Etymology — The Origins of English Words

From gain (“against, contrary”) + -ful.

Borrowed from Latin boreālis (“northern”), from Boreās, from Ancient Greek Βορέᾱς (Boréās, “personification of the north wind”).

From Middle English muflen (“to muffle”), aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle”), from moufle (“mitten”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff”), of Germanic origin (—first recorded in the Capitulary of Aachen in 817 C.E.), from Frankish *muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) from *mauwa (“sleeve, wrap”) (from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”)) + *vël (“skin, hide”) (from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”). Alternate etymology traces the Medieval Latin word to Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”), English mulch) + *fell (“hide, skin”).

ego + -t- inserted to avoid hiatus, or after the analogy of dramatist, epigrammatist, etc. + -ist

From Middle English beutifien, from Old French beaute (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fine”), + -ify, from Latin facio (“make”).

From Middle English footer, equivalent to foot + -er.

From head + room.

Learned borrowing from Latin fōrmula (“a small pattern or mold, form, rule, principle, method, formula”), diminutive of forma (“a form”). See form.

From Italian bagno, from Latin balneum (“bath”). Doublet of bain, balaneion, and banya.

From Middle English daub (noun), from Middle English dauben (“to plaster or whitewash; cover with clay; bespatter”, verb), from Old Northern French dauber (“to whitewash; plaster”), of uncertain origin. Probably from Latin dealbāre (“to whiten thoroughly”), which would make it a doublet of dealbate.

From Late Middle English nōsegai (?), from nōse (“nose”) (from Old English nosu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nas- (“nose”)) + gai (“a bright or gay object; an ornament”) (from Old French gai (“cheerful, gay, happy”)); equivalent to nose + gay.

From French métamorphoser, from Old French metamorphose, from Latin metamorphōsis; see metamorphosis.

From clear + headed.

From Old French affluence, from Latin affluentia. Only relation to antonym indigence is common Latinate suffix; affluence only acquired sense of wealth in 16th century English and French, while indigentia meant “poverty” or “lack” in Latin.

Ante 1553. From gobbin (“piece, portion, slice”), from Middle English goboun, from Anglo-Norman gobon. Compare with English gobony (“line of alternating squares”).

Unknown. First attested in 1825 in East Anglian slang. Perhaps from "dumb ox", influenced by lumbering; or from or cognate to dialectal verb lummock (“move about heavily or clumsily”), itself a word of uncertain origin.

Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”). Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.

From Middle English clambren, clameren, clemeren (“to climb, clamber; to crawl, creep”), then either: * possibly from clam, clamb, clemb, past tense of climben (“to climb, get over; to ascend, rise”), and influenced by Old English clæmman (“to press”); or * from Old English *clambrian, from Proto-Germanic *klambrōną or *klambizōną. The English word is cognate with Low German klemmern, klempern (“to climb”), Scots clammer (“to clamber”); and compare also Danish klamre (“to cling”), Icelandic klambra, klembra (“to pinch closely together; clamp”), Swedish klamra (“to cling”). The noun is derived from the verb.

First attested in 1533; borrowed from Latin rūminātus, perfect active participle of rūminor (“to chew the cud, turn over in the mind”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from rūmen (“the throat, gullet”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), itself of uncertain origin.

From Middle English fremde, fremede (“strange, foreign”), from Old English fremde, fremede, fremeþe (“foreign, strange”), from Proto-West Germanic *framiþī, from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz (“foreign, not one's own”). Cognate with Scots fremmit, frempt (“fremd”), West Frisian frjemd (“strange, fremd”), Dutch vreemd (“strange, foreign”), German fremd (“fremd, strange, foreign”), Swedish främmande (“foreign, outlandish, strange”). More at from.

Probably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle English sputen (“to spout, vomit”), equivalent to spout + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian spüttern (“to inject, spray, splash”), West Frisian sputterje (“to sputter”), Dutch sputteren (“to sputter”), Low German sputtern, spruttern (“to sprinkle”), German sprudeln (“to spout, squirt”). Compare splutter.

From Middle English forestallen (“to forestall, intercept, ambush, way-lay”), from forestalle (“a forestalling, interception”), from Old English foresteall (“intervention, hindrance of justice, ambush”), from fore- (“ahead of, before”) + steall (“position”), equivalent to fore- + stall.

From abhorrent + -ence.

From Middle English pliaunt, from Old French ploiant, present participle of ploiier (“to fold”).