Etymology — The Origins of English Words

Borrowed from Latin inseminātus, the perfect passive participle of insemināre (“to sow”). By surface analysis, in- + seminate.

Compare Dutch vod (“soft”), German dialect fuddeln (“to swindle”).

From Old French defensable, from Latin defensibilem. Equivalent to defense + -ible.

From Middle English contreve (“to invent”), from Old French controver (Modern French controuver), from trover (“to find”) (French trouver).

From Middle English capston; equivalent to cap + stone.

From Middle English engendren, from Old French engendrer, from Latin ingenerāre.

From ante- + room, as a calque of French antichambre or its model Italian anticamera.

From theory + -ize. First use appears c. 1599 in the text A pil to purge melancholie.

Borrowed from Latin stemma, from Ancient Greek στέμμα (stémma).

From Middle English hennes forward, equivalent to hence + forward. Compare Middle English hens-forthward, hennes forthward (“henceforward”).

From French papa, from Middle French papa, from Old French papa, from Latin papa, probably originally a reduplicated imitation of a child's early efforts at vocalising Latin pater (“father”). Compare Ancient Greek πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

Borrowed from French assemblage. By surface analysis, assemble + -age.

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twofold, from Old English twēofeald. Equivalent to two + -fold; cognate to Icelandic tvöfalt and Dutch tweevoudig.

Onomatopoeic. Compare plunk.

Borrowed from Latin dissēminātus, the perfect passive participle of dissēminō (“to broadcast, disseminate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from dis- (“asunder, in all directions”) + sēminō (“to plant, sow”), from sēmen (“seed”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also Middle English disseminat(e) (“disseminated”).

From Yiddish מבֿין (meyvn, “connoisseur, expert, know-it-all”), from Hebrew מֵבִין (mevín, “one who understands, connoisseur, expert”), from הֵבִין (hevín, “to understand”). The word is said to have been popularized by its use in an advertising campaign for Vita Herring launched in the United States in 1964, which had a character called the “beloved [herring] maven” promoting the product.

From Medieval Latin dīvergō (“bend away from, go in a different direction”), from Latin dī- + vergō (“bend”).

Borrowed from Latin reverberātus, perfect passive participle of reverberō (“to rebound; to reflect; to repel”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), whence Middle French reverberer (French réverbérer) and Middle English reverberen (“to send back”)), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) and verberō (“to beat; to lash, whip”) (from verber (“rod; lash, whip”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

From French riposte, taken from Italian risposta, a derivative of the verb rispondere (“to respond”).

From gab + -le. Cognate with Saterland Frisian gabbelje (“to mock”), Dutch gabbelen (“to chatter, babble”), German Low German gabbeln (“to mock”).

From Late Middle English vexacioun, vexation (“physical suffering; act of inflicting trouble (specifically through unjustified legal action); anxiety, mental distress; mental disturbance”), from Anglo-Norman vexacion, vexation, Middle French vexacion, vexation (“distress, suffering; harassment (specifically through unjustified legal action)”), and Old French vexacion, vexation (“distress, suffering; harassment”) (modern French vexation), and from their etymon Latin vexātiō (“shaking or similar violent movement; (causing of) agitation, distress, suffering; harassment, persecution; trouble”), from vexātus + -iō (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Vexātus is the perfect passive participle of vexō (“to shake or jolt violently; to annoy, harass; to persecute; to trouble violently”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-. By surface analysis, vex + -ation (suffix denoting an action or process or its result, or a quality or state). Doublet of quake.

From French chicanerie (“trickery”), from chicaner, from Middle French chicaner, borrowed from Middle Low German schicken, from Old Saxon *skikkian, from Proto-West Germanic *skikkijan (“to order, arrange”). Related to German schicken (“to send, ship”), Middle English skekken (“to send forth, issue”).

From back + country.

From Ancient Greek σῡκοφᾰντῐκός (sūkophăntĭkós). By surface analysis, sycophant + -ic.