Online Etymology Dictionary

Choctaw: 1722, from Choctaw Chahta, of uncertain meaning, but also said to be from Spanish chato "flattened," for the tribe's custom of flattening the heads of male infants. As a figure skating step, first recorded 1892. Sometimes used in 19c. American English as typical of a difficult or incomprehensible language (compare Greek in this sense from c. 1600).
choice (n.): mid-14c., "that which is choice," from choice (adj.) blended with earlier chois (n.) "action of selecting" (c. 1300); "power of choosing" (early 14c.), "someone or something chosen" (late 14c.), from Old French chois "one's choice; fact of having a choice" (12c., Modern French choix), from verb choisir "to choose, distinguish, discern; recognize, perceive, see," from Frankish or some other Germanic source related to Old English ceosan "to choose, taste, try;" see choose. Late Old English chis "fastidious, choosy," from or related to ceosan, probably also contributed to the development of choice. Replaced Old English cyre "choice, free will," from the same base, probably because the imported word was closer to choose [see note in OED].
choice (adj.): "worthy to be chosen, distinguished, excellent," mid-14c., from choice (n.). Related: Choiceness.
choir (n.): c. 1300, queor "part of the church where the choir sings," from Old French cuer, quer "choir of a church (architectural); chorus of singers" (13c., Modern French choeur), from Latin chorus "choir" (see chorus). Meaning "band of singers" is c. 1400, quyre. Re-spelled mid-17c. on Latin model.
choir-boy (n.): also choir boy, 1769, from choir + boy. As a type of innocence, by 1885.
chokage (n.): 1847, from choke (n.) + -age.
choke (v.): c. 1300, transitive, "to strangle;" late 14c., "to make to suffocate," of persons as well as swallowed objects, a shortening of acheken (c. 1200), from Old English aceocian "to choke, suffocate" (with intensive a-), probably from root of ceoke "jaw, cheek" (see cheek (n.)).

Intransitive sense from c. 1400. Meaning "gasp for breath" is from early 15c. Figurative use from c. 1400, in early use often with reference to weeds stifling the growth of useful plants (a Biblical image). Meaning "to fail in the clutch" is attested by 1976, American English. Related: Choked; choking. Choke-cherry (1785) supposedly so called for its astringent qualities. Johnson also has choke-pear "Any aspersion or sarcasm, by which another person is put to silence." Choked up "overcome with emotion and unable to speak" is attested by 1896. The baseball batting sense is by 1907.
choke (n.): 1560s, "quinsy," from choke (v.). Meaning "action of choking" is from 1839. Meaning "valve which controls air to a carburetor" first recorded 1926.
choke-hold (n.): 1962, from choke + hold (n.).
choker (n.): 1550s, "one who chokes," agent noun from choke (v.). From 1848 as "large neckerchief;" as a kind of necklace, 1928.
cholecyst (n.): "gall bladder," 1846, from medical Latin cholecystis, incorrectly formed from Greek khole "gall" (see cholera) + kystis "bladder, cyst" (see cyst). Related: Cholecystectomy.
cholecystitis (n.): 1846, from cholecyst + -itis "inflammation."
choler (n.): late 14c., "bile," as one of the humors, supposed to cause irascibility or temper, from Old French colere "bile, anger," from Late Latin cholera "bile" (see cholera).
cholera (n.): late 14c., "bile, melancholy" (originally the same as choler), from Middle French cholera or directly from Late Latin cholera, from Greek kholera "a type of disease characterized by diarrhea, supposedly caused by choler" (Celsus), from khole "gall, bile," from khloazein "to be green," from khloros (see Chloe). But another sense of khole was "drainpipe, gutter."

Revived 1560s in classical sense as a name for a severe digestive disorder (rarely fatal to adults); and 1704 (especially as cholera morbus), for a highly lethal disease endemic in India, periodically breaking out in global epidemics, especially that reaching Britain and America in the early 1830s.
choleraic (adj.): "pertaining to cholera," 1832, from cholera + -ic.
choleric (adj.): mid-14c., colrik, "bilious of temperament or complexion," from Old French colerique, from Late Latin cholericus, from Greek kholerikos (see choler). Meaning "easily angered, hot-tempered" is from 1580s (from the supposed effect of excess choler); that of "pertaining to cholera" is from 1834.
cholesterol (n.): white, solid substance present in body tissues, 1894, earlier cholesterin, from French cholestrine (Chevreul, 1827), from Greek khole "bile" (see cholera) + steros "solid, stiff" (see sterility). So called because originally found in gallstones (Conradi, 1775). The name was changed to the modern form (with chemical suffix -ol, denoting an alcohol) after the compound was discovered to be a secondary alcohol.
cholinergic (adj.): 1934, from choline (coined in German, 1862, from Greek khole "bile;" see cholera) + Greek ergon "work" (see organ) + -ic.
Cholo: "Indian or mixed-race person of Latin America" (fem. Chola), 1851, from American Spanish (c. 1600), said to be from Nahuatl (Aztecan) xolotl "dog, mutt." Proposed derivation from Mexican city of Cholula seems too late, if this is the same word. In U.S., used of lower-class Mexican immigrants, but by 1970s the word began to be embraced in Latino gang slang in a positive sense.
chomp (v.): 1640s, dialectal and American English variant of champ (v.). Related: Chomped; chomping.
chondro-: word-forming element meaning "cartilage," from Latinized form of Greek khondros "cartilage" (of the breastbone), also "grain, grain of salt, seed, barley-grain," of uncertain origin. This is sometimes said to be from the PIE root meaning "to grind" which is the source of English grind (v.), but there are serious phonological objections and the word might be non-Indo-European [Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"]. The body material so called for its gristly nature.
choo-choo (n.): Child's name for "steam-engine locomotive," 1895, echoic (choo-choo cars is attested from 1891).
choose (v.): Old English ceosan "choose, seek out, select; decide, test, taste, try; accept, approve" (class II strong verb; past tense ceas, past participle coren), from Proto-Germanic *keus- (source also of Old Frisian kiasa, Old Saxon kiosan, Dutch kiezen, Old High German kiosan, German kiesen, Old Norse kjosa, Gothic kiusan "choose," Gothic kausjan "to taste, test"), from PIE root *geus- "to taste, relish" (see gusto). Only remotely related to choice. Variant spelling chuse is Middle English, very frequent 16c.-18c. The irregular past participle leveled out to chosen by 1200.
choosy (adj.): 1862, American English, from choose + -y (2). Also sometimes choosey. Related: Choosiness.
chop (v.1): "to cut with a quick blow," mid-14c., of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old North French choper (Old French coper "to cut, cut off," 12c., Modern French couper), from Vulgar Latin *cuppare "to behead," from a root meaning "head," but influenced in Old French by couper "to strike." Related: Chopped; chopping.
chop (v.2): "shift quickly," 1530s, earlier "to bargain" (early 15c.), ultimately from Old English ceapian "to bargain" (see cheap); here with a sense of "changing back and forth," probably from common expressions such as to chop and change "barter." To chop logic is recorded from 1570s. Related: Chopped; chopping.
chop (n.): "act of chopping," mid-14c., from chop (v.1). Meaning "piece cut off" is mid-15c.; specifically "slice of meat" from mid-17c. Sense of "a blow, strike" is from 1550s.
chop suey (n.): 1885, American English, from Chinese (Cantonese dialect) tsap sui "odds and ends, mixed bits."
chop-chop (adv.): "quickly," Pidgin English, from Chinese k'wa-k'wa (see chopstick).
CHOP. A Chinese word signifying quality; first introduced by mariners in the Chinese trade, but which has now become common in all our seaports. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
chop-house (n.): 1680s, "a mean house of entertainment, where provision ready dressed is sold" [Johnson], from chop (n.) in the "meat" sense + house (n.).
chopper (n.): 1550s, "one who chops," agent noun from chop (v.1). Meaning "meat cleaver" is by 1818. Meaning "helicopter" is from 1951, Korean War military slang (compare egg-beater); as a type of stripped-down motorcycle (originally preferred by Hells Angels) from 1965.
chopping (adj.): "large and thriving," 1560s, past participle adjective from chop (v.). Compare strapping, whopping in similar sense.
chopping. An epithet frequently applied to infants, by way of ludicrous commendation: imagined by Skinner to signify lusty, from cas Sax. by others to mean a child that would bring money at a market. Perhaps a greedy, hungry child, likely to live. [Johnson]
choppy (adj.): 1830 (of seas), from chop (v.2) + -y (2). Earlier in this sense was chopping (1630s).
chops (n.): "jaws, sides of the face," c. 1500, perhaps a variant of chaps (n.2) in the same sense, which is of unknown origin.
chopstick (n.): also chop-stick, 1690s, sailors' partial translation of Chinese k'wai tse, variously given as "fast ones" or "nimble boys," first element from pidgin English chop, from Cantonese kap "urgent." Chopsticks, the two-fingered piano exercise, is first attested 1893, probably from the resemblance of the fingers to chopsticks.
choral (adj.): 1580s, from Middle French choral or directly from Medieval Latin choralis "belonging to a chorus or choir," from Latin chorus (see chorus).
chorale (n.): 1828, "sacred choral song," from German Choral "metrical hymn in Reformed church," shortened from Choralgesang "choral song," translating Medieval Latin cantus choralis, from Latin cantus (see chant (v.)) + choralis (see choral). The -e was added to indicate stress. Meaning "group of singers" is 1942.
chord (n.1): "related notes in music," 1590s, ultimately a shortening of accord (or borrowed from a similar development in French) and influenced by Latin chorda "catgut, a string" of a musical instrument (see cord (n.)). Spelling with an -h- first recorded c. 1600, from confusion with chord (n.2). Originally two notes; of three or more from 18c.
chord (n.2): "structure in animals resembling a string," 1540s, alteration of cord (n.), by influence of Greek khorde "gut-string, string of a lyre, tripe," from PIE *ghere- "gut, entrail" (see yarn). The geometry sense is from 1550s; meaning "feeling, emotion" first attested 1784.
Chordata: 1880, Modern Latin, from Latin chorda "cord, string" (see cord (n.)) + ending from Vertebrata.
chordate: 1885, noun and adjective, from Chordata.
chore (n.): 1751, American English, variant of char, from Middle English cherre "odd job," from Old English cerr, cierr "turn, change, time, occasion, affair business."
Chore, a corruption of char, is an English word, still used in many parts of England, as a char-man, a char-woman; but in America, it is perhaps confined to New England. It signifies small domestic jobs of work, and its place cannot be supplied by any other single word in the language. [Noah Webster, "Dissertations on the English Language," 1789]
chorea (n.): 1806, from Modern Latin chorea Sancti Viti "St. Vitus dance" (originally a mass hysteria in 15c. Europe characterized by uncontrolled dancing); from Latin chorea "a dance," from Greek khoreia "dance" (see chorus). Extension to the nerve disorder is from 1620s.
choreograph (v.): 1943, American English, back-formation from choreography, or else from French choréographier (1827). Figurative sense from c. 1965. Related: choreographed.
choreographer (n.): 1829, from choreography + -er (1). Choreographist (1857) did not thrive. In Greek, a person who trained a chorus was a khorodidaskelikos.
choreography (n.): 1789, from French choréographie, coined from Latinized form of Greek khoreia "dance" (see chorus) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy). Related: Choreographic.
choreology (n.): "the study of dancing," 1964, from Latinized form of Greek khoreia "dance" (see chorus) + connective -o- + -logy.
choric (adj.): 1749, from Latin choricus, from Greek khorikos, from khoros (see chorus).
chorine (n.): "chorus girl," 1924, from chorus + fem. ending -ine.
chorion (n.): "outer membrane of the fetus," 1540s, medical Latin, from Greek khorion "membrane enclosing the fetus, afterbirth," perhaps from PIE *ghere- "gut, entrail" (see yarn).