"C" Word Origins

Celtic

Latin

From French celtique or Latin celticus, related to "Celt."

cem

Origin

A shortened form of "cemetery," used mainly in abbreviations, maps, and old records.

cement

Latin

From Old French ciment, from Latin caementum, "quarry stone" or "stone chips used in mortar."

cementite

Origin

From cement + -ite.

cemetery

Ancient Greek

From Late Latin coemeterium, from Ancient Greek koimeterion, literally "a sleeping place" — from a verb meaning "to put to sleep."

cenotaph

Origin

From French cénotaphe, from Ancient Greek κενός (kenós, “empty”) + τάφος (táphos, “tomb”). By surface analysis ceno- + -taph.

cense

Origin

Old French cense, French cens, Latin census.

censor

Latin

From Latin censor, an ancient Roman magistrate who oversaw the census and public morality.

censorial

Origin

From Latin cēnsōrius + -al. By surface analysis, censor + -ial.

censorian

Origin

From censor + -ian.

censorious

Origin

From Latin cēnsōrius (“of or pertaining to a censor; severe”). In sense 3 ("tending to engage in or support censorship"), reanalyzed as censor + -ious.

censorship

Origin

From censor plus the "-ship" ending, meaning the office, role, or practice of censoring.

censure

Latin

From Old French censure, from Latin censura, "the office or judgment of a censor."

census

Latin

From Latin censere, "to assess or judge" — the same root as censor.

centaur

Ancient Greek

From Latin centaurus, from Ancient Greek kentauros, referring to a legendary tribe from Thessaly.

centaurus

Origin

From Latin centaurus, from Ancient Greek κένταυρος (kéntauros, “centaur”). Doublet of centaur.

centenarian

Origin

From Latin centēnārius + -an, equivalent to centenary (“100 year, 100th anniversary”) + -an (“person”).

centennial

Late Latin

From Late Latin centennis, "of a hundred years," plus the adjective ending "-al."

center

Latin

From Latin centrum, itself from Greek kentron ("sharp point, the fixed point of a compass"), from kentein, "to prick or goad".

centerfold

Origin

A compound of "center" and "fold" — literally the sheet folded at the center of a magazine.

centesimate

Origin

First attested in 1753; borrowed from Latin centēsimātus, perfect passive participle of the Latin centēsimō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from centēsimus (“hundredth”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); compare tertiate, quintate, sextate, septimate, decimate, and duodecimate.

centigrade

Latin

From Latin centi- ("hundred") + gradus ("step, degree") — literally "having a hundred steps".

centilitre

Origin

From French centilitre; equivalent to centi- + litre.

centimetre

Origin

Borrowed from French centimètre; equivalent to centi- + metre.

centipawn

Origin

From centi- + pawn.

centipede

Latin

From Latin centi- ("hundred") + pes/pedis ("foot") — literally "hundred-footed", though real centipedes rarely have exactly a hundred legs.

central

Latin

From Latin centralis, from centrum ("center").

centre

Latin

From Latin centrum, from Greek kentron.

centrifugal

New Latin

Coined in New Latin from centrum ("center") + fugere ("to flee") — literally "fleeing from the center".

centrifugate

Origin

From centrifuge + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

centrifuge

Latin

From French centrifuge, ultimately from Latin centrum ("center") + fugere ("to flee").

centripetal

Origin

From New Latin centripetālis coined by Sir Isaac Newton, from Latin centrum (“center”) + petō (“to seek, aim”) + -al. Analysable as centri- + -petal.

centrist

Origin

From French centriste, equivalent to centre + -ist.

centroid

Origin

From centre + -oid. From 1844, used as a replacement for the older terms "centre of gravity" and "centre of mass" in situations described in purely geometrical terms, and subsequently used for further generalisations.

centuplet

Origin

From centuple + -et, q.v.

centurion

Latin

From Latin centurio, from centum ("a hundred") — a commander of a "century" of roughly a hundred soldiers.

century

Latin

From Latin centuria, from centum ("one hundred").

ceramic

Greek

From Greek keramikos ("of pottery"), from keramos ("potter's clay").

Cerberus

Ancient Greek

From Latin Cerberus, from Ancient Greek Kerberos, of unknown origin.

cereal

Latin

From Latin Cerealis ("of Ceres"), the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain.

cerebellum

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin cerebellum, the diminutive of cerebrum ("brain") — literally "little brain".

cerebral

Latin

From French cérébral, from Latin cerebrum ("brain").

cerebrate

Origin

First attested in 1874; from Latin cerebrum (“brain”) + -ate (verb-forming suffix); likely a back-formation from cerebration.

cerebration

Origin

From Latin cerebrum (“brain”) + -ation.

ceremonial

Latin

From Latin caerimonialis, related to ceremony.

ceremonious

Origin

Learned borrowing from Middle French cérémonieux (modern French cérémonieux) or directly from its etymon Latin caerimōniōsus + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)). Caerimōniōsus is derived from Latin caerimōnia (“awe, reverence, veneration; sacredness, sanctity; religious ceremony, ritual”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to build, make; to do”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly’ forming adjectives from nouns). By surface analysis, ceremony + -ous.

ceremony

Latin

From Latin caerimonia ("sacredness, reverence, a sacred rite").

Ceres

Latin

From Latin Cerēs, goddess of the harvest, from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "to grow, to nourish."