Word Origins

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:29 am

Machiavellian

1568, "cunning, deceitful, unscrupulous," from Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Florentine statesman and author of "Del Principe," a work advising rulers to place advantage above morality. A word of abuse in Eng. well before his works were translated ("The Discourses" 1636, "The Prince" 1640), in part because his books were Indexed by the Church, in part because of Fr. attacks on him (e.g. Gentillet's, translated into Eng. 1602

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:10 am

naive

1654, from Fr. naÃ¯ve, fem. of naÃ¯f, from O.Fr. naif "naive, natural, just born," from L. nativus "not artificial," also "native, rustic," lit. "born, innate, natural" (see native). NaivetÃ© is 1673, from Fr. naÃ¯vetÃ©, from O.Fr. naivetÃ© "native disposition." Anglicized form naivety is attested from 1708.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:13 pm

oblate

"flattened on the ends," 1705, from L. ob "toward" + latus, abstracted from its opposite, prolatus "lengthened" (see oblate (n.)).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:04 am

pacific

1548, "tending to make peace," from M.Fr. pacifique, from L. pacificus "peaceful, peace-making," from pax (gen. pacis) "peace" + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Meaning "peaceful, calm" is first recorded 1633. The Pacific Ocean (1660) is from M.L. Pacificum, neut. of L. pacificus, so called c.1500 by Magellan when he sailed into it and found it calmer than the stormy Atlantic.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:28 pm

quagga

1785, from Afrikaans (1710), from the name for the beast in a native language, perhaps Hottentot quacha, probably of imitative origin. In modern Xhosa, the form is iqwara, with a clicking -q-. The last one died in an Amsterdam zoo in 1883.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 9:23 am

radius

1597, "cross-shaft," from L. radius "staff, spoke of a wheel, beam of light," of unknown origin. Perhaps related to radix "root," but Tucker suggests connection to Skt. vardhate "rises, makes grow," via root *neredh- "rise, out, extend forth;" or else Gk. ardis "sharp point." The geometric sense first recorded 1611. Plural is radii. Meaning "circular area of defined distance around some place" is attested from 1953. Meaning "shorter bone of the forearm" is from 1615 in Eng.; it was used thus by Roman writer Aulus Cornelius Celsus

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:20 am

sacerdotal

c.1400, from O.Fr. sacerdotal, from L. sacerdotalis "of or pertaining to a priest," from sacerdos (gen. sacerdotis) "priest," lit. "offerer of sacrifices," from sacer "holy" + stem of dare "to give" (see date (1)).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:29 pm

tachyon

1967, hypothetical faster-than-light particle, from Gk. tachys "swift."

1987chieftains · Post by **1987chieftains** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:48 pm

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BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:45 am

ullage

"amount by which a cask or bottle falls short of being full," 1481, from Anglo-Fr. ulliage (1329), Anglo-L. oliagium (1297), O.Fr. ouillage, from ouiller "to fill up (a barrel) to the bung," lit. "to fill to the eye," from ueil "eye," from L. ochulus.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:35 am

Valkyrie

1768, one of 12 war-maidens who escorted the brave dead to Valhalla, from O.N. valkyrja, lit. "chooser of the slain," from valr "those slain in battle" (see Valhalla) + kyrja "chooser," from ablaut root of kjosa "to choose," from P.Gmc. *keusan, from PIE *geus- "to taste, choose" (see gusto). O.E. form was WÃ¦lcyrie, but they seem not to have figured as largely in Anglo-Saxon tales as in Scandinavian. Ger. WalkÃ¼re (Wagner) is from O.N

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:50 am

waif

1376, "unclaimed property, flotsam, stray animal," from Anglo-Norm. waif, gwaif (1223) "ownerless property," probably from a Scand. source akin to O.N. veif "waving thing, flag," from P.Gmc. *waif-, from PIE *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically." Cf. M.L. waivium "thing thrown away by a thief in flight." A Scot./northern Eng. parallel form was wavenger (1493). Meaning "person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1624). Neglected children being uncommonly thin, the word tended toward this sense. Connotations of "fashionable, small, slender woman" began 1991 with application to childishly slim supermodels such as Kate Moss.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:05 am

raconteur

1828, from Fr. raconter "to recount," from re- + O.Fr. aconter, from a- "to" + conter "to tell" (see recount).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:50 am

sacristy

"repository of sacred things," 1601, from Anglo-Fr. sacrestie, from M.L. sacrista, from L. sacer "sacred" (see sacred).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:40 am

tableau

1699, "a picturesque or graphic description or picture," from Fr. tableau "picture, painting," from O.Fr. table "slab, writing tablet" (see table) + dim. suffix -eau, from L. -ellus. Hence tableau-vivant (1817) "person or persons silent and motionless, enacting a well-known scene, incident, painting, etc.," popular 19c. parlor game, lit. "living picture."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:16 pm

Ulster

northernmost of the four provinces of Ireland, 14c., from Anglo-Fr. Ulvestre (c.1225), Anglo-L. Ulvestera (c.1200), corresponding to O.N. Ulfastir, probably from Ir. Ulaidh "men of Ulster" + suffix also found in Leinster, Munster, and perhaps representing Ir. tir "land."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:30 pm

valid
1571, "having force in law, legally binding," from M.Fr. valide, from L. validus "strong, effective," from valere "be strong" (see valiant). The meaning "supported by facts or authority" is first recorded 1648. Validate (v.) is recorded from 1648.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:41 am

wainscot

1352, "imported oak of superior quality," probably from M.Du. or M.Flem. waghenscote "superior quality oak wood, board used for paneling" (though neither of these is attested as early as the Eng. word), related to M.L.G. wagenschot (1389), from waghen (see wagon) + scote "partition, crossbar." So called perhaps because the wood originally was used for wagon building and coachwork. Meaning "panels lining the walls of rooms" is recorded from 1548. Wainscoting is from 1580.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:46 pm

xyster
"surgical instrument for scraping bones," 1684, from Gk. xyster, from xyein "to scrape," from PIE base *kes- "to scrape."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:43 am

yard (2)
"measure of length," O.E. gerd (Mercian), gierd (W.Saxon) "rod, stick, measure of length," from W.Gmc. *gazdijo, from P.Gmc. *gazdaz "stick, rod" (cf. O.S. gerda, O.Fris. ierde, Du. gard "rod;" O.H.G. garta, Ger. gerte "switch, twig," O.N. gaddr "spike, sting, nail"), from PIE *gherdh- "staff, pole" (cf. L. hasta "shaft, staff"). In O.E. it was originally a land measure of roughly 5 meters (a length later called rod, pole or perch). Modern measure of "three feet" is attested from 1377 (earlier rough equivalent was the ell of 45 inches, and the verge). In M.E., the word also was a euphemism for "penis" (cf. "Love's Labour's Lost," V.ii.676). Slang meaning "one hundred dollars" first attested 1926, Amer.Eng. Yardstick is 1816. The nautical yard-arm (1553) retains the original sense of "stick." In 19c. British naval custom, it was permissible to begin drinking when the sun was over the yard-arm