Etymology — The Origins of English Words

outstrip

Origin

From out- (prefix forming verbs with the sense of exceeding or surpassing) + strip (“(obsolete) to move or pass by quickly”).

decease

Origin

From Old French deces (Modern French décès), from Latin dēcessus (“departure”).

debase

Origin

From de- + base, from Old French bas, from Latin bassus. Cognate with Spanish debajo (“under, beneath, below”). Compare abase.

dern

Origin

From Middle English dern, derne, from Old English dyrne, dierne (“secret”), from Proto-West Germanic *darnī (“hidden, secret”).

bunce

Origin

Costermonger jargon bunts, perhaps from bonus.

subjugation

Origin

From Latin subiugātiō, from Latin subiugō (“to subjugate”). By surface analysis, subjugate + -ion.

observance

Origin

From Old French observance, from Latin observantia. Equivalent of observe + -ance.

gloaming

Origin

From Middle English gloming, from Old English glōmung, from Old English glōm (“twilight”). Related to glow. The OED notes: "The vowel of the modern gloaming is anomalous, as Old English glōmung should normally become glooming. The explanation is probably that the ō was shortened in the compound ǣfen-glommung (as the spelling seems to show was actually the case), and that from this compound there was evolved a new subject glŏmung, which by normal phonetic development became Middle English glǭming, modern English gloaming."

oblation

Origin

From Middle English oblacioun, from Old French oblacion, from Latin oblātiō (“offering”), from offerō (“to offer, present”). By surface analysis, oblate + -ion.

meander

Origin

From Latin Maeander, from Ancient Greek Μαίανδρος (Maíandros) – a river in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) known for its winding course (modern Turkish Menderes).

replete

Origin

From Middle English replete (adjective) and repleten (verb), from Old French replet, from Latin repletus.

invigorate

Origin

First attested in 1646; borrowed from New Latin invigōrātus, perfect passive participle of invigōrō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, in- + vigor + -ate.

asperse

Origin

From Latin aspersus, past participle of aspergere.

gorged

Origin

From gorge + -ed.

cadge

Origin

From Middle English caggen (“to tie, fasten, bind”), probably from Old Norse. Compare Old Norse kǫgurr (“quilt”), kǫgurbarn (“swaddled child”).

naturalism

Origin

From natural + -ism. Compare French naturalisme.

fornicatress

Origin

Compare French fornicatrice, Latin fornicatrix.

handbill

Origin

From hand + bill (“cutting instrument”).

campaigner

Origin

From campaign (verb) + -er (agent noun suffix) or from campaign (noun) + -er (occupational suffix).

lustrate

Origin

From Latin lustrātus (“lustrated”), perfect passive participle of lustrō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lustrum (“ritual purification”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), q.v. In reference to imparting luster, further via senses of Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro.

plaudit

Origin

For earlier plaudite, borrowed from Latin plaudite, second-person plural imperative of plaudere (“to applaud”).

chops

Origin

From the plural of chop (“jaw, side of a harbour”). The jazz slang sense “musical ability” is a reference to the use of the lips to blow instruments.

afterthink

Origin

Compound of after- + think, probably a calque of Ancient Greek μετάνοια (metánoia).

crinkle

Origin

From Middle English crenclen (“to bend, buckle”), from Old English *crinclian, frequentative form of Old English crincan (“to yield”), from Proto-Germanic *kringaną (“to turn, to fall, to yield”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with North Frisian krenge, krönge (“to obtain, reach, attain”), Dutch krinkelen (“to turn, wind”). Related to cringe.