Etymology — The Origins of English Words

noninfectious

Origin

From non- + infectious.

nutsack

Origin

From nut + sack.

nuchal

Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nuchālis, from nucha + -ālis, from Arabic نُخَاع (nuḵāʕ, “spinal cord”).

guerdon

Origin

From Middle English guerdon, guerdoun, gardone, from Old French guerdon, guerredon, guarredon, werdon, from Medieval Latin widerdōnum, alteration of widerlōnum, from West Germanic (whence Old High German widarlōn, Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘back-payment’, with the second element assimilated to Latin dōnum (“gift”).

horseload

Origin

From horse + load.

peccadillo

Origin

From Spanish pecadillo, diminutive form of pecado (“sin”), from Latin peccatum (“sin, error, fault”), from peccō (“to sin, offend”).

jetsam

Origin

From Middle English jetteson, from Anglo-Norman getteson. Doublet of jettison.

napkin

Origin

From Middle English napkyn, equivalent to nape (“cloth”) + -kin (diminutive suffix).

nonesuch

Origin

From none + such. First attested in 1590.

reck

Origin

From Middle English recken, rekken, reken, from Old Norse rœkja (compare Old English rēċċan, rēċan (“to care, reck, take care of, be interested in, care for, desire”); whence English retch), from Proto-Germanic *rōkijaną (“to care, take care”), from Proto-Indo-European *rēǵ-, *rēg- (“to care, help”). Cognate with obsolete Dutch roeken, Low German roken, ruken (“to reck, care”), German geruhen (“to deign, condescend”), Icelandic rækja (“to care, regard, discharge”), Danish røgte (“to care, tend”), Swedish rykta (“to groom”). See reckon.

immanent

Origin

Entered English around 1530, via French, from Late Latin immanēns, present participle of Latin immanēre, from im- (“in”) + manēre (“to dwell, remain, stay”). Cognate with remain and manor.

imperceptible

Origin

Inherited from Middle English imperceptible, from Middle French imperceptible and its etymon Medieval Latin imperceptibilis. By surface analysis, im- + perceptible.

necropsy

Origin

From necro- + -opsy.

palliate

Origin

The verb was inherited from Middle English palliaten (“To palliate (a disease), relieve the symptoms of (a patient); to extenuate (an offense); to conceal, hide”), the adjective and participle from its participle palliat(e); further borrowed either from Middle French pallier or directly from Latin palliātus, perfect passive participle of palliō (“to cover with a cloak”)), from pallium (“a cloak”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

nerf

Origin

Circa 1950s?

impel

Origin

From Middle English impellen, borrowed from Latin impellō.

mactavish

Origin

Anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic MacTàmhais, a patronymic surname meaning "son of Thomas".

irrecondite

Origin

From ir- + recondite.

packsack

Origin

From pack + sack.

perplexity

Origin

From Middle English perplexite, borrowed from Middle French perplexité or post-classical Latin perplexitās, from perplexus (“entangled”). By surface analysis, perplex + -ity.

nonsticking

Origin

From non- + sticking.

hypermetropic

Origin

From hypermetropia + -ic.

percolate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin percōlātus, perfect passive participle of percōlō (“to filter”), itself, from per (“through”) + cōlō (“to strain”) (from cōlum (“a strainer”), of unknown origin); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix).

mohammedan

Origin

From Mohammed + -an, from the earlier form Mahometan, coined in the 17th century.