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Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

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notecase
Origin
From note + case.
mennish
Origin
* Modern uses are probably men + -ish. * Older ones may be from Middle English mennish (“human”), from Old English mennisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *mannisk, from Proto-Germanic *manniskaz, from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“person, human”), from Proto-Indo-European *mon- or *men-. By surface analysis, man + -ish. Doublet of mannish, mense, and mensch.
katzenjammer
Origin
Borrowed from German Katzenjammer (“hangover”, literally “the wailing of cats”); a determinative compound formed from Katze (“cat”) + -n- + Jammer (“wailing; lamentation”).
inordinate
Origin
From Middle English inordinat, from Latin inōrdinātus (“not arranged, disordered, irregular”), from in- + ordinatus, past participle of ōrdināre (“to arrange, order”).
piker
Origin
From pike + -er. In some senses, it has been linked etymologically to the word pikey as well as to Pike County in eastern Missouri https://web.archive.org/web/20051111194645/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0300200.html. In the latter instance the term originally denoted poor immigrants to California.
recapitulate
Origin
From Late Latin recapitulātus, past participle of recapitulāre (“to go over the main points of a thing again”), from re- (“again”) + capitulum (“head, main part, chapter”), from caput (“head”) + -ulum (diminutive suffix); see capitulate. By surface analysis, re- + capitulate.
hypoxemia
Origin
By surface analysis, hyp- + ox- + -emia.
quadruplex
Origin
From Latin quadruplex (“fourfold, quadruple”), from quattuor (“four”) + plico (“fold”). By surface analysis, quadru- + -plex.
legalise
Origin
From legal + -ise. Piecewise doublet of loyalise.
overside
Origin
1880, from the phrase over the side (of a ship), equivalent to over + side.
meliorate
Origin
First attested in 1542; borrowed from Late Latin meliorātus, perfect passive participle of meliorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from melior (“better”).
plutonic
Origin
See Plutonic.
pikelet
Origin
Derived from Welsh bara pyglyd (“pitchy [i.e. dark or sticky] bread”), later shortened simply to pyglyd. The early 17th century lexicographer, Randle Cotgrave, spoke of "our Welsh barrapycleds". The word spread to the West Midlands of England, where it was anglicised to picklets and then to pikelets.
minginess
Origin
From mingy + -ness.
illumine
Origin
From Middle English illuminen (“to light, light up; to shine; (figuratively) to enlighten spiritually; to make illustrious”) [and other forms], from Old French illuminer (“to light up, illuminate; (figuratively) to enlighten”) (modern French illuminer), from Latin illūmināre, the present active infinitive of illūminō (“to light up, illuminate; to brighten; to adorn; to make conspicuous”), from il- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in, within’; intensifying prefix)) + lūminō (“to illuminate; to brighten; (figuratively) to reveal”) (from lūmen (“light; light source; (poetic) brightness; daylight”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“to shine; to see; bright”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).
onrush
Origin
From on- + rush. Compare Middle English onresen (“to rush upon; attack”), from Old English onrǣsan (“to rush, rush on”); Old English onrǣs (“an onrush, assault, attack”).
nonspecific
Origin
From non- + specific.
invert
Origin
From Middle French invertir.
rhombus
Origin
Learned borrowing from Latin rhombus, from Ancient Greek ῥόμβος (rhómbos, “rhombus, spinning top”). Doublet of rhomb and rhumb.
hearer
Origin
From Middle English heerar, herere, hyerere, equivalent to hear + -er.
pugilist
Origin
From Latin pugil (“boxer”) + -ist, related to pugnus (“fist”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”). Compare contemporary pugilism (“boxing”) (1791).
homesickness
Origin
Calque of German Heimweh (“homesickness”, literally “home-woe”), equivalent to home + sickness.
incumbency
Origin
From incumbent + -cy.
pulsate
Origin
Perhaps formed within English as a back-formation from pulsation (attested from the early 15th century, in Middle English). A figurative derivation from New Latin pulsō, pulsātum (“(of an organ) to pulse, to emit a pulse”, intransitive) is also possible, itself a back-formation of New Latin pulsātiō (“pulsation”, 14th century), or derived from classical Latin pulsō (“to strike repeatedly”, transitive) with semantic influence from classical pulsus (“a pulse”). Ultimately from Latin pellō (“to strike”). By surface analysis, pulse + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of push.