Etymology — The origins of English words

From Middle Dutch pamperen, "to cram with food," originally meaning to stuff someone with rich food; the meaning broadened over time to any kind of excessive indulgence or care.

Probably from "caudle," an old word for a warm, comforting drink given to invalids — the sense of gentle care carried over into both the pampering and cooking meanings.

From Old English midsumor, "mid-" + "summer" — the middle point of summer.

From Old English thaerbig, formed from there plus by.

From here plus by, literally "by this."

From Old English scinu, unrelated to the word "skin" despite the similarity.

From Middle English saden, related to Old English sadian ("to satisfy, become weary"). A close relative of the word "sate," and connected to "sad."

From Phoenician mem, originally meaning "water" — the letter shape is thought to derive from a stylised drawing of waves.

From Latin renegare, "to deny," built from negare ("to deny").

From a Middle Bronze Age pictogram of a house, ultimately meaning "house" in an ancient Semitic language.

From Ancient Greek melissa, meaning "bee" — the herb was named for how strongly it attracts bees.

From "sis" (a clipping of sister) plus the diminutive suffix -y.

From French national, built from "nation" plus the adjective ending "-al."

Back-formed from the common English suffix -ist, used to make nouns like "artist" or "scientist."

From phallus + -ic.

From Ancient Greek Haides, both the name of the god and, by extension, his domain.

From Latin Tartarus, borrowed from Ancient Greek Tártaros.

From Latin benefactor, "one who does good," built from bene ("well") and facere ("to do").

From Old French sumundre, going back to Latin summonēre ("to remind secretly"), from sub- + monēre ("to warn").

PIE word *wasdʰos From black + a second element, possibly derived from one of the following: * From Irish fad (“length”), fada (“long”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wasdʰos (“long; wide”)) + dobhar (“moisture; sea; water”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”)), referring to a long river. * From Old English ǣdre (“channel for liquids; river; (anatomy) artery or vein; sinew”), from Proto-Germanic *ēþrǭ (“rivulet; (anatomy) vein”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éh₁t-r̥ ~ *h₁h₁t-éns (“lung; internal organ”), from *h₁eh₁t- (“breath; to breathe”) + *-r̥ (suffix forming nouns). However, this etymology has been doubted as it has been suggested that the long initial vowel in Old English would have been preserved in English and Scots. * From Proto-Brythonic *ador or *edir (“(possibly) name of a river”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *hₐet- (“to go”) + *-r̥. The surname is from the river and the adjacent Blackadder House.

From Latin imaginarius, "relating to images or fancies." The mathematical sense was coined by René Descartes in 1637, who used it dismissively for numbers he thought couldn't really exist — the name stuck even after mathematicians accepted the concept.

From Latin māter, "mother," combined with -arch, from Greek arkhós, "chief, leader."

From Greek patriarkhēs, built from patria ("family, lineage") plus -arkhēs ("ruler"), so literally "ruler of the family."

From Latin theatricus, ultimately from Greek théatron.