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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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endow
Origin
From Late Middle English endowen, endouen, enduen, indouen, indw (“to provide with assets, a livelihood, or privileges; to bestow, grant; (figuratively) to favour; to endow”), from Anglo-Norman endouer, from Old French en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + douer (“to endow”) (from Latin dōtāre (present active infinitive of dōtō (“to endow”)); modern French douer). Dōtō is derived from dōs (“dowry; endowment, gift”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
jillion
Origin
See -illion.
crotchet
Origin
From Middle English crochet, from Old French crochet (“small hook”), from croc + -et (diminutive suffix), from Old Norse krókr (“hook”). The musical note was named so because of a small hook on its stem in black notation (in modern notation this hook is on the quaver/eighth note). Doublet of crochet, crocket, and croquet.
pontificate
Origin
From Latin pontificatus, from pontifex (“high priest”), from pons (“bridge”) + facere (“make”).
crimination
Origin
Borrowed from Latin criminatio, criminationis.
spellcraft
Origin
From spell + -craft.
hardline
Origin
From hard + line.
understructure
Origin
From under- + structure.
protrusion
Origin
From French protrusion.
lede
Origin
A deliberate misspelling of lead, originally used in instructions given to printers to indicate which paragraphs constitute the lede, intended to avoid confusion with the word lead which may actually appear in the text of an article. Compare dek (“subhead”) (modified from deck) and hed (“headline”) (from head).
disengagement
Origin
From dis- + engage + -ment.
reformist
Origin
From reform + -ist. Originated around the end of the 16th century.
followingly
Origin
From Middle English folowyngly, folewyngli, folwyngliche, equivalent to following + -ly.
effectual
Origin
From Middle English effectual, effectuel, from Old French effectuel, from Late Latin effectualis.
effete
Origin
From Latin effētus (“exhausted”, literally “that has given birth”), 1620s.
patois
Origin
Borrowed from French patois (“regional dialect or language”), c. 1635.
battleground
Origin
From battle + ground.
coggle
Origin
Origin obscure. Perhaps from cog (“small boat”) + -le (frequentative suffix), in reference to the rocking or swaying motion of the sea; or perhaps an alteration of cockle (“to move up and down”).
owndom
Origin
From own + -dom, a calque of German Eigentum (“property”), from eigen (“own”) + -tum (“-dom”). Compare Saterland Frisian Oaindum (“property, possession”), Dutch eigendom, West Frisian eigendom.
smidgen
Origin
Origin uncertain; possibly from smitch (“(originally Scotland, chiefly US) very small amount or quantity”) + possibly -in (a variant of -ing (suffix forming nouns denoting things considered collectively)). Smitch is possibly: * derived from smitch (“smoke from a burning or smouldering thing; spot of dirt; blemish; dirt, grime”), a variant of smeech (“(southwest England) (dense or pungent) smoke; airborne dust”), from Middle English smeche, smek, smiche (“smoke from a burning or smouldering thing; cloud of smoke; fumes, vapour; smell”), from Old English smēc, smīc (“smoke; steam; vapour”), from Proto-West Germanic *smauki (“smoke”), related to Proto-Germanic *smeukaną (“to fume, smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *smewgʰ- (“smoke”); or * borrowed from Scots smitch (“smudge, stain; blemish; very small amount, speck, trace; small insignificant person”), possibly a variant of English smutch (“dirty mark, smudge, stain; dirt, grime; slight indication”) (probably related to smudge, ultimate etymology unknown) and influenced by English smit (“(UK, dialectal) a stain”).
exoteric
Origin
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin exōtericus + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). Exōtericus is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξωτερῐκός (exōterĭkós, “exterior, external, outside”, adjective), from ἐξωτέρω (exōtérō, “more exterior”) (the comparative form of ἔξω (éxō, “external, outer”) (ultimately from ἐκ (ek, “beyond; outside”, preposition), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -τέρω (-térō) (an inflected form of -τερος (-teros, suffix forming comparative forms)) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives). The noun is derived from the adjective.
whatsis
Origin
From what's this or similar.
mommick
Origin
Apparently a variant of mammock.
convivial
Origin
Borrowed from French convivial, from Latin convīvium (“a feast”), combined form of con- (“together”) + vīvō (“to live”).