Etymology — The origins of English words

Probably from Yiddish, ultimately from a German word for "slippery." It was popularized in the 1960s by the US space program, notably by astronaut John Glenn describing electrical spikes.

Simply "quirk" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y."

First attested in the 1540s. Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Middle English *querk, from Old Norse kverk (“a bend or angle, especially below a cross-beam or below the chin, the bight of an axe", also "throat, gullet”), from Proto-Germanic *kwerkō (“throat, gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour; maw”). Cognate with Scots querk (“throat", also "any hollow in the body, such as an armpit, groin, instep, etc.”), Icelandic kverk (“interior angle”). Also partially from dialectal quirk, querk (“a whim, fancy, fuss, huff, complaint", also "to peevishly grumble, grunt, sigh, croak, die”), from Middle English querken, *quirken (“to choke”), from Old Norse kvirkja (“to choke, strangle”), from the same origin above. Related to dialectal querken, quirken (“to choke”). Likely not related to queer.

From Greek sophia, meaning "wisdom."

From Old French ruse ("trick, cunning"), originally describing the evasive doubling-back of a hunted animal.

From Latin montana ("mountainous"), via Spanish montaña ("mountain").

From Old English "borgian" ("to lend, pledge, borrow"), related to the idea of taking care of or vouching for something — ultimately connected to the word "bury" in an older sense of "protect."

From "radiology" plus the agent suffix "-ist".

A shortened, informal form of "promotion" or "promotional."

From Ottoman Turkish "saray" ("palace") plus a Serbo-Croatian suffix meaning "plain" or "lowland."

From Old English lox, going back to a Proto-Germanic word for lynx; related to German Luchs and Dutch los.

From shine plus the adjective-forming suffix -y, going back through Old English to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to shine."

From Old French visible, from Late Latin visibilis, "able to be seen," from Latin videre, "to see."

From Old French invisible, from Late Latin invisibilis, literally "not able to be seen" (in-, "not," + visibilis, "visible").

A shortened form of the older word evanish, going back through Old French esvanir to Latin evanescere — "to fade out" — built from vanus, meaning "empty." It's a doublet of "evanesce."

From Old Norse klubba, "cudgel," related to Proto-Germanic roots meaning "lump" or "block." The social-group sense grew out of the idea of a shared "club" or contribution — people literally clubbing their resources together.

From Old English clāfre, of West Germanic origin, related to Dutch klaver and German Klee.

Shortened from "Bergen rucksack," likely named after its Norwegian creator, and linked to the city of Bergen in Norway.

As a place name, the Belgian coastal city Ostend comes from Dutch Oostende, literally "east end," describing its position at the eastern tip of a former island.

From Old Dutch brugga ("bridge"); a doublet of the English word bridge.

From Dutch Antwerpen.

From Middle English muscheron, borrowed via Old French from a word related to moss — because these fungi were first noticed growing among moss.

From Latin innuendo, "by nodding" — literally the gerund of innuere, "to give a nod, hint at."

From Ancient Greek prōtótupos, "original pattern," from prôtos ("first") plus túpos ("impression, model.")