Online Etymology Dictionary

pontificate (n.): 1580s, from Latin pontificatus "office of a pontiff," from pontifex (see pontifex).
pontification (n.): 1520s, "office of a bishop," noun of action from past participle stem of Medieval Latin pontificare (see pontificate (v.)). Meaning "something pontificated" is from 1925.
pontoon (n.): "flat-bottomed boat" (especially one to support a temporary bridge), 1670s, from French pontoon, from Old French ponton (14c.) "bridge, drawbridge, boat-bridge; flat-bottomed boat," from Latin pontonem (nominative ponto) "flat-bottomed boat," from pons "bridge" (see pons). Pontoon bridge is first recorded 1778.
Pontus: ancient district of Anatolia, from Greek pontos "sea" (see pons).
pony (n.): 1650s, powny, from Scottish, apparently from obsolete French poulenet "little foal" (mid-15c.), diminutive of Old French poulain "foal," from Late Latin pullanus "young of an animal," from Latin pullus "young of a horse, fowl, etc." (see foal (n.)) [Skeat's suggestion, still accepted].

German, sensibly, indicates this animal by attaching a diminutive suffix to its word for "horse," which might yield Modern English *horslet. Modern French poney is a 19c. borrowing from English. Meaning "crib of a text as a cheating aid" (1827) and "small liquor glass" (1849) both are from notion of "smallness" (the former also "something one rides"). As the name of a popular dance, it dates from 1963. The U.S. Pony Express began 1860 (and operated about 18 months before being superseded by the transcontinental telegraph). The figurative one-trick pony is 1897, American English, in reference to circus acts.
pony (v.): 1824, in pony up "to pay," of uncertain origin; similar uses of pony or poney in the sense "money" date to late 18c. OED says from pony (n.), but not exactly how. "Dictionary of American Slang" says it is from slang use of Latin legem pone (q.v.) to mean "money" (first recorded 16c.), because this was the title of the Psalm for March 25, a Quarter Day and the first payday of the year. Latin pone is the imperative of Latin ponere "to put, place" (see position). Related: Ponied; ponying.
ponytail (n.): long hair style, originally of girls, 1950, from pony (n.) + tail (n.).
Ponzi scheme: investment scam by which early investors are paid off from the contributions of later ones, 1957, in reference to Charles Ponzi (1882-1949), who perpetrated such a scam in U.S., 1919-20.
poo (n.): also pooh, baby-talk for "excrement," 1950s (see poop (n.2)).
pooch (n.): "dog," 1924, American English, of unknown origin.
poodle (n.): 1808, from German Pudel, shortened form of Pudelhund "water dog," from Low German Pudel "puddle" (compare pudeln "to splash;" see puddle (n.)) + German Hund "hound" (see hound (n.)). Probably so called because the dog was used to hunt water fowl. Figurative sense of "lackey" (chiefly British) is attested from 1907. Poodle-faker, British army slang for "ingratiating male," is from 1902, likely euphemistic.
poof (n.2): "effeminate man, male homosexual," c. 1850, perhaps a corruption of puff. The Australian extended form poofter is attested from 1910.
poof (n.1): sound of a puff of breath or air, 1824, imitative.
pooh: 1590s, "a 'vocal gesture' expressing the action of puffing anything away" [OED], first attested in Hamlet Act I, Scene III, where Polonius addresses Ophelia with, "Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?" But the "vocal gesture" is perhaps ancient.
pooh-bah (n.): "leader who maintains excessive bureaucratic control," 1888, from Pooh-Bah, the name of the "Lord High Everything Else" character in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" (1885).
pooh-pooh (v.): "to dismiss lightly and contemptuously," 1827, a slang reduplication of dismissive expression pooh. Among the many 19th century theories of the origin of language was the Pooh-pooh theory (1860), which held that language grew from natural expressions of surprise, joy, pain, or grief.
pool (n.1): "small body of water," Old English pol "small body of water; deep, still place in a river," from West Germanic *pol- (source also of Old Frisian and Middle Low German pol, Dutch poel, Old High German pfuol, German Pfuhl). As a short form of swimming pool it is recorded from 1901. Pool party is from 1965.
pool (n.2): game similar to billiards, 1848, originally (1690s) a card game played for collective stakes (a "pool"), from French poule "stakes, booty, plunder," literally "hen," from Old French poille "hen, young fowl" (see foal (n.)).

Perhaps the original notion is from jeu de la poule, supposedly a game in which people threw things at a chicken and the player who hit it, won it, which speaks volumes about life in the Middle Ages. The notion behind the word, then, is "playing for money." The connection of "hen" and "stakes" is also present in Spanish polla and Walloon paie.

Meaning "collective stakes" in betting first recorded 1869; sense of "common reservoir of resources" is from 1917. Meaning "group of persons who share duties or skills" is from 1928. From 1933 as short for football pool in wagering. Pool shark is from 1898. The phrase dirty pool "underhanded or unsportsmanlike conduct," especially in politics (1951), seems to belong here now, but the phrase dirty pool of politics, with an image of pool (n.1) is recorded from 1871 and was in use early 20c.
pool (v.1): "to make a common interest, put things into a pool," 1871, from pool (n.2). Related: Pooled; pooling.
pool (v.2): of liquid, "to form a pool or pools," 1620s, from pool (n.1).
poontang (n.): "sex with a woman; woman regarded as a sex object; female genitalia," c. 1910, of uncertain origin, probably via New Orleans Creole, from French putain "prostitute," from Old French pute "whore" (cognate with Spanish and Provençal puta), probably from fem. of Vulgar Latin *puttus "girl" (source of Old Italian putta "girl"), from Latin putus (originally "pure, bright, splendid").

But also possibly from or influenced by Old French put, from Latin putidus "stinking" on notion of the "foulness" of harlotry [Buck], or for more literal reasons (among the 16c.-17c. slang terms for "whore" in English were polecat, which might also be a pun, and fling-stink). Shortened form poon is recorded from 1969.
poop (n.1): "stern deck of a ship," c. 1400, from Middle French poupe "stern of a ship" (14c.), from Old Provençal or Italian poppa, from Latin puppis "poop, stern," of uncertain origin. Poop deck attested by 1779.
poop (n.2): "excrement," 1744, a children's euphemism, probably of imitative origin. The verb in this sense is from 1903. The same word in the sense "to break wind softly" is attested from 1721; earlier "to make a short blast on a horn" (late 14c.). Meaning "stupid or dull person" is from 1915. Pooper-scooper attested from 1970.
poop (n.3): "up-to-date information," 1941, in poop sheet, U.S. Army slang, of unknown origin, perhaps from poop (n.2).
poop (v.): "become tired," 1931, of unknown origin (see pooped). Related: Pooping.
pooped (adj.): "tired," 1931, of unknown origin, perhaps imitative of the sound of heavy breathing from exhaustion (compare poop (n.2)). But poop, poop out were used in 1920s in aviation, of an engine, "to die." Also there is a verb poop, of ships, "to be overwhelmed by a wave from behind," often with catastrophic consequences (see poop (n.1)); hence in figurative nautical use, "to be overcome and defeated" (attested in 1920s).
It is an easy thing to "run"; the difficulty is to know when to stop. There is always the possibility of being "pooped," which simply means being overtaken by a mountain of water and crushed into the depths out of harm's way for good and all. [Ralph Stock, "The Cruise of the Dream Ship," 1921]
poor (adj.): c. 1200, "lacking money or resources, destitute; needy, indigent; small, scanty," from Old French povre "poor, wretched, dispossessed; inadequate; weak, thin" (Modern French pauvre), from Latin pauper "poor, not wealthy," from pre-Latin *pau-paros "producing little; getting little," a compound from the roots of paucus "little" (see paucity) and parare "to produce, bring forth" (see pare).

Replaced Old English earm. Figuratively from early 14c. Meaning "of inferior quality" is from c. 1300. Of inhabited places from c. 1300; of soil, etc., from late 14c. The poor boy sandwich, made of simple but filling ingredients, was invented and named in New Orleans in 1921. To poor mouth "deny one's advantages" is from 1965 (to make a poor mouth "whine" is Scottish dialect from 1822). Slang poor man's ________ "the cheaper alternative to _______," is from 1854.
poor (n.): "poor persons collectively," mid-12c., from poor (adj.). The Latin adjective pauper "poor" also was used in a noun sense "a poor man."
poorhouse (n.): 1781, from poor (n.) + house (n.).
poorly (adv.): early 13c., "inadequately, badly, insufficiently," from poor (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "in ill health" is from 1750.
poorness (n.): late 13c., from poor (adj.) + -ness.
pop (n.1): "a hit with an explosive sound," c. 1400, of imitative origin. Meaning "flavored carbonated beverage" is from 1812.
A new manufactory of a nectar, between soda-water and ginger-beer, and called pop, because 'pop goes the cork' when it is drawn. [Southey, letter, 1812]
Sense of "ice cream on a stick" is from 1923 (see popsicle). Meaning "the (brief) time of a 'pop'" is from 1530s. Pop goes the weasel, a country dance, was popular 1850s in school yards, with organ grinders, at court balls, etc.
pop (adj.): "having popular appeal," 1926, of individual songs from many genres; 1954 as a noun, as genre of its own; abbreviation of popular; earlier as a shortened form of popular concert (1862), and often in the plural form pops. Pop art first recorded 1957, said to have been in use conversationally among Independent group of artists from late 1954. Pop culture attested from 1959, short for popular culture (attested by 1846).
pop (n.2): "father," 1838, chiefly American English, shortened from papa (1680s), from French papa, from Old French, a children's word, similar to Latin pappa. Form poppa is recorded from 1897.
pop (v.): "cause to make a short, quick sound," mid-15c.; intransitive sense "make a short, quick sound" is from 1570s; imitative. Of eyes, "to protrude" (as if about to burst), from 1670s. Sense of "to appear or put suddenly" (often with up, off, in, etc.) is recorded from mid-15c. Baseball sense of "to hit a ball high in the air" is from 1867. To pop the question is from 1725, specific sense of "propose marriage" is from 1826. Related: Popped; popping.
pop-eyed (adj.): "having bulging eyes," 1820; see pop (v.) + eye (n.).
pop-gun (n.): type of child's toy, 1620s, from pop (n.1) + gun (n.).
pop-up (n.): from 1906 as a type of baseball hit; from pop (v.) + up (adv.). As an adjective from 1934 (of a children's book, later toasters, etc.).
popcorn (n.): 1819, from pop (v.) + corn (n.1).
pope (n.): Old English papa (9c.), from Church Latin papa "bishop, pope" (in classical Latin, "tutor"), from Greek papas "patriarch, bishop," originally "father." Applied to bishops of Asia Minor and taken as a title by the Bishop of Alexandria c.250. In Western Church, applied especially to the Bishop of Rome since the time of Leo the Great (440-461) and claimed exclusively by them from 1073 (usually in English with a capital P-). Popemobile, his car, is from 1979. Papal, papacy, later acquisitions in English, preserve the original vowel.
popery (n.): 1530s, a hostile coinage of the Reformation, from pope + -ery.
popinjay (n.): late 13c., "a parrot," from Old French papegai (12c.), from Spanish papagayo, from Arabic babagha', Persian babgha "parrot," possibly formed in an African or other non-Indo-European language and imitative of its cry. Ending probably assimilated in Western European languages to "jay" words (Old French jai, etc.).

Used of people in a complimentary sense (in allusion to beauty and rarity) from early 14c.; meaning "vain, talkative person" is first recorded 1520s. Obsolete figurative sense of "a target to shoot at" is explained by Cotgrave's 2nd sense definition: "also a woodden parrot (set up on the top of a steeple, high tree, or pole) whereat there is, in many parts of France, a generall shooting once euerie yeare; and an exemption, for all that yeare, from La Taille, obtained by him that strikes downe" all or part of the bird.
popish (adj.): 1520s, from pope + -ish.
poplar (n.): mid-14c., from Anglo-French popler, from Old French poplier (13c., Modern French peulplier), from Latin populus "poplar" (with a long "o;" not the same word that produced popular), of unknown origin, possibly from a PIE tree-name root *p(y)el- (source also of Greek pelea "elm"). Italian pioppo, Spanish chopo, German pappel, Old Church Slavonic topoli all are from Latin.
poplin (n.): type of corded fabric, 1710, from French papeline "cloth of fine silk and worsted" (1660s), probably from Provençal papalino, fem. of papalin "of or belonging to the pope," from Medieval Latin papalis "papal" (see papal). The reference is to Avignon, papal residence during the schism 1309-1408 (and regarded as a papal town until 1791), which also was a center of silk manufacture. Influenced in English by Poperinghe, town in Flanders where the fabric was made (but from 18c. the primary source was Ireland).
popliteal (adj.): 1786, with -al (1) + Modern Latin popliteus (n.), 1704, short for popliteus (musculus), from poples "ham (of the leg)," which is of unknown origin.
popover (n.): also pop-over, "light cake," 1859, from pop (v.) + over (adv.).
poppet (n.): "small human figure used in witchcraft and sorcery," c. 1300, early form of puppet (n.). Meaning "small or dainty person" is recorded from late 14c.; later a term of endearment but also in other cases one of contempt.
poppy (n.): late Old English popig, popæg, from West Germanic *papua-, probably from Vulgar Latin *papavum, from Latin papaver "poppy," perhaps a reduplicated form of imitative root *pap- "to swell." Associated with battlefields and war dead at least since Waterloo (1815). Poppy-seed is from early 15c.; in 17c. it also was a small unit of length (less than one-twelfth of an inch).
poppycock (n.): 1865, American English, probably from Dutch dialect pappekak, from Middle Dutch pappe "soft food" (see pap) + kak "dung," from Latin cacare "to excrete" (see caca).