Etymology — The Origins of English Words

weasand

Origin

Inherited from Middle English wesand, wesande, wesaunt, from Old English *wǣsend, wāsend (“weasand, windpipe, gullet”), from Proto-West Germanic *waisund, *waisundu (“windpipe, gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *weys- (“to flow, run”). Cognate with Old Frisian wāsande (“weasand”), Old Saxon wāsendi, Old High German weisant (“windpipe”), Middle High German weisant (“windpipe”), Bavarian Waisel, Wasel, Wasling (“the gullet of ruminating animals”), Alemannic German Weisel (“esophagus (of an animal)”).

vivacity

Origin

From Latin vīvācitās (whence -acity).

workstation

Origin

From work + station.

victrix

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin victrīx. By surface analysis, victor + -trix.

vesicle

Origin

From Middle French vesicule, from Latin vēsīcula. By surface analysis, vesic- + -le. Doublet of vesicule.

wistfulness

Origin

From wistful + -ness.

vanquisher

Origin

From vanquish + -er.

valorousness

Origin

From valorous + -ness.

wye

Origin

Attested as wi c. 1200. Of uncertain origin. Perhaps borrowed from Old French ui or gui.

abyssinia

Origin

From Renaissance Latin Abyssīnī (“the Abyssinians”), from Arabic الْحَبَشَة (al-ḥabaša), from حَبَش (ḥabaš, “Abyssinian”). The humorous use of Abyssinia as a parting phrase is due to its phonetic resemblance to I'll be seeing ya.

upturn

Origin

From Middle English upturnen, equivalent to up- + turn.

accessary

Origin

From Middle English accessarie, axcessary, excercary, from Medieval Latin accessārius.

workaday

Origin

Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. By surface analysis, work + -a- + day. First attested in c. 1200.

admix

Origin

Back-formation from admixture; analyzable as ad- + mix.

abaca

Origin

From Spanish abacá, from Tagalog abaka.

acceptor

Origin

From Middle English acceptour, from Latin acceptor, with the meanings from accept.

abeyance

Origin

First attested in 1528. From Anglo-Norman abeiance (“legal expectation”), from Old French abeance (“desire”) from abeër (“to gape at, aspire after”), abaer, abair (“to desire”), from a (“to”) + baër (“to gape”), bair (“yawn”), from Medieval Latin batō (“to yawn”).

woodsmanship

Origin

From woodsman + -ship.

academist

Origin

From French académiste, from académie (“academy”).

virtuousness

Origin

From Middle English vertuousnesse; equivalent to virtuous + -ness.

zaftig

Origin

From Yiddish זאַפֿטיק (zaftik), cognate to German saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of sappy.

yearday

Origin

From Middle English ȝereday, ȝerdai (“anniversary”), from Old English *ġēardæġ (compare Old English ġeārdagas (“days of yore”)), from Proto-West Germanic *jāradag (“day of the year, yearly day”), from Proto-Germanic *jēradagaz, equivalent to year + day. Cognate with West Frisian jierdei (“birthday”), Dutch jaardag (“anniversary, birthday”), German Jahrtag (“anniversary”).

wadding

Origin

From wad + -ing (“material, collection”).

abraid

Origin

From Middle English abraiden, abreiden (“to start up, awake, move, reproach”), from Old English ābreġdan (“to move quickly, vibrate, draw, draw from, remove, unsheath, wrench, pull out, withdraw, take away, draw back, free from, draw up, raise, lift up, start up”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”) + *bregdaną (“to move, swing”), of uncertain further origin. Equivalent to a- + braid. Related to Dutch breien (“to knit”), German bretten (“to knit”).