Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Unknown.

From Yiddish, alteration of schmuck. Compare also Russian чмо (čmo, “jerk, schmuck”).

From Latin cōnsolidātiō, cōnsolidātiōnem, from cōnsolidō.

From Middle English surfeite, surfet, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman surfet, surfeit and Old French sorfet, sorfait, past participle of surfaire (“to augment, exaggerate, exceed”), from sur- (“over”) + faire (“to do”). The adjective is derived from the noun.

By surface analysis, in- + decorous; or, Latin indecōrus.

From flux + -ive.

Learned borrowing from Latin dētrītus (“(that which is) rubbed away”), from dēterō (“rub away”).

From Late Middle English calumnīe (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”), perhaps also related to calvor (“to deceive”). The English word is a doublet of challenge. The verb is derived from French calomnier (“to slander”), from Late Latin calumniāre, from Latin calumpniārī, calumniārī (“to blame unjustly, misrepresent, calumniate; (law) to accuse falsely, bring false information against”), from calumnia (see above) + -or.

From Middle English agreablely, agreably; equivalent to agreeable + -ly.

Deverbal from change over.

Learned borrowing from Latin prōtrūdere, the present active infinitive of prōtrūdō (“to push or thrust forwards; to protrude”), from prō- (“prefix denoting a forward direction or movement”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward; toward”)) + trūdō (“to push, shove, thrust”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to push, thrust”)).

17th century; origin uncertain, but possibly from transmigure, transmigrate. It is also possible that this word is a formation derived from maugre, hence it originally signified the "evil eye", but under the influence of the former etymologies shifted its meaning to its sense of "transformation". Another possibility is a humorous blending of transfigure and modify.

From bab (“to fish for eels using a bab (bundle of live worms)”) + -er (agent noun suffix); the further etymology of bab is uncertain.

From Latin exhilarō (“to delight, to gladden, to make merry”), from ex- (“out, away”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + hilarō (“to cheer, to gladden”), from hilaris (“cheerful, light-hearted, lively”), from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, merry”), from ἵλαος (hílaos, “gracious, kind, propitious”), from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- (“comfort, mercy”). By surface analysis, ex- + Latin hilar(ō) + -ate.

From Latin incessus + -ive, from Latin incesso + -ive.

Unknown. Attested from the late 18th century.

From Middle French intimation, from Latin intimatio. By surface analysis, intimate + -ion.

From Latin suffundō.

From under- + score.

From Middle English *swarf, *swerf, from Old English ġeswearf, ġesweorf (“iron filings; rust”) and/or Old Norse svarf (“metallic dust”), both from Proto-Germanic *swarbą (“that which is rubbed off; shavings”), from Proto-Germanic *swerbaną (“to mop, wipe; to rub off”); see further at swerve. The word is cognate to Old English sweorfan (“to rub, scour; to file”).

English surname derived from a Middle English diminutive of Elie, Old French form of Elias or Elijah, meaning "my God is Yahweh". As a Scottish surname it may also represent Gaelic Elloch from a word meaning a dam or bank.

Probably from adversary + -al

Onomatopoeic. Connected with splash and splish; compare also slosh.

Learned borrowing from French incommoder (“to bother, disconcert, incommode”), from Latin incommodāre, the present active infinitive of incommodō (“to inconvenience”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + commodō (“to accommodate, adapt; to bestow, provide; to hire, lend”) (from com- (a variant of con- (prefix indicating completeness or intensification)) + modō (the ablative or singular of modus (“manner, method, way; bound, limit; measure”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure”))). The English word is analysable as in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + commode (“(archaic or obsolete) to provide (someone or something) with an appropriate, suitable, or necessary thing; to meet the requirements of (someone or something), suit; to repair (something)”).