Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Borrowed from Latin mamilla.

Unknown. Compare regional German piddlen, pitteln, pütteln, pühteln (“to pick at something, pick at one's food”), dialectal German Pitzel (“small effort, small task”). Alternatively, perhaps originally from paw or put + -le (suffix forming verbs involving continuous or repeated movement). In later use, a euphemistic diminutive of piss, though not directly related to it. The noun derives from the verb.

From Latin imitātīvus.

From dialectal English mug (“fog, mist; Scotch mist”) + -y, ultimately from Old Norse mugga (“drizzle, mist”); borrowed some time before 1390, when a derived verb, Middle English mugen (“of a fog: to drizzle”), is attested.

In the basic sense of "money", attested since the early 16th century, initially from (an Early New High German continuation of) Middle High German gelt (modern German Geld), from Old High German gelt (“payment, money”), or in some cases from (an Early Modern Dutch continuation of) Middle Dutch gelt. Later, and in the Jewish-related senses, from Yiddish געלט (gelt). The German, Dutch and Yiddish words are all from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”). Doublet of native words geld and yield.

Borrowed from Latin prācticābilis, partly modelled on Middle French praticable. By surface analysis, practice (verb) + -able.

From Middle English temen (“to bear, to support”), from Anglian Old English tēman (“to give birth”) (West Saxon Old English tīeman), from Proto-West Germanic *taumijan (“to bridle”), from Proto-Germanic *taumijaną, from *taumaz ("bridle", continued in Modern English as team).

From Old French reprove, from reprover. See reprove.

From Late Middle English lūminārī, lūminārīe (“lamp; source of spiritual light, example of holiness; glory”), borrowed from Old French luminarie (“lamp, lights, lighting; candles; brightness, illumination”), variant of luminaire (“light fixture”) (modern French luminaire), from Medieval Latin lūminārium, from lūmināre (“that which gives light; light; lamp; body giving light, especially a heavenly body”), from lūmen (“light; brightness”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -āris (suffix forming adjectives indicating a relationship or a pertaining to). Doublet of luminaire.

From Middle French contravenir (French contrevenir), from Latin contraveniō.

From Middle English speciose, specious, from Anglo-Norman specious, Middle French specieux, and their etymon Latin speciōsus (“good-looking”).

1886, originally for a five-cent US coin (a nickel); use for taxis and buses due to these services originally charging five cents as fare, popularized circa 1915. The etymology is uncertain; it is believed to originate from Louisiana Creole jetnée, from French jeton (“token, coin-sized metal disc”), though this is disputed. Evidence for the Louisiana Creole French origin includes the geographic distribution (Southeastern US, especially Black/African-American), and early spelling as gitney, which is common French spelling for the /ʒi/ pronunciation.

From Late Middle English elongat, elongate (“kept away; different or remote in nature”, adjective), borrowed from Late Latin ēlongātus (“having been stretched out, elongated; prolonged, protracted; having been kept aloof, removed”) + Middle English -at (suffix forming participles). Ēlongātus is the perfect passive participle of ēlongō (“to prolong, protract; to keep aloof, remove; to depart, withdraw”), from Latin ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + longus (“extended, long, prolonged; far”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”, adjective)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of eloign. Cognates * French éloigner

The noun is probably from middle (noun) + -ing; the adjective is most likely derived from the noun, and the adverb from the adjective.

From slap + dash. First attested in the late 17th century, meaning "careless".

The verb is derived from Middle English disporten, desporten (“to take part in entertainment, sport, etc., to pass time, amuse oneself, be merry; to amuse, entertain; to cheer, console; to behave (in a particular way), deport; to be active, to busy; to relieve (someone of a task); to prevent (someone from attending)”), from Anglo-Norman desporter, Old French desporter, deporter, depporter (“to amuse, entertain; to pass time, amuse oneself; to forbear; to stop”), from Latin deportāre, present active infinitive of dēportō (“to bring, convey; to bring or take home; to carry along or down; to banish, transport”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘from, off’) + portō (“to bear, carry; to bring, convey”) (from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; fare”)). The English word is a doublet of deport and sport. The noun is derived from Middle English disport, desport (“activity providing amusement, pleasure or relaxation; entertainment, recreation; game, pastime, sport; pleasure derived from an activity; source of comfort; consolation, solace; conduct, deportment; customary behaviour, manner; act, activity; departure”), from Anglo-Norman disport, Old French desport, deport (“game, pastime, spor

From Latin irreligiōsus. By surface analysis, ir- + religious.

From Middle English *gammon, gambon, from Old French gambon (compare modern French jambon (“ham”)), from gambe (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ). Doublet of jambon and jamon.

From Middle English begilen, begylen; equivalent to be- + guile. Compare Middle Dutch begilen (“to beguile”). Doublet of bewile.

From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“to prepare, arrange; to provide, furnish; to resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“to bear, to give birth to; to spawn, produce, beget; to procure, acquire”)), from a Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”).

From Middle English bletheren, bloderen, from Old Norse blaðra (“to speak inarticulately, talk nonsense”). Cognate with Scots blether, bladder, bledder (“to blather”), dialectal German bladdern (“to talk nonsense, blather”), Norwegian bladra (“to babble, speak imperfectly”), Icelandic blaðra (“to twaddle”).

First attested in 1534; borrowed from Latin exasperātus, the perfect passive participle of Latin exasperō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out of; thoroughly”) + asperō (“to make rough”), from asper (“rough”). Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Borrowed from French miscellanées, from Latin mīscellānea, from miscellus (“mixed”), from misceō (“to mix”).

From Late Latin apostata, from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “rebel”), from ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi, “to withdraw, revolt”), from ἀπό (apó, “from”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”).