Word Origins

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:16 pm

navigation
1533, from L. navigationem (nom. navigatio), from navigatus, pp. of navigare "to sail, sail over, go by sea, steer a ship," from navis "ship" (see naval) + root of agere "to drive" (see act). Navigable is attested from 1527; navigate is a back-formation, first attested 1588; later extended to balloons (1784) and aircraft.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue May 01, 2007 3:09 am

oboe
1724, from It. oboe, from M.Fr. hautbois (itself borrowed in Eng. 16c. as hautboy), from haut "high" + bois "wood" (see bush). So called because it had the highest register among woodwind instruments.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed May 02, 2007 6:18 am

paladin
1592, "one of the 12 knights in attendance on Charlemagne," from M.Fr. paladin "a warrior," from It. paladino, from L. palatinus "palace official;" noun use of palatinus "of the palace" (see palace). The O.Fr. form of the word was palaisin (which gave M.E. palasin, c.1400); the It. form prevailed because, though the matter was French, the poets who wrote the romances were mostly Italians.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:49 pm

quash
"to make void, annul, crush," c.1330, from O.Fr. quasser "to break, smash," from L. quassare "to shatter," frequentative of quatere "to shake" (pp. quassus). Meaning "suppress" is from M.L. quassare "make null and void," from L. cassus "empty, void," influenced by quassare.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:46 pm

ragamuffin
1344, from M.E. raggi "ragged" + fanciful ending (or else second element is M.Du. muffe "mitten"). Ragged was used of the devil from c.1300 in ref. to "shaggy" appearance. Used by Langland as the name of a demon (cf. O.Fr. Ragamoffyn, name of a demon in a mystery play); sense of "dirty, disreputable boy" is from 1581.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu May 03, 2007 7:44 am

sack (n.1)
"large bag," O.E. sacc (W.Saxon), sec (Mercian), sÃ¦c (Old Kentish) "large cloth bag," also "sackcloth," from P.Gmc. *sakkiz (cf. M.Du. sak, O.H.G. sac, O.N. sekkr, but Goth. sakkus probably is directly from Gk.), an early borrowing from L. saccus (cf. O.Fr. sac, Sp. saco, It. sacco), from Gk. sakkos, from Semitic (cf. Heb. saq "sack"). The wide spread of the word is probably due to the story of Joseph. Slang meaning "bunk, bed" is from 1825, originally nautical. The verb meaning "go to bed" is recorded from 1946.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri May 04, 2007 6:03 am

taint (v.)
1573, "to corrupt, contaminate," also "to trouch, tinge, imbue slightly" (1591), from M.E. teynten "to convict, prove guilty" (c.1375), partly from O.Fr. ataint, pp. of ataindre "to touch upon, seize" (see attainder). Also from Anglo-Fr. teinter "to color, dye" (1409), from O.Fr. teint (12c.), pp. of teindre "to dye, color," from L. tingere (see tincture).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun May 06, 2007 6:27 am

Ulrich
masc. proper name, from Ger., from O.H.G. Uodalrich, lit. "of a rich home," from uodal "home, nobolity" (related to O.E. Ã¦Ã°ele "noble," O.N. oÃ°al "home").

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon May 07, 2007 5:34 am

variorum
1728, from L., gen. pl. masc. of varius (see vary), in phrase editio cum notis variorum "an edition (especially of the complete works of a classical author) with notes of various commentators or editors." Use with ref. to an edition of an author's works containing variant readings (1955) is "deplored by some scholars" [OED].

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed May 09, 2007 6:45 am

wanton (adj.)
c.1300, wan-towen, from M.E. privative prefix wan- "wanting, lacking" (from O.E. wan "wanting;" see wane) + togen, pp. of teon "to train, discipline;" lit. "to pull, draw," from P.Gmc. *teuhan (cf. O.H.G. ziohan "to pull;" see tug). The basic notion perhaps is "ill-bred, poorly brought up;" cf. Ger. ungezogen "ill-bred, rude, haughty," lit. "unpulled."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed May 09, 2007 9:37 pm

Xerxes
king of Persia who reigned 486-465 B.C.E., Gk. Xerxes, from O.Pers. XÅ¡ayarÅ¡an, lit. "male (i.e. 'hero') among kings," from XÅ¡aya- "king" (cf. shah) + arÅ¡an "male, man." The Heb. rendition was Ahashwerosh, Ahashresh.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu May 10, 2007 7:56 am

yearbook
1588, "book of reports of cases in law-courts for that year," from year + book. Meaning "book of events and statistics of the previous year" is recorded from 1710. Sense of "graduating class album" is attested from 1926, Amer.Eng

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri May 11, 2007 5:53 am

Zechariah
masc. proper name, Biblical 11th of the Twelve Prophets

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun May 13, 2007 5:43 am

absolution
"remission, forgiveness," c.1200, from L. absolutionem, noun of action from absolvere "to absolve"

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon May 14, 2007 8:27 am

bannock
"thick flat cake," O.E. bannuc, from Gael. bannach "a cake," perhaps a loan from L. panis "bread"

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue May 15, 2007 5:18 am

cameo
1222, "carved precious stone with two layers of colors," from It. cammeo (13c.), from M.L. cammÃ¦us, perhaps ult. from Arabic qamaa'il "flower buds," or Pers. chumahan "agate." Transferred sense of "small character or part that stands out from other minor parts" in a play, etc., is from 1851.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:02 am

deciduous
1688, from L. deciduus "that which falls off," from decidere "to fall off," from de- "down" + cadere "to fall" (see case (1)). Originally with reference to leaves, petals, teeth, etc.; specific sense of "trees whose leaves fall off" (opposed to evergreen) is from 1778.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:46 am

eidetic
"pertaining to the faculty of projecting images," 1924, from Ger. eidetisch, coined by Ger. psychologist Erich Jaensch (1883-1940), from Gk. eidetikos "pertaining to images," also "pertaining to knowledge," from eidesis "knowledge," from eidos "form, shape" (see -oid).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu May 17, 2007 8:38 am

febrile
1651, from M.L. febrilis "pertaining to fever," from L. febris "a fever"

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:12 am

gaudy
1529, from M.E. gaud "deception, trick," also "ornamental bead, rosary" (c.1300), possibly from Anglo-Fr. gaudir "be merry, scoff," from L. gaudere "rejoice." Alternate (less likely) etymology is from M.E. gaudy-green "yellowish-green," originally "green dye" obtained from a plant formerly known as weld, from a Gmc. source (see weld (n.)), which became gaude in O.Fr. The Eng. term supposedly shifted sense from "weld-dye" to "bright."