Etymology — The Origins of English Words

From brethren.

Uncertain. The island name, from Latin Colosus (704 AD), is often associated with an Old Irish *koll or Proto-Brythonic *koll, themselves both from Proto-Celtic *koslos (“hazel”). Derivation from Ancient Greek κολοσσός (kolossós, “giant figure”) has been called "naïve" by Coates (2006).

From Epicurean + -ism. As a pejorative synonym of atheism, both from the philosophy's rejection of deontological morality and from Epicurus's specific belief that the Greek gods—if they did exist—did not concern themselves at all with mankind, its actions, or any system of reward or punishment for them. Doublet of epicurism.

From Middle English dymnes, dymnesse, from Old English dimnes, dymnys, dimness (“dimness, darkness, obscurity”), equivalent to dim + -ness.

From Middle English gnasten. Origin unknown; the word is probably either Germanic or ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare Old Norse gnastan, Danish gnaske ("munch", "crunch"), German knirschen, German Low German gnirschen, gnörschen (“gnash”), Swedish gnissla (“squeak; gnash”), all of onomatopoeic origin.

From bane + -ful.

From bladder + -ed.

From beat + -able, in the sense of "able to be bettered" as a back-formation from unbeatable.

A variant spelling of Braden.

From Middle French exulter, from Latin exsultō, frequentative of exsiliō (“jump up”), from ex- + saliō (“jump, leap”).

Uncertain. The first part, cess-, is undoubtedly the same as for cesspool, whose origin is likewise uncertain. The second part is pit, a hole in the ground.

From dis- + similarity or dissimilar + -ity.

From Middle English folio (“leaf of a book”), borrowed from Medieval Latin foliō, Late Latin foliō, Latin foliō, the ablative singular form of Late Latin folium (“leaf or sheet of paper”), Latin folium (“leaf of a plant”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“bloom, flower”). Doublet of foil and folium, and distantly related to phyllo and phyllon. Senses 1, 2, 3.1, 5, and 6 relating to a leaf or page are derived from Medieval Latin foliō in references; sense 5 (“page in an account book”) may be derived from Italian foglio (“rectangular sheet of paper”), from Latin folium. Senses 3.2 and 3.3 relating to a paper size are from Italian in foglio or its etymon Latin in foliō.

From decuple (“multiply by ten”) + -et (“forming diminutives”).

From Latin auspicatus, past participle of auspicari "to take auspices", from auspex "bird seer", "augur", a contraction of avispex; avis "bird" + specere, spicere, "to view".

From Middle English demuren (“to delay; to linger; to remain (in office); to keep, retain (?)”), from Anglo-Norman demorer and Old French demorer, demourer (“to remain, stay”) (modern French demeurer), from Vulgar Latin dēmorāre, from Latin dēmorārī, the present active infinitive of Latin dēmoror (“to delay, detain; to linger, tarry”), from de- (intensifying prefix) + moror (“to delay, detain; to hinder, impede; to linger, loiter”) (from mora (“a delay; hindrance, obstacle”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- (“to fall into thinking; to remember”), probably referring to a time for thinking) + -or (variant of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

The noun is derived from Spanish carbonada (“carbonized”) (from carbonar (“to carbonize”)) + -ado (suffix forming past participles of regular verbs ending in -ar). Carbonada appears to have been modelled after Italian carbonata (“coal pile; stew of beef in red wine”), from carbone (“coal; charcoal”) (from Latin carbō (“coal; charcoal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“to burn”)) + -ata. The verb is derived from the noun.

c. 1380, from Middle English equivocacion, from Old French equivocation, from Medieval Latin aequivocātiō, from aequivocō, from Late Latin aequivocus (“ambiguous, equivocal”), from Latin aequus (“equal”) + vocō (“call”); a calque of Ancient Greek ὁμωνυμία (homōnumía).

Borrowed from French gastronome.

From French confidente.

From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovēre (“heat, cherish”).

From Latin existens, from existere. By surface analysis, exist + -ent.

From Bloomer + -ism, after women's-rights advocate Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818–1894).

From fresh + -ie. In the sense of an immigrant, shortened from fresh off the boat.