Online Etymology Dictionary

grizzled (adj.): "gray in color," late 14c., griseld, a past participle adjective formation from the noun grizzle "gray-haired old man" (early 14c. as a surname, Grissel); see grizzle (adj.). Or else from Old French grisel "gray," diminutive of gris "gray," from a Frankish or other Germanic source (such as Old High German gris "gray;" see gray (adj.). The -zz- spelling is early 15c. As a verb, grizzle "to grow gray; to make gray" is not attested before 18c.
grizzly (adj.): "somewhat gray," 1590s, from grizzle "gray-colored" + -y (1). Also see grizzled. Grizzly bear (ursus horribilis) for the large ferocious bear of the western U.S., is recorded by 1806; sometimes said to belong rather to grisly (q.v.), but either adjective suits it.
groan (v.): Old English granian "to utter a deep, low-toned breath expressive of grief or pain; to murmur; to lament," from Proto-Germanic *grain- (source also of Old Norse grenja "to howl"), of imitative origin, or related to grin (v.). Meaning "complain" is from early 13c., especially in Middle English phrase grutchen and gronen. As an expression of disapproval, by 1799. Related: Groaned; groaning.
groan (n.): late 14c., from groan (v); earlier grane (early 14c.).
groaner (n.): "one who complains," early 15c., agent noun from groan (v).
groaning (n.): Old English granung "groaning, lamentation," verbal noun from groan (v.). From 16c. to 19c., and in dialect, also "a woman's lying-in."
groat (n.): medieval European coin, late 14c., probably from Middle Dutch groot, elliptical use of the adjective meaning "great, big" (in this case, "thick"), from the name of some large coin (for example the Bremen grote sware, and compare Medieval Latin grossi denarii in reference to a Prague coin) to distinguish it from smaller coins of the same name. Cognate with English great (adj.). Recognized from 13c. in various nations. The original English groat coined of 1351-2 was worth four pence; it was discontinued in 1622. Also see groschen.
groats (n.): "hulled grain coarsely ground or crushed; oatmeal," early 14c., from grot "piece, fragment," from Old English grot "particle," from same root as grit (n.). The word also meant "excrement in pellets" (mid-15c.).
grocer (n.): early 15c. (mid-13c. as a surname), "wholesale dealer, one who buys and sells in gross," corrupted spelling of Anglo-French grosser, Old French grossier, from Medieval Latin grossarius "wholesaler," literally "dealer in quantity" (source also of Spanish grosero, Italian grosseiro), from Late Latin grossus "coarse (of food), great, gross" (see gross (adj.)). Sense of "a merchant selling individual items of food" is 16c.; in Middle English this was a spicer.
groceries (n.): plural of grocery (q.v.).
grocery (n.): mid-15c., "goods sold by a grocer;" earlier the name of the Grocer's Hall in London (early 15c.), from Old French grosserie, from grossier "wholesale merchant" (see grocer). Meaning "a grocer's shop" is by 1803, especially in American English, where its use in that sense restricted the "goods sold by a grocer" meaning to the plural, groceries, by mid-19c.
GROCERY. A grocer's shop. This word is not in the English dictionaries except in the sense of grocer's ware, such as tea, sugar, spice, etc.; in which sense we also use it in the plural. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1859]
Self-service groceries were a novelty in 1913 when a Montana, U.S., firm copyrighted the word groceteria (with the ending from cafeteria used in an un-etymological sense) to name them. The term existed through the 1920s.
grody (adj.): variant of grotty.
grog (n.): 1749, "alcoholic drink diluted with water," supposedly a reference to Old Grog, nickname of Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral who wore a grogram (q.v.) cloak and who in August 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be diluted. George Washington's older half-brother Lawrence served under Vernon in the Caribbean and renamed the family's Hunting Creek Plantation in Virginia for him in 1740, calling it Mount Vernon. Eventually the word came popularly to mean "strong drink" of any kind. Grog shop "tavern where alcohol is sold by the glass" is from 1790.
groggy (adj.): 1770, "drunk, overcome with grog so as to stagger or stumble," from grog + -y (2). Non-alcoholic meaning "shaky, tottering" is from 1832, originally from the fight ring. Also used of hobbled horses (1828). Related: Groggily; grogginess.
grogram (n.): coarse, stiff textile fabric, 1560s, from Middle French gros grain "coarse grain or texture;" see gross (adj.) + grain (n.).
groin (n.): "oblique depression of the body between the abdomen and thighs," 1590s, earlier grine (1530s), from Middle English grynde "groin" (c. 1400), originally "depression in the ground," from Old English grynde "abyss," perhaps also "depression, hollow," from Proto-Germanic *grundus (see ground (n.)). Altered 16c. by influence of loin or obsolete groin "snout of a pig." The architectural groin "curving edge formed by the intersection of two vaults" is from 1725.
grok (v.): "to understand empathically," 1961, arbitrary formation by U.S. science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) in his book "Stranger in a Strange Land." In popular use 1960s; perhaps obsolete now except in internet technology circles.
grommet (n.): also gromet, grummet, 1620s, "ring or wreath of rope," from obsolete French gromette "curb of a bridle" (Modern French gourmette), from gourmer "to curb," of uncertain origin. Extended sense of "metal eyelet" first recorded 1769.
groom (n.1): c. 1200 (late 12c. in surnames), grome "male child, boy;" c. 1300, "a youth, young man," also "male servant, attendant, minor officer in a royal or noble household ranking higher than a page; a knight's squire." Of unknown origin; no certain cognates in other Germanic languages. Perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *grom, *groma, which could be related to growan "to grow," and influenced by guma "man." Or perhaps from or influenced by Old French grommet "boy, young man in service, serving-man" (compare Middle English gromet "ship's boy," early 13c.). As the title of an officer of the English royal house from mid-15c. Specific meaning "male servant who attends to horses and stables" is from 1660s, from earlier combinations such as horse-groom, Groom of the Stables, etc.
groom (n.2): "husband-to-be at a wedding; newly married man," c. 1600 (usually as a correlative of bride), short for bridegroom (q.v.), in which the second element is Old English guma "man."
groom (v.): "tend or care for; curry and feed," 1809, from groom (n.1) in its secondary sense of "male servant who attends to horses." Transferred sense of "to tidy (oneself) up" is from 1843; figurative sense of "to prepare a candidate" is from 1887, originally in U.S. politics. Related: Groomed; grooming.
groomsman (n.): attendant on a bridegroom at a wedding, 1690s, from possessive of groom (n.2) + man (n.).
groove (n.): c. 1400, "cave; mine; pit dug in the earth" (late 13c. in place names), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse grod "pit," or from Middle Dutch groeve "furrow, ditch" (Modern Dutch groef), both from Proto-Germanic *grobo (source also of Old Norse grof "brook, river bed," Old High German gruoba "ditch," German Grube "a pit, hole, ditch, grave," Gothic groba "pit, cave," Old English græf "ditch, grave"), from PIE root *ghrebh- (2) "to dig, bury, scratch" (see grave (n.)). Sense of "long, narrow channel or furrow," especially as cut by a tool, is 1650s. Meaning "spiral cut in a phonograph record" is from 1902. Figurative sense of "routine" is from 1842, often deprecatory at first, "a rut."
groove (v.): 1680s, "make a groove, cut a channel in," from groove (n.). Slang sense is from 1930s (see groovy). Related: Grooved; grooving.
groovy (adj.): 1850, "pertaining to a groove," from groove (n.) + -y (2). Slang sense of "first-rate, excellent" is 1937, American English, from jazz slang phrase in the groove (1932) "performing well (without grandstanding)." As teen slang for "wonderful," it dates from c. 1941; popularized 1960s, out of currency by 1980. Earlier colloquial figurative sense was "having a tendency to routine, inclined to a specialized and narrow way of life or thought" (1882). Related: Grooviness.
grope (v.): late Old English grapian "to feel about (as one blind or in darkness)," also "take hold of, seize, touch, attain," related to gripan "grasp at" (see gripe (v.)). Transitive sense "search out by sense of touch alone" was in late Old English. Figurative sense is from early 14c. Indecent sense "touch (someone) amorously, play with, fondle" (marked as "obsolete" in OED 2nd edition) is from c. 1200. Related: Groped; groping.
grope (n.): c. 1500, "act of groping," from grope (v.). Old English had grap "a grasp."
grosbeak (n.): general name for a bird with a large bill, 1670s, partial translation of French grosbec; see gross (adj.) + beak.
groschen (n.): 1610s, small silver coin formerly used in Germany and Austria, from German groschen, altered from Czech groš, name of a coin (about one-thirtieth of a thaler), from Medieval Latin (denarius) grossus, literally "a thick coin," from Latin grossus "thick" (see gross (adj.), and compare groat).
gross (adj.): mid-14c., "large;" early 15c., "thick," also "coarse, plain, simple," from Old French gros "big, thick, fat; tall; strong, powerful; pregnant; coarse, rude, awkward; ominous, important; arrogant" (11c.), from Late Latin grossus "thick, coarse" (of food or mind), in Medieval Latin "great, big" (source also of Spanish grueso, Italian grosso), a word of obscure origin, not in classical Latin. Said to be unrelated to Latin crassus, which meant the same thing, or to German gross "large," but said by Klein to be cognate with Old Irish bres, Middle Irish bras "big."

Its meaning forked in English. Via the notion of "coarse in texture or quality" came the senses "not sensitive, dull stupid" (1520s), "vulgar, coarse in a moral sense" (1530s). Via notion of "general, not in detail" came the sense "entire, total, whole, without deductions" (early 15c.), as in gross national product (1947). Meaning "glaring, flagrant, monstrous" is from 1580s; modern meaning "disgusting" is first recorded 1958 in U.S. student slang, from earlier use as an intensifier of unpleasant things (gross stupidity, etc.).
gross (n.): "a dozen dozen," early 15c., from Old French grosse douzaine "large dozen;" see gross (adj.). Earlier as the name of a measure of weight equal to one-eighth of a dram (early 15c.). Sense of "total profit" (opposed to net (adj.)) is from 1520s.
gross (v.): "to earn a total of," 1884, from gross (adj.) in the "whole, total" sense. Slang meaning "make (someone) disgusted" (usually with out) is from 1971. Related: Grossed; grossing.
grossly (adv.): 1520s, "plainly, obviously," from gross (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "coarsely, shamefully" is from 1540s; that of "excessively" is from 1610s.
grossness (n.): early 15c., "size," from gross (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "state of being indelicate, rude, or vulgar" is from 1680s.
grot (n.): short for grotto, c. 1500; perhaps from or influenced by French grotte.
grotesque (adj.): "wildly formed, of irregular proportions, boldly odd," c. 1600s, originally a noun (1560s), from Middle French crotesque (16c., Modern French grotesque), from Italian grottesco, literally "of a cave," from grotta (see grotto). The explanation that the word first was used of paintings found on the walls of Roman ruins revealed by excavation (Italian pittura grottesca) is "intrinsically plausible," according to OED. Originally merely fanciful and fantastic, the sense became pejorative, "clownishly absurd, uncouth," after mid-18c. As the British name for a style of square-cut, sans-serif letter, from 1875. Related: Grotesquely; grotesqueness.
grotto (n.): "picturesque cavern or cave," 1610s, from Italian grotta, earlier cropta, a corruption of Latin crypta "vault, cavern," from Greek krypte "hidden place" (see crypt). Terminal -o may be from its being spelled that way in many translations of Dante's "Divine Comedy."
grotty (n.): slang shortening of grotesque, it had a brief vogue 1964 as part of the argot popularized by The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night." It unconsciously echoes Middle English groti "muddy, slimy," from Old English grotig "earthy," from grot "particle."
grouch (n.): "ill-tempered person," 1896, earlier "state of irritable glumness" (1890, in expressions such as to have a grouch on), U.S. college student slang, of uncertain origin, possibly from grutching "complaint, grumbling" (see grutch).
The Grouch, on the other Hand, gave a correct Imitation of a Bear with a Sore Toe. His Conversation was largely made up of Grunts. He carried a Facial Expression that frightened little Children in Street Cars and took all the Starch out of sentimental Young Ladies. He seemed perpetually to carry the Hoof-Marks of a horrible Nightmare. [George Ade, "People You Know," 1902]
The verb is 1916, from the noun. Related: Grouched; grouching. Grouch bag "purse for carrying money secretly" (1908), probably so called for keeping the cash hidden from compatriots; it is the source of the nickname of U.S. comedian Julius "Groucho" Marx (1890-1977), who supposedly carried his money to poker games in one.
grouchy (adj.): 1895, U.S. college student slang, from grouch (n.) + -y (2). Related: Grouchily; grouchiness.
ground (n.): Old English grund "bottom; foundation; surface of the earth," also "abyss, Hell," and "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from Proto-Germanic *grundus, which seems to have meant "deep place" (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish grund, Dutch grond, Old High German grunt, German Grund "ground, soil, bottom;" Old Norse grunn "a shallow place," grund "field, plain," grunnr "bottom"). No known cognates outside Germanic.

Sense of "reason, motive" first attested c. 1200. Meaning "source, origin, cause" is from c. 1400. Electrical sense "connection with the earth" is from 1870 (in telegraphy). Meaning "place where one takes position" is from 1610s; hence stand (one's) ground (1707). To run to ground in fox-hunting is from 1779. Ground rule (1890) originally was a rule designed for a specific playing field (ground or grounds in this sense attested by 1718); by 1953 it had come to mean "a basic rule."
ground (adj.): "reduced to fine particles by grinding," 1765, past participle adjective from grind (v.).
ground (v.): mid-13c., "to put on the ground, to strike down to the ground;" late 14c., "lay the foundation of," also, figuratively, "to base" (an argument, sermon, etc.), from ground (n.). Meaning "instruct thoroughly in the basics" is from late 14c. Of ships, "to run into the ground," from mid-15c. (intransitive), transitive sense from 1650s. Of arms, from 1711. Electrical sense from 1881. Meaning "deny privileges" is 1940s, originally a punishment meted out to pilots (in which sense it is attested from 1930). In the sense "establish firmly" Old English had grundweallian, grundstaðelian; also gryndan "descend," gegryndan "to found."
ground floor (n.): also ground-floor, c. 1600, from ground (n.) + floor (n.); figurative use is from 1864.
ground zero (n.): 1946, originally with reference to atomic blasts. In reference to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on New York, it was in use by Sept. 13.
ground-breaking (adj.): also groundbreaking, 1907 as a figurative adjective, from expression to break ground (1650s), either for planting or for building, which was in figurative use by 1884; see ground (n.) + break (v.).
ground-hog (n.): also groundhog, "American marmot," 1784, from ground (n.) + hog (n.). Also known colloquially as a whistlepig, woodchuck, and compare aardvark. Ground Hog Day as a weather forecasting event is first recorded 1869, in an Ohio newspaper article that calls it "old tradition;" the custom though not the name, attested from 1850s.
ground-swell (n.): also groundswell, "broad, deep swell of the sea," 1783, from ground (n.) + swell (n.). Figurative sense (of sound, emotion, etc.) is attested from 1817.
grounded (adj.): late 14c., "learned, instructed thoroughly in the basics;" 1540s as "firmly fixed or established," past participle adjective from ground (v.). Electrical sense is from 1889. Meaning "having been denied privileges" is from 1940s. Dickens had room-ridden "confined to one's room."
grounder (n.): c. 1400, "one who establishes," agent noun from ground (v.). Baseball sense attested by 1867; earlier in cricket.