Word Origins

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:13 pm

bargain
1330, from O.Fr. bargaignier "to haggle," perhaps from Frank. *borganjan "to lend," and ultimately from P.Gmc. *borgan (cf. O.E. borgian, source of borrow). Another suggestion is that the O.Fr. word comes from L.L. barca "a barge," because it "carries goods to and fro." There are difficulties with both suggestions. A bargain basement (1899) originally was a basement floor in a store where bargains were displayed.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:36 am

carbohydrate
1869, from carbo- "carbon" + hydrate, denoting compound produced when certain substances combine with water.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:49 am

dell
O.E. dell (perhaps lost and then borrowed in M.E. from cognate M.Du./M.L.G. delle), from P.Gmc. *daljo, related to dale. Uncertain relationship to dell, rogue's cant 16c.-17c. for "a young girl of the vagrant class." "A Dell is a yonge wenche, able for generation, and not yet knowen ... by the vpright man" [Thomas Harman, 1567].

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:25 pm

embonpoint
"plumpness," from Fr., from O.Fr. en bon point, lit. "in good condition."

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:52 am

fez
1802, from Fr. fez, from Turk. fes, probably ult. from Fez, the city in Morocco, where this type of tasseled cap was principally made.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:27 pm

ghastly
c.1305, from O.E. gÃ¦stan "to torment, frighten" + -lich "-ly." Spelling with gh- developed 16c. from confusion with ghost.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:43 am

health
O.E. hÃ¦lÃ¾ "wholeness, a being whole, sound or well," from PIE *kailo- "whole, uninjured, of good omen" (cf. O.E. hal "hale, whole;" O.N. heill "healthy;" O.E. halig, O.N. helge "holy, sacred;" O.E. hÃ¦lan "to heal"). Healthy is first attested 1552.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:27 am

inconstant
1402, "fickle, not steadfast," from M.Fr. inconstant, from L. inconstantem, from in- "not" + constantem (see constant).

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:33 pm

junta
1623, "Spanish legislative council," from Sp. junta "council, meeting, convention," from M.L. juncta "joint," from L. juncta, fem. pp. of jungere "to join" (see jugular). Meaning of "political or military group in power" first recorded 1641 as junto (from confusion with Sp. nouns ending in -o), originally with ref. to the Cabinet Council of Charles I. Modern spelling in this sense is from 1714; popularized 1808 in connection with council formed to resist Napoleon.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:15 pm

kyrie eleison
c.1225, Gk. liturgical formula, adopted untranslated into Latin Mass, lit. "lord have mercy" (Ps. cxxii.3, Matt. xv.22, xvii.15, etc.). From kyrie, voc. of kyrios "lord, master" (see church) + eleeson, aorist imper. of eleo "I have pity on, show mercy to," from eleos "pity, mercy"

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:27 am

ledge
c.1272, "crossbar on a door," perhaps from M.E. verb leggen "to place, lay" (see lay (v.)). Sense of "narrow shelf" is first recorded 1558; "shelf-like projection of rock" is from 1555.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:07 am

mangrove
1613, from Sp. mangle, mangue (1535), perhaps from Carib or Arawakan. Second syllable is from influence of grove. A Malay origin also has been proposed, but it is difficult to explain how it came to be used for an American plant.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:09 am

Newspeak
"artificial language of official communication in George Orwell's novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four,' " 1949, from new + speak. Frequently applied to propagandistic warped English.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 7:44 am

obeisance
c.1374, "act or fact of obeying," from O.Fr. obeissance "obedience," from obeissant, prp. of obeir "obey," from L. oboedire (see obey). Sense in Eng. alt. late 14c. to "bending or prostration of the body as a gesture of submission or respect" by confusion with abaisance.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:22 pm

parley (n.)
"conference," especially with an enemy, 1449, from M.Fr. parlÃ©e, from fem. pp. of O.Fr. parler "to speak," from L.L. parabolare "to speak (in parables)," from parabola "speech, discourse," from L. parabola "comparison" (see parable). The verb is 14c., probably a separate borrowing of O.Fr. parler.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:14 pm

quite
c.1330, adverbial form of M.E. quit, quite (adj.) "free, clear" (see quit). Originally "thoroughly;" the weaker sense of "fairly" is attested from mid-19c.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:18 am

rebec
"medieval stringed musical instrument," 1509, from Fr. rebec, an unexplained alteration of O.Fr. ribabe (perhaps somehow infl. by bec "beak"), ultimately from Arabic rebab (cf. O.Prov. rebec, It. ribeca). It has three strings and is played with a bow.

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:31 am

Sabine
"pertaining to a people in ancient Italy," 1387, from L. Sabinus (in poetic L. often Sabellus), connected by Tucker to root *sabh- "combine, gather, unite" (cf. Skt. sabha "gathering of village community," Rus. sebr "neighbor, friend," Goth. sibja, O.H.G. sippa "blood-relationship, peace, alliance," O.E. sibb "relationship, peace").

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:08 am

teasel
O.E. tÃ¦sel "large thistle used in teasing cloth," from P.Gmc. *taisilo (cf. O.H.G. zeisala), from root of O.E. tÃ¦san "to pluck"

BubbleGumTiger · Post by **BubbleGumTiger** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:56 am

undies
1906, diminutive euphemistic abbreviation for women's underwear