Word Origins

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:56 am

zebu
Asiatic ox, 1774, from Fr. zebu, ult. of Tibetan origin. First shown in Europe at the Paris fair of 1752.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:39 pm

abase
1393, abaishen, from O.Fr. Ã bassier "make lower," from V.L. *ad bassiare "bring lower," from L.L. bassus "thick, fat, low;" from the same source as base (adj.) and altered in Eng. by influence of it, which made it an exception to the rule that O.Fr. verbs with stem -iss- enter Eng. as -ish

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:24 am

bad-mouth (v.)
"abuse someone verbally," 1941, probably ultimately from noun phrase bad mouth (1835), in black Eng., "a curse, spell," translating an idiom found in African and West Indian languages.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:50 pm

cajole
1645, from Fr. cajoler, perhaps a blend of M.Fr. cageoler "to chatter like a jay," from gajole, southern dim. of geai "jay," and O.Fr. gaioler "to cage, entice into a cage."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:30 am

daisy
O.E. dÃ¦gesege, from dÃ¦ges eage "day's eye," because the petals open at dawn and close at dusk. In M.L. it was solis oculus "sun's eye." Daisy-cutter first attested 1791, originally of horses that trotted with low steps; later of cricket (1889) and baseball hits that skim along the ground. Daisy-chain in the "group sex" sense is attested from 1941. Pushing up daisies "dead" is attested from 1918, but variant with the same meaning go back to 1842.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:02 pm

Easter

O.E. Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn). Bede says Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of L. Pasche to name this holiday. Easter Island so called because it was discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday, 1722.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:27 am

fake
attested in London criminal slang as adj. (1775), verb (1812), and noun (1827), but probably older. Likely source is feague "to spruce up by artificial means," from Ger. fegen "polish, sweep," also "to clear out, plunder" in colloquial use. "Much of our early thieves' slang is Ger. or Du., and dates from the Thirty Years' War" [Weekley]. Or it may be from L. facere "to do."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:26 am

Galloway

district in southwestern Scotland, M.L. Gallovidia, from Welsh Gallwyddel, Ir. Gallgaidhil, lit. "foreign Gaels

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:12 am

hajj

"pilgrimage to Mecca," from Arabic hajj "pilgrimage." One who has made it is a hajji.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:50 am

ichneumon
1572, originally a weasel-like animal in Egypt, from Gk. ichneumon, lit. "searcher," perhaps because it hunts crocodile eggs, from ichneuein "hunt for, track," from ichnos "a track," of unknown origin. Used by Aristotle for a species of wasp that hunts spiders

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:13 am

j'accuse

Fr., lit. "I accuse," phrase made famous by Emile Zola in a public letter attacking the irregularities of the Dreyfus trial (published Jan. 13, 1898

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:46 am

keen (adj.)

O.E. cene "bold brave," later "clever, wise," from P.Gmc. *kan- "be able to" (see can). Original prehistoric senses seem to have been both "brave" and "Skilled;" cf. O.N. kÃ¦nn "skillful, wise," M.Du. coene "bold," O.H.G. kuon "pugnacious, strong," Ger. KÃ¼hn "bold, daring." Sense of "eager" is from c.1350. The meaning "sharp" is peculiar to Eng.: of blades and edges c.1225, of sounds c.1400, of eyesight c.1720. A popular word of approval in teenager and student slang from c.1900.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:47 pm

laid
pp. of lay (v.). Laid-up "injured, sick," originally was a nautical term (1769) describing a ship moored in harbor. Laid off "temporarily unemployed" is from 1955. Laid-back "relaxed" is first attested 1973, perhaps in reference to the posture of highway motorcyclists.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:48 pm

macerate
1491 (implied in maceration), from L. maceratus, pp. of macerare "soften," related to maceria "garden wall," originally "of kneaded clay," from PIE base *mag-/*meg- "to knead" (cf. Gk. magis "kneaded mass, cake," mageus "one who kneads, baker;" O.C.S. mazo "to anoint, smear;" Bret. meza "to knead;" M.Ir. maistir "to churn").

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:21 am

narcotic (n.)
c.1385, from O.Fr. adj. narcotique (1314), from M.L. narcoticum, from Gk. narkotikon, neut. of narkotikos "making stiff or numb," from narkotos, verbal adj. of narcoun "to benumb, make unconscious," from narke "numbness, stupor, cramp," perhaps from PIE base *(s)nerq- "to turn, twist." Sense of "any illegal drug" first recorded 1926, Amer.Eng. The adj. is first attested 1601

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 12:09 am

obit
c.1375, "death," from L. obitus "death," pp. of obire, lit. "to go toward" (see obituary). In modern usage (since 1874) it is usually a clipped form of obituary, though it had the same meaning of "published death notice" 15c.-17c. The scholarly abbreviation ob. with date is from L. obiit "(he) died," third person sing. of obire.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:41 pm

pabulum
"food," 1678, from L. pabulum "fodder, food," from PIE base *pa- "to protect, feed" (see food) + instrumentive suffix *-dhlom. Pablum (1932), derived from this, is a trademark (Mead Johnson & Co.) for a soft, bland cereal used as a food for weak and invalid people, hence fig. use (attested from 1970, first by U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew) in ref. to "mushy" political prose.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:23 am

quadruped
1620 (implied in quadrupedal), from Fr. quadrupÃ¨de, from M.Fr., from L. quadrupes (gen. quadrupedis) "four-footed, a four-footed animal," from quadri- "four" + pes "foot." The adj. is attested from 1741.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 4:44 am

rafter
"sloping timber of a roof," O.E. rÃ¦ftras (W.Saxon), reftras (Mercian), both plural, related to O.N. raptr (see raft (1)), from P.Gmc. *raf-.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:27 am

shoal (1)
"place of shallow water," c.1300, from O.E. schealde (adj.), from sceald "shallow," from P.Gmc. *skala- (cf. Swed. skÃ¤ll "thin;" Low Ger. schol, Fris. skol "not deep"). The terminal -d was dropped 16c.