Etymology — The origins of English words

withcall

Origin

Inherited from Middle English withcallen (“to recall, call back; revoke”). By surface analysis, with- (“back, away”) + call.

yestern

Origin

Perhaps from yester + -en. Compare also Old English ġiestran (“yesterday”).

windjammer

Origin

From wind + jammer? The nautical senses were originally used contemptuously by sailors on steam vessels.

yolande

Origin

Borrowed from French Yolande. Doublet of Yolanda.

woden

Origin

Revived from Old English Wōden, from Proto-Germanic *Wōdanaz. Doublet of Odin and Wotan.

yuge

Origin

Phonetic rendition of huge in imitation of a New York City accent, or other accents with reduction of /hj/.

ziggurat

Origin

Learned borrowing from Akkadian 𒅆𒂍𒉪 (ziqqurratum).

winninger

Origin

From winning + -er. Compare winningest.

zooerasty

Origin

From zoo- + -erasty.

wristlet

Origin

From wrist + -let (suffix indicating a piece of an object).

zygomatic

Origin

From zygoma + -tic. Doublet of zygomaticus.

worldie

Origin

From world + -ie, from world-class.

woolgathering

Origin

From wool + gathering.

yester

Origin

From Middle English yester, yister, from Old English ġeostran (“yesterday”). Cognate with Dutch gisteren (“yesterday”), German gestern (“yesterday”). More at yesterday.

wrixle

Origin

From Middle English wrixlen, from Old English wrixlan, wixlan (“to change, exchange, reciprocate”), from Proto-Germanic *wihslijaną, *wihslōną (“to change”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-, *weyḱ- (“to change”). Cognate with Scots wissel (“to exchange, barter”), Dutch wisselen (“to exchange, barter, swap”), German wechseln (“to change, switch”), Icelandic víxl (“cross, interchange”), Latin vicis (“change, alteration, diversity, reciprocity”).

worksite

Origin

From work + site.

yangtse

Origin

An irregular romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 揚子 /扬子 (Yángzǐ) and 揚子江 /扬子江 (Yángzǐ Jiāng), q.v.

wonkaesque

Origin

Wonka + -esque

worthly

Origin

From Middle English worthely, wurthlich, from Old English weorþlīċ (“important, valuable, splendid, worthy, estimable, honorable, distinguished, exalted, fit, becoming”), from Proto-Germanic *werþalīkaz (“worthy”), equivalent to worth + -ly. Cognate with Old Frisian werdelik, Old Saxon werthlīk, Old High German werdlīh.

winterhouse

Origin

From Middle English winter-hous, from Old English winterhūs, equivalent to winter + house. Compare Dutch winterhuis, German Winterhaus.

withstandable

Origin

From withstand + -able.

zar

Origin

From Arabic زَار (zār).

yessiree

Origin

From yes + siree, compare to yessir.

zelkova

Origin

From New Latin (genus name) from Russian дзе́льква (dzélʹkva, “tree, wood”), from Georgian ძელქვა (ʒelkva), from Old Georgian ძელქვაჲ (ʒelkvay), from ძელი (ʒeli, “beam”) + ქვაჲ (kvay, “stone”).