"S" Word Origins

sodbuster

Origin

From sod + buster.

sodden

Origin

From Middle English sodden, soden, from Old English soden, ġesoden, from Proto-Germanic *sudanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (“to seethe; boil”). Cognate with West Frisian sean, Dutch gezoden (“seethed, boiled”) (related to Dutch zode (“swampy land”)), Low German saden, söddt, German gesotten, Swedish sjuden, Icelandic soðinn. More at seethe.

sodium

Origin · 1808

Coined in 1808 by chemist Humphry Davy, from "soda" + the element-naming suffix -ium.

Sodom

Old English

From the Hebrew place name transmitted through Greek and Old English; the biblical city name became a byword for moral decay.

sodomise

Origin

From sodomy + -ise.

sodomite

Origin

From Middle English sodomyte, sodomite, from Old French Sodomite and Latin sodomīta, from Ancient Greek σοδομίτης (sodomítēs). Equivalent to Sodom + -ite.

sodomitess

Origin

Translation for the Hebrew word "kedeshah" in Deuteronomy 23:17.

sodomy

Origin

Derived from the biblical city of Sodom, described in Genesis as destroyed for its inhabitants' wickedness.

soe

Old English

From Middle English sō, tracing back to Old English sā ("tub" or "pail") and related to Old Norse sár ("large cask") — all ultimately from a Germanic root for a bucket or vat.

sofa

French

Borrowed from French sofa, ultimately from Arabic ṣuffa, a raised, carpeted stone seat.

Sofia

Greek

From Greek sophia, meaning "wisdom."

soft

Old English

From Old English softe, from a Germanic root meaning "smooth, even, agreeable" — related to the word "same."

softback

Origin

From soft + back.

softball

Origin · 1926

Coined in 1926 from soft + ball, contrasting with the harder ball used in baseball ("hardball").

softcover

Origin

From soft + cover.

soften

Middle English

From Middle English softenen, built from soft + the verb-forming suffix -en.

softener

Middle English

From Middle English softener, built from soften plus the agent-suffix -er.

softening

Middle English

From Middle English softenyng, built from soften plus -ing.

softhead

Origin

From soft + head.

softheaded

Origin

From soft + headed.

softhearted

Origin

From soft + hearted.

softheartedness

Origin

From softhearted + -ness.

Softie

Origin

A clipped, informal form of "Microsoftie."

softly

Middle English

From Middle English softely, built from soft plus the adverb-forming -ly.

softness

Old English

From Old English sōftnes, built from soft plus -ness.

softship

Origin

From soft + -ship, modelled after hardship.

software

Origin · 1958

Coined in 1958 by statistician John Tukey, built from soft plus -ware on the model of hardware — the "hard" physical machine versus the "soft," changeable instructions that run on it.

softy

Origin

Built from soft plus the informal suffix -y.

soggy

Origin

Built from the dialect word sog ("boggy ground") plus -y.

Soho

Origin

Originally a hunting cry, "so-ho," used when a hare was sighted — the district in London took its name from a field where the cry was once shouted.

soil

Latin

From Middle English soile, blending an Anglo-Norman word for "ground" (ultimately confused with Latin solum, "ground, earth") with an Old English word for "mud" or "wet sand."

soiree

French

Borrowed from French soirée, meaning "evening" or an evening event, from soir ("evening").

sojourn

Origin

From Middle English sojourne (noun) and sojournen (verb), from Old French sojor, sojorner (modern séjour, séjourner), from (assumed) Vulgar Latin *subdiurnāre, from Latin sub- (“under, a little over”) + Late Latin diurnus (“lasting for a day”), from Latin dies (“day”).

soju

Japanese

From Korean soju (소주), literally "burned liquor" — a relative of the Japanese drink shochu.

sol

Latin

From the solfège syllable "sol," taken from the Latin word solve in a medieval hymn used to teach the musical scale; the Martian and Peruvian currency senses instead trace back to Latin sol, "sun."

solace

Latin

From Old French solas, from Latin sōlācium ("consolation").

Solana

Spanish

Borrowed from the Spanish surname Solana, related to a word for a sunny place.

Solano

Spanish

From Spanish solano, related to sol ("sun") — a wind associated with the direction of the rising sun.

solar

Latin

From Latin sōlāris, from sōl ("sun").

solarium

Latin

Borrowed from Latin sōlārium ("sundial" or "a place for enjoying sunlight"), from sōl ("sun").

sold

Origin

The past tense and past participle of sell; the informal "convinced" sense comes from the same idea of a persuasive argument that has "made the sale."

soldier

Late Latin

From Old French soudier ("mercenary"), ultimately from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin — a soldier was originally "one who is paid" for military service.

soldierly

Origin

From soldier + -ly. Compare soldierlike.

soldiership

Origin

From soldier + -ship.

sole

Latin

From Latin sōlus ("alone, single") for the "only" sense; the foot/shoe and fish senses trace back to a separate Latin word, solea, for a flat sandal.

solecism

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French solecisme, soloëcisme (French solécisme) or its etymon Latin soloecismus, from Ancient Greek σολοικισμός (soloikismós), from σόλοικος (sóloikos, “speaking incorrectly”), from Σόλοι (Sóloi), an ancient Athenian colony in Cilicia whose inhabitants spoke a dialect regarded by Athenians as a corrupted and barbarous form of Attic Greek. Compare Atticism.

Soledad

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Soledad, meaning "solitude," originally as part of a religious name for the mission.

soleil

French

Borrowed from French soleil ("sun").