Online Etymology Dictionary

attribute (v.): late 14c., "assign, bestow," from Latin attributus, past participle of attribuere "assign to, add, bestow;" figuratively "to attribute, ascribe, impute," from ad- "to" + tribuere "assign, give, bestow" (see tribute). Related: Attributed; attributing.
attribute (n.): "quality ascribed to someone," late 14c., from Latin attributum "anything attributed," noun use of neuter of attributus (see attribute (v.)). Distinguished from the verb by pronunciation.
attributes (n.): "qualities belonging to someone or something," c. 1600; see attribute (n.).
attribution (n.): late 15c., "action of bestowing or assigning," from Middle French attribution (14c.), from Latin attributionem (nominative attributio) "an assignment, attribution," noun of action from past participle stem of attribuere (see attribute). Meaning "thing attributed" is recorded from 1580s.
attributive (adj.): c. 1600, from French attributif, from stem of Latin attributus (see attribute (v.)). As a noun, in grammar, from 1750. Related: Attributively; attributiveness.
attrit (v.): 1956, U.S. Air Force back-formation from attrition which attained currency during the Vietnam War. (A 17c. attempt at a verb produced attrite). Related: Attrited; attriting.
attrite (adj.): "worn down," 1620s, from Latin attritus, past participle of atterere (see attrition).
attrition (n.): 1540s, "abrasion, a scraping," from Latin attritionem (nominative attritio), literally "a rubbing against," noun of action from past participle stem of atterere "to wear, rub away," figuratively "to destroy, waste," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + terere "to rub" (see throw (v.)). The earliest sense in English is from Scholastic theology (late 14c.), "sorrow for sin merely out of fear of punishment," a minor irritation, and thus less than contrition. The sense of "wearing down of military strength" is a World War I coinage (1914). Figurative use by 1930.
attune (v.): 1590s, from tune (v.), "probably suggested by ATONE" [OED]. Related: Attuned; attuning.
attunement (n.): "a bringing into harmony," 1820, from attune + -ment.
ATV (n.): acronym of all-terrain vehicle, 1969.
atween (adv.): c. 1400, from a- (1) + tween.
atwitter (adv.): 1833, from a- (1) + twitter.
atypical (adj.): 1847, from a- (2) "not" + typical. Related: Atypically.
Au: chemical symbol for "gold," from Latin aurum "gold" (see aureate).
au: French, "at the, to the," from Old French al, contraction of a le, with -l- softened to -u-, as also poudre from pulverem, chaud from calidus, etc. Used in many expressions in cookery, etc., which have crossed the Channel since 18c., such as au contraire, literally "on the contrary;" au gratin, literally "with scrapings;" au jus, literally "with the juice."
au courant (adj.): "aware of current events," 1762, French, literally "with the current" (see current (n.)).
au fait (adj.): 1743, French, "to the point, to the matter under discussion," literally "to the fact," from fait "fact" (see feat). Used in French with sense of "acquainted with the facts."
au naturel (adj.): 1817, French, literally "in the natural state;" originally meaning "uncooked," but used euphemistically for "undressed." See natural (adj.).
au pair (n.): 1897 of the arrangement, 1960 of the girl; French, literally "on an equal footing" (see pair (n.)).
au revoir: 1690s, French, literally "to the seeing again." From revoir (12c.), from Latin revidere.
aubade (n.): "musical announcement of dawn," from French aubade (15c.), from Provençal aubada, from auba "dawn," from Latin alba, fem. of albus "white" (see alb).
aubain (n.): 1727, from French aubaine (12c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Medieval Latin Albanus, but the sense is obscure. Klein suggests Frankish *alibanus, literally "belonging to another ban." A right of French kings, whereby they claimed the property of every non-naturalized stranger who died in their realm. Abolished 1819.
aubergine (n.): "eggplant," 1794, from French aubergine, "fruit of the eggplant" (Solanum esculentum), diminutive of auberge "a kind of peach," variant of alberge, from Spanish alberchigo "apricot" [OED]. Klein derives the French word from Catalan alberginera, from Arabic al-badinjan "the eggplant," from Persian badin-gan, from Sanskrit vatigagama. As a color like that of the eggplant fruit, it is attested from 1895.
Aubrey: masc. personal name, from Old French Auberi, from Old High German Alberich "ruler of elves," or *Alb(e)rada "elf-counsel" (fem.). In U.S., it began to be used as a girl's name c. 1973 and was among the top 100 given names for girls born 2006-2008, eclipsing its use for boys, which faded in proportion.
auburn (n.): early 15c., from Old French auborne, from Medieval Latin alburnus "off-white, whitish," from Latin albus "white" (see alb). It came to English meaning "yellowish-white, flaxen," but shifted 16c. to "reddish-brown" under influence of Middle English brun "brown," which also changed the spelling.
auction (n.): "a sale by increase of bids," 1590s, from Latin auctionem (nominative auctio) "an increasing sale, auction, public sale," noun of action from past participle stem of augere "to increase," from PIE root *aug- (1) "to increase" (see augment). In northern England and Scotland, called a roup. In the U.S., something is sold at auction; in England, by auction.
auction (v.): 1807, from auction (n.). Related: Auctioned; auctioning.
auctioneer: 1708 as a noun; 1733 as a verb; see auction + -eer.
audacious (adj.): 1540s, "confident, intrepid," from Middle French audacieux, from audace "boldness," from Latin audacia "daring, boldness, courage," from audax "brave, bold, daring," but more often "bold" in a bad sense, "audacious, rash, foolhardy," from audere "to dare, be bold." Bad sense of "shameless" is attested from 1590s in English. Related: Audaciously.
audacity (n.): mid-15c., from Medieval Latin audacitas "boldness," from Latin audacis genitive of audax (see audacious).
audible (adj.): 1520s, from Middle French audible and directly from Late Latin audibilis, from Latin audire "to hear" (see audience). Related: Audibly.
audience (n.): late 14c., "the action of hearing," from Old French audience, from Latin audentia "a hearing, listening," from audientum (nominative audiens), present participle of audire "to hear," from PIE compound *au-dh- "to perceive physically, grasp," from root *au- "to perceive" (source also of Greek aisthanesthai "to feel;" Sanskrit avih, Avestan avish "openly, evidently;" Old Church Slavonic javiti "to reveal"). Meaning "formal hearing or reception" is from late 14c.; that of "persons within hearing range, assembly of listeners" is from early 15c. (French audience retains only the older senses). Sense transferred 1855 to "readers of a book." Audience-participation (adj.) first recorded 1940.
audio (n.): "sound," especially recorded or transmitted, 1934, abstracted from prefix audio- (in audio-frequency, 1919, etc.), from Latin audire "hear" (see audience).
audio-: word-forming element meaning "sound, hearing," from comb. form of Latin audire "to hear" (see audience); first used in English as a word-formation element 1913.
audiology (n.): science of hearing and treatment of deafness, 1946, from audio- + -ology. Related: Audiologist.
audiophile (n.): 1951, originally in "High Fidelity" magazine, from audio- + -phile.
audiotape (n.): 1957, from audio- + tape (n.).
audiovisual (adj.): also audio-visual, 1937, from audio- + visual.
audit (n.): early 15c., from Latin auditus "a hearing," past participle of audire "hear" (see audience). Official examination of accounts, which originally was an oral procedure.
audit (v.): mid-15c., from audit (n.). Related: Audited; auditing.
audition (n.): 1590s, "power of hearing," from Middle French audicion "hearing (in a court of law)," from Latin auditionem (nominative auditio) "a hearing, listening to," noun of action from past participle stem of audire "hear" (see audience). Meaning "trial for a performer" first recorded 1881.
audition (v.): "to try out for a performance part," 1935, from audition (n.). Transitive sense by 1944. Related: Auditioned; auditioning.
auditor (n.): early 14c., "official who receives and examines accounts;" late 14c., "a listener," from Anglo-French auditour (Old French oieor "listener, court clerk," 13c.; Modern French auditeur), from Latin auditor "a hearer," from auditus, past participle of audire "to hear" (see audience). Meaning "receiver and examiner of accounts" is because this process formerly was done, and vouched for, orally.
auditorium (n.): 1727, from Latin auditorium "lecture room," literally "place where something is heard," noun use of neuter of auditorius (adj.) "of or for hearing," from auditus, past participle of audire "to hear" (see audience); also see -ory. Earlier in English in the same sense was auditory (late 14c.).
auditory (adj.): 1570s, from Latin auditorius "pertaining to hearing," from auditor "hearer" (see auditor).
Audrey: fem. proper name, contracted from Etheldreda, a Latinized form of Old English Æðelðryð, literally "noble might," from æðele "noble" (see atheling) + ðryð "strength, might."
Audubon: with reference to birds or pictures of them, from U.S. naturalist John James Audubon (1785-1851).
Aufklarung (n.): 1801, from German Aufklärung (18c.), literally "Enlightenment," from aufklären "to enlighten" (17c.), from auf "up" + klären "to clear," from Latin clarus (see clear (adj.)).
Augean (adj.): "filthy," 1590s, in reference to Augean stable, the cleansing of which was one of the labors of Herakles, from Greek Augeias, like the stable of Augeas, king of Elis, which contained 3,000 oxen and had gone uncleansed for 30 years. Herakles purified it in one day by turning the river Alpheus through it.