diff --git a/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/js/preferences.js b/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/js/preferences.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..25aac052f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/js/preferences.js
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+$(document).ready(function(){
+    let engine_descriptions = null;
+    function load_engine_descriptions() {
+        if (engine_descriptions == null) {
+            $.ajax("engine_descriptions.json", dataType="json").done(function(data) {
+                engine_descriptions = data;
+                for (const [engine_name, description] of Object.entries(data)) {
+                    let elements = $('[data-engine-name="' + engine_name + '"] .description');
+                    for(const element of elements) {
+                        let source = ' (<i>' + searx.translations['Source'] + ':&nbsp;' + description[1] + '</i>)';
+                        element.innerHTML = description[0] + source;
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (document.querySelector('body[class="preferences_endpoint"]')) {
+        $('[data-engine-name]').hover(function() {
+            load_engine_descriptions();
+        });
+    }
+});
diff --git a/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/less/logicodev/preferences.less b/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/less/logicodev/preferences.less
index 32e230413..2d716e966 100644
--- a/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/less/logicodev/preferences.less
+++ b/searx/static/themes/oscar/src/less/logicodev/preferences.less
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ input.cursor-text {
     font-size: 14px;
     font-weight: normal;
     z-index: 1000000; 
+    max-width: 40rem;
 }
 
 td:hover .engine-tooltip, th:hover .engine-tooltip, .engine-tooltip:hover {
diff --git a/searx/static/themes/simple/src/js/main/searx_preferences.js b/searx/static/themes/simple/src/js/main/searx_preferences.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..136d9f03e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/searx/static/themes/simple/src/js/main/searx_preferences.js
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+(function (w, d, searx) {
+    'use strict';
+
+    searx.ready(function() {
+        let engine_descriptions = null;
+        function load_engine_descriptions() {
+            if (engine_descriptions == null) {
+                searx.http("GET", "engine_descriptions.json").then(function(content) {
+                    engine_descriptions = JSON.parse(content);
+                    for (const [engine_name, description] of Object.entries(engine_descriptions)) {
+                        let elements = d.querySelectorAll('[data-engine-name="' + engine_name + '"] .engine-description');
+                        for(const element of elements) {
+                            let source = ' (<i>' + searx.translations['Source'] + ':&nbsp;' + description[1] + '</i>)';
+                            element.innerHTML = description[0] + source;
+                        }
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (d.querySelector('body[class="preferences_endpoint"]')) {
+            for(const el of d.querySelectorAll('[data-engine-name]')) {
+                searx.on(el, 'mouseenter', load_engine_descriptions);
+            }
+        }
+    });
+})(window, document, window.searx);
diff --git a/searx/static/themes/simple/src/less/preferences.less b/searx/static/themes/simple/src/less/preferences.less
index 034102e66..0be6f9023 100644
--- a/searx/static/themes/simple/src/less/preferences.less
+++ b/searx/static/themes/simple/src/less/preferences.less
@@ -108,6 +108,18 @@
       width: 100%;
     }
   }
+
+  th.name {
+    .engine-tooltip {
+      margin-top: 1.8rem;
+      left: 20rem;
+      max-width: 40rem;
+
+      .engine-description {
+        margin-top: 0.5rem;
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 @media screen and (max-width: 75em) {
diff --git a/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html b/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html
index ba861a68e..4b06b9614 100644
--- a/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html
+++ b/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 {% if search_engine.about is defined or stats[search_engine.name]['result_count'] > 0 %}
 {% set about = search_engine.about %}
 <div class="engine-tooltip" role="tooltip" id="{{ id }}">{{- "" -}}
+    <p class="description"></p>
     {% if search_engine.about is defined %}
         <h5><a href="{{about.website}}" rel="noreferrer">{{about.website}}</a></h5>
         {%- if about.wikidata_id -%}<p><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/{{about.wikidata_id}}" rel="noreferrer">wikidata.org/wiki/{{about.wikidata_id}}</a></p>{%- endif -%}
@@ -343,7 +344,7 @@
                                         <td class="onoff-checkbox">
                                         {{- checkbox_toggle('engine_' + search_engine.name|replace(' ', '_') + '__' + categ|replace(' ', '_'), (search_engine.name, categ) in disabled_engines) -}}
                                         </td>
-                                        <th scope="row"><span aria-labelledby="{{ 'tooltip_' + categ + '_' + search_engine.name }}">
+                                        <th scope="row" data-engine-name="{{ search_engine.name }}"><span aria-labelledby="{{ 'tooltip_' + categ + '_' + search_engine.name }}">
                                             {%- if search_engine.enable_http %}{{ icon('exclamation-sign', 'No HTTPS') }}{% endif -%}
                                             {{- search_engine.name -}}</span>
                                             {{- engine_about(search_engine, 'tooltip_' + categ + '_' + search_engine.name) -}}
@@ -363,7 +364,7 @@
                                         <td>{{ support_toggle(supports[search_engine.name]['safesearch']) }}</td>
                                         <td>{{ support_toggle(supports[search_engine.name]['supports_selected_language']) }}</td>
                                         <td>{{ shortcuts[search_engine.name] }}</td>
-                                        <th scope="row"><span>{% if search_engine.enable_http %}{{ icon('exclamation-sign', 'No HTTPS') }}{% endif %}{{ search_engine.name }}</span>{{ engine_about(search_engine) }}</th>
+                                        <th scope="row" data-engine-name="{{ search_engine.name }}"><span>{% if search_engine.enable_http %}{{ icon('exclamation-sign', 'No HTTPS') }}{% endif %}{{ search_engine.name }}</span>{{ engine_about(search_engine) }}</th>
                                         <td class="onoff-checkbox">
                                         {{ checkbox_toggle('engine_' + search_engine.name|replace(' ', '_') + '__' + categ|replace(' ', '_'), (search_engine.name, categ) in disabled_engines) }}
                                         </td>
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/preferences.html b/searx/templates/simple/preferences.html
index 1164bd04f..190fefe99 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/preferences.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/preferences.html
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 {% if search_engine.about is defined %}
 {% set about = search_engine.about %}
 <div class="engine-tooltip" role="tooltip">{{- "" -}}
+    <p class="engine-description"></p>
     <p><a href="{{about.website}}" rel="noreferrer">{{about.website}}</a></p>
     {%- if about.wikidata_id -%}<p><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/{{about.wikidata_id}}" rel="noreferrer">wikidata.org/wiki/{{about.wikidata_id}}</a></p>{%- endif -%}
     {%- if search_engine.enable_http %}<p>{{ icon('exclamation-sign', 'No HTTPS') }}{{ _('No HTTPS')}}</p>{% endif -%}
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@
       {% set engine_id = 'engine_' + search_engine.name|replace(' ', '_') + '__' + categ|replace(' ', '_') %}
       <tr>
         <td class="engine_checkbox">{{ checkbox_onoff(engine_id, (search_engine.name, categ) in disabled_engines) }}</td>
-        <th class="name">{% if search_engine.enable_http %}{{ icon('warning', 'No HTTPS') }}{% endif %} {{ search_engine.name }} {{ engine_about(search_engine) }}</th>
+        <th class="name" data-engine-name="{{ search_engine.name }}">{% if search_engine.enable_http %}{{ icon('warning', 'No HTTPS') }}{% endif %} {{ search_engine.name }} {{ engine_about(search_engine) }}</th>
         <td class="shortcut">{{ shortcuts[search_engine.name] }}</td>
         <td>{{ checkbox(engine_id + '_supported_languages', supports[search_engine.name]['supports_selected_language'], true, true) }}</td>
         <td>{{ checkbox(engine_id + '_safesearch', supports[search_engine.name]['safesearch'], true, true) }}</td>
diff --git a/searx/webapp.py b/searx/webapp.py
index 7209e3a57..21b00188c 100755
--- a/searx/webapp.py
+++ b/searx/webapp.py
@@ -394,7 +394,9 @@ def image_proxify(url):
 def get_translations():
     return {
         # when there is autocompletion
-        'no_item_found': gettext('No item found')
+        'no_item_found': gettext('No item found'),
+        # /preferences: the source of the engine description (wikipedata, wikidata, website)
+        'Source': gettext('Source'),
     }