Etymology is the study of words and their roots. There are some really wonderful sites on the web dealing with various aspects of this subject.

Loan words
www.wordorigins.org/loanword.htm
English has taken hundreds of words from other languages. These are sometimes called ‘loan words’. On this site, just click on a language and see what words the English language has borrowed. For example, did you know that the word zombie comes from Bantu?

Anglo-Saxon
www.ibiblio.org/lineback/fow.htm
If you want to know more about the Anglo-Saxon influence on modern English, then try this site. Click on ‘Lexicon’ and then click on a letter of the alphabet at the bottom and see what comes up.

http://eleaston.com/ety-lgs.html
If you are really interested in etymology, here is an amazing links page which basically covers all the major world languages and how they have influenced English. I probably use this more than any other website because it has links to so many aspects of the connection between English and other languages.

www.eslcafe.com/pv/
There are three parts to this site. It has a complete list of verbs covered by the site, alphabetical groups of meanings and examples (click on the initial letter of the verb you are interested in) and a random phrasal verb generator, which gives one verb from the collection with its meaning and an example sentence. www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionary.html This is a nicely organised site. On the main part of the page there is a brief explanation of what phrasal verbs are and how they behave. On the left-hand side are the letters of the alphabet. Click on a letter and you are given a list of verbs which start with that letter, along with definitions and example sentences.

www.eflnet.com/pverbs/index.php
This provides more lists of phrasal verbs, organised alphabetically, according to the particle and according to the main part of the verb. There are also some phrasal verb practice quizzes.

www.churchillhouse.com/english/exercises/phrasals/
This is one of several good online sources for exercises. Just click on one of the topics on the left and a worksheet opens up. Beside each topic is a list of the verbs that will be ‘tested’ in the worksheet. If you find an exercise hard, you can get a hint (these worksheets tend to be for high-level students). You can also check your answers on this site.

www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6720/
I particularly like this site. It is well organised and it groups idioms around themes such as colours or animals. It also gives an alphabetical list. Each idiom has an explanation and an example. This is part of the ever-expanding geocities site, which is worth keeping your eye on.

http://home.t-online.de/home/toni.goeller/idiom_wm/
Here you will find another list of idioms, which can be searched alphabetically by initial letter, by a word contained within the idiom or by a word that defines its meaning. It is a pretty extensive list. www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_idioms/id-b.htm Here the idioms are related to the world of business. They are listed alphabetically. Click on the idiom you are interested in to get the meaning and an example. There are a lot of online dictionaries, but most are complicated and I personally find it easier to use a paper-based dictionary. Here are a few ‘no fuss’ dictionaries that I have come across.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
This gives you access to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Just key in the word you are interested in and click on ‘Look it up’. Once you’ve found a word, you don’t have to go back to the home page to look at another as the search engine is always there at the top of the page. You can also choose to see the phonetics for each word. This is pretty good as it is free and quick to use.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/ dictionaryhome.aspx
The red box at the top of the site is the search engine. Just type in the word you want and click on ‘Dictionary’. Again, the search engine doesn’t disappear when you get to your target word. This site contains much more than just a dictionary and, since it is free, there are always plenty of interesting things to distract you!

www.anagramgenius.com/server.html
I have to include this site, which was introduced to me when I was in China. You just key in a word or words, choose from various categories and click on ‘Generate Anagrams’. It will then do its best to create an interesting anagram. My name came out as ‘Ran Star Dullness’.

Anagrams
Dictionarieswww.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/6720/
I particularly like this site. It is well organised and it groups idioms around themes such as colours or animals. It also gives an alphabetical list. Each idiom has an explanation and an example. This is part of the ever-expanding geocities site, which is worth keeping your eye on.

http://home.t-online.de/home/toni.goeller/idiom_wm/
Here you will find another list of idioms, which can be searched alphabetically by initial letter, by a word contained within the idiom or by a word that defines its meaning. It is a pretty extensive list.

www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_idioms/id-b.htm
Here the idioms are related to the world of business. They are listed alphabetically. Click on the idiom you are interested in to get the meaning and an example. There are a lot of online dictionaries, but most are complicated and I personally find it easier to use a paper-based dictionary. Here are a few ‘no fuss’ dictionaries that I have come across.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
This gives you access to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Just key in the word you are interested in and click on ‘Look it up’. Once you’ve found a word, you don’t have to go back to the home page to look at another as the search engine is always there at the top of the page. You can also choose to see the phonetics for each word. This is pretty good as it is free and quick to use.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/ dictionaryhome.aspx
The red box at the top of the site is the search engine. Just type in the word you want and click on ‘Dictionary’. Again, the search engine doesn’t disappear when you get to your target word. This site contains much more than just a dictionary and, since it is free, there are always plenty of interesting things to distract you!

www.anagramgenius.com/server.html
I have to include this site, which was introduced to me when I was in China. You just key in a word or words, choose from various categories and click on ‘Generate Anagrams’. It will then do its best to create an interesting anagram. My name came out as ‘Ran Star Dullness’.