Etymology — The origins of English words

vulnerableness

Origin

From vulnerable + -ness.

whilere

Origin

From Middle English whil er, whileere [and other forms], whilom er (“some while ago or before, formerly”), from Old English hwīle ǣr, hwīlum ǣr, from hwīle (accusative singular of hwīl), hwīlum (“at some time in the past, once; sometimes”) (dative plural of hwīl (“period of time, a while”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”)) + ǣr (“before”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *airiz (“before, earlier”)). The English word is analysable as while + ere.

wholemeal

Origin

From whole + meal.

vortical

Origin

From (the stem of) Latin vortex + -al.

whosit

Origin

From who's it?

unmoveable

Origin

From un- + moveable.

vouchsafement

Origin

From vouchsafe + -ment.

variola

Origin

From Middle English variolas pl (“pustules, pocks”), from Medieval Latin or Medical Latin variola (“infectious disease causing pustules; pox”), from Latin varius. Doublet of variole.

waterbuck

Origin

From Afrikaans waterbok, after the animal's habit of escaping to waterways.

valedictory

Origin

From Latin valedictum + English -ory (suffix forming nouns meaning ‘that which pertains to’, or adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Valedictum is the accusative supine of valedīcō (“to bid farewell; to give a valediction”), from valē (“farewell, goodbye”) (the imperative of valeō (“to be healthy or well; to be strong; to have influence or power”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“powerful, strong; to rule”)) + dīcō (“to say, speak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to point out”)). By surface analysis, valedict + -ory.

venipuncture

Origin

From ven- + puncture, equivalent to veno- + puncture but with -i- as interconsonantal (versus -o-).

webcast

Origin

From web + -cast, from broadcast.

westman

Origin

From west + man. A calque of Old Norse vestmaðr, from vest (“west”) + maðr (“man”).

unsophisticate

Origin

From un- + sophisticate.

unrepentance

Origin

From un- + repentance.

unsmart

Origin

From un- + smart.

upland

Origin

From Middle English upland, from Old English ūpland (“the country”); equivalent to up- + land. The word as an adjective developed in Middle English.

unfinishedness

Origin

From unfinished + -ness.

unobliging

Origin

From un- + obliging.

unsay

Origin

From Middle English unseyen, unseien, from Old English onseċġan (“to deny, renounce”), from Proto-West Germanic *andasaggjan (“to unsay, renounce, deny”), equivalent to un- + say. Cognate with Dutch ontzeggen (“to deny”), German entsagen (“to renounce, abjure”).

vitalic

Origin

Perhaps from vital + -ic.

vasquine

Origin

From French vasquine. Compare Spanish basquiña.

videogram

Origin

From video- + -gram.

venturer

Origin

From venture + -er.