"C" Word Origins

chequer

Origin

See checker. (fruit): Apparently in allusion to the chequered or spotted appearance of the fruit. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “the surmises that chequer may be a corruption of choker, and that ‘choker’ may once have been the name, are gratuitous.”

chequers

Origin

From the surname of a family that owned the house, whereas the surname was derived from reference to the Exchequer; more in Wikipedia at Chequers § Origin of the name.

Cherbourg

Old French

From Old French Chieresburg, probably from Old Norse kjarr ("thicket") and borg ("fort").

Cheri

French

A variant of Sherry or coined from French chéri, chérie (“darling”), not used as a given name in France.

Cherie

Origin

Variant of Cheri.

cherish

Latin

From Old French cherir, "to hold dear," built on cher, "dear" — ultimately from Latin carus, "beloved." The same root gives English "charity" (in its older sense of loving regard).

Chernobyl

Russian

From Russian Černóbylʹ, ultimately from a word for "mugwort" or "wormwood".

Chernov

Russian

Borrowed from Russian Чернов (Černov), related to čorny ("black").

Cherokee

Origin

The name likely comes from the Cherokee people's own name for themselves, Tsalagi, though several rival origin stories exist from neighbouring Native languages.

cheroot

Origin

Probably from Portuguese charuto (“cigar”), from Tamil சுருட்டு (curuṭṭu, “roll (of tobacco)”).

cherry

Ancient Greek

Traced back through Old French and Latin to Ancient Greek kerasos, the name of the wild cherry tree — the same root that gives us "cerise" and the Turkish city "Giresun."

chersonese

Origin

From Latin Chersonēsus, from Ancient Greek Χερσόνησος (Khersónēsos), from χερσόνησος (khersónēsos, “peninsula”), from χέρσος (khérsos, “dry”) + νῆσος (nêsos, “island”).

chert

Origin

Unknown.

cherub

Latin

From Hebrew keruv via Greek and Latin into Old English. The word's meaning shifted a lot over the centuries — the plump winged babies familiar from Renaissance art are a much later, softer image than the original biblical descriptions.

cherubical

Origin

From cherub + -ical.

cherublike

Origin

From cherub + -like.

Cheryl

Origin

Coined in the early 20th century, possibly a blend of Cherie or Cherry and Beryl. (See cher for the etymology of Cherie.)

Chesapeake

Origin

From Algonquian "Chesepiooc," likely meaning something like "great water" rather than the popular folk explanation "great shellfish bay."

Cheshire

Latin

From Old English forms meaning "the shire of Chester", ultimately from Latin castra ("military camp").

Chesney

Origin

From Norman place names meaning "oak grove".

chess

Old French

Traces back through Old French eschec to Persian shah, "king" — the piece whose capture ends the game. "Check," "checkmate," and "exchequer" share the same root.

chessboard

Origin

A straightforward combination of "chess" and "board."

chest

Latin

From Old English cest, "box," ultimately from Latin cista and Greek kiste — originally always meant a storage box; the body-part sense developed later by comparing the ribcage to a box.

Chester

Origin

A blend of "child" and "molester".

chesterfield

Origin · 1700

Named after Philip Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, who is said to have commissioned the first sofa of this design in the 18th century.

Chesterton

Origin

From "Chester" plus the common place-name suffix "-ton".

chestnut

Latin · 1800

A shortening of Middle English "chesteine" plus "nut," from Old French chastaigne, from Latin castanea. The "old joke" meaning is said to come from an early-1800s play in which a repeated tall tale always mentioned a chestnut tree.

cheugy

Origin

Reportedly coined by American high school student Gaby Rasson in 2013 to describe "people who were slightly off trend" and subsequently popularized by her peers.

Cheung

Cantonese

From the Cantonese pronunciation of a Chinese character also romanised as Zhang or Chang in Mandarin.

chevalier

Late Latin

From Old French chevalier, "horseman," from Late Latin caballarius, from caballus, "horse." A close relative of "cavalier" and Spanish "caballero," all built on the same word for horse.

Chevrolet

Origin · 1911

Named after its co-founder, the Swiss-born racing driver Louis Chevrolet, who helped launch the company in 1911.

chevron

Latin

From Old French chevron, meaning "rafter" — the V-shape was thought to resemble the sloped timbers of a roof, ultimately from Latin caper, "goat," likely because of the animal's angled horns.

chevy

Origin

The noun is probably derived from the title of The Ballad of Chevy Chase, first published in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549); the ballad is about a hunt taking place on a chase (“large country estate where game may be hunted”) in the Cheviot Hills between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, and is thought to allude to the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. The verb is derived from the noun.

chew

Old English

From Old English ceowan, part of an old Germanic word family shared with Dutch kauwen and German kauen, going back to a very old root meaning "to grind" or "gnaw."

chewet

Origin

From French chouette (“owl”).

chewie

Origin

From "chew" plus the informal "-ie" ending.

chewing

Middle English

From Middle English chewynge, chewand, from Old English *ċēowende, from Proto-Germanic *kewwandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *kewwaną (“to chew”), equivalent to chew + -ing.

chewy

Origin

Simply "chew" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

Cheyenne

French

Borrowed via French from a Dakota word describing people who "speak differently" or unintelligibly — an outside name rather than what the Cheyenne called themselves.

cheyne

Origin

Of Anglo-Norman origin, ultimately from Old French chesne (“oak”).

chez

Latin

Borrowed straight from French chez ("at the house of"), from Latin casa ("hut, cottage") — making it a distant cousin of the English word "casa."

chi

Ancient Greek

From Latin chī, taken from Ancient Greek χεῖ (kheî), the name of the letter Χ.

chia

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish chía, itself from the Nahuatl word chiyan, meaning "seed of the chia plant."

Chiang

Origin

From the Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin 江 (Jiāng), meaning "river".

Chianti

Origin

Named after Chianti, the hilly wine-producing region of Tuscany; the place name itself likely traces back to an ancient Etruscan word.

Chiara

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Chiara.

Chiba

Japanese

From Japanese Chiba (千葉).

chic

French

Borrowed from French chic ("elegant"), which most likely comes from German Schick, meaning a tasteful, polished appearance.