Etymology — The origins of English words

softship

Origin

From soft + -ship, modelled after hardship.

sibilate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin sībilātus, past participle of sībilō. Doublet of siffle.

solovei

Origin

From Ukrainian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”) or Russian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”).

sidebox

Origin

From side + box; compare sidebar.

sickhouse

Origin

From Middle English sykhous, sek hous (“hospital”, literally “the house for the sick”), equivalent to sick + house. Cognate with Dutch ziekenhuis (“hospital”), German Low German Süükhuus, Sükenhuus (“hospital”), Norwegian sykehus (“hospital”), German Siechhaus, Siechenhaus (“infirmary”), Danish sygehus (“hospital”), Swedish sjukhus (“hospital”), Icelandic sjúkrahús (“hospital”), West Frisian sikehûs (“hospital”). Compare also German Krankenhaus (“hospital”), Saterland Frisian Kroankenhuus (“hospital”), and Old English lǣċehūs (“hospital”).

snappishness

Origin

From snappish + -ness.

smush

Origin

Possibly blend of smash + mush.

skainsmate

Origin

Etymology and meaning uncertain. Possibly from skean (“sword”) or skein (“quantity of thread”) + -s- + mate (“companion; comrade; colleague”). * Sword could imply a companion in arms or a cutthroat; or it may be a euphemism for penis and hence a sexual companion. * Thread could also mean either a companion in winding thread, possibly a sailor or seamstress, or a sexual metaphor equating sewing with sexual intercourse. Flirt-gill (“promiscuous woman”) in the same passage suggests a sexual interpretation.

snippetiness

Origin

From snippety + -ness.

simper

Origin

Uncertain; compare (probably from) Danish simper / semper (“coy”), German zimper (“elegant, dainty”).

sodbuster

Origin

From sod + buster.

shutout

Origin

Deverbal from shut out.

snotball

Origin

From snot + ball.

smallholding

Origin

From small + holding.

smackhead

Origin

From smack (“heroin”) + -head.

sleepsack

Origin

From sleep + sack.

sleightly

Origin

Inherited from Middle English sleightely; equivalent to sleight + -ly.

sooky

Origin

From sook + -y (“characteristic of”) and -y (“diminutive”).

sjambok

Origin

From Afrikaans sjambok, from Dutch sjambok, from Javanese cambuk, and as borrowed in Malay: modern Indonesian and Malay, ultimately from Persian چابک (čâbok). Originally spelt in the colonial Dutch transliteration tscamboek. The term was imported by VOC officials, Dutch merchants, the Maardijkers (Maluku (Moluccan) freemen and burghers), and Inlanders (Javanese and other modern Indonesian slaves and political exiles expelled to Dutch South Africa). Doublet of chabuk.

skift

Origin

From Scots skift (“light shower of rain or snow”), related to skiff (“light rain, snow, etc”) (which see for more) and skiffle.

slovakian

Origin

From Slovakia + -an or Slovak + -ian.

snipper

Origin

From snip + -er.

sociableness

Origin

From sociable + -ness.

slingback

Origin

From sling + back.