Online Etymology Dictionary

ever (adv.): Old English æfre "ever, at any time, always;" of uncertain origin, no cognates in any other Germanic language; perhaps a contraction of a in feore, literally "ever in life" (the expression a to fore is common in Old English writings). First element is almost certainly related to Old English a "always, ever," from Proto-Germanic *aiwo, from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity" (see eon). Liberman suggests second element is comparative adjectival suffix -re.

Sometimes contracted to e'er in dialect and poetry. Ever began to be used in late Old English as a way to generalize or intensify when, what, where, etc. The sense evolution was from "at any time at all, in any way" to "at any particular time; at some time or another; under any circumstances." Ever so "to whatever extent" is recorded by 1680s. Expression did you ever? (implying "see/do/hear of such a thing") attested by 1840.
ever-living (adj.): 1540s, from ever + living (adj.).
ever-loving (adj.): 1730, from ever + loving. As a mere intensifier from 1930s.
Everest (n.): mountain between Nepal and Tibet, named 1865 for Sir George Everest (1790-1866), surveyor-general of India. The Tibetan name is Chomolangma "mother goddess of the world." Everest's surname is said in name-books to be a variant of Devereux, a Norman name, from Evereux/Evreux in France, which from a Celtic tribal name (Latin Eburovices) based on the Ebura (modern Eure) river.
Everglades (n.): 1826, from everglade (1823), from ever, apparently in sense of "endless" + glade. Charles Vignoles's "Observations upon the Floridas" (1823) has Eternal Glades and Ever Glade morass.
The distance from the mouth of Hilsborough river to the head of the lake, in a direct line, is about 110 statute miles. The country between them is mostly, if not wholly, an everglade, by which is meant a low marsh frequently covered with water, and in which there grows a sharp triangular grass, from ten to twelve feet high, and impervious to men or animals. ["American Mechanics' Magazine," 1825]
evergreen (n.): 1640s in reference to trees and shrubs, from ever + green (adj.). From 1660s as an adjective; figurative sense from 1871.
everlasting: early 13c., "eternal" (adj.); "eternally" (adv.); "eternity" (n.); from ever + lasting. Colloquially in mid-19c. U.S., "very, exceedingly." A verb, everlast, "to endure forever," is recorded late 14c. Related: Everlastingly.
evermore (adv.): c. 1300 as one word, "at all times; all the time; forever, eternally;" see ever + more. Replacing evermo (13c.), from Old English æfre ma.
evert (v.): 1530s, from Latin evertere "turn out, turn over, overthrow," from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + vertere "to turn" (see versus). Related: Everted; everting.
every (adj.): early 13c., contraction of Old English æfre ælc "each of a group," literally "ever each" (Chaucer's everich), from each with ever added for emphasis. The word still is felt to want emphasis; as in Modern English every last ..., every single ..., etc.

Also a pronoun to Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spenser. Compare everybody, everything, etc. The word everywhen is attested from 1843 but never caught on; neither did everyhow (1837). Slang phrase every Tom, Dick, and Harry "every man, everyone" dates from at least 1734, from common English given names.
everybody (n.): late 14c., from every + body (n.) in obsolete sense of "person."
everyday (adj.): 1630s, "worn on ordinary days," as opposed to Sundays or high days, from noun meaning "a week day" (late 14c.), from every (adj.) + day (n.). Extended sense of "to be met with every day, common" is from 1763.
everyman (n.): name of the leading character in a popular 15c. morality play; from every + man (n.).
everyone (n.): c. 1200, from every + one.
everything (n.): late 14c., from every + thing.
everywhere (adv.): c. 1200, eauerihwer, contracted from Old English æfre gehwær; see ever (adv.) + where. Not from every; the -i- in the word apparently was a prefix; compare handiwork.
Evian: in reference to mineral water, 1857, from the town of Évian-les-Bains on the shore of Lake Geneva in eastern France. The place is recorded from 8c. as Laquatico, from Latin aqua "water."
evict (v.): mid-15c., "recover (property) by judicial means," from Latin evictus, past participle of evincere "overcome and expel, conquer, subdue, vanquish; prevail over; supplant," from assimilated form of ex- "out," or perhaps here merely intensive (see ex-) + vincere "conquer" (see victor). Sense of "expel by legal process" first recorded in English 1530s, from a post-classical sense of the Latin word. Related: Evicted; evicting. Compare evince.
eviction (n.): mid-15c., from Middle French éviction, from Late Latin evictionem (nominative evictio) "recovery of one's property (by judicial decision)," noun of action from past participle stem of evincere, literally "overcome, conquer" (see evict).
evidence (n.): c. 1300, "appearance from which inferences may be drawn," from Old French evidence, from Late Latin evidentia "proof," in classical Latin "distinction, vivid presentation, clearness" in rhetoric, from stem of Latin evidens "obvious, apparent" (see evident).

Meaning "ground for belief" is from late 14c.; that of "obviousness" is from 1660s and tacks closely to the sense of evident. Legal senses are from c. 1500, when it began to oust witness. Also "one who furnishes testimony, witness" (1590s); hence turn (State's) evidence.
evidence (v.): "show clearly, prove, give evidence of," c. 1600, from evidence (n.). Related: Evidenced; evidencing.
evident (adj.): late 14c., from Old French evident and directly from Latin evidentem (nominative evidens) "perceptible, clear, obvious, apparent" from ex- "fully, out of" (see ex-) + videntem (nominative videns), present participle of videre "to see" (see vision).
evidently (adv.): late 14c., from evident + -ly (2).
evil (adj.): Old English yfel (Kentish evel) "bad, vicious, ill, wicked," from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz (source also of Old Saxon ubil, Old Frisian and Middle Dutch evel, Dutch euvel, Old High German ubil, German übel, Gothic ubils), from PIE *upelo-, from root *wap- "bad, evil" (source also of Hittite huwapp- "evil").

In Old English and other older Germanic languages other than Scandinavian, "this word is the most comprehensive adjectival expression of disapproval, dislike or disparagement" [OED]. Evil was the word the Anglo-Saxons used where we would use bad, cruel, unskillful, defective (adj.), or harm (n.), crime, misfortune, disease (n.). In Middle English, bad took the wider range of senses and evil began to focus on moral badness. Both words have good as their opposite. Evil-favored (1520s) meant "ugly." Evilchild is attested as an English surname from 13c.

The adverb is Old English yfele, originally of words or speech. Also as a noun in Old English, "what is bad; sin, wickedness; anything that causes injury, morally or physically." Especially of a malady or disease from c. 1200. The meaning "extreme moral wickedness" was one of the senses of the Old English noun, but it did not become established as the main sense of the modern word until 18c. As a noun, Middle English also had evilty. Related: Evilly. Evil eye (Latin oculus malus) was Old English eage yfel. The jocular notion of an evil twin as an excuse for regrettable deeds is by 1986, American English, from an old motif in mythology.
evil (n.): Old English yfel (see evil (adj.)).
evildoer (n.): also evil-doer, late 14c., from evil (n.) + doer.
evince (v.): c. 1600, "disprove, confute," from French évincer "disprove, confute," from Latin evincere "conquer, overcome subdue, vanquish, prevail over; elicit by argument, prove," from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + vincere "overcome" (see victor). Meaning "show clearly" is late 18c. Not clearly distinguished from its doublet, evict, until 18c. Related: Evinced; evinces; evincing; evincible.
eviscerate (v.): c. 1600 (figurative); 1620s (literal), from Latin evisceratus, past participle of eviscerare "to disembowel," from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + viscera "internal organs" (see viscera). Sometimes used 17c. in a figurative sense of "to bring out the deepest secrets of." Related: Eviscerated; eviscerating.
evisceration (n.): 1620s, noun of action from eviscerate.
evitable (adj.): c. 1500, from Latin evitabilis "avoidable," from evitare "to shun, avoid" (see inevitable). In modern use, likely a back-formation from inevitable.
evocation (n.): 1570s, from Latin evocationem (nominative evocatio) "a calling forth, a calling from concealment," noun of action from past participle stem of evocare "call out, summon; call forth, rouse, appeal to," from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + vocare "to call" (see voice (n.)).

Evocatio was used of the Roman custom of petitioning the gods of an enemy city to abandon it and come to Rome; it also was used to translate the Platonic Greek anamnesis "a calling up of knowledge acquired in a previous state of existence."
evocative (adj.): 1650s, "tending to call forth," from Late Latin evocativus "pertaining to summoning," from Latin evocatus, past participle of evocare "call out; rouse, summon" (see evocation).
evoke (v.): 1620s, from French évoquer or directly from Latin evocare "call out, rouse, summon" (see evocation). Often more or less with a sense of "calling spirits," or being called by them. Of feelings, memories, etc., by 1856. Related: Evoked; evokes; evoking.
evolution (n.): 1620s, "an opening of what was rolled up," from Latin evolutionem (nominative evolutio) "unrolling (of a book)," noun of action from past participle stem of evolvere "to unroll" (see evolve).

Used in medicine, mathematics, and general writing in various senses including "growth to maturity and development of an individual living thing" (1660s). Modern use in biology, of species, first attested 1832 in works of Scottish geologist Charles Lyell. Charles Darwin used the word in print once only, in the closing paragraph of "The Origin of Species" (1859), and preferred descent with modification, in part because evolution already had been used in the discarded 18c. homunculus theory of embryological development (first proposed under this name by Bonnet, 1762) and in part because it carried a sense of "progress" not present in Darwin's idea. But Victorian belief in progress prevailed (and the advantages of brevity), and Herbert Spencer and other biologists after Darwin popularized evolution.
evolutionary (adj.): 1810, from evolution + -ary.
evolutionist (n.): 1859, "one who accepts as true the biological theory of evolution," from evolution + -ist. Related: Evolutionism.
evolve (v.): 1640s, "to unfold, open out, expand," from Latin evolvere "to unroll, roll out, roll forth, unfold," especially of books; figuratively "to make clear, disclose; to produce, develop," from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + volvere "to roll" (see volvox). Meaning "to develop by natural processes to a higher state" is from 1832. Related: Evolved; evolving.
ewe (n.): Old English eowu "female sheep," fem. of eow "sheep," from Proto-Germanic *awi, genitive *awjoz (source also of Old Saxon ewi, Old Frisian ei, Middle Dutch ooge, Dutch ooi, Old High German ouwi "sheep," Gothic aweþi "flock of sheep"), from PIE *owi- "sheep" (source also of Sanskrit avih, Greek ois, Latin ovis, Lithuanian avis "sheep," Old Church Slavonic ovica "ewe," Old Irish oi "sheep," Welsh ewig "hind").
Ewen: see Owen.
ewer (n.): "water pitcher with a wide spout," early 14c., from Anglo-French *ewiere, Old French eviere "water pitcher," parallel form of aiguiere (Modern French aiguière), from fem. of Latin aquarius "of or for water," as a noun, "water-carrier" (see aquarium).
ewigkeit (n.): 1877, from German, literally "eternity," from ewig "everlasting" (see eon).
ex (n.): 1827, originally short for ex-Catholic; see ex-. Since 1929 as abbreviation for ex-wife, ex-husband, etc. Also used in some commercial compound words for "from, out of."
ex cathedra: Latin, literally "from the (teacher's) chair," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + cathedra (see cathedral).
ex libris: Latin, literally "out of the books (of)," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + ablative plural of liber "book" (see library). Hence, ex-librist (1880).
ex nihilo: Latin, literally "out of nothing," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + nihilo, ablative of nihil "nothing" (see nil).
ex officio: Latin, "in discharge of one's duties," literally "out of duty," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + officio, ablative of officium "duty" (see office).
ex parte: Latin legal term, "on the one side only," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + parte, ablative of pars "part, side" (see part (n.)).
ex post facto: from Medieval Latin ex postfacto, "from what is done afterwards." From facto, ablative of factum "deed, act" (see fact). Also see ex-, post-.
ex-: word-forming element, in English meaning usually "out of, from," but also "upwards, completely, deprive of, without," and "former;" from Latin ex "out of, from within," from PIE *eghs "out" (source also of Gaulish ex-, Old Irish ess-, Old Church Slavonic izu, Russian iz). In some cases also from Greek cognate ex, ek. PIE *eghs had comparative form *eks-tero and superlative *eks-t(e)r-emo-. Often reduced to e- before -b-, -d-, -g-, consonantal -i-, -l-, -m-, -n-, -v- (as in elude, emerge, evaporate, etc.).
exacerbate (v.): 1650s, a back-formation from exacerbation or else from Latin exacerbatus, past participle of exacerbare "irritate, provoke." Related: Exacerbated; exacerbating.