"C" Word Origins

cartomancy

Origin

From carto- + -mancy.

carton

French

Borrowed from French carton, from Italian cartone — a doublet of "cartoon," which originally meant a large sheet of stiff paper used for sketches.

cartonful

Origin

From carton + -ful.

cartoon

French

From French carton, ultimately from Italian cartone ("large sheet of paper"). It originally meant an artist's full-size preparatory sketch, later coming to mean a comic drawing.

cartoonist

Origin

Formed from "cartoon" plus the agent suffix "-ist," which marks a person who practises a skill or profession.

cartouche

Latin

Borrowed from French cartouche, from Italian cartuccia, ultimately from Latin charta ("paper") — a doublet of "cartridge."

cartridge

Latin

A corruption of the earlier word "cartage," from French cartouche, ultimately from Latin charta ("paper") — a doublet of "cartouche."

cartwheel

Origin

Literally a compound of "cart" and "wheel" — the gymnastic move is named for its resemblance to a turning wagon wheel.

cartwright

Middle English

From Middle English cartewright, a straightforward compound of "cart" and "wright" (a maker or builder of something).

caruthers

Origin

Variant of Carruthers.

carve

Old English

From Old English ceorfan ("to cut, notch"), related to German kerben ("to notch") and distantly to the Greek root behind "graph."

carver

Middle English

From Middle English Carver, Kerver, Kervor, Kervour, Kervoure, Kervere, from Middle English carver, kervere (“carver, wood-cutter, sculptor”). More at carver.

carys

Origin

From Welsh Carus, Carys, from caru (“love”).

casa

Latin

Borrowed directly from Spanish casa ("house"), from Latin casa — a doublet of the French-derived English word "chez."

Casablanca

Spanish

From Spanish Casablanca, "white house," itself a calque from Portuguese and Arabic.

Casanova

Origin · 1725

From Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798), the Venetian writer and adventurer whose memoirs of romantic conquests made his name a byword for a seductive ladies' man.

casbah

Arabic

From Arabic qasaba, referring to a fortress or citadel at the centre of an old town.

cascade

Latin

From French cascade, borrowed from Italian cascata ("a fall"), from cascare, "to fall" — ultimately from Latin cadere.

case

Latin

Two words merged into one spelling: the "event" sense is from Old French cas ("an event"), from Latin casus ("a fall, an occurrence"); the "container" sense is from Anglo-Norman casse, from Latin capsa ("box").

caseload

Origin

A straightforward compound of case + load.

casework

Origin

From case + work.

caseworker

Origin

From case + worker.

cash

Latin

From Middle French caisse ("money-box"), from Latin capsa ("box") — the same root that gives us "case" and "chase".

cash cow

English

A figurative compound: a cow that can be milked continuously without further outlay, applied to a source of steady income.

cashew

French

A reshaping of French acajou, itself from the Old Tupi word akaîu.

cashier

Old French

From Dutch casseren, ultimately from Old French casser ("to break up") — historically an officer's sword was ceremonially broken when he was cashiered.

cashmere

Origin

Named after Kashmir, the region historically famous for this wool.

cashpoint

Origin

A genericization of Cashpoint, originally a registered trademark of Lloyds Bank introduced in 1972, from cash + point.

Casimir

Polish

From the Polish royal and saint's name Kazimierz, of Slavic origin meaning roughly "one who proclaims peace".

casino

Latin

From Italian casino, a diminutive of casa ("house"), tracing back to Latin casa ("cottage, hut").

cask

Middle French

From Middle French casque; a doublet of "casco" and "casque".

casket

French

Probably from Norman French cassette; a doublet of "cassette".

Caspar

Hebrew

Traditionally traced through Biblical Hebrew back to an Old Median word for "treasurer".

Casper

Origin

An alternative spelling of Caspar; the city and the cartoon ghost character share the name coincidentally.

Caspian

Latin

From Latin Caspius, referring to the ancient Caspi people who lived along the sea's shores.

casque

Origin

Borrowed from French casque. Doublet of casco and cask.

Cass

Irish

As an English surname, from a pet form of Cassandra; as an Irish surname, from Ó Cais, related to cas meaning "curly".

Cassandra

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Kassándra, the name of the mythical Trojan prophetess.

casserole

French

Borrowed from French casserole.

cassette

Latin

Borrowed from French cassette, ultimately from Latin capsa ("box").

Cassidy

Irish

From the Irish surname Ó Caiside, from cas meaning "curly-haired".

Cassie

Origin

As a name, a diminutive of Cassandra or Cassidy formed with -ie.

Cassini

Italian

Borrowed from the Italian surname Cassini.

Cassiopeia

Ancient Greek

From Latin Cassiopeia, borrowed from Ancient Greek Kassiópeia.

Cassius

Latin

Borrowed from Latin Cassius, the name of a Roman gens.

cassock

Middle French

From Middle French casaque ("cloak").

cassowary

Origin

Borrowed from Malay kasuari.

cast

Middle English

From Old Norse kasta ("to throw"), via Middle English casten — it eventually displaced the native English word "warp" in the sense of throwing.