus, goblin (from Greek kobālos, mischievous goblin, from earlier impudent rogue, arrant knave, of unknown origin) + Old French -in, suffix forming deprecatory nouns and nouns denoting a member of a group (from Latin -īnus,, -ine; see -INE¹).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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