Etymology — The Origins of English Words

cwm

Origin

Unadapted borrowing from Welsh cwm (“valley”). Doublet of combe.

graupel

Origin

Borrowed from German Graupel(wetter) (literally “graupel (weather)”). Graupel is a back-formation from graupeln (“to hail (with soft hailstones)”) + -el (diminutive suffix); and graupeln is from Graupe (“hulled grain, pearl barley”) (ultimately from Proto-Slavic *krūpà (“grainy substance; groats; hail”) and Proto-Indo-European *krewp-) + -eln (suffix forming verbs, often with a diminutive or frequentative sense).

glasswork

Origin

From glass + work.

athirst

Origin

Inherited from Middle English athirst, from Old English ofþyrst, past participle of ofþyrstan (“to smart from thirst”), equivalent to a- (“of”, Etymology 8) + thirst (verb).

conformable

Origin

Latin conformabilis

beano

Origin

Clipping of beanfeast + -o.

crosswise

Origin

From Middle English croswyse, crose wyse, equivalent to cross + -wise.

clamshell

Origin

From clam + shell.

dungaree

Origin

From Hindi डूंगरी (ḍūṅgrī, “coarse calico”), from the name of a village.

benefaction

Origin

From Latin benefactiōnem, from benefacere (“to benefit”).

boeotian

Origin

From Boeotia.

catchfly

Origin

From catch + fly.

attaintment

Origin

From attaint + -ment.

denotation

Origin

From Late Latin dēnotātiō, from Latin dēnotāre (“to denote, mark out”) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns of action), from dē- (“completely”) + notāre (“to mark”); equivalent to denote + -ation.

fixate

Origin

From fix + -ate (verb-forming suffix) or Latin fixus (“fixed, solid”) + -ate.

childbearing

Origin

From Middle English childberyng, childbering, chyldberynge, child berynge. By surface analysis, child + bearing.

doomsman

Origin

From Middle English domesman, equivalent to doom + -s- + man.

bhang

Origin

Transliteration of Hindustani بھانگ / भाँग (bhāṅg).

exalt

Origin

From Middle English exalten, from Old French exalter, from Latin exaltō.

bespeak

Origin

From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisprekan (“to discuss, blame”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to speak about, discuss, blame”), equivalent to be- + speak. Cognate with Scots bespeke (“to beseech, speak or negotiate with”), Saterland Frisian bispreke (“to discuss”), West Frisian besprekke (“to discuss”), Dutch bespreken (“to discuss, review, debate”), German besprechen (“to discuss, review, talk about”).

darragh

Origin

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Dubhdarach (“descendant of Dubhdarach”), a personal name composed of the elements dubh (“black”) and darach, genitive of dair (“oak”).

condole

Origin

PIE word *ḱóm Learned borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin condolēre, the present active infinitive of condoleō (“to feel severe pain, suffer greatly; to suffer with or feel another’s pain, condole”), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a being or bringing together of several things) + doleō (“to suffer physical pain, hurt; to be sorry, grieve for, deplore, lament”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *delh₁- (“to divide, split”)).

depravation

Origin

From Middle French dépravation, from Latin dēprāvātiō (“perversion, distortion, corruption, depravity”).

expectorate

Origin

From Latin expectorātus, past participle of expectorō (“(only figurative) banish from the mind; (post-classical) expel from the breast)”), from ex (“out of”) + pectus (“the breast”).