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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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entreaty
Origin
From entreat + -y.
glut
Origin
Inherited from Middle English glotien /glotten, probably derived from Old French gloter /glotir /glotoiier (“to eat greedily”) [compare French engloutir (“to devour”), French glouton (“glutton”)], derived from Latin gluttiō, gluttīre (“to swallow”). Compare Russian глота́ть (glotátʹ, “to swallow”).
drawl
Origin
From a modern frequentative form of draw, equivalent to draw + -le. Compare draggle. Compare also Dutch dralen (“to drag out, delay, linger, tarry, dawdle”), Old Danish dravle (“to linger, loiter”), Icelandic dralla (“to loiter, linger”).
slipshod
Origin
From slip + shod (“wearing shoes”), originally wearing slippers. The meaning slovenly is from the early 19th century.
twaddle
Origin
An alteration of twattle (1556), of unknown origin.
manus
Origin
Borrowed from Latin manus (“hand”). Doublet of mano.
parentage
Origin
From Middle French, from Old French parentage.
satiate
Origin
First attested in the 1440–1450s, in Middle English; borrowed from Latin satiātus, perfect passive participle of satiō (“to fill full, satiate, satisfy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from satis (“sufficient”).
offbeat
Origin
From off- + beat; not following the beat (e.g., of a drum that sounds out cadence).
soundness
Origin
From Middle English soundenes, soundnes, from Old English *sundnes, *ġesundnes (attested in onsundnes), from Proto-West Germanic *sundnassī (“soundness, health”); equivalent to sound + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian sûnens (“soundness, health”), Middle Low German suntnisse (“soundness, health”), Middle High German suntnisse (“soundness, health”), German Gesundnis (“health”).
posy
Origin
Syncopic form of poesy (“poetry”).
saloon
Origin
From Occitan salon, French salon, either augmentative of salle (“room”), or borrowed from Italian salone (“hall”), augmentative form of sala, salla (“room”); in both cases borrowed from a Germanic source such as Old High German sal (“house, hall”), from Proto-Germanic *salą, from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“dwelling”). Doublet of salon.
ternion
Origin
From Latin ternio, from terni (“three each”). See tern (adjective).
wintry
Origin
From winter + -y; compare Old English wintriġ (a parallel formation).
cognomen
Origin
From Latin cognōmen, from con- (“with”) + nōmen (“name; family name”).
thresh
Origin
From Middle English thrasshen, thresche, threschen, threschyn, threshen, thresshen, tressyn, þreisshe, þresshe, from Old English þerscan, þrexan, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną (“to thresh; to tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn; to drill, pierce”). Doublet of thrash. Cognates Cognate with Dutch dorsen (“to thresh; to thrash”), German and Luxembourgish dreschen (“to thresh; to thrash”), Yiddish דרעשן (dreshn, “to thresh”), Danish tærske (“to thresh”), Faroese treskja (“to thresh”), Icelandic þreskja (“to thresh”), Norwegian Nynorsk treska, treske, treskja, treskje (“to thrash”), Swedish tröska (“to thresh”), Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌽 (þriskan, “to thresh”), Finnish rehkiä (“to drudge; to toil”); also Welsh taradr (“auger, wimble; awl, borer; drill”), Latin terō (“to rub or triturate; to wear away or wear out, consume; to tread; to press with a mill; to pass, spend”), Greek τρίβω (trívo, “to grate; to rub”), Albanian tjerr (“to spin”), Belarusian це́рці (cjérci, “to rub; to polish; to pinch; to grind”), Bulgarian три́я (tríja, “to rub; to chafe; to grind”), Czech třít (“to rub; to spawn”), Polish tarć, treć, trzeć, trzyć (“to rub; to shred; to cut; to chafe; to crush; to sp
meridional
Origin
Borrowed from Middle French meridional, from Latin merīdiōnālis, from merīdiēs (“noon; south”).
pigeonhole
Origin
The noun is derived from pigeon + hole. The verb is derived from the noun.
achromatic
Origin
From Ancient Greek ἀχρωμάτιστος (akhrōmátistos, “uncolored”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + χρῶμα (khrôma, “color”), equivalent to a- + chromatic; compare French achromatique.
digression
Origin
From Old French digressiun or disgressiun, from Latin dīgressiōnem, from dīgressus + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs), the past passive participle of dīgredior (“to step away, to digress”), from dis- + gradior (“to step, walk, go”).
anuran
Origin
From New Latin Anoura, Anura (“name of the order of amphibians”), or from French Anoures (“name of a family of amphibians”), from Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-, “lacking”)) + Ancient Greek οὐρά (ourá, “tail”) + -an.
galvanize
Origin
Learned borrowing from French galvaniser. By surface analysis, galvano- + -ize. Named after Italian physiologist Luigi Aloisio Galvani (1737–1798).
adjoin
Origin
From Anglo-Norman adjoindre, from Latin adiungō.
plunk
Origin
Onomatopoeic; the noun is attested earlier than the verb. Noun etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“dollar; large sum of money”) may refer to the sound of a coin hitting a surface. Compare plonk, plink. As regards verb etymology 1, verb sense 1.4 (“(transitive) to drop, set, or throw (something, or oneself) abruptly and/or heavily”) and etymology 1, verb sense 2.4 (“(intransitive) to drop, land, or set abruptly and/or heavily”), compare French plonquer (Picardy), a variant of plonger (“to plunge”).