Etymology — The Origins of English Words

beforemath

Origin

From before + math (“a mowing”), by analogy with aftermath.

bearskin

Origin

From bear + skin.

battlespace

Origin

From battle + space.

bateson

Origin

From a medieval diminutive form of Bartholomew + -son.

aubree

Origin

Modern re-spelling of Aubrey.

baldpate

Origin

From bald + pate.

beatson

Origin

Patronymic from the personal name Beat.

berline

Origin

Borrowed from French berline.

benediction

Origin

From Middle English benediccion, from Ecclesiastical Latin benedictio, benedictionis, from benedictus (“blessed; well spoken of”). Doublet of benison.

awl

Origin

From Middle English aul, alle, al, from Old English æl, from Proto-West Germanic *al, from Proto-Germanic *alaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ólos. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Äil (“awl”), Dutch aal (“awl”), German Low German Ahl (“awl”), German Ahle (“awl”), Icelandic alur (“awl”). Spelling was influenced by the Old English synonym awel, awul (“awl”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahwal, from Proto-Germanic *ahwalaz (“fork, hook”), of unknown origin. Doublet of elsen.

autobiographic

Origin

From auto- + biographic.

beefeater

Origin

From beef + eater.

beamy

Origin

From Middle English beami, bemi, equivalent to beam + -y.

atheophobia

Origin

From atheo- (“a- + theo-”) + -phobia.

beinghood

Origin

From being + -hood.

behoove

Origin

See behove.

azygous

Origin

From a- + -zygous.

backhander

Origin

From backhand + -er (patient suffix) or -er (agent noun suffix).

axilla

Origin

Borrowed from Latin axilla (“side, armpit”). Doublet of axil.

aubergine

Origin

Unadapted borrowing from French aubergine, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic اَلْبَاذِنْجَان (al-bāḏinjān, “the aubergine”), from Classical Persian بَادِنْجَان (bādinjān), from بَاتِنْگَان (bātingān), from Sanskrit वातिङ्गण (vātiṅgaṇa, “the plant that cures the wind”), from Dravidian, ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *waẓVtV. Cognate with Malayalam വഴുതനങ്ങ (vaḻutanaṅṅa), Hindi बैंगन (baiṅgan). Doublet of brinjal, malidzano, and melongene.

begrieve

Origin

From be- (“around, about, over”) + grieve.

averie

Origin

Re-spelling of Avery.

aurochs

Origin

Borrowed from German Aurochs, an early variant of Auerochse, from Middle High German ūrochse (“aurochs”), from Old High German ūrohso (“aurochs”), a compound consisting of ūro (“aurochs”) (from Proto-Germanic *ūraz, *ūrô (“aurochs”)) + ohso (“ox”). Akin to Old English ūr (“aurochs”), Old Norse úrr (“aurochs”), Middle Low German ūrosse (“aurochs”), Old English oxa (“ox”). More at ox.

bathers

Origin

Abbreviation of bathing suit.