Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Borrowed from French carcajou, probably from the same Algonquian source as (certainly related to) kinkajou.

Modification of French capote.

From Middle English betrappen, bitrappen, from Old English betræppan, betreppan (“to entrap, catch”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitrappjan, equivalent to be- + trap. Cognate with West Frisian betrappe, betraapje (“to catch, surprise”), Dutch betrappen (“to catch, surprise”).

From bureau + -gamy.

Fanciful modern spelling of Camden.

From butt + hurt. First use appears c. 1996 in the Usenet group alt.graffiti. See cite below.

From brain + teaser.

From Scottish brack (from Middle Dutch brac (“brackish”)) + -ish. Cognate with Dutch brak (“brackish”), German Low German brack, brakerg, brakig (“brackish”), German brackig (“brackish”), Danish brak (“brackish”), Swedish bräck (“brackish”), Norwegian brakk (“brackish”). Perhaps a distant doublet of brook.

From bound + -en, the archaic past participle of bind.

From Middle English blythely, blyþely, bliþeliche, from Old English blīþelīċe (“gladly, blithely”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]; compare Dutch blijdelijk. By surface analysis, blithe + -ly.

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin bifurcātus. Surface Analysis bi- + furcate.

From by- + dweller.

From bungle + -er.

Possibly an alteration of Gamilaraay gijirrigaa; change of initial syllable unexplained though possibly from Aboriginal Pidgin English budgeree.

Blend of B + L + Lac + quasar. Coined by astronomer Edward Spiegel in 1978 from BL Lac object and quasar, punning blazing from its optical presentation compared to usual quasars. By surface analysis, blaze + -ar.

From brand + mark.

From Middle English blek (“ink”), from Old Norse blek (“black tint, ink”), from Old English blæc (“black tint or dye, ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blaką (“that which is black; blackness”).

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursaria, from bursarius.

From brief (verb) + -er (agent noun suffix).

The noun is derived from Middle English bruit (“commotion, tumult; fame, renown; collective noun for a group of barons”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman brut (“commotion, tumult; noise, sounds; fame, renown; hearsay, rumour; collective noun for a group of barons”) and Old French bruit (“commotion, tumult; noise, sounds; fame, renown; hearsay, rumour”) (modern French bruit (“noise; report, rumour”)), a noun use of the past participle of bruire (“to make a noise; to rattle; to roar; to rustle”), from Late Latin brugere, an alteration of Latin rugīre (“to roar”) (the present active infinitive of rugiō (“to bray; to bellow, roar; to rumble”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewg- (“to belch; to roar”)), possibly influenced by Late Latin bragere (“to bray”). The English word is cognate with Catalan brogir (“to roar”); Old Occitan bruir, brugir (“to roar”). The verb is derived from the noun.

From bushman + -ship.

From calorie + -ic. From French calorique, coined by French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin calor (“heat”).

From boot + -ful.

From various senses of bog + -er.