"C" Word Origins

crysome

Origin

From cry + -some.

crystal

Greek

From Greek krystallos ("clear ice"), reflecting how ancient people once believed quartz crystal was permanently frozen ice.

crystalline

Latin

From Latin crystallinus, ultimately from Greek krystallos ("crystal") — built from "crystal" plus the adjective suffix -ine.

crystallise

Origin

From crystal + -ise.

crystallize

Origin

From crystal + -ize. The double l reflects the classical stem found in its etyma, Latin crystallus and Ancient Greek κρύσταλλος (krústallos), rather than the simplified spelling of the English base noun. Compare Hellenistic Greek κρυσταλλίζειν (krustallízein, “to shine like crystal”), post‐classical Latin crystallizare (“to change into crystal”), and French cristalliser.

CSS

English

An initialism of cascading style sheets, so called because style rules from several sources cascade together, with defined rules of precedence deciding which one applies.

CSU

German

An initialism of the German name Christlich-Soziale Union, "Christian Social Union."

CSV

English

An initialism of comma-separated values.

CTFU

English

An initialism of cracking the fuck up.

CTO

English

An initialism of chief technology officer.

cuatro

Spanish

From Spanish cuatro ("four"), referring to its traditional four strings.

Cub

Origin

Origin uncertain; the word originally referred specifically to a young fox before broadening to cover other animals' young.

Cuba

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Cuba, itself from the Taino language, the language of the island's indigenous inhabitants before European contact.

Cuban

Origin

From Cuba plus the adjective-forming suffix "-an."

cubby

Middle English

From Middle English "cub" (a stall or pen) plus the diminutive ending "-y."

cubbyhole

Origin

From cubby + hole.

cube

Latin

From Old French cube, from Latin cubus, from Greek kubos, originally meaning a die used in games.

cubic

Middle French

From Middle French cubique, built from "cube" plus "-ic."

cubicle

Latin

From Latin cubiculum, meaning "bedroom," borrowed via Late Middle English.

Cubs

Origin

Abbreviation of "Cub Scouts" or "Chicago Cubs".

cucaracha

Spanish

From Spanish cucaracha, literally "cockroach."

cuckold

Old French

From Old French cucuault, built from cucu ("cuckoo") plus a suffix — a reference to cuckoo birds laying eggs in other birds' nests.

cuckoo

Old French

From Old French cocu, imitating the call of the male common cuckoo.

cuckquean

Origin

Blend of cuckold + quean (“disreputable woman”). The verb sense is derived from the noun sense.

cucullated

Origin

From Latin cucullatus, from cucullus (“hood”).

cucumber

Latin

From Old French cocombre, from Latin cucumis, of uncertain earlier origin.

cucumiform

Origin

First attested in a glossary in 1826, in a fragment in 1838, and in a grammatical sentence in 1892; formed by the suffixation of cucumi-, the short i-stem of the Latin cucumis (“cucumber”), with the English -form; compare the earlier New Latin cucumeriformis (1703), cucumiformis (1791) and French cucumeriforme (1777), cucumiforme (1804).

cucurbitaceous

Origin

From Latin cucurbita (“gourd”), + -aceous.

cuddle

Middle English

Origin uncertain, likely linked to Middle English words meaning "to be familiar with" or "to make known."

cuddlesome

Origin

From cuddle + -some.

cuddly

Origin

From "cuddle" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

cuddy

Dutch

Origin uncertain, possibly a shortened form of Dutch kajuit ("cabin").

cudgel

Origin

From Middle English kuggel, from Old English cyċġel (“a large stick, cudgel”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuggil, from Proto-Germanic *kuggilaz (“a knobbed instrument”), derivative of Proto-Germanic *kuggǭ (“cog, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewgʰ- (“swelling, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), equivalent to cog + -el (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch coghele (“a stick with a rounded end”).

cue

Latin

From Middle English "cu," originally an abbreviation for the Latin word for "quarter" used to mark small purchases in account books; the theatrical sense grew from marking cues in scripts.

cuesta

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish cuesta, meaning "slope."

cuff

Middle English

From Middle English cuffe/coffe, meaning "glove" or "mitten," of unclear earlier origin.

Cui

Origin

Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 崔 (cuī).

cuirassier

Origin

Borrowed from French cuirassier, see below.

cuisine

Late Latin

Borrowed from French cuisine ("cooking, kitchen"), from Late Latin cocina, from earlier coquina, meaning "kitchen."

cuisinier

Origin

Borrowed from French cuisinier.

culinary

Latin

Borrowed from French culinaire, from Latin culinarius, from culina ("kitchen").

cull

Latin

From Old French cuillir ("to gather, select"), from Latin colligere ("to gather together") — the same root as "collect."

Cullen

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic cuilinn.

cullion

Origin

From Middle English coilon, borrowed from Old French coillon (“testicle, vile fellow, coward, dupe”), from Vulgar Latin *cōleōnem, from Latin cōleus (“sack, scrotum”). Doublet of culeus and cojones.

cullionly

Origin

From cullion + -ly.

cully

Origin

Origin uncertain; possibly a shortened form of "cullion."

culmen

Origin

Borrowed from Latin culmen (“apex, acme”).

culminate

Origin

First attested in 1647; borrowed from Medieval Latin culminātus, perfect passive participle of culminō (“to crown”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin culmen (“peak, highest point”, oblique stem culmin-) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), older form columen (“top, summit”), from Proto-Italic *kolamen, from a Proto-Indo-European base *kol-, *kelH- (“to project, rise; peak, summit, top”), whence also English hill and holm.