"C" Word Origins

Colson

Origin

From Coll + -son.

colt

Old English

From Old English colt, related to Germanic words for something round or plump, possibly linked to the idea of a young animal still filling out its shape.

Colton

Old English

From Old English cola (“coal”) + tun (“settlement”).

Coltrane

Irish

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Coltaráin.

columba

Origin

From Latin columba (“dove, pigeon”). The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit in Christianity.

columbarium

Origin

Borrowed from Latin columbārium, from columba (“pigeon”) + -ārium (“place for”).

columbary

Origin

From Latin columbarium, columba (“a dove”).

columbian

Origin

From Columbia + -n.

columbine

Latin

From Latin columbina herba, "dove-like plant" — the flower's shape was thought to resemble a cluster of doves.

Columbo

Origin

The spelling was probably influenced by Columbo (an old spelling of Colombo), under the assumption that the plant came from there.

Columbus

Latin

From Latin columbus, "dove," the family name of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who gave his name to several places and figures of speech.

column

Latin

From Latin columna, "pillar, post," related to Latin collis ("hill") and ultimately to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "high, raised up."

columnist

Origin

From column + the agent suffix -ist.

coma

Ancient Greek

A learned borrowing from Ancient Greek kôma, meaning "deep sleep."

Comanche

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish comanche, likely adapted from a Ute word meaning "enemy" or "stranger." The Comanche people's own name for themselves is Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people."

comatose

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek kôma ("deep sleep"), the same root as coma, plus the adjective-forming suffix -ose ("full of").

comb

Old English

From Old English camb, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "tooth" — the same root behind the word "cam" in mechanics.

combat

Latin · 1500

Borrowed in the 16th century from Middle French combat, from Old French combatre, ultimately from Latin com- ("together") + battuere ("to beat, strike").

combatant

Middle French

From late Middle English combataunt, via Middle French combatant, ultimately from combat.

combative

Origin

From combat plus the adjective suffix -ive.

combe

Origin

From Middle English coumbe, cumbe, from Old English cumb, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz; compare Dutch kom (“bowl, basin”), German Kump (“vessel”). Related to Welsh cwm (“a hollow valley”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “hollow”), Sanskrit कुम्भ (kumbha, “a pot, jug”), etc. through Proto-Indo-European *ḱumbʰ-.

combed

Middle English

From Middle English combed, kombide, equivalent to comb + -ed.

comber

Origin

From Middle English comber, camber, equivalent to comb + -er.

combination

Late Latin

From Old French combination, from Late Latin combinatio, built from combine plus the noun suffix -ation.

combinatory

Origin

From combine + -atory.

combine

Late Latin

From Middle French combiner, from Late Latin combinare ("to unite, yoke together"), from Latin con- ("together") + bini ("two by two").

combo

Origin

A clipped form of combination.

combs

Origin

Clipping of combinations.

combustible

Middle French

From Middle French combustible, built from combust plus the adjective suffix -ible.

combustion

Latin

From Old French combustion, from Latin combustio, from comburere ("to burn up").

come

Latin

From Old English cuman, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to come," ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to step" or "to arrive." Distantly related to Latin venio ("to come").

comeback

Origin

Formed from the phrase "come back," turned into a single noun.

comedial

Origin

From Latin cōmoedia + -al. By surface analysis, comedy + -al.

comedian

Ancient Greek

From French comédien, ultimately from Ancient Greek komoidia ("comedy").

comedic

Origin

From comedy plus the adjective suffix -ic.

comedy

Ancient Greek

From Middle French comedie, from Latin comoedia, from Ancient Greek komoidia — literally "revel-song," from komos ("revel, carousing") and oide ("song").

comely

Old English

From Old English cymlic, meaning "beautiful" or "splendid," combined with the suffix -lic ("-like").

comer

Middle English

From Middle English comere, formed from come plus the agent suffix -er.

comes

Latin

From Latin comes, "a companion" — the same root that gives us "count" (the noble title) and the French comte and conte.

comestible

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French comestible, or its source, Late Latin comestibilis, from Latin comedō (“to eat”), from com- (English com-) + edō (“I eat”) (as in English edible), from Proto-Indo-European (whence also English eat). Cognate with Spanish comestible (“grocery”). Attested as adjective in late 15th century, from Middle French, but fell from use in the 17th century, thence reintroduced from Modern French in 19th century. Corresponding terms in various Romance languages, more distant cognates include Portuguese and Spanish comida.

comet

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek kometes, "long-haired," referring to the comet's tail, which was likened to flowing hair.

comfort

Late Latin

From Old French confort, ultimately from Late Latin confortare ("to strengthen greatly"). It gradually replaced the older Old English word frofor.

comfortable

Old French

From Old French confortable, from conforter ("to comfort").

comfortably

Origin

From comfortable plus the adverb suffix -ly.

comforter

Old French

From Old French conforter (\"to strengthen, console\"), which also gave English \"comfort.\"

comfortless

Origin

From Middle English comfortles; equivalent to comfort + -less.

comfy

Origin · 1800

A casual shortening of "comfortable," first common in the early 1800s.

comic

Latin

From Latin comicus, from Greek kōmikós ("relating to comedy"), ultimately from kômos ("revelry, festivity").