Etymology — The origins of English words

fine

Latin

From Old French fin ("fine, exact"), probably tracing back to Latin finis, "an end or boundary" — the sense of a monetary fine comes from the idea of a payment that settles a matter and brings it to a close.

incursion

Latin

From Old French incursion, from Latin incursiō ("an attack, assault"), from incurrere ("to run into").

scion

Old French

From Old French cion, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "sprout" — the family sense grew out of the idea of a new shoot springing from an old family tree.

vocation

Latin

From Latin vocatio, "a calling," from vocare, "to call" — the same root as "vocal" and "invoke."

falafel

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic falāfil.

position

Latin

From Latin positio, "a placing," from ponere ("to place"), the same root behind "pose" and "post."

wai

Origin

Borrowed from Thai wâi, a gesture of thanks or greeting.

kai

Origin

Borrowed from Māori kai ("food").

gate

Old English

From Old English geat ("opening, gap"), related to Old Norse and Dutch words for "hole."

Beelzebub

Ancient Greek

First attested as Old English Belzebub, from Latin Beelzebūb, the Vulgate's form of Ancient Greek Βεελζεβούλ (Beelzeboúl), from Hebrew בעל זבוב (ba‘al-z'vúv, “fly-lord”), mentioned in 2 Kings chapter 1 as “the god of Ekron”.

rancor

Latin

From Old French rancor, from Latin rancor, "rancidity" or "grudge" — the same root that gives us "rancid."

visage

Latin

From Anglo-Norman visage, ultimately from Latin visus, "sight, appearance," related to videre, "to see." Compare vision.

prognosis

Greek

From Greek prognosis, "foreknowledge," from pro- ("before") plus gnosis ("knowledge").

dissimilar

Origin

From dis- + similar.

cretin

French

From French crétin, ultimately from a dialectal Alpine form of "chrétien" ("Christian"), once used sympathetically of poor or vulnerable people before the word narrowed and turned into an insult.

swine

Latin

From Old English swin, "pig" — an ancient word going back to a shared Indo-European root for the animal, related to the Latin sus and Greek hys.

whelp

Old English

From Old English hwelp, a Germanic word for the young of an animal, related to Dutch welp and German Welpe.

flighty

Origin

From flight + -y, originally describing something that flies easily, later extended to unpredictable people.

porta

Latin

From Latin porta, "gate" or "entrance" — the same root as "port" and "portal."

seeker

Origin

Formed from seek plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who seeks."

snitch

Middle English

Origin uncertain — possibly linked to a Middle English word for a trap or sudden seizure, or a dialect variant of "sneak."

either

Middle English

From Middle English either, from Old English ǣġhwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *aiw + *gahwaþar. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder). The pronunciations with /iː/ and /eɪ/ respectively reflect Middle English forms in /ɛː/ and /æi/; the origin of that with /aɪ/ is less clear, but it may reflect a Middle English form with /iː/; see Middle English either for more discussion.

beater

Old English

From Old English bēatere, "one who strikes," formed from beat + -er.

chaser

Old French

From Old French chaceür, from chacier ("to hunt, chase"); a doublet of "chasseur."