"A" Word Origins

armor

Latin

From Old French armeure, going back to Latin armatura ("equipment, armor"), from arma ("weapons, tools").

armoury

Middle English

From Middle English armerie, armurie, armorye, from Anglo-Norman armurrie, from armure (“arms, armor”) + -ie (“-y”). By surface analysis, armour + -y.

armpit

Middle English

A straightforward compound of "arm" and "pit", going back to Middle English.

arms

Latin

From Old French armes, from Latin arma ("weapons, tools").

Armstrong

Origin

By surface analysis, arm + strong. The rural municipality in Manitoba is named after politician James William Armstrong (1860 - 1928).

army

Medieval Latin

From Old French armee, from Medieval Latin armata ("armed force"), from Latin armare ("to arm").

Arne

Old Norse

For the given name, a short form of Old Norse compound names beginning with arn- (“eagle”).

Arnie

Origin

From Arnold + -ie.

Arno

Italian

From Italian Arno, from Latin Arnus.

Arnold

German

From the Old German elements "arn" ("eagle") and "wald" ("rule").

Arnott

Origin

Scottish habitational surname, from a place called Arnot, near Kinross.

aroma

Ancient Greek

From Late Latin aroma ("spice"), from Ancient Greek árōma, meaning a spicy or fragrant seasoning.

aromatherapy

Origin

A modern blend of "aroma" and "therapy".

aromatic

Ancient Greek

From Late Latin aromaticus, from Ancient Greek árōma ("fragrant seasoning").

Aron

Hebrew

From Hebrew ארון (aron, "ark" or "chest").

Arora

Origin

Named after Aror, medieval name of the city in Rohri.

around

Middle English

From Middle English around, formed from a- ("on, at") plus round.

arousal

Origin

Formed from "arouse" plus the noun-forming suffix "-al".

arouse

Origin

Formed in English from a- plus "rouse".

arpent

Origin

From French arpent, from Late Latin arepennis (“surface of a field”), from Gaulish *are-penno- (“end, extremity of a field”) (see Proto-Celtic *Kʷennowindos).

arr

Origin · 1950

The word grew out of a West Country English dialect pronunciation of "yes," but it became famous worldwide as stereotypical "pirate speak" after actor Robert Newton used it heavily playing Long John Silver and Blackbeard in 1950s films.

arraign

Origin

From Middle English areynen (“to interrogate, arraign, reprimand”), from Anglo-Norman areiner, arener, from Old French araisnier, areisnier, aresnier (“to speak to, address; accuse (in a law court)”) (whence modern French arraisonner (“to verify cargo, to arraign”)), from Vulgar Latin *arratiōnāre, from Latin adratiōnāre, from ad (“to”) + *ratiōnāre (“to reason, talk reasonably, talk”), from ratiō (“reason, reasoning, discourse”), from rat-, past-participle stem of rērī (“to reckon, calculate”). First attested in the late 14th century. Doublet of areason. About the -g- within the word, Etymonline and the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary both agree that it is present by hypercorrection and appears since the 16th century. The Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1986) however, provides two etymological links each, which are Old French aragnier and araigner. The Oxford English Dictionary (1885, 1989) did not support either of these hypotheses, but did attribute Old French arraigner, arainer to an unrelated obsolete sense and etymon.

arraignment

Origin

From "arraign" plus the suffix "-ment".

arran

Origin

Derived from Scottish Gaelic Arainn, but the name is ultimately probably of non-Indo-European (substrate) or Pictish origin, along with other uncertain names in Scotland such as Skye, Lewis, and Islay. Possibly from a Brythonic/Pictish term ancestral or cognate to Middle Welsh aran (“"high place"”).

arrange

Old French

From Old French arangier ("to put in a row"), from reng ("row, rank"), ultimately from a Germanic word for "ring".

arrangement

French

From French arrangement, itself from arranger ("to arrange").

arrant

Origin

A variant of errant, from Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then: * from Vulgar Latin iterō (compare Late Latin itinerō, itineror (“to travel, voyage”)), from Latin iter (“a route (including a journey, trip; a course; a path; a road)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”); and * from Latin errāns (“straying, errant; wandering”), the present active participle of errō (“to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”). The original sense was sense 3 (“roving around, wandering”). Due to the word being used to describe disreputable persons who wandered about (for example, arrant knave and arrant thief), it came to be used as an intensifier (sense 1: “complete; downright; utter”) and to have a negative meaning (sense 2: “very bad; despicable”).

arras

French

Named after the French city of Arras, once a major center for producing fine tapestries.

arratel

Origin

From Portuguese arrátel, from Andalusian Arabic الرَطْل (“rottol”), from Arabic الرَطْل (ar-raṭl), from Aramaic רִיטְלָא / ܪܺܝܛܠܳܐ (rīṭlā), variant of לִיטְרָא / ܠܺܝܛܪܳܐ (līṭrā), from Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra, “libra, Roman pound”). Doublet of libbra, Libra, libra, lira, litra, litre, livre, and rottol.

array

Germanic

From Anglo-Norman arraier ("to put in order"), tracing back to a Germanic word meaning "ready, prepared".

arread

Origin

From earlier aread, arede, from Middle English areden, from Old English ārǣdan, ārēdan (“to appoint, prepare; arrange, settle, decide; guess, prophesy, interpret, utter; read, read out, read to”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀrādan, from Proto-Germanic *uzrēdaną (“to guess”), equivalent to a- + read or a- + rede. Cognate with German erraten (“to guess”), Gothic 𐌿𐍂𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽 (urrēdan, “to contrive, discriminate”).

arrest

Latin

From Old French arester ("to stay, stop"), from Latin ad- ("to") plus restare ("to remain, stay behind").

arrhythmia

Greek

From Greek arrhythmia, "lack of rhythm" — built from a- ("without") plus rhythmos ("rhythm").

arrival

Old French

From Old French arrivaille, built from the verb arriver, "to arrive."

arrive

Latin

From Old French ariver, ultimately from Latin ad ripam, "to the shore" — the original sense was literally "to reach land."

arrivederci

Italian

From Italian arrivederci, literally "until we see each other again," from a + rivedersi ("to see one another again").

arrogance

Latin

From Latin arrogantia, from arrogare, "to claim for oneself" — the same root as arrogant.

arrogant

Latin

From Latin arrogans, present participle of arrogare, "to claim for oneself" — from ad- ("to") + rogare ("to ask").

arrogate

Origin

From Latin arrogātus, perfect passive participle of adrogō, arrogō (“ask of, adopt, appropriate, assume”), from ad (“to”) + rogō (“ask”).

arrow

Latin

From Old English earh, going back to a Proto-Germanic word for "arrow," related to Latin arcus ("bow") — a distant cousin of "arc."

arrowhead

Origin

From arrow + head, describing the pointed tip.

arrowsmith

Origin

From arrow + smith.

arroyo

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish arroyo, meaning "stream" or "brook."

arse

Old English

From Old English ears, a very old Germanic word for the buttocks — related to German Arsch and Dutch aars.

arsehole

Old English

From Old English ears-þyrel, literally "arse-hole" — a direct compound of arse and hole.

arselong

Origin

Alteration (after headlong) of arseling, from Middle English *arsling, from Old English earsling (“backwards, on the back”), equivalent to arse + -ling. Cognate with Dutch aarzeling, aarzelings, German ärschling, ärschlings.

arsenal

Italian

From Italian arsenale, tracing back to Arabic dar as-sina'a, "house of manufacture" — originally a naval dockyard.

arsenic

Greek

From Greek arsenikon ("yellow orpiment"), itself borrowed from an older Middle Eastern word for a golden mineral — later linked by folk-etymology to Greek arsenikos, "male" or "potent."