"T" Word Origins

tungsten

Swedish

Borrowed from Swedish tungsten, literally "heavy stone" (tung, "heavy" + sten, "stone").

tunic

Latin

Borrowed from Latin tunica via Middle French tunique; the word also existed in Old English as tunece.

tunica

Origin

From Latin tunica. Doublet of tunic and maybe distantly related to chiton.

Tunis

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic تُونِس (tūnis). Further derivation uncertain, but some possibilities are: * Derived from a Berber root ens "to lie down", tansawt "to pass the night", thus "encampment". * Related to the Phoenician goddess Tanit.

tunnel

Middle French

From Middle French tonnelle ("net") or tonel ("cask"), related to Old English tunne, the ancestor of "tun."

Tunney

Irish

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Tonnaigh (“descendant of Tonnach”), a personal name derived from tonn (“wave, billow”).

tup

Origin

From Middle English tupe (compare Scots tuip), origin unknown.

tuppence

Origin

By surface analysis, two + pence, collective plural of penny. Same for the definition: "Ellipsis of tuppence worth (“one’s opinion”)" however, this idiom is derived from this fact; in Britain it used to cost two pence ("tuppence") to post a letter, usually holding one's opinion.

Tupperware

Origin · 1907

Named after American inventor Earl Tupper (1907-1983), who created the product in 1942; the brand name later became a generic term.

turban

Italian

Borrowed via Italian and Ottoman Turkish from Classical Persian dulband — the same root that gave English "tulip."

turbine

Latin

Borrowed from French turbine, from Latin turbo, turbinem, meaning "whirlwind" or "spinning top."

turbo

Origin

Shortened from "turbocharged," describing the boost a turbocharger gives an engine.

turbot

Old French

From Old French turbot, itself likely from Old Swedish tornbut, combining "thorn" and "flatfish" — a reference to the fish's spiny bumps.

turbulence

Late Latin

From Late Latin turbulentia, "trouble" or "disquiet," built on turbulent.

turbulent

Latin

From Latin turbulentus, based on turba, meaning "disorder" or "crowd."

turd

Old English

From Old English tord, meaning "dung" or "filth," going back to a Proto-Germanic root for manure.

turf

Old English

From Old English turf, meaning "sod" or "grass-covered earth," a very old Germanic word.

Turin

Origin

From Piedmontese Turin, from the Roman name, Latin Augusta Taurinōrum, ultimately from the name of the Taurini tribe. Connections to Latin taurus (“bull”) are folk etymology. Doublet of Torino, the Italian name.

Turing

Origin

(programming language): Named after Alan Turing.

Turk

Old French

From Old French Turc, ultimately from Old Turkic tü rk via Persian and Byzantine Greek.

turkey

Origin

Originally applied to the guinea fowl, an African bird imported to Europe through Turkey; the name later transferred to the unrelated North American bird now called turkey.

Turkish

French

Formed from "Turk" plus the adjective suffix "-ish"; a doublet of "turquoise," which comes from the same root via French.

turlough

Irish

From Irish tur ("dry") + loch ("lake") — literally a "dry lake."

turmeric

Old French

From Middle English turmeryte, of uncertain origin — possibly from Arabic kurkum or a folk-adapted form of Old French terre mérite ("deserving earth").

turmoil

Old French · 1526

Origin unknown; the word first appears in English around 1526, possibly connected to Old French tremouille, a mill hopper.

turn

Latin

From Old English turnian and Old French torner, both ultimately from Latin tornare, "to round off on a lathe," from tornus, "lathe."

turnabout

Origin

From turn + about.

turnaround

Origin

Formed from the verb phrase "turn around," describing a reversal in direction or fortune.

Turnbull

Origin

A compound of "turn" and "bull," originally a nickname for someone strong enough to turn a bull.

turncoat

Origin

A compound of "turn" and "coat," reportedly from the old military trick of wearing a reversible coat lined in a different color to switch sides visually.

turndown

Origin

Deverbal from turn down.

turner

Old French

From Middle English turner or Old French torneour, meaning "one who fashions something by turning" — related to "turn" plus the agent suffix "-er."

turning

Old English

From Old English tyrning, built from turn plus the "-ing" ending that makes a noun out of an action.

turnip

Old English

Probably from "turn" (perhaps because the round root looks as if it had been shaped on a lathe) combined with an old English word for the plant, related to "neep" and "parsnip".

turnkey

Origin

From turn + key. (jailer): Compare typologically Russian вертуха́й (vertuxáj) (akin to верте́ть (vertétʹ)).

turnout

Origin

A noun formed from the phrasal verb "turn out", originally describing people or things "turning out" (showing up) somewhere.

turnover

Origin

From the phrasal verb "turn over", used as a noun for business activity, staff changes, or a pastry folded over itself.

turnpike

Middle English

From Middle English turnpyke, originally a spiked barrier used to block a road until a toll was handed over — from "turn" plus "pike" (a spiked shaft).

turnsole

Origin

French tournesol

turnstile

Origin

From "turn" plus "stile" (a step or gate for crossing a fence), describing a stile that rotates.

turntable

Origin

A straightforward compound of "turn" and "table", describing a table-like surface that turns.

turpentine

Ancient Greek

Traces back through Old French and Latin to Ancient Greek terebinthos, the name of the terebinth tree whose resin was originally used to make it.

turpin

Old French

Traced to Old French roots meaning "divine" combined with a word for an evergreen tree, later applied loosely to tortoises.

turpitude

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French turpitude, from Latin turpitūdō (“baseness, infamy”), from turpis (“foul, base”).

turps

Origin

Clipping of turpentine + -s (diminutive suffix).

turquoise

Old French

From Old French pierre turquoise, "Turkish stone" — the gem reached Europe via Turkish traders even though it was actually mined in Persia.

turret

Latin

From Old French torete, a diminutive of tour ("tower"), ultimately from Latin turris.

turron

Origin

From Spanish turrón, probably from Latin torrere (“to roast”).