Etymology — The origins of English words

From French opportuniste, built from opportune plus the "-ist" suffix.

From Old French opportun, from Latin opportunus, literally "coming toward the harbor" — suggesting something arriving at just the right time.

Borrowed from Italian operetta, literally "little opera," from opera plus the diminutive ending "-etta."

From opera plus the adjective suffix "-ic," on the model of "dramatic."

From Old English openere, built from open plus the agent suffix "-er," the same pattern as "writer" or "singer."

From "die" plus the "-ing" ending, dropping the silent e.

A blend of breath and analyzer, originally a trademarked brand name.

From Mandarin Chinese Běijīng, meaning "northern capital," named to contrast with the southern city of Nanjing ("southern capital").

From Old English hǣring, a Germanic word of uncertain origin, possibly linked to "hair" because of the fish's fine bones.

From "Tommy," a shortened, affectionate form of the given name Thomas, historically used as a generic name for a British private soldier.

An abbreviation of the German company name Bayerische Motoren Werke, "Bavarian Motor Works."

From Middle English "dingle", related to Old English "dung" ("pit, dungeon") plus a diminutive ending.

From Middle French pontife, from Latin pontifex, originally a member of Rome's chief college of priests.

From French procédure, ultimately from Latin procedere, "to go forward" — the same root as proceed.

From Latin repugnare, "to fight against," from re- ("against") plus pugnare ("to fight") — related to "pugnacious."

From Old Norse blautr meaning "soft," related to words for something soft or swollen.

From Old English roots related to *blincan, ultimately tied to a Proto-Germanic word meaning "to shine, gleam" — the same family as the word blank.

From Old English gyltiġ ("offending, guilty"), from guilt plus the adjective suffix "-y."

From late Middle English braulen ("to clamour or quarrel"), likely related to bray and originally imitative of a loud, harsh noise.

Related to "tousle", both likely coming from an old word meaning to pull or handle roughly.

From Middle English monchen, probably imitating the sound of chewing.

From an old English dialect word meaning to soak or drench something thoroughly — the idea of "soaking" something extended naturally to over-indulging in food or drink.

From a Late Middle English word for small fish, tracing back to Old English, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "small."

PIE word *ǵʰmṓ The origin of the noun is uncertain. The following possible derivations have been suggested: * A variation of minikin (“(obsolete) young person, especially a young woman; small or insignificant person, thing, or amount”) + a variation of -s (suffix forming hypocoristic nouns (nicknames)) (compare minckins, a variant of minikin). * From Dutch mens, mensch (“human being, person; (derogatory, informal) woman”) (obsolete), Middle Dutch minsc, minsce, minsch; or from German Low German minsch, minsk, Middle Low German minsche (“hussy, wench”), all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz (“human”, adjective), from *mann- (“human being, person; man”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”), *men- (“to mind; to think; spiritual activity”), or *mon- (“human being; man”)) + *-iskaz (suffix meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the noun.