Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Shortened form of tom-pung, from the same Algonquian etymon as toboggan.

From non- + sane.

From Anglo-Norman pucele, Middle French pucele, perhaps from a Late Latin *pullicella, but the further etymology is disputed. Compare Sicilian pulla.

From net + minder.

From Medieval Latin pēnūriōsus. See penury from Latin penuria (“want”), related to paene (“scarcely”), c. 1400. Compare French pénurie.

Inherited from Middle English rebutten, rebouten, from Old French reboter, rebuter, rebouter, etc., from re- + boter, buter, bouter (“to butt”). Entered English around 1302-1307.

From Late Latin mensūrātiōnem (“a measuring”).

From Middle French incongruité, from Medieval Latin incongruitās, from Latin incongruus.

From French plinthe, from Latin plinthus, from Ancient Greek πλίνθος (plínthos, “brick”).

Transliteration of Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬨𐬀 (haoma). Doublet of soma.

From impede + -ance. In sense 2 and sense 3 it was coined by English mathematician and physicist Oliver Heaviside in 1886.

From honeymoon + -er.

Ultimately from Latin nesciēns (“ignorant, unknowing”), the present participle of nesciō (“to don’t know, to be ignorant of”).

From Middle English machynacion, machynacyon, from Middle French machination and directly Latin māchinātiōnem, from māchinor (“devise, invent”). By surface analysis, machinate + -ion or machine + -ation.

From Late Middle English pennon, penoun (“long narrow flag attached to a lance or used in other contexts; one who bears a pennon, knight bachelor; plume of feathers; strip around the edge of a shield”), from Anglo-Norman penun (“feather of an arrow”), penoun (“flag attached to a lance”), Middle French pennon, penoun, and Old French penon (“flag attached to a lance”) (modern French pennon), from penne (“feather; wing”) + -on (diminutive suffix). Penne is inherited from Latin penna (“feather (especially a flight feather), pinion; wing”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly (in the sense of spreading out wings)”).

Borrowed from Latin occlūdere, from ob (“before”) and claudere (“to shut”).

From older inflexion, borrowed from Middle French inflexion, itself borrowed from Latin inflexiōnem (“alteration”, literally “bending”). The English spelling with ⟨ct⟩ is due to influence from inflect or related words like correction.

From non- + observant.

From last + born.

Borrowed from Latin initiātor. By surface analysis, initiate + or.

From Middle English habilement, from Old French habillement (“clothes”).

Borrowed from Latin incipiēns, present participle of incipiō (“begin”).

From Middle English palyng, palynge, equivalent to pale + -ing.

From motor + mouth, from the figurative notion that the mouth moves so much that it seems motorized.