Etymology — The Origins of English Words

From French irritant, equivalent to irritate + -ant.

From Latin lēn(iō) (“to soften, soothe”) -i- + -ence, from lēnis (“soft”).

From Middle French discordance. By surface analysis, discord + -ance.

From lavish + -ness. Compare Dutch lafenis (“refreshment, lavishness”).

Borrowed from Spanish Guadalquivir, derived from Arabic وَادِي الكَبِير (wādī l-kabīr, literally “the great river”).

From Latin effervescentem, from effervescere, from ex- + fervescere, from fervere. By surface analysis, ef- + Latin ferv- + -escent.

From Middle English potentat, from Old French, from Late Latin potentātus (“rule, political power”), from Latin potēns (“powerful, strong”), the active present participle of possum (“to be able”).

Unknown, but probably originally Mog + -y, a Scots or Northern English variant of maggie (“girl”), from Maggie, a diminutive of Margaret and Margery. First attested in reference to mongrel cats in Cockney.

From Middle French détestation.

Unknown but possibly from similar senses of kink or geck. Cf. geek.

From Middle English assoilen (“to absolve or release from blame or sin”), from Anglo-Norman as(s)oiler, as(s)oilier, and Old French as(s)oille [and other forms], the present subjunctive, and as(s)oil, the present indicative, of as(s)oldre, as(s)oudre (“to absolve from blame”) (modern French absoudre), from Latin absoluere, the present active infinitive of absoluō, a variant of absolvō (“to set free from”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) + solvō (“to loosen, set free”) (from sē- (“prefix meaning ‘apart; aside; away’”) + luō (“to let go, set free”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“to cut off, to free”). Doublet of absolve and assoilzie.

A variant spelling of extraverted. Popularized as a psychological term by Phyllis Blanchard's use of extrovert in her 1918 "Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte", from extrovert + -ed.

From Middle English aquī̆ten (“to give in return; to pay, repay; to redeem (a pledge, security), to make good (a promise); to make amends; to relieve of an obligation; to acquit, clear of a charge; to free; to deprive of; to do one's part, acquit oneself; to act, behave (in a certain way)”), from Old French aquiter (“to act, do”) and Medieval Latin acquitāre (“to settle a debt”), from ad- (“to”) + quitare (“to free”), equivalent to a- + quit. Doublet of acquiet; also related to quit, quiet and acquiesce.

From Middle English bemenen, bimenen, from Old English bemǣnan (“to bemoan, bewail, lament”); equivalent to be- (“about, concerning”) + moan. Alteration of vowel from Middle to Modern English due to analogy with moan.

From Middle English pulverizen, from Latin pulverizō, pulverizāre, from pulvis (“powder”). Compare French pulvériser. By surface analysis, pulver (“powder”) + -ise.

From Middle English cokel, cokkel, kokkel, cocle, of uncertain origin. Perhaps a diminutive of Middle English cokke, cok (“cockle”), from Old English cocc (found in sǣcocc (“cockle”)) + -le; or perhaps from Old French coquille, from Vulgar Latin *cocchilia, from conchylia, from Ancient Greek κογχύλιον (konkhúlion), diminutive of κογχύλη (konkhúlē, “mussel”), of Pre-Greek substrate origin.

From logger (“(dialectal) heavy wooden block secured to a horse's leg to prevent it from straying”) + head. Logger was apparently coined because its sound connotes a clumsy, heavy object; compare log (“trunk of a dead tree; bulky piece of wood”).

First attested in 1537; borrowed from Latin machinātus, perfect active participle of machinor (“to invent, devise; to scheme, plot”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from māchina (“machine, contrivance, device, scheme”), an early borrowing from Ancient Greek. See also machine.

First attested in 1614; borrowed from New Latin valedictiō, from valedīcō (“to bid farewell”) + -tiō, from valē (“farewell, so long”) + dīcō (“to say”). By surface analysis, valedict + -ion.

Trade name.

From Middle English whappen, a variant of wappen (“to strike; fling; shoot; stun”), probably of imitative origin. Compare Old Norse vappa (“to waddle”).

First attested in c. 1425, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English reprobat(e) (“condemned, damned”, also used as the past participle of reprobaten), borrowed from Latin reprobātus (“disapproved, rejected, condemned”), perfect passive participle of reprobō, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). The noun was derived from the adjective by substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

From entry + way.

Unknown, 1847. Perhaps blend of piddle + trifle, perhaps puff (“(onomatopoeia, puff of air)”) + -le (“diminutive”).