Etymology — The origins of English words

rubadub

Origin

(drum sound): Imitative.

sare

Origin

Variant of sear (“dry”).

sacrum

Origin

From Latin os sacrum (“holy bone”), a calque of Ancient Greek ἱερὸν ὀστέον (hieròn ostéon). Apparently so called either because the sacrum was the part of the animal offered in sacrifice or because of a putative belief that it is where a person's soul resides. A third explanation is that the term is a translation of Ancient Greek ἱερόν (hierón), which has two meanings: “holy, sacred”, and “big” — big being a more appropriate description of the sacrum — but compare.

sabbatarian

Origin

From Medieval Latin sabbatarius, from Latin sabbatum, from Ancient Greek σάββατον (sábbaton), from Hebrew שבת (shabát) + -an. In use from c. 1610.

schooltime

Origin

From school + time.

salesroom

Origin

From sales + room.

rubdown

Origin

Deverbal from rub down.

scandent

Origin

From the present participle stem of Latin scandere (“to climb”).

scallion

Origin

From Middle English scaloun (“shallot”), from Anglo-Norman scalun (variant of Old French eschaloigne), from a Proto-Romance derivation of Vulgar Latin *escalonia, from Latin Ascalonius (in caepa (“onion”) Ascalonius, "shallot"), from Ascalo (“Ascalon”), from Ancient Greek Ἀσκάλων (Askálōn, “Ascalon, an ancient port city in the Levant”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן (ʾašqəlôn).

ruttle

Origin

From Middle English rotelen, ratelen (“to make a rattling sound while breathing, flap”), from Middle Dutch rotelen (“to rattle, wheeze, drone”) or Middle Low German rōtelen, rātelen, rūtelen (“to groan, gasp, rattle”), from Old Saxon hrot, hrod (“snot, mucus”), from Proto-West Germanic *hroþ (“saliva, mucus, snot”), probably ultimately of imitative origin. Cognate with Dutch reutelen (“to rattle”), German Rotz (“snot”).

rubbered

Origin

From rubber + -ed.

scend

Origin

A corruption of send, influenced by ascend.

salamandric

Origin

From salamander + -ic.

scandaroon

Origin

From variant forms of Ottoman Turkish إسكندرون (İskenderūn) under influence from English -oon. Compare Stambul and Stamboul for Istanbul. In reference to the pigeons, supposedly derived from the use of the pigeon to carry messages from the English factory at Iskanderun to Aleppo upon the arrival of new ships. In reference to swindlers, presumably under the influence of scandal and cognates and -oon. Doublet of Alexandria, Alexandretta, Iskenderun, and Kandahar.

sard

Origin

From Middle English sarde, borrowed from Old French sarde, from Latin sarda, sardius. Doublet of sardius.

sarsen

Origin

From Saracen (“Muslim”), by extension, “non-Christian, pagan”.

sabreur

Origin

Borrowed from French sabreur.

royalist

Origin

From royal + -ist.

sammich

Origin

The pronunciation explains itself through the usual elision of /d/ (san'wich) and subsequent coalescence of /nw/ to /m/.

rudiment

Origin

From Old French rudiment, from Latin rudimentum (“a first attempt, a beginning”), plural rudimenta (“the elements”), from rudis (“rude”); see rude. By surface analysis, rude + -i- + -ment.

salience

Origin

From Latin saliēns, salientis (whence -ence), from saliō.

satiety

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French satieté, from Latin satietas.

salamandriform

Origin

From salamander + -form.

scarious

Origin

French scarieux. Compare scary.