Etymology — The origins of English words

canton

Old French

From Middle French canton, from Old French canton, "corner."

moist

Latin

From Middle English moist, from Old French moiste, of uncertain further origin, possibly blending a Latin word for "mouldy" with one meaning "grape juice, must."

runner

Middle English

From Middle English rennere, formed from run + -er; cognate with Old Norse rennari ("runner, messenger").

coach

French · 1800

From the Hungarian town of Kocs, famous for building horse-drawn carriages; the word passed through German and French before reaching English. The "trainer" sense began as 19th-century Oxford student slang for a tutor who "carries" you through an exam.

tenure

Vulgar Latin

From Old French tenure, from Vulgar Latin *tenitura, related to Latin tenere ("to hold").

provost

Late Latin

From Old English profost, from Late Latin propositus/praepositus, "one placed in command" — via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost.

prop

German

From Middle Dutch proppe ("support, plug"), related to German Pfropfen ("plug").

chessboard

Origin

A straightforward combination of "chess" and "board."

stage

Old French

From Old French estage, meaning a dwelling or condition, ultimately tied to a verb meaning "to stand" — the same root that gives us "stead."

shah

Persian

From Persian shāh ("king"), ultimately from Old Persian — the same root that gives us "chess" and "check" (as in checkmate, literally "the king is dead").

spinach

Old French

Traced back through Old French and Arabic to a Persian word for the plant.

blossom

Latin

From Old English blostm, related to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to bloom or thrive," also the source of the Latin word for "flower."

hooker

Origin

Unknown. The "prostitute" sense is the subject of a folk etymology connecting it to General Hooker of the American Civil War, but the earliest known use dates to 1835, decades before the war. Less implausibly, it has also been connected to a coastal feature called a hook (“A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey, Red Hook in New York”) in the ports of New York and Baltimore. Carefully learned inference is not conclusive. See this essay, pp 105ff.

racism

French

Borrowed from French racisme, built from "race" plus the suffix "-ism."

racist

French · 1932

First recorded as a noun in 1932 and as an adjective in 1938, built from 'racism' plus the agent suffix '-ist,' paralleling the earlier French raciste.

cutlery

Old French

From Old French coutelerie, the trade of a coutelier (cutler, or knife-maker).

ladle

Old English

From Old English hlædel, related to the word "lade" ("to load"), reflecting its scooping motion.

puppet

Latin

From Middle French poupette, a diminutive of poupée ("doll"), ultimately from Latin pupa ("doll, girl"). Related to puppy, which comes from the same root.

teaspoon

Origin

A compound of tea and spoon, named for its original use stirring tea.

Xavier

Origin

From the Basque place name "Etxeberria," meaning "the new house."

piss

Old French

From Middle English pisse/pissen, from Old French pissier, likely of imitative origin — it replaced the Old English word micge.

spoon

Old English

From Old English spōn, originally meaning "a chip or shaving of wood" — early spoons were carved from wood.

atomic

Origin

From atom + -ic.

sock

Latin

The clothing sense comes from Old English socc, from Latin soccus (a type of light shoe); the "hit" sense is a separate, unrelated word imitating the sound of a punch.