Etymology — The Origins of English Words

commutation

Origin

From French commutation, from Latin commūtātiōnem, accusative singular of commūtātiō.

expectable

Origin

From expect + -able.

faff

Origin

Originally imitative of wind or puffs of air (see verb senses "to blow in puffs", "to move with a puff of air"). The noun is formed from the verb by conversion.

broil

Origin

From Middle English broylen, brulen (“to broil, cook”), from Anglo-Norman bruiller, broiller (“to broil, roast”), Old French brusler, bruller (“to broil, roast, char”), a blend of two Old French verbs: * bruir (“to burn”), from Frankish *brōjan (“to burn, scald”) * usler (“to scorch”), from Latin ustulō (“to scorch”)

exploiter

Origin

Irregular adoption of French exploiter.

blotto

Origin

From blot + -o. The verb sense “to be annihilated or destroyed” may be related to blot out.

fizgig

Origin

From Middle English gig (“a frivolous woman”); the first element of the word may be from fise (“an instance of flatulence”), from fist (“an act of breaking wind”).

blee

Origin

From Middle English blee, ble, from Old English blēo, bleoh (“color, hue; complexion, form”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“color, blee”). Cognate with Scots ble, blee, blie (“color, complexion”), Old Frisian blī, blie (“color, hue; complexion”) (whence North Frisian bläy, Saterland Frisian Bläier), Middle Dutch blie, blye (“color”). Doublet of bly.

eatable

Origin

From eat + -able (“able, capable”). Doublet of edible.

diehard

Origin

Deverbal from die hard.

byword

Origin

From Middle English byword, byworde (“proverb”), from Old English bīword, bīwyrd, bīwyrde (“proverb, household word", also "adverb”), from Proto-West Germanic *bīwurdī, equivalent to by- + word. Compare Latin proverbium, which byword may possibly be a translation of. Cognate with Old High German pīwurti (“proverb”). Compare also Old English bīspel (“proverb, example”), bīcwide (“byword, proverb, tale, fable”), Dutch bijwoord (“adverb”).

cyclopaedia

Origin

From Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”) + παιδεία (paideía, “child-rearing, education”). See cycle, and compare encyclopedia.

fluminous

Origin

From oblique stem of Latin flūmen, flūminis + -ous.

cobwebbed

Origin

From cobweb + -ed.

depositary

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin dēpositārius.

coif

Origin

From Middle English coif, coife, coyf, coyfe, coyffe, from Old French coife, coiffe, from Late Latin cofia, from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, related to Old High German kupphia, kupha, kupfe (“mug, hood, cap”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppijǭ (“cap, hat, bonnet, headpiece”), Proto-Germanic *kuppō (“vat, mug, cup”), from pre-Germanic *kubná-, from Proto-Indo-European *gup- (“round object, knoll”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch, vault”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap, headgear, helmet”).

bellower

Origin

From bellow + -er.

frabjous

Origin

Originally a nonce word in Lewis Carroll's poem “Jabberwocky” (see the quotation); probably a blend of fair + fabulous + joyous.

chequer

Origin

See checker. (fruit): Apparently in allusion to the chequered or spotted appearance of the fruit. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “the surmises that chequer may be a corruption of choker, and that ‘choker’ may once have been the name, are gratuitous.”

caparison

Origin

From Middle French caparasson (Modern French caparaçon), from Old Spanish caparazón, from Old Occitan capairon.

frugivore

Origin

From French frugivore, from Latin frūgi- + French -vore.

giuseppe

Origin

Borrowed from Italian Giuseppe.

deperdition

Origin

From Middle French deperdition (French déperdition).

bogan

Origin

Unknown. First appeared in Australia in the 1980s. Possibly in reference to supposedly unsophisticated people from remote outback places such as the Bogan River or Bogan Gate (cf. dubbo from Dubbo).