Etymology — The Origins of English Words

evilness

Origin

From Middle English yvelnesse, from Old English yfelnyss; equivalent to evil + -ness.

gravamen

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin gravāmen (“physical inconvenience”) and Medieval Latin gravāmen (“grievance”), from Latin gravāre + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension). Gravāre is the present active infinitive of gravō (“to burden, weigh down; to oppress”), from gravis (“heavy; grave, serious; hard, troublesome”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- (“heavy”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). The plural form gravamina is derived from Late Latin gravāmina.

erudition

Origin

First attested in the 15th Century. From Middle French érudition, from Latin eruditio (“an instructing, learning, erudition”), from erudire (“to instruct, educate, cultivate”, literally “free from rudeness”), from e (“out”) + rudis (“rude”). By surface analysis, erudite + -ion.

besmear

Origin

From Middle English *bismerwen, from Old English besmirwan, besmierwan (“to besmear”), equivalent to be- + smear. Cognate with Dutch besmeren (“to besmear”), German beschmieren (“to besmear”).

blackleg

Origin

From black + leg.

clueful

Origin

From clue + -ful, by analogy with clueless.

boaster

Origin

From boast + -er.

clochard

Origin

Borrowed from French clochard.

deafen

Origin

From deaf + -en (verbal suffix). Compare Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), Old English ādēafian (“to deafen”) and Old English ādȳfan, Dutch verdoven (“to stupefy, deafen”), German betäuben (“to stun, stupefy, deafen”).

ecdysiast

Origin

Coined by H. L. Mencken from ecdysis (“moulting”) (on the model of enthusiast etc.).

donjon

Origin

A variant of dungeon remodelled on its etymon, Old French donjon.

ayo

Origin

Combination of hey and yo.

complot

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French complot (“crowd-, plot”).

forburn

Origin

From Middle English forburnen, forbrinnen, from Old English forbirnan (intransitive) and forbærnan (transitive), equivalent to for- + burn. Cognate with Saterland Frisian ferbaadenje, ferbaanje (“to burn up”), West Frisian ferbarne (“to burn up”), German Low German verbrannen (“to burn up”), German verbrennen (“to burn up, incinerate”).

disputation

Origin

English dispute + -ation, from Old French disputation, from Latin disputatio.

automat

Origin

Borrowed from German Automat, as the system was originally developed in Germany in the late 19th c. Doublet of automaton.

connective

Origin

For connexive, borrowed from Latin connexīvus. Displacement of x by ct in Latin loanwords is very common. Compare connect, connectivum, connection.

foreguess

Origin

From Middle English foregessen, equivalent to fore- + guess.

fortifying

Origin

From fortify + -ing.

brainbox

Origin

From brain + box.

expedience

Origin

From Middle English expedience, from Old French expedience, from Late Latin expedientia, from Latin expediens.

genderqueer

Origin

From gender + queer. First known uses were in queer zines of the 1980s. Popularized in the 1990s including by Riki Wilchins.

birdcall

Origin

From bird + call.

dispend

Origin

From Old French despendre ( > French dépendre), from Latin dispendere.