Etymology — The origins of English words

goyishkeit

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish גױיִשקײַט (goyishkayt).

humbleness

Origin

From Middle English humblenesse; equivalent to humble + -ness.

herne

Origin

Unknown. Suggested by R. Lowe Thompson to derive from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- (“horn”), which would mean it is related to English horn. Others have suggested that it comes from Old English Herian (literally “warrior-leader”), which is a name for Woden. Another theory is that it derives from the surname Horne.

heterosexuality

Origin

From heterosexual + -ity or hetero- + sexuality.

godsib

Origin

Learned borrowing from Middle English godsib; doublet of gossip; see those entries for more.

haircloth

Origin

From hair + cloth.

graymail

Origin

From gray + mail: in the threat sense, by analogy with blackmail.

hibernia

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin Hibernia, which see.

harumph

Origin

Onomatopoeic.

hyperoxemia

Origin

By surface analysis, hyper- + ox- + -emia.

gonk

Origin

A proprietary name of arbitrary formation.

grame

Origin

From Middle English grame, gram, grome, from Old English grama (“rage, anger, trouble, devil, demon”), from Proto-Germanic *gramô (“anger”), *gramaz (“fiend, enemy”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“to rub, grind, scrape”). Cognate with Middle Dutch gram (“angry”), Dutch gram (“wrath”), Middle Low German gram (“anger”), German Gram (“grief, sorrow”), Old Danish gram (“devil”), Icelandic gramir, gröm (“fiends, demons”). Related to gram (“angry”, adjective), grim.

honeybunch

Origin

From honey + bunch.

handicraft

Origin

For handcraft, influenced by handiwork; Old English handcræft. By surface analysis, handy + -craft.

holograph

Origin

From holo- + -graph.

haifan

Origin

From Haifa + -an.

gride

Origin

From a metathetic variation of gird (“to strike, smite, upbraid, scold, jibe”), from Middle English girden, gerden (“to strike, thrust, smite”, literally “smite with a rod”), from gerd, yerd (“a rod, yard”). More at yard.

healthful

Origin

From Middle English helthful, helþful, helþeful, equivalent to health + -ful.

immobilization

Origin

From French immobilisation or im- + mobilization or immobilize + -ation.

greenscreen

Origin

From green + screen.

gyre

Origin

Borrowed from Latin gȳrus (“circle; circular motion”), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle; ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend; to curve”). The English word is a doublet of gyro and gyrus.

hewison

Origin

From a Middle English diminutive of Hugh + -son.

groundscraper

Origin

From ground + -scraper, likely modelled after skyscraper.

grice

Origin

From Middle English gris, from Old Norse gríss (“male pig; pigling”). Compare Old Dutch gristo, gristio (“boar, wild boar”).