Etymology — The Origins of English Words

nightcrawler

Origin

From night + crawler.

pulsation

Origin

Inherited from Middle English pulsacioun (“pulsing of the blood, throbbing”), borrowed from Middle French pulsacion (“(of bells) a striking (end of 14th c.); (of a diseased part of the body) a throbbing (1377); pulsation (1575)”), and its source, Latin pulsātiō (“(classical Latin) a beating or striking; (Medieval Latin, medical) rhythmical expansion and contraction (1363 in Chauliac)”). By surface analysis, pulsate + -ion.

necropolis

Origin

Borrowed from Koine Greek νεκρόπολις (nekrópolis, “city of the dead, cemetery”) (used to describe part of the city of Alexandria, Egypt), from Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós, “dead”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“to disappear; to perish”)) + πόλις (pólis, “city”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- (“city; fortification”)). The English word is analysable as necro- + -polis, and is cognate with French nécropole, German Nekropolis, Late Latin necropolis. The plural form necropoleis is derived from Ancient Greek νεκροπόλεις (nekropóleis).

northerner

Origin

From Middle English northerner, equivalent to northern + -er.

lithic

Origin

From lith- + -ic.

prolificacy

Origin

From its morphology, prolific + -acy.

matchmake

Origin

From match + make, as a back-formation from matchmaking.

mischance

Origin

From Anglo-Norman meschance, Old French meschance, meschaunce.

mollycoddle

Origin

From molly + coddle.

metempsychosis

Origin

From Late Latin metempsychosis, from Koine Greek μετεμψύχωσις (metempsúkhōsis).

perceptible

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin perceptibilis, from Latin percipio.

interpolation

Origin

From French interpolation, from Latin interpolatio. Morphologically interpolate + -ion.

numinous

Origin

From Latin nūmen (“nod of the head; divine sway or will; divinity”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting possession or presence of a quality). Nūmen is believed to derive either from Latin *nuō (“to nod”) or from Ancient Greek νοούμενον (nooúmenon, “influence perceptible by the mind but not the senses”) (ultimately from νόος (nóos, “mind; thought; purpose”)).

obtrusive

Origin

PIE word *h₁epi From Latin obtrūsus + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of’, forming adjectives). Obtrūsus is the perfect passive participle of obtrūdō, a variant of obstrūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust against or into”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + trūdō (“to push, shove, or thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push; to thrust”)).

panhandler

Origin

Obscure. Speculative. Panhandling always seems to involve a container for receiving loose change, so perhaps the term refers to a small handled pan, or to the container as the pan and the arm(s) holding it as the handle. Alternatively, possibly from the notion that the shape of one's outstretched arm in relation to a seated or squatting beggar brings to mind the image of a panhandle.

labrish

Origin

From Jamaican Creole labrish.

pestle

Origin

From Middle English pestel, pestell, from Old French pestel, from Latin pistillum, from pīnsō (“pound, beat”). Doublet of pistil and pistillum.

kafir

Origin

Borrowed from Arabic كَافِر (kāfir, “denier, unbeliever”). Doublet of kaffir.

nondurable

Origin

From non- + durable.

infrequency

Origin

From Latin infrequentia (“scantiness”), equivalent to in- + frequency or infrequent + -cy.

guileful

Origin

From Middle English gileful, gilful, equivalent to guile + -ful.

preempt

Origin

Back-formation from preemption.

luminal

Origin

From Latin lumina (“lights”) + English -al.

jetliner

Origin

From blend of jet + airliner; analyzable as jet + liner.