Online Etymology Dictionary

full-blown (adj.): of flower blossoms, "fully open," 1640s, from full (adj.) + blown "that has blossomed," from Old English geblowenne, past participle of blow (v.2) "to bloom." Figuratively "complete, fully developed" from 1650s. Full-blown also was used 17c.-18c. in reference to cheeks, sails, bladders, "fully distended" (by or as if by wind), in this case from blow (v.1), and the figurative sense might also be from or influenced by these.
full-circle (adv.): 1873, from full (adj.) + circle (n.).
full-fledged (adj.): 1570s, literal; 1883 in figurative sense; see full (adj.) + fledged.
full-grown (adj.): 1660s, from full (adj.) + grown (adj.).
full-length (adj.): 1709, from adverbial phrase at full length; see full (adj.) + length.
full-time (adj.): also fulltime, 1895; full-timer is attested from 1855, in reference to students; see full (adj.) + time (n.).
fullback (n.): also full-back, 1882 in sports, from full (adj.) + back (n.).
fuller (n.): "one who fulls cloth," Old English fullere "fuller" (Mark ix:3), from Latin fullo "fuller" (see foil (v.)). The native word is walker. Fuller's earth (silicate of alumina) is recorded by 1520s; so called because it was used in cleansing cloth.
fulling (n.): early 15c. (in fulling mill), verbal noun from full (v.).
fullness (n.): mid-14c., "state of being sated or satisfied; wholeness, totality, completion" (translating Latin saturitas, plenitudo), from full (adj.) + -ness. There might have been an Old English *fulnes but it has not survived in texts. Earlier was fullhead (c. 1300), and Middle English also had fulth "fullness, abundance" (early 14c.). Fullness of time (c. 1400) is Biblical, from Paul's letters.
fully (adv.): Old English fullice "entirely; perfectly; completely;" see full (adj.) + -ly (2). Of similar formation are Dutch vollijk, German ööllig, Danish fuldelig.
fulminant (adj.): c. 1600, "fulminating, thundering," from French fulminant or directly from Latin fulminantem (nominative fulminans), present participle of fulminare "to hurl lightning" (see fulminate). As a noun from 1808.
fulminate (v.): early 15c., "publish a 'thundering' denunciation; hurl condemnation (at an offender)," a figurative use, from Latin fulminatus, past participle of fulminare "hurl lightning, lighten," figuratively "to thunder," from fulmen (genitive fulminis) "lightning flash," related to fulgor "lightning," fulgere "to shine, flash," from PIE *bhleg- "to shine, flash," from root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach (v.)). Metaphoric sense (the oldest in English) in reference to formal condemnation is from Medieval Latin fulminare, used of formal ecclesiastical censures. Related: Fulminated; fulminating.
fulmination (n.): c. 1500, "act of thundering forth denunciations," from Middle French fulmination, from Latin fulminationem (nominative fulminatio) "a discharge of lightning," noun of action from past participle stem of fulminare "to hurl lightning" (see fulminate). Literal sense "act of exploding or detonating" (1620s) is rare in English.
fulness (n.): see fullness.
fulsome (adj.): mid-13c., "abundant, plentiful," Middle English compound of ful "full" (see full (adj.)) + -som "to a considerable degree" (see -some (1)). Perhaps a case of ironic understatement. Sense extended to "plump, well-fed" (mid-14c.), then "arousing disgust" (similar to the feeling of having over-eaten), late 14c. Via the sense of "causing nausea" it came to be used of language, "offensive to taste or good manners" (early 15c.); especially "excessively flattering" (1660s). Since the 1960s, however, it commonly has been used in its original, favorable sense, especially in fulsome praise. Related: Fulsomely; fulsomeness.
fumble (v.): mid-15c., "handle clumsily," possibly from Old Norse falma "to fumble, grope." Similar words in Scandinavian and North Sea Germanic (Swedish fumla; Dutch fommelen) suggest onomatopoeia from a sound felt to indicate clumsiness (compare bumble, stumble, and obsolete English famble, fimble of roughly the same meaning). Intransitive sense "do or seek awkwardly" is from 1530s. Sense in football is from 1889. Related: Fumbled; fumbling.
fumble (n.): 1640s, from fumble (v.).
fumbling (adj.): 1530s, present-participle adjective from fumble (v.). Related: Fumblingly.
fume (n.): late 14c., "vapor, odorous vapor; exhalation," from Old French fum "smoke, steam, vapor, breath, aroma, scent" (12c.), from Latin fumus "smoke, steam, fume, old flavor" (source also of Italian fumo, Spanish humo), from PIE *dheu- (1) "dust, vapor, smoke; to rise in a cloud, to fly about (like dust)" (source also of Sanskrit dhumah, Old Church Slavonic dymu, Lithuanian dumai, Old Prussian dumis "smoke," Middle Irish dumacha "fog," Greek thymos "spirit, mind, soul"). In medieval physiology, an "exhalation" of the body that produces emotions, dreams, sloth, etc; later especially of smokes or vapors that go to the head and affect the senses with a narcotic or stifling quality.
fume (v.): c. 1400, "to fumigate" (transitive), from Old French fumer "to smoke, burn" (12c.), from Latin fumare "to smoke, steam," from fumus "smoke, steam, fume" (see fume (n.)). Intransitive meaning "throw off smoke, emit vapor" is from 1530s; the figurative sense "show anger, be irritated" is slightly earlier (1520s). Related: Fumed; fumes; fuming.
fumigate (v.): 1520s, "scent with perfumes," back-formation from fumigation. The older verb was simply fume (c. 1400). Meaning "apply smoke or fumes to," especially for cleansing purposes, is from 1781. Related: Fumigated; fumigating; fumigatory.
fumigation (n.): late 14c., "action of making aromatic smoke as part of a ceremony," from Latin fumigationem (nominative fumigatio) "a smoking," noun of action from past participle stem of fumigare "to smoke," from fumus "smoke, fume" (see fume (n.)) + root of agere "to drive" (see act (n.)). Sense of "exposure (of someone or something) to aromatic fumes" is c. 1400, originally as a medicinal or therapeutic treatment.
fuming (adj.): 1570s," emitting fumes;" 1580s, "raging, angry," present participle adjective from fume (v.). Earlier were fumish (1510s); fumous (late 14c., from Latin fumosus).
fun (n.): "diversion, amusement, mirthful sport," 1727, earlier "a cheat, trick" (c. 1700), from verb fun (1680s) "to cheat, hoax," which is of uncertain origin, probably a variant of Middle English fonnen "befool" (c. 1400; see fond). Scantly recorded in 18c. and stigmatized by Johnson as "a low cant word." Older senses are preserved in phrase to make fun of (1737) and funny money "counterfeit bills" (1938, though this use of the word may be more for the sake of the rhyme). See also funny. Fun and games "mirthful carryings-on" is from 1906.
fun (v.): 1680s, "to cheat;" 1833 "to make fun, jest, joke," from fun (n.). Related: Funning.
fun (adj.): mid-15c., "foolish, silly;" 1846, "enjoyable," from fun (n.).
fun-loving (adj.): 1775, from fun (n.) + loving (adj.).
funambulist (n.): "tightrope-walker," 1793, coined from Latin funis "a rope, line, cord," + ambulare "to walk" (see amble (v.)). Earlier was funambulant (1660s), funambule (1690s from Latin funambulus, the classical name for a performer of this ancient type of public entertainment), and pseudo-Italian funambulo (c. 1600). Related: Funambulate; funambulation; funambulatory.
function (n.): 1530s, "one's proper work or purpose; power of acting in a specific proper way," from Middle French fonction (16c.) and directly from Latin functionem (nominative functio) "a performance, an execution," noun of action from funct-, past participle stem of fungi "perform, execute, discharge," from PIE root *bheug- (2) "to use, enjoy" (see brook (v.)). Meaning "official ceremony" is from 1630s, originally in church use. Use in mathematics probably was begun by Leibnitz (1692). In reference to computer operations, 1947.
function (v.): 1844, "perform a function" (intransitive), from function (n.). Related: Functioned; functioning.
functional (adj.): 1630s, "pertaining to function or office," from function (n.) + -al (1), or from Medieval Latin functionalis. Meaning "utilitarian" is by 1864; specific use in architecture is from 1928. Related: Functionally; functionality.
functionalism (n.): 1892, "functionality;" 1902 as a term in social sciences; from functional + -ism. In architecture from 1930. Related: functionalist.
functionary (n.): "one who has a certain function, one who holds an office," 1791, from or patterned on French fonctionnaire, a word of the Revolution; from fonction (see function (n.)). As an adjective in English from 1822, "functional." Related: Functionarism.
functionless (n.): 1836, from function (n.) + -less.
fund (n.): 1670s, "a bottom, the bottom; foundation, groundwork," from French fond "a bottom, floor, ground" (12c.), also "a merchant's basic stock or capital," from Latin fundus "bottom, foundation, piece of land," from PIE root *bhudh- "bottom, base" (source also of Sanskrit budhnah, Greek pythmen "foundation, bottom," Old English botm "lowest part;" see bottom (n.)). Meaning "stock of money or wealth available for some purpose" is from 1690s; sense of "store of anything to be drawn upon" is from 1704. Funds "money at one's disposal" is from 1728.
fund (v.): 1776, "convert (a debt) into capital or stock represented by interest-bearing bonds," from fund (n.). Meaning "supply (someone or something) with money, to finance" is from 1900.
fund-raiser (n.): also fundraiser, 1957, from fund (n.) + raise (v.).
fundament (n.): late 13c., "foundation, base; buttocks, anus," from Old French fondement "foundation, bottom; land, estate; anus" (12c.), from Latin fundamentum "a foundation, ground-work; support; beginning," from fundare "to found" (see bottom (n.)). So called because it is where one sits.
fundamental (adj.): mid-15c., "primary, original, pertaining to a foundation," modeled on Late Latin fundamentalis "of the foundation," from Latin fundamentum "foundation" (see fundament). In music (1732) it refers to the lowest note of a chord. Fundamentals (n.) "primary principles or rules" of anything is from 1630s.
fundamentalism (n.): 1920 in the religious sense; see fundamentalist + -ism.
fundamentalist (adj.): 1920 in the religious sense, from fundamental + -ist. Coined in American English to name a movement among Protestants c. 1920-25 based on scriptural inerrancy, etc., and associated with William Jennings Bryan, among others. The original notion might have been of "fundamental truths."
Fundamentalism is a protest against that rationalistic interpretation of Christianity which seeks to discredit supernaturalism. This rationalism, when full grown, scorns the miracles of the Old Testament, sets aside the virgin birth of our Lord as a thing unbelievable, laughs at the credulity of those who accept many of the New Testament miracles, reduces the resurrection of our Lord to the fact that death did not end his existence, and sweeps away the promises of his second coming as an idle dream. It matters not by what name these modernists are known. The simple fact is that, in robbing Christianity of its supernatural content, they are undermining the very foundations of our holy religion. They boast that they are strengthening the foundations and making Christianity more rational and more acceptable to thoughtful people. Christianity is rooted and grounded in supernaturalism, and when robbed of supernaturalism it ceases to be a religion and becomes an exalted system of ethics. [Curtis Lee Laws, "Herald & Presbyter," July 19, 1922]
Fundamentalist is said (by George McCready Price) to have been first used in print by Curtis Lee Laws (1868-1946), editor of "The Watchman Examiner," a Baptist newspaper. The movement may have roots in the Presbyterian General Assembly of 1910, which drew up a list of five defining qualities of "true believers" which other evangelicals published in a mass-circulation series of books called "The Fundamentals." A World's Christian Fundamentals Association was founded in 1918. The words reached widespread use in the wake of the contentious Northern Baptist Convention of 1922 in Indianapolis. In denominational use, fundamentalist was opposed to modernist. Applied to other religions since 1956 (earliest extension is to the Muslim Brotherhood).
A new word has been coined into our vocabulary -- two new words -- 'Fundamentalist' and 'Fundamentalism.' They are not in the dictionaries as yet -- unless in the very latest editions. But they are on everyone's tongue. [Address Delivered at the Opening of the Seminary, Sept. 20, 1922, by Professor Harry Lathrop Reed, "Auburn Seminary Record"]
fundamentally (adv.): c. 1600, from fundamental + -ly (2).
funded (adj.): 1776, "existing in the form of interest-bearing bonds," past participle adjective from fund (v.).
funding (n.): 1776, verbal noun from fund (v.).
fundus (n.): "bottom, depths; base of an organ," 1754, from Latin fundus "bottom" (see fund (n.)). In any general use it probably is extended from specific senses in anatomy.
funebrial (adj.): c. 1600, with -al (1) + Latin funebris "of or pertaining to a funeral," from funer-, stem of funus "a funeral" (see funeral (adj.)).
funeral (n.): "ceremony of burying a dead person," 1510s, probably short for funeral service, etc., from funeral (adj.).
funeral (adj.): late 14c., "pertaining to the burial of the dead," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin funeralia "funeral rites," originally neuter plural of Late Latin funeralis "having to do with a funeral," from Latin funus (genitive funeris) "funeral, funeral procession, burial rites; death, corpse," a word of uncertain origin, perhaps ultimately from PIE root *dheu- (3) "to die." Singular and plural used interchangeably in English until c. 1700. In Elizabethan times also a verb, "to mourn" (transitive). The classical Latin adjective was funebris.
funerary (adj.): "pertaining to funerals or burials," 1690s, from Late Latin funerarius, from funer-, stem of funus "a funeral" (see funeral (adj.)).