Etymology — The Origins of English Words

bookly

Origin

From Middle English *bocli, from Old English bōclīċ (“of or belonging to a book, scientific, biblical, scriptural”); equivalent to book + -ly. Cognate with Danish boglig (“bookish”), Swedish boklig (“bookish, literary”).

cannonry

Origin

From cannon + -ry.

bookstall

Origin

From book + stall.

bezoar

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish bezoar and/or French bézoard, based on Arabic بَازَهْر (bāzahr), from Middle Persian pʾtzhl (pādzahr, “bezoar, antidote”), from a compound of words meaning “to protect” and “poison” (literally “killing thing”), thus a bezoar was “that which protects against poison”. In ancient times, bezoars from animals were ground up and ingested as remedies for various maladies and as antidotes to poisons.

brownification

Origin

From brown + -ification.

camerate

Origin

From Latin camerātus, perfect passive participle of camerō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

bibbey

Origin

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.

cardsharp

Origin

From card + sharp (“cheater, dishonest person”).

burgrave

Origin

From German Burggraf, from Burg (“castle”) + Graf (“count”). Compare Dutch burggraaf, French burgrave. See margrave.

broadsheet

Origin

From broad + sheet.

bezique

Origin

Borrowed from French bésigue, of unknown origin.

bubblehead

Origin

* From bubble + head. * (diver): Inspired by the shape of the old spun-copper diving helmet.

botanic

Origin

From the Medieval Latin botanicus, perhaps via the French botanique, from the Ancient Greek βοτανικός (botanikós), from βοτάνη (botánē, “herb, pasture”).

bishopric

Origin

From Middle English bischopriche, from Old English bisċoprīċe, equivalent to bishop + -ric (compare German Reich).

betimber

Origin

From Middle English *betimbren, from Old English betimbran, betimbrian (“to construct, build”), equivalent to be- + timber.

calcareous

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin calcārius (“of or pertaining to lime”), derived from calx (“lime”). Similar to calcium.

bootlip

Origin

From boot + lip.

braise

Origin

From French braise (“live coals”) and braiser (“to braise”, from the noun), from Old French brese (“embers”), from Old Low Franconian/Old Dutch; akin to Norwegian/Swedish braseld (“sparkling fire”), Norwegian/Swedish dialectal brasa (“to roast”), Danish dialectal brase (“to flambé, enflame”). Perhaps from Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌰𐍃𐌰 (*brasa, “glowing coal”), from Proto-Germanic *brasō (“gleed, crackling coal”), Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to crack, break, burst”). Cognate with Icelandic brasa (“to harden by fire”). See burst.

breastwork

Origin

From breast + work.

bronchial

Origin

Borrowed from Latin bronchiālis. By surface analysis, bronchium + -al.

blockbust

Origin

Back-formation from blockbuster.

bibacious

Origin

From Latin bibāx, bibācis, ultimately from bibō + -acious. See bib.

boutade

Origin

Borrowed from French boutade, from bouter (“to thrust”). See butt.

camoufleur

Origin

From French camoufleur.