"P" Word Origins

pontoon

Latin

From Middle French ponton, from Latin pontō, "ferryboat," from pōns, "bridge."

Pontus

Greek

From Greek Πόντος (Póntos, "sea"), also the name of the Black Sea in antiquity.

pony

Late Latin · 1659

From Scots powny, ultimately from Late Latin pullanus, "young animal," related to pullus. First recorded in English in 1659.

ponytail

Origin

From pony + tail, describing the resemblance to a horse's tail.

Ponzi

Origin · 1882

Named after Charles Ponzi (1882–1949), the con artist who made this type of fraud infamous.

poo

Origin

Clipping of shampoo.

pooch

German

Origin uncertain; possibly from a German pet name for lapdogs.

poochie

Origin

A cutesy extension of "pooch," itself an informal American word for dog.

poodle

German

From German Pudel, short for Pudelhund, referring to the way the dog splashes in water.

poof

Origin

Imitative of a soft puff of air or smoke.

poofter

Origin

From "poof," an earlier slur for a gay man, plus the agent suffix "-er."

Pooja

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit pūjā, meaning "worship" or "reverence."

Pookie

Origin

Likely an invented, sound-based term of endearment, related to similar baby-talk coinages like "poochie."

pool

Old English

From Old English pōl, "pool," related to Germanic and Slavic words for a puddle or marsh.

Poole

Origin

From the common word "pool".

poolside

Origin

From pool + side.

poon

Origin

Compare Tamil புன்னை (puṉṉai), Malayalam പുന്ന (punna), names for Calophyllum inophyllum. Doublet of punnai.

Poonam

Hindi

From Hindi पूनम (pūnam), meaning "full moon."

poontang

French

Likely borrowed from French putain ("prostitute"), possibly via Louisiana Creole.

poop

Latin

Uncertain, possibly imitative of the sound; the ship-deck sense comes separately from Old French/Latin puppis, "stern."

poopy

Origin

From poop + -y.

poor

Latin

From Old French povre, from Latin pauper — the same root that gives us "pauper."

poorhouse

Origin

From poor + house.

poorliness

Origin

From poorly + -ness.

poorly

Middle English

From Middle English poorly, formed from poor + -ly.

pop

Origin

Imitative in origin, describing a short sharp sound.

popcorn

Origin

Short for "popped corn," from pop + corn.

pope

Vulgar Latin

From Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa, ultimately from Greek pápas, "father."

Popeye

Origin · 1929

Coined in 1929 by cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar, from pop + eye.

popinjay

Origin

From Middle English popinjay, popyngeay, popingay, popejay, from Anglo-Norman papegai, papejoie et al., (northern) Old French papejai (“parrot”), probably from Old Occitan papagay (compare Occitan papagai, Catalan papagai), ultimately from Arabic بَبْغَاء (babḡāʔ, “parrot”), of imitative origin.

popishness

Origin

From popish + -ness.

poplar

Latin

From Anglo-Norman popler and Old French poplier, ultimately from Latin populus ("poplar tree") — no relation to the unrelated Latin populus meaning "people".

Popov

Origin

From Old Church Slavonic попъ (popŭ, "priest").

poppa

Origin

A casual variant spelling of "papa".

popper

Middle English

From Middle English poppere, formed from "pop" plus the agent suffix "-er" — someone or something that pops.

poppers

Origin

Named for the way users would crush or "pop" the small glass ampoules of amyl nitrite to release the vapour inside.

poppet

Origin

A variant form of "puppet".

poppy

Latin

From Old English popig, ultimately from Latin papaver ("poppy"). The remembrance symbol dates to World War I, popularised by American humanitarian Moina Michael after she was moved by the poem "In Flanders Fields".

poppycock

Dutch

Borrowed from Dutch pappekak, literally "soft dung" — from pappe ("soft food") and kak ("excrement").

pops

Origin

From "pop" (an informal word for father) plus an affectionate "-s" ending.

Popsicle

Origin

A blend of "pop" and "icicle", named after inventor Frank Epperson — his children called his frozen treat "Pop's 'sicle".

populace

Latin

From Middle French populace, from Italian popolaccio, ultimately from Latin populus ("people").

popular

Latin

From Old French populaire and Latin popularis, both ultimately from populus ("people").

popularity

Latin

From "popular" plus the noun suffix "-ity", echoing Latin popularitas ("effort to please the people").

populate

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin populatus, past participle of populor ("to people, inhabit"), from Latin populus ("people").

population

Late Latin

From Late Latin populatio ("a people, multitude"), formed from Latin populus.

populist

Latin

From Latin populus, "the people", via the political movements of the late 19th century that took the name.

populous

Origin

First used in English in the mid 15th century; from Latin populosus (“full of people, populous”).