"S" Word Origins

soupspoon

Origin

From soup + spoon.

sour

Old English

From Old English sur, from Proto-Germanic *suraz — the same ancient root that gives German sauer and Dutch zuur.

source

Latin

From Old French sourse ("a rising, a spring"), from Latin surgere ("to rise") — the same root that gives us "surge."

sourdough

Origin

From sour + dough. The Alaska/Yukon sense comes from Klondike Gold Rush prospectors who carried a pouch of fermented bread starter with them at all times.

sourhead

Origin

From sour + -head.

sourness

Origin

From Middle English sowrenesse, sournesse, from Old English sūrnes (“sourness”), equivalent to sour + -ness.

sourpuss

Origin

From sour ("bad-tempered") + puss, old slang for "face" or "mouth."

sourwood

Origin

From sour + wood.

Sousa

Portuguese

Borrowed from Portuguese Sousa, from Old Galician-Portuguese Sousa.

souse

Origin

From Middle English souse (“to salt pickle”) also a noun (“liquid for pickling,” “pickled pig parts”), from Old French sous (“preserved in salt”), from Frankish *sultija (“saltwater, brine”), from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“saltwater, brine”). Cognate with Old Saxon sultia (“saltwater”), Old High German sulza (“brine”).

souteneur

Origin

From French souteneur (literally “one who supports”), from the verb soutenir.

south

Old English

From Old English suth, from Proto-Germanic *sunthraz, ultimately related to the Proto-Indo-European root for "sun."

Southall

Old English

From Old English suþ (“south”) + halh (“hollow, nook”).

Southampton

Old English

From Old English suth ("south") and Hamtun, the earlier name of the settlement.

southbound

Origin

From south + -bound (as in "heading toward").

southeast

Old English

From Old English sutheast, a straightforward combination of south and east.

southeastern

Old English

From Old English sutheasterne, from south + eastern.

southerly

Origin

From souther + the adjective/adverb suffix -ly.

southern

Old English

From Old English sutherne, from Proto-Germanic *sunthronijaz, ultimately related to the root for "sun."

southlake

Origin

From south + lake. * (Southlake, TX, USA): From being located on the southern coast of Lake Grapevine

southland

Origin

From south + land.

southpaw

Origin · 1800

From south + paw. First recorded in the early 1800s; commonly explained by old ballpark layouts that put a left-handed pitcher's throwing arm on the south side, though the term may actually trace back further to 1840s boxing slang for a left-handed punch.

southside

Origin

From south + side.

southwest

Old English

From Old English suthwest, combining south and west.

southwestern

Old English

From Old English suthwesterne, from south + western.

souvenir

French

Borrowed from French souvenir, literally "memory" — related to the verb se souvenir, "to remember."

souvlaki

Origin

From Greek σουβλάκι (souvláki).

sovereign

Vulgar Latin

From Old French soverain, from Vulgar Latin *superanus ("above others"), from Latin super ("above"). The modern spelling was reshaped by folk association with "reign," even though the words come from different roots.

sovereigndom

Origin

From sovereign + -dom.

sovereignhood

Origin

From sovereign + -hood.

sovereignness

Origin

From Middle English soverainnesse, equivalent to sovereign + -ness.

sovereignship

Origin

From sovereign + -ship.

sovereignty

Old French

From Old French soveraineté, from soverain ("sovereign") plus the noun-forming suffix -té.

soviet

Russian

Borrowed from Russian sovet ("council"), from Old Church Slavonic sŭvětŭ ("advice, agreement").

Sow

Old English

From Old English sāwan ("to scatter seed"), from a very old Germanic root shared with "seed."

sowing

Origin

From sow ("to plant seeds") plus -ing.

sowl

Origin

From Middle English sowel, souel, suvel (“food eaten with bread; food in general”), from Old English sufel, sufol (“anything (especially relish) eaten with bread; sowl”), from Proto-West Germanic *sufl, from Proto-Germanic *suflą (“entremets, viands”), from Proto-Indo-European *seu-, *sew- (“juice; moisture; rain”). The word is cognate with Danish sul (“sowl”), Middle Dutch suvel, zuvel (Dutch zuivel (“dairy products”)), Middle Low German suvel, süvel, suffel (“sowl”), Old High German sufil, sufili, Old Norse sufl, Norwegian suvl, sovl, sul (“milk porridge; food eaten with bread, porridge or soup”), Saterland Frisian süfel (“dairy products”), Swedish sovel (“sowl”), West Frisian suvel (“dairy products”).

sown

Old English

The past participle of sow, from Old English sawan.

Sox

Origin

A variant spelling of "socks," popularized by American baseball team names like the Red Sox and White Sox.

soy

Dutch

Borrowed via Dutch soja from Japanese shōyu, ultimately from Chinese characters meaning "bean paste" + "oil."

soybean

Origin

From soy + bean.

Soyuz

Russian

From Russian soyuz, meaning "union."

sozzly

Origin

From sozzle + -y?

spa

Origin · 1500

Named after the Belgian town of Spa, famous since medieval times for its mineral springs; English adopted the word as a generic term for any similar health resort starting in the 1500s-1600s.

space

Latin

From Old French espace, from Latin spatium, from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to stretch." It gradually replaced the native Old English word "rum," which survives today as "room."

spacecraft

Origin

From space + -craft, on the pattern of "aircraft."

spacefarer

Origin

From space + farer. Compare spacefaring, seafarer.

spaceman

Origin

From space + man.