"C" Word Origins

culmination

Latin

From French culmination, ultimately from Latin culmen ("summit, top").

culpa

Latin

A learned borrowing directly from Latin culpa ("fault, blame").

culpability

Latin

From Middle French culpabilité, ultimately from Latin culpa ("fault").

culpable

Latin

From Old French culpable, from Latin culpabilis ("blameworthy"), from culpa ("fault").

Culpepper

Middle English

From Middle English Coulpeper, equivalent to cull ("to gather") plus pepper, roughly "spice-gatherer."

culprit

Anglo-Norman

From an Anglo-Norman legal phrase used when opening a trial, roughly "guilty: ready [to prove our case]" — later mistaken as a term addressing the accused directly.

cult

Latin

From French culte, from Latin cultus ("care, worship"), from colere ("to cultivate, tend").

cultism

Origin

From cult + -ism. The linguistic sense is from Spanish cultismo.

cultivate

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin cultivare ("to till"), from Latin cultus, from colere ("to till, tend, cultivate").

cultivation

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin cultivatus plus "-ion," or via Middle French cultivation.

cultivator

Origin

From cultivate + -or, partly after French cultivateur.

cultural

Origin

From "culture" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-al."

culturally

Origin

From "cultural" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

culture

Latin

From Middle French culture ("cultivation"), from Latin cultura, from colere ("to till, tend, cultivate, or worship").

culver

Latin

From Old English culufre or culfre, an old word for a dove, likely borrowed from a Latin word related to "columba" ("dove, pigeon") — the same root behind "columbine."

culvert

French

Origin obscure, with a number of possible etymologies suggested: * a dialectal word, * a word related to the name of the now-forgotten inventor, * a derivation from French couvert (“covered”), although couvert is not used in this sense and the French translation of culvert is ponceau or buse de drainage, * a derivation from an unrecorded Dutch word, possibly *coul-vaart, a combination of Dutch coul-, from French couler (“to flow”), and Dutch vaart (“a trip by boat, a canal”).

cum

Latin

The "combined with" sense is a learned borrowing of the Latin word cum, meaning "with."

cumber

Origin

From Middle English combren, aphetic form of acombren or encombren, borrowed from Old French encombrer, ultimately either from Latin cumulus or Proto-Celtic *kombereti (“to bring together”), from *kom- + *bereti (“to bear”). Cognate with German kümmern (“to take care of”).

Cumberland

Old English

From Old English Cumberland, meaning roughly "land of the Cumbrians" (Britons).

cumbersome

Middle English

From Middle English cumbersum, built from "cumber" ("hindrance, burden") plus the suffix "-some." Related to "encumber" and "incumbent."

cumbrous

Origin

From Late Middle English combrous (“causing obstruction; clumsy; obstructed; bothersome, difficult; burdensome, onerous; serious; causing trouble, troublesome; dangerous; immoral; unjust, wrongful; upset”) [and other forms], from komber, kumbre (“distress; destruction”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is analysable as cumber + -ous.

cumbucket

Origin

From cum + bucket.

cumhole

Origin

From cum + hole.

cumin

Latin

Traced back through Old English and Old French to Latin cuminum, itself from Greek kúminon, ultimately from an ancient Middle Eastern word for the spice.

cumming

Origin

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic Cuimeinich, presumably from Anglo-Norman de Comyn, which was a surname of toponymic origin, either from Commin near Rouen or Comines near Lille.

Cummings

French

From Scottish Gaelic Cuimeinich, tracing back to a Norman surname of French toponymic origin.

cummingsesque

Origin

From Cummings + -esque.

cumrag

Origin

From cum + rag.

cumstain

Origin

From cum + stain.

cumulative

Latin

From Latin cumulare, "to heap up," from cumulus, "a heap" — the same root behind the cloud type "cumulus."

cunette

Origin

From French cunette (possibly also lacunette), from Italian cunetta (“cunette”), said to be from lacunetta, diminutive of lacuna (“ditch; lagoon; gap”), from Latin lacūna (“hole, pit; cavity, cleft, hollow, opening; gap, void”), from lacus (“lake”), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“lake, pool”).

cunnilingus

Latin

From Latin cunnilingus, literally 'one who licks the vulva', formed from cunnus 'vulva' and lingere 'to lick'. In Latin the word named the person; in English it names the act.

cunning

Middle English

From Middle English cunning, originally the present participle of a verb meaning "to know how to" — related to "can" and "con" (as in "con artist").

Cunningham

Old English

From a district in Ayrshire, Scotland, whose name may derive from Old English "king" or Gaelic "rabbit" combined with a word for "home" or "village."

cunny

Origin

Originally a specific sense of coney (developed from its use as a pet name for a woman), reinforced by association with cunt and the suffix -y (equivalent to cunt + -y). In sense 2, reinterpreted as a portmanteau of cute + funny.

cunt

Latin

Traced to Middle English cunte, from an unrecorded Old English form going back to a Proto-Germanic root; it has close cousins in Frisian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic. A link to Latin cunnus has been suggested but never proven.

cup

Latin

From Old English cuppe and copp, both meaning "cup" or "vessel," ultimately from Latin cuppa/cupa ("tub, cask"). A distant relative of the word "coupe."

cupboard

Origin

Originally meant a board or table for displaying valuable dishware — literally a "cup board." Over time the pronunciation shifted and the word came to mean an enclosed storage cabinet instead of an open display shelf.

cupcake

Origin

A simple compound of cup and cake — the cake was originally baked in small cup-shaped molds or actual teacups.

cupful

Origin

From Middle English copful, copfull, cupfulle, cuppefulle, equivalent to cup + -ful. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kopful (“cupful”), West Frisian kopfol (“cupful”).

Cupid

Latin

From Latin Cupīdō, "desire" or "passionate longing," from cupiō, "I desire."

cupidity

Origin

From French cupidité, from Latin cupiditās (“strong desire”), from cupidus (“keen, desirous”). Compare Cupid.

cupola

Origin

Borrowed from Italian cupola, from Latin cūpula (“little tub”); from Latin cūpa, cuppa (“cup”); named for its resemblance to a cup turned over. Doublet of cupula.

cur

Middle English

From Middle English curre, probably related to Old Norse kurr, "grumbling" — likely imitating a dog's growl.

curable

Old French

From Old French curable, built from "cure" plus the suffix "-able."

curare

Origin

Borrowed from a Cariban language of South America, where similar words referred to poisonous vines used to tip arrows.

curarization

Origin

From curare + -ization.

curate

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin curatus, "one entrusted with care," from Latin curare, "to take care of" — the same root as "cure."