Etymology — The origins of English words

margarita

Spanish

From Spanish margarita ("daisy" / the name Margaret), ultimately from the same Greek root meaning "pearl" as Margaret.

cynic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek kunikos, traditionally linked to kuon ("dog") because the early Cynic philosophers were mocked for their blunt, unrefined manners — though it may originally have come from the name of the gymnasium where the school first met.

crypt

Latin

From Latin crypta ("vault"), ultimately from Greek kryptos ("hidden") — the same root as "cryptic".

cranium

Ancient Greek

From Medieval Latin cranium ("skull"), from Ancient Greek kranion.

cosmos

Greek

From Greek kosmos, meaning both "order" and "the universe" — the Greeks saw the universe itself as a supreme example of order.

climax

Greek

From Greek klimax, "ladder, staircase," used figuratively for a rhetorical build-up to a peak point.

comedy

Ancient Greek

From Middle French comedie, from Latin comoedia, from Ancient Greek komoidia — literally "revel-song," from komos ("revel, carousing") and oide ("song").

Cleopatra

Greek

From the name of Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, from Greek Kleopatra, "glory of her father."

cinema

French

Borrowed from French cinéma, a clipping of cinématographe, coined by the Lumière brothers from Greek roots meaning "to write movement".

chlamydia

New Latin

From New Latin Chlamydia, based on Greek khlamys ("cloak") — a nod to how the infected cells appear wrapped or "cloaked" under a microscope.

chlorophyll

French

From French chlorophylle, built from Greek khlōros ("pale green") and phyllon ("leaf").

Chloe

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek khloē ("young green shoot"), originally an epithet of the goddess Demeter.

charisma

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek kharisma ("grace, favour, gift"), from kharis ("grace"). Its modern meaning of magnetic personal appeal spread widely after sociologist Max Weber used it to describe a rare quality in certain leaders.

cauterize

Late Latin

From Late Latin cauterizare, "to burn with a hot iron," from Greek kauterion, "branding iron."

catharsis

Greek

From Greek katharsis, "cleansing" or "purging" — Aristotle used the word to describe how tragic drama purges an audience's pity and fear.

cardiology

Greek

From Greek kardia ("heart") plus -logy ("study of").

calypso

Origin

From Trinidadian English, likely from the word "kaiso," possibly of West African origin; the spelling later merged with the name of the mythological nymph Calypso.

hysterical

Greek

From hysteric + -al, ultimately from Greek hystera ("womb").

hysteria

Latin

From Latin hystericus, from Greek hysterikos ("suffering in the womb") — from hystera ("womb"). Ancient physicians wrongly attributed this emotional state to the uterus.

hysterectomy

Latin

From hyster- (relating to the uterus) + -ectomy ("surgical removal").

hypodermic

Latin

From hypo- ("under") + dermic (relating to the skin), from Greek derma.

hypocrisy

Greek

From Greek hypokrisis ("stage acting, pretense"), from hypokrinomai ("to play a part, dissemble") — the same root that gives us "hypocrite."

hypochondriac

French

From French hypocondriaque, from Greek hypokhondriakos, literally "of the region below the ribs" — ancient physicians once linked that area of the body to melancholy and health anxiety.

hypnotic

French

From French hypnotique, ultimately from Greek hypnos ("sleep").