Etymology — The Origins of English Words

From Middle English forrenner, foreriner. Calque of Latin praecursor (“one who runs before, a forerunner”). Equivalent to fore- + runner and/or forerun + -er.

Compound of door + keeper.

From Middle English hukster, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, from Middle Low German höken (“to peddle”) or Middle Dutch hokester, itself from hoeken (“to peddle, bend, bear on the back”), all from Proto-Germanic *huk-, probably related to *hūkan- (“to squat”), from *hūkkan-, back-formed from the iterative *huk(k)ōn-, from Proto-Indo-European *kuk-néh₂, from *kewk- (“to curve, bend”) (also the source of English high). Compare hawkster. By surface analysis, huck + -ster.

From Middle English alayen, aleyen, aleggen, from Old English āleċġan (“to put, place, lay down, lay aside, throw down, give up, cease from, abandon; put down, allay, suppress, abolish, conquer, destroy, overcome, refute; lay upon, inflict, impose upon; diminish, take away, refuse, lessen, withhold”), from Proto-Germanic *uzlagjaną (“to lay down”), equivalent to a- + lay. Cognate with German erlegen (“to impose, cause to succumb, kill”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (uslagjan, “to lay down”). In Middle English the word was identical to forms of allege and alloy, leading to much overlapping of senses.

From re- + animate (verb), probably after Medieval Latin reanimāre or French réanimer.

From Middle English fersnesse; equivalent to fierce + -ness.

From Middle English presage, from Latin praesāgium.

From French imitateur, derived from Latin imitātor, equivalent to imitate + -or.

From un- + fasten.

From Middle English covatusnes, covetousnes, coveytousnesse; equivalent to covetous + -ness.

17th century, likely a backformation from earlier vendible, vendee, vendor inspired by the underlying French vendre, from Old French vendre, from Latin vendere, from vēnum dāre (“to give (something for) sale”).

From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.

From French entrant, present participle of entrer.

Borrowed from French argot, of unknown origin.

From French drôlerie, from drôle + -erie; equivalent to droll + -ery.

Probably from Middle French insubstantiel, from Latin insubstantiālis, from in- + substantiālis. By surface analysis, in- + substantial.

From Middle English pronge, perhaps from Middle Low German prange (“stick, restraining device”), from prangen (“to press, pinch”), from Old Saxon *prangan, from Proto-West Germanic *prangan, from Proto-Germanic *pranganą (“to press”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)preng- (“to wrap up, constrict”). Akin to Lithuanian spriñgti (“to choke, become choked or obstructed”), Latvian sprañgât (“cord, constrict”), Ancient Greek σπαργανόω (sparganóō, “to swaddle”), σπάργανον (spárganon, “swaddling cloth”). See also prank, prance, prink.

From Middle English senglely. Equivalent to single + -ly.

From Ancient Greek δεσποτικός (despotikós) via French despotique, equivalent to despot + -ic.

A learned variant of phantom; from Middle English fantosme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma). Doublet of phantom.

From Middle English surmounten, from Old French surmonter (“to rise above, surmount”), from sur- (“above”) + monter (“to mount”), equivalent to sur- + mount.

Borrowed from German Hinterland, from hinter (“behind”) + Land (“land”), cognate to English hinder (“back, rear”) + land. First used in English in 1888 by George Chisholm in his work Handbook of Commercial Geography originally as hinderland, but the current spelling (following German) became more popular. The term is characteristic of a thalassocratic analysis of space (from the point of view of a nation with maritime supremacy, such as 19th-century Britain).

Inherited from West Midland Middle English churle (“person not of the nobility or clergy; serf, servant, simpleton, fellow”, East Midland Middle English cherl), from Old English ċeorl (“freeman ranking below a þegn but above a thrall; commoner, peasant; countryman, husbandman; man; husband”), from Proto-West Germanic *kerl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“elder; man”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to grow old; to mature”). Doublet of carl /carle, ceorl, and karl. Sense 2.1 (“rough, surly, ill-bred person”) is probably an extension of sense 1 (“free peasant of the lowest rank; person without royal or noble status; bondman, serf”) and sense 2.2 (“countryman, peasant, rustic”). Sense 2.3 (“person who is stingy”) was influenced by Nabal, who is described in the King James Version of the Bible as “churlish and evil in his doings”; when Nabal, a rich man, is asked to give provisions to David’s men, he replies, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?” (1 Samuel 25:

Unadapted borrowing from Latin candēlābrum (“candlestick”), from candēla. Doublet of chandelier. Displaced native Old English candeltrēow (literally “candle tree”).