Etymology — The origins of English words

radix

Origin

PIE word *wréh₂ds Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds Proto-Italic *wrādīks Latin rādīxlbor. English radix Learned borrowing from Latin rādīx (“a root”). Doublet of radish.

reddition

Origin

From Latin redditio, from reddere (“to give back, to return”). Compare French reddition. See render and rendition.

raasclaat

Origin

1950s. From Jamaican Creole raasclaat, from English arse + cloth. Compare English arsewipe, asswipe.

pushbike

Origin

The noun is derived from push + bike. The verb is derived from the noun.

rapidity

Origin

From rapid + -ity, from French rapidité, from Latin rapiditas.

rebuttable

Origin

From rebut + -able.

quaternary

Origin

Derived from Latin quaternārius (“containing or consisting of four”), from quaternī (“four each”, “four at a time”) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary); compare the French quaternaire.

recusative

Origin

From the Late Latin recūsātīvus (“prohibitory”).

quartern

Origin

From Middle English quartern, quarteroun, quartroun, from Anglo-Norman quatroun (“quarter of a hundred”), from Old French quarter (“fourth”).

pyxie

Origin

See pixie.

pussyfoot

Origin

From pussy (“feline”) + foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.

radiotherapist

Origin

From radio- + therapist.

redouble

Origin

From Middle French redoubler. By surface analysis, re- + double.

pullet

Origin

From Middle English polet, pulet, from Anglo-Norman pullet, Old French poulet (“young chicken”); polette (“young hen”), from poule (“hen”), from Vulgar Latin pulla, feminine form of pullus. Doublet of poult. Compare also Middle English pulle. By surface analysis, pull(us) + -et.

pythonic

Origin

From python (“snake of the family Pythonidae”) + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Python is derived from Latin Pȳthōn, from Ancient Greek Πῡ́θων (Pū́thōn, “Python, mythical serpent which lived at Delphi”), from Πῡθώ (Pūthṓ, “Pytho, ancient name of Delphi; Python, the mythical serpent”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep; dark (?); unclear (?)”) or *puH- (“foul, rotten”)) + -ων (-ōn, suffix forming possessives).

puncher

Origin

From punch + -er.

patten

Origin

From Middle English patyn, patin, pateyn, from Old French patin, from patte (“paw, hoof”), from Latin patta, of imitative origin.

permanency

Origin

From Latin permanentia. Compare permanence.

pectoral

Origin

All senses are ultimately from Latin pectorālis, but some may have come through Old French and Middle English.

picketer

Origin

From picket + -er.

patterer

Origin

From patter + -er.

precog

Origin

Clipping of precognitive. Coined by American author Philip K. Dick in 1954, and popularized in his 1956 short story "The Minority Report".

papyrograph

Origin

From papyro- + -graph.

pageboy

Origin

From page + boy.