Online Etymology Dictionary

geographer (n.): "one versed in geography," 1540s, from geography + agent noun ending -er (1). The Greek word was geographos (Medieval Latin geographus).
geographic (adj.): 1620s, shortened form of geographical (q.v.); in some cases probably from Middle French géographique or Late Latin geographicus.
geographical (adj.): "pertaining to geography," 1550s, from Late Latin geographicus (from Greek geographikos, from geographia; see geography) + -al (1). Related: Geographically.
geography (n.): "the science of description of the earth's surface in its present condition," 1540s, from Middle French géographie (15c.), from Latin geographia, from Greek geographia "description of the earth's surface," from geo- "earth" + -graphia "description" (see -graphy).
geolatry (n.): "earth-worship," 1860, from geo- + -latry. Related: Geolater.
geologic (adj.): 1799, from geology + -ic. Geologic time is attested from 1846.
geological (adj.): 1791, from geology + -ical. Related: Geologically.
geologist (n.): 1795, from geology + -ist. Alternatives are geologer (1822); geologian (1837).
geology (n.): 1795 as "science of the past and present condition of the Earth's crust," from Modern Latin geologia "the study of the earth," from geo- "earth" + logia (see -logy). German Geologie is attested by 1785. In Medieval Latin, geologia (14c.) meant "study of earthly things," i.e. law, as distinguished from arts and sciences, which concern the works of God. Darwin used geologize as a verb.
geomancer (n.): c. 1400, agent noun from geomancy.
geomancy (n.): "art of divination by means of signs derived from the earth," late 14c., from Old French géomancie, from Medieval Latin geomantia, from late Greek *geomanteia, from geo-, comb. form of ge "earth" (see Gaia) + manteia "divination" (see -mancy). Related: Geomantic; geomantical.
geometer (n.): "one skilled in geometry," late 15c., from Latin geometres (in Late Latin also geometra), from Greek geometres "land-measurer" (see geometry).
geometric (adj.): 1620s, "pertaining to geometry," shortened form of geometrical (q.v.). In reference to a style of ancient Greek pottery decoration characterized by straight lines and angles, and the associated culture, 1902.
geometrical (adj.): late 14c., from Latin geometricus "of geometry" (from geometria; see geometry) + -al. Since 16c. it has been opposed to arithmetical in ratio, proportion, etc., reflecting the fact that problems of multiplication formerly were dealt with by geometry, not arithmetic. Related: Geometrically.
geometry (n.): early 14c., also gemetrie, gemetry, from Old French geometrie (12c., Modern French géométrie), from Latin geometria, from Greek geometria "measurement of earth or land; geometry," from comb. form of ge "earth, land" (see Gaia) + -metria (see -metry). Rendered in Old English as eorðcræft, "earth-craft."
geomorphology (n.): 1888, from geo- + morphology. Form geomorphy is from 1889. Related: Geomorphological; geomorphologically; geomorphologist.
geophagy (n.): "dirt-eating," 1820, from Greek *geophagia (according to OED the actual Greek is geotragia), from geo-, comb. form of ge "earth" (see Gaia) + phagein "to eat." See also pica (n.2).
A diseased appetite ... prevails in several parts of Alabama, where they eat clay. I heard various speculations on the origin of this singular propensity, called 'geophagy' in some medical books. [Lyell, "Second Visit to U.S.," 1850]
geophysical (adj.): "relating to the physics of the earth," 1885; see geophysics + -al (1).
geophysics (n.): 1885, from geo- "earth" + physics.
geopolitical (adj.): 1902, from geo- + political, translating Swedish geopolitisk, which was used in 1900 by Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellén (1864-1922). Related: Geopolitics (1903).
Geordie: Scottish and northern English dialectal diminutive of masc. proper name George.
George: masc. personal name, from French Georges, Late Latin Georgius, from Greek Georgos "husbandman, farmer," properly an adjective, "tilling the ground," from ge "earth" (see Gaia) + ergon "work" (see organ). The name introduced in England by the Crusaders (a vision of St. George played a key role in the First Crusade), but not common until after the Hanoverian succession (18c.). St. George began to be recognized as patron of England in time of Edward III, perhaps because of his association with the Order of the Garter (see garter). His feast day is April 23. The legend of his combat with the dragon is first found in "Legenda Aurea" (13c.). The exclamation by (St.) George! is recorded from 1590s.
The cult of George reached its apogee in the later Middle Ages: by then not only England, but Venice, Genoa, Portugal, and Catalonia regarded him as their patron: for all he was the personification of the ideals of Christian chivalry. [The Oxford Dictionary of Saints]
Georgia: the U.S. state was named 1732 as a colony for King George II of Great Britain. The Caucasian nation is so-called for St. George, who is its patron saint (his cult there may continue that of a pre-Christian deity with whom he later was identified), but the name in that place also is said to derive from Arabic or Persian Kurj, or Gurz (the form in the earliest sources, Russian Grusia), which is said to be a name of the native people, of unknown origin. In modern Georgia, the name of the country is Sakartvelo and the people's name is Kartveli. Georgia pine, long-leafed pine of the Southern U.S. states, is from 1796.
Georgian (adj.): 1855 in reference to the reigns of the first four kings George of England (1714-1830), especially in reference to the decorative style of the era of the first two. From c. 1600 as "pertaining to Georgia" in the Caucasus; 1762 as "pertaining to Georgia" in America; the noun in this sense is c. 1400 (Caucasus), 1741 (America).
georgic (n.): "poem of rural or agricultural life," 1510s, Georgics, title of Virgil's poems on rural life, from Latin georgica, from georgicus (adj.), from Greek georgikos "of a husbandman, agricultural," from ge "earth" (see Gaia) + ergon "work" (see organ). As an adjective meaning "related to agriculture" from 1711.
geosphere (n.): 1885, from geo- "earth," probably on model of atmosphere.
geosyncline (n.): 1895, probably a back-formation from adjective geosynclinal (1879); see geo- + synclinal. Geosynclinal was used as a noun meaning "a region of depression" from 1873.
geothermal (adj.): 1875, from geo- + thermal.
geotropism (n.): "growth downward," 1874, from geo- "earth" + -trope "a turn, direction" (see trope), translating German Geotropismus (1868), which was coined in 1868 by German botanist Albert Bernhard Frank (1839-1900). Related: Geotropic.
Gerald: masc. proper name, introduced into England by the Normans, from Old French Giralt, from Old High German Gerwald, "spear-wielder," from Proto-Germanic *girald, from *ger "spear" (see gar) + base of waltan "to rule" (cognate with Old English wealdan; see wield). The name often was confused with Gerard.
Geraldine: fem. proper name, fem. form of Gerald.
geranium (n.): 1540s, from Latin geranium, from Greek geranion, the plant name, diminutive of geranos "crane" (cognate with Latin grus; see crane (n.)). So called from shape resemblance of seed pods to cranes' bills; the native name in English also was cranebill. As a color name from 1842.
Gerard: masc. proper name, from Old French Gerart (Modern French Gérard), of Germanic origin; compare Old High German Gerhard, literally "strong with the spear," from ger "spear" (see gar) + hart "hard" (see hard (adj.)).
geratology (n.): "study of decadence" in a species, etc., 1876, from Greek geras (genitive geratos) "old age" (see geriatric) + -logy. Related: Geratologic.
I have adopted this new term with considerable hesitation and doubt, and have only done so under the pressure of necessity. In no other way can I better convey my conviction that there is a traceable correspondence between all manifestations of decline in the individual and in the group to which the individual belongs, which may, like embryology, be used inductively in reasoning upon the probable affinities of animals. [A. Hyatt, paper on "Genetic Relations of Stephanoceras," read June 7, 1876, published in "Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History," vol. XVIII, 1877]
gerbera (n.): 1880, from Modern Latin (1737), named for German naturalist Traugott Gerber (1710-1743).
gerbil (n.): 1849, gerbile, from French gerbille, from Modern Latin Gerbillus, the genus name, from gerbo, from Arabic yarbu. Earlier English form, jarbuah (1660s), was directly from Arabic.
geriatric (adj.): 1909, formed in English from Latinized forms of Greek geras, geros "old age" (from PIE root *gere- (1) "to grow old;" see gerontology) + iatrikos "of a physician," from iatros (see -iatric).
geriatrics (n.): coined 1909 by Austrian-born doctor Ignatz L. Nascher (1863-1944) in "New York Medical Journal" on the model of pediatrics (also see -ics), from the same elements found in geriatric (q.v.). The correct formation would be gerontiatrics.
germ (n.): mid-15c., "bud, sprout;" 1640s, "rudiment of a new organism in an existing one," from Middle French germe "germ (of egg); bud, seed, fruit; offering," from Latin germen (genitive germinis) "spring, offshoot; sprout, bud," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE root *gen-, *gene- "to beget, bear" (see german (adj.)). The older sense is preserved in wheat germ and germ of an idea; sense of "seed of a disease" first recorded 1796 in English; that of "harmful micro-organism" dates from 1871. Germ warfare recorded from 1920.
german (adj.): "of the same parents or grandparents," c. 1300, from Old French germain "own, full; born of the same mother and father; closely related" (12c.), from Latin germanus "full, own (of brothers and sisters); one's own brother; genuine, real, actual, true," related to germen (genitive germinis) "sprout, bud," of uncertain origin; perhaps dissimilated from PIE *gen(e)-men-, from root *gene- "to give birth, beget" (see genus). Your cousin-german (also first cousin) is the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt; your children and your first cousin's are second cousins to one another; to you, your first cousin's children are first cousin once removed.
German (n.): "a native of Germany," 1520s, from Latin Germanus (adjective and noun, plural Germani), first attested in writings of Julius Caesar, who used Germani to designate a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul, of unknown origin and considered to be neither Latin nor Germanic. Perhaps originally the name of an individual tribe, but Gaulish (Celtic) origins have been proposed, from words perhaps originally meaning "noisy" (compare Old Irish garim "to shout") or "neighbor" (compare Old Irish gair "neighbor"). Middle English had Germayns (plural, late 14c.), but only in the sense "ancient Teuton, member of the Germanic tribes." The earlier English word was Almain (early 14c.; see Alemanni) or Dutch.
Þe empere passede from þe Grees to þe Frenschemen and to þe Germans, þat beeþ Almayns. [John of Trevisa, translation of Higdon's Polychronicon, 1387]
Their name for themselves, die Deutschen (see Dutch), dates from 12c. Roman writers also used Teutoni as a German tribal name, and writers in Latin after about 875 commonly refer to the German language as teutonicus (see Teutonic). Meaning "the German language" in English is from 1748. High German (1823 in English) and Low German as a division of dialects is geographical: High German (from 16c. established as the literary language) was the German spoken in the upland regions in southern Germany, Low German (often including Dutch, Frisian, Flemish), also called Plattdeutsch was spoken in the regions near the North Sea. In the U.S. German also was used of descendants of settlers from Germany.
German (adj.): "of or pertaining to Germany or the Germans," 1550s, from German (n.). German shepherd as a breed of dog (1922) is short for German shepherd dog (1889), which translates German deutscher Schäferhund. German Ocean as an old name for the North Sea translates Ptolemy. German measles attested by 1856. German-American is from 1880. German Reformed church is from 1812.
germane (adj.): mid-14c., "having the same parents," same as german (adj.) but directly from Latin germanus instead of via French (compare urbane/urban). Main modern sense of "closely connected, relevant" (c. 1600) derives from use in "Hamlet" Act V, Scene ii: "The phrase would bee more Germaine to the matter: If we could carry Cannon by our sides," which is a figurative use of the word in the now-obsolete loosened sense of "closely related, akin" (late 15c.) in reference to things, not persons.
Germanic (adj.): 1630s, "of Germany or Germans," from Latin Germanicus, from Germani (see German (n.)). From 1773 as "of the Teutonic race;" from 1842 especially with reference to the language family that includes German, Dutch, English, etc. As a noun, the name of that language family, by 1892, replacing earlier Teutonic. Germanical is attested from 1550s.
germanium (n.): chemical element, coined 1885 in Modern Latin by its discoverer (German chemist Clemens Alexander Winkler (1838-1904)) from Latin Germania "Germany" (see Germany). With metallic element ending -ium.
Germany (n.): c. 1300, from Latin Germania, a Roman designation (see German (n.)). In Middle English the place also was called Almaine (early 14c.; see Alemanni).
germicide (n.): "substance capable of killing germs, 1881, from germ + -cide. Related: Germicidal.
germinal (adj.): "in the early stages of development," 1808, from Modern Latin germinalis "in the germ," from Latin germen (genitive germinis) "a sprout, bud, sprig, offshoot" (see germ).
germinate (v.): c. 1600, probably a back-formation from germination. Figurative use from 1640s. Related: Germinated; germinating. Earlier germynen (mid-15c.) was from Old French germiner or directly from Latin germinare.
germination (n.): mid-15c., from Latin germinationem (nominative germinatio) "a sprouting forth, budding," noun of action from past participle stem of germinare "to sprout, put forth shoots," from germen (genitive germinis) "a sprout or bud" (see germ).