Etymology — The Origins of English Words

ringlet

Origin

From ring + -let. Compare Middle English ryngyl, ryngyll, rengel (“ringlet”).

rulable

Origin

From rule + -able.

scoria

Origin

Inherited from Middle English, from Latin scōria, from Ancient Greek σκωρία (skōría), from σκῶρ (skôr, “dung”).

scanger

Origin

According to A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: : "Much of the influence comes from London where the origins of the word 'skanger' can be found. I'm pretty certain this is a collapsed form of the word "scavenger" from a West Indian word used by the Caribbean community in London." Dolan's dictionary gives the West Indian slang word "skanker", meaning an untrustworthy or unreliable person, as a possible source of the word. Originally, in 1980s Dublin, it referred only to women but has become broadened to men in recent years.

sarai

Origin

From Persian سرای (sarây, “courtyard; dwelling; palace”).

sailplane

Origin

From sail + plane.

serviceman

Origin

From service + -man.

ripeness

Origin

From Middle English ripenesse, rypenesse, rijpnesse, from Old English rīpness, equivalent to ripe + -ness.

selenium

Origin

From French sélénium, the name coined by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1818 from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) in reference to original confusion with the similar element tellurium.

saphead

Origin

From sap + head.

scag

Origin

Unknown. Compare scat (“heroin; whiskey”), slag (“waste; a prostitute”), skank (“a disreputable woman”).

ruction

Origin

1825, of unknown origin, possibly from eruption or insurrection. Possibly related to the Irish insurrection of 1798.

saturnalia

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin Sāturnālia.

schlong

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish שלאַנג (shlang, “snake”; by extension, “a penis”) or German Schlange.

sedent

Origin

From Latin sedentis. Doublet of sejant.

paucal

Origin

From Latin paucālis (“few, little”), from paucus, plural paucī (“few, little, a few, the select few, the oligarchs”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little”), + Latin adjective suffix -ālis.

nihilist

Origin

From Latin nihil (“nothing”) + -ist.

procurer

Origin

Inherited from Middle English procurour, from Anglo-Norman procurour and continental Old French procureor, from Latin prōcūrātor; by surface analysis, procure + er. Doublet of proctor and procurator.

offsetting

Origin

By surface analysis, offset + -ing.

psychokinesis

Origin

From psycho- + -kinesis.

pratfall

Origin

From prat + fall.

mandinka

Origin

From Mandinka Mandinka (“someone from Mande”), from Mandiŋ (“Mande”) + -ka (“inhabitant suffix”).

osculation

Origin

From Latin ōsculātiō (“a kissing”), from ōsculor (“to kiss”). By surface analysis, osculate + -ion.

horry

Origin

From Middle English hory, hoory, from Old English horiġ, horhiġ (“foul, unclean”), from Proto-West Germanic *hurhwīg, from Proto-Germanic *hurhwīgaz (“foul, filthy, soiled, unclean”). Cognate with Middle High German horwig, horwic, horig, horg (“muddy, filthy”).