Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Origin uncertain, possibly from Kent dialect; originally referred to a piece of iron on a plough, later to thin wedges of wood or metal.

Origin uncertain; first recorded in early 20th-century American carnival slang for a planted audience member.

A back-formation from "chaise" — people heard the French plural-sounding \"-aise\" ending and assumed \"shay\" was the singular.

From Old English sċeaga, "small wood," related to Old Norse skógr, "forest" (the source of Danish skov).

From Hebrew shalom ("peace, well-being"), a doublet of Arabic "salaam", which entered English separately.

From Old English sceadd, of uncertain further origin, possibly Celtic or Scandinavian.

A shortened form of "servomechanism" or "servomotor."

From Ancient Greek σηπτικός (sēptikós, “characterized by putridity”), from σηπτός (sēptós), from σήπω (sḗpō).

Adapted from the Japanese and Malay use of "sen" for a subunit of currency, itself influenced by the English word "cent."

From Middle English scet, schat, from Old English sċeatt (“property, goods”) and Old Norse skattr (“wealth, treaure”); both from Proto-Germanic *skattaz (“cattle, kine, wealth”), from Proto-Indo-European *skatn-, *skat- (“to jump, skip, splash out”). Cognate with Scots scat (“tax, levy, charge, payment, bribe”), West Frisian skat (“treasure, darling”), Dutch schat (“treasure, hoard, darling, sweetheart”), German Schatz (“treasure, hoard, wealth, store, darling, sweetheart”), Swedish skatt (“treasure, tax, duty”), Icelandic skattur (“tax, tribute”), Latin scateō (“gush, team, bubble forth, abound”).

Originally a trade name coined by the Dow Chemical Company for polymers made from vinylidene chloride.

From Hindi sāmbhar, ultimately from a Sanskrit word for a kind of deer — the food dish is an unrelated later use of the same spelling.

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese samba, which itself traces back to a Bantu language of West Africa.

From Old French sage, ultimately from Latin sapere ("to taste, to be wise") — the same root behind "savvy" and "sapient."

From the name of the Marquis de Sade; see sadism.

From Middle English reuthe, related to the verb "rue" (to regret) — the noun form survives today mainly in its negative, "ruthless."

From Old French rut, "roar" or "bellowing," originally describing the noise male deer make during mating season.

Borrowed from Spanish or Portuguese rosca, meaning "a twist or roll of bread."

From Old Norse rún, from Proto-Germanic *rūnō ("letter, secret, mystery"); related to German Rune.

Origin unknown; first recorded around 1745, possibly an invented word blending "rumbustious" with a Latin-style ending.

Likely a shortened form of "ruffle," possibly influenced by "rough."

From the personal name Rube (a nickname for Reuben), which became a generic term for a simple country person.

A shortened form of "rotator," first used in mathematics before being adopted for spinning machine parts.

Borrowed from Italian rondò, itself from French rondeau — both ultimately describing something that circles back around, like the recurring musical theme.