Etymology — The origins of English words

procuracy

Origin

Inherited from Middle English procuracie, from Anglo-Norman procuracie, from Latin prōcūrātia, analyzed as procure + -cy (“office of”). Doublet of proxy.

radiolocation

Origin

From radio- + location.

pursual

Origin

From pursue + -al.

pudendum

Origin

From Latin pudenda (“that whereof one ought to feel shame”), substantive use of the neuter plural gerundive of pudet (“it shames”); in Latin the usage in the plural form (to mean external genitalia), was far more common than the singular form, as is also the case in English.

quidditch

Origin

Coined by British author J. K. Rowling in her 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In Quidditch Through the Ages, Rowling gives some etymological information, hinting that the word evolved from Queerditch (compound of queer + ditch), with some spelling variation as would be expected in real life Middle English, namely Kwidditch, Kweerditch.

rationalness

Origin

From rational + -ness.

procuress

Origin

From Old French procureresse (compare French procureuse), corresponding to procure + -ess.

rematchmaker

Origin

From rematch + maker, after matchmaker.

puelline

Origin

From Latin puella (“female child, girl”) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Puella is derived from puellus (“male child, young boy”) + -a (feminine form of -us); puellus is a contraction of puerulus (“little boy; little slave”), from puer (“boy, lad; male page, servant, or slave; child”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)) + -ulus (“suffix forming diminutives of nouns indicating small size or youth”).

probableness

Origin

Latin probabilis, From probable + -ness, in existence since the 1600s.

progenitive

Origin

From Latin prōgenitus (past participle of prōgignō) + -ive.

quintate

Origin

First attested in verbal use in 1812, in adjectival use in 1851, and in nominal use in 1889; from the Classical Latin quīntus (“fifth”); in the verbal sense after decimate, and in the botanic senses by mistaken analogy with ternate.

reprehensive

Origin

Compare French répréhensif.

puckish

Origin

From Puck + -ish, after the mischievous fairy in English folklore who is also a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

relucent

Origin

From Latin relūcent-, relūcēns, present participle of relucēre.

punim

Origin

Borrowed from Yiddish פּנים (ponem), from Hebrew פָּנִים (paním, “face”).

protectionism

Origin

Borrowed from French protectionnisme, equivalent to protection + -ism.

provincialism

Origin

From French provincialisme, equivalent to provincial + -ism.

pseud

Origin

Possible clipping of pseudointellectual. From Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs, “false, lying”).

reliquary

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French reliquaire (modern French reliquaire), from Late Latin reliquiarium, from rēliquia (“a relic”) (English relic), noun use of reliquus (“abandoned, left behind, relict”), from relinquō (“to relinquish”), from re- (“again”) and linquō (“to leave”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ-.

pseudologist

Origin

From pseudologue + -ist.

procreative

Origin

From Latin prōcreātīvus. By surface analysis, procreate + -ive.

prostitutor

Origin

From prostitute + -or.

puzzlement

Origin

From puzzle + -ment.