Etymology — The Origins of English Words

From Middle English quiknes, qwiknes, quyknesse, cwicnesse, equivalent to quick + -ness.

From Middle English enheriter, enheritour. Displaced Old English ierfenuma. By surface analysis, inherit + -or.

Learned borrowing from Latin inclēmentia. By surface analysis, inclemen(t) + -cy.

From Old French redacter, from Latin redactus, perfect passive participle of redigō (“drive, lead, collect, reduce”), from re- (“back”) + agō (“put in motion, drive”). Piecewise doublet of react.

With a secondary frequentative suffix -er, ultimately pointing to Proto-Germanic *hankōną, an iterative to *hanhaną (“to hang”). Related to Dutch hunkeren (“to crave”), which continues the zero-grade iterative.

From Middle English lightsomnesse, equivalent to lightsome (“bright, radiant”) + -ness.

First attested in 1580. Borrowed from French irrésolu or composed from ir- + resolute.

From Middle English poesie (Middle English po(esie) + -esy), from Middle French poesie, from Late Latin poesia, from earlier poēsis, from Ancient Greek ποίησις (poíēsis). Doublet of poiesis.

Compare French miauler, of imitative origin.

Perhaps borrowed through obsolete Dutch mompen (“to cheat, swindle, deceive”), according to Kroonen, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *mump- (“to stain”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mm̥bʰ-neh₂- Also akin to German mimpfeln (“to mumble”), Icelandic mumpa (“to take into the mouth”). See also English mum. While Kroonen claims Ancient Greek μέμφομαι (mémphomai, “I blame, accuse”) and the Germanic forms are reconcilable and related, Beekes rejects this, stating that Germanic -p- cannot here correspond to Greek -φ- and that this etymological connection is not widely considered reliable.

Inherited from Middle English quadrangle, borrowed from Old French quadrangle, from Late Latin quadrangulum.

From Anglo-Norman and Old French propicius, from Latin propitius (“favorable, well-disposed, kind”). Compare French propice, Portuguese propício and Spanish propicio.

From Latin praedominātus, past participle of praedominor. By surface analysis, pre- + dominate.

From idiotic + -ness.

From Ancient Greek Πῡθαγόρᾱς (Pūthagórās).

From nip + cheese.

From Latin immigratus, past participle of immigro (“remove, move into”).

Borrowed from Latin obtūrātus, perfect passive participle of obtūrō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

From Middle English phisik, from Latin physicus, from Ancient Greek φῠσῐκός (phŭsĭkós, “natural; physical”), from φύσις (phúsis, “origin, birth; nature, quality; form, shape; type, kind”), from φῠ́ω (phŭ́ō, “grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).

From Latin proscaenium (“in front of the scenery”), from Ancient Greek προσκήνιον (proskḗnion), from πρό (pró, “before”) + σκηνή (skēnḗ, “scene building”).

Borrowed from Arabic رَمْزِيّ (ramziyy).

From intrigue + -er.

From Middle English lyntel, from Old French lintel, from Vulgar Latin *līntellus, for *līmitellus, diminutive noun from līmes. Equivalent to limit + -el.

From guide + post.