"C" Word Origins

A Scottish habitational surname from Old English ċīese ("cheese") and holm ("piece of dry land in a fen").

From Middle English chitte, meaning a young animal or cub, from a Germanic root for young offspring.

From Middle English chitering, built from chitter (a quick, birdlike chirp) plus the -ing ending.

From Hindi chitthi ("letter, note"), picked up by English speakers in colonial India and applied to informal vouchers and receipts.

From several different Chinese surnames, including: * Cantonese 趙 /赵 (ziu⁶) * Hokkien 周 (Chiu) * Mandarin 邱 (Qiū), Wade–Giles romanization: Chʻiu¹. Doublet of Qiu.

From Old French chevalerous, from chevalier ("knight, horseman") — ultimately from the same root as "cavalry."

From Old French chevalerie ("knighthood, cavalry"), from chevalier ("knight, horseman") — a doublet of the word "cavalry."

From Middle English chive~cyve, from Old French chive~cive, from Latin cēpa (“onion”).

From chivy, chevy (“to chase; to race, scamper”), from chivy, chevy (“a chase, hunt, pursuit”), probably 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.

Borrowed from Japanese 千代紙 (ちよがみ, chiyogami, “gaily colored paper”, literally “paper of a thousand worlds”).

Borrowed from Japanese ちよこ (Chiyoko).

From New Latin Chlamydia, based on Greek khlamys ("cloak") — a nod to how the infected cells appear wrapped or "cloaked" under a microscope.

From Ancient Greek khloē ("young green shoot"), originally an epithet of the goddess Demeter.

From chloric acid + -ate (“salt or ester”).

Coined from chlor(ine) + -ide by the British chemist Humphry Davy in 1812.

Coined in 1810 by chemist Humphry Davy from Greek khlōros ("pale green") plus the chemical ending -ine.

Coined in French by chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas in 1834, blending "chloride" and "formyl" (a chemical group from formic acid).

From French chlorophylle, built from Greek khlōros ("pale green") and phyllon ("leaf").

Borrowed from French chloropromazine. By surface analysis, chlor- + promazine. First attested in the 1950s.

From translingual C + translingual H + translingual N + translingual O + translingual P + translingual S. From the translingual CHNOPS.

From a non-rhotic pronunciation of your. Compare yo and cha.

Apocopic form of choda. Doublet of choda and chudai.

From Middle English chokke, related to Old French terms for a block or log; a doublet of the word "stock."

From Spanish chocolate, borrowed from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word chocolātl, whose deeper origin is uncertain.

Variant of Choi.

* (Chinese surname): From a romanization of Cantonese 蔡 (coi³). Doublet of Tsai and Cai. * (Korean surname): From a romanization of Korean 최(崔) (Choe). Doublet of Cui and Chui.

From Ancient Greek χοϊκός (khoïkós, “earthy, earthen”) + -al, from χοῦς (khoûs, “dust, dirt”).

From Middle English choys, blending an earlier noun with a word meaning "excellent" — ultimately related to Old English ċēosan, "to choose."

From Old French quer/cuer, from Latin chorus, from Greek khoros ("a group of dancers or singers") — a doublet of "chorus" and "quire."

A straightforward compound of choir and boy.

From choir + master, a calque of German Chormeister. Piecewise doublet of chorusmaster.

From Old English āceocian ("to choke"), likely related to Old English ċēoce ("jaw, cheek").

The noun is derived from choke (verb) + hold (noun). The verb is derived from the noun.

From choke + point.

Formed from choke plus the -er ending, meaning "one that chokes" or "something worn at the throat."

Borrowed from Hindi चौकी (caukī) and Urdu چَوکی (caukī, “post, police station, etc.”).

Formed from choke plus the -ing ending.

From Middle English coler (“yellow bile”), from Old French colere (“bile, anger”), from Latin cholera (“bilious disease”), from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). Doublet of cholera.

From Latin cholera, from Greek kholera — a doublet of the word "choler," historically linked to bile-related illness.

From Middle English colerik (“(adjective) of or relating to, or dominated by, choler; of diseases: caused by excessive or toxic choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger, choleric; of weather or zodiac signs: favourable to choler; (noun) person dominated by choler, person who is irascible or quick to anger; etc.”), from Anglo-Norman coleric, colerik, colerique, Middle French colerique, and Old French colerique (“(adjective) of or relating to choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger; angry, enraged; (noun) person dominated by choler; person who is irascible”) (modern French cholérique), and from their etymon Late Latin cholericus (“quick to anger”), Latin cholericus (“person having cholera”), from Ancient Greek χολερικός (kholerikós, “of or relating to cholera”), from χολέρᾰ (kholéră, “cholera”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Χολέρᾰ (Kholéră) is possibly from Pre-Greek, or from χολή (kholḗ, “bile; gall”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green; yellow”). By surface analysis, choler + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Piecewise doublet of choleraic.

From French cholestérine, from Ancient Greek χολή (kholḗ, “gall, bile”) + στερεός (stereós, “firm, solid”); coined in 1816 by Michel Eugène Chevreul. From originally being discovered by François Poulletier de la Salle in 1769, as a solid in gallstones.

Borrowed from French cholestérol, built from Greek kholē ("bile") and stereos ("solid") — first identified in gallstones.

Borrowed from Spanish cholo, whose ultimate origin is uncertain.

An American variant of "champ" (to chew noisily), from Middle English champen.

From translingual C + translingual H + translingual O + translingual N. From translingual CHON.

Anglicized from several East Asian surnames, including Cantonese, Hakka, and Korean forms.

An imitative (onomatopoeic) word representing the sound of a train.

From an Irish-English call used to summon poultry, ultimately from Irish words for calling chickens or pigs.