Online Etymology Dictionary

pudeur (n.): "modesty," especially in sexual matters, 1937, from French pudeur "modesty," from Latin pudor "shame, modesty," from pudere "make ashamed" (see pudendum). The same word had been borrowed into English directly from Latin as pudor (1620s), but this became obsolete.
pudge (n.): "short, thick-set person," 1808 [Jamieson]; see pudgy.
pudgy (adj.): also podgy, 1824, from colloquial pudge "anything short and thick" + -y (2). Perhaps related to pudsy "plump" (1754), possibly a diminutive of nursery word pud "hand, forepaw" (from 17c.). A connection with pudding also has been conjectured. In late 19c. often on lists of English local or dialectal words; sources also mention puddy, punchy, pluggy, pudget as relatives or variants. Related: Pudginess.
pueblo (n.): "Indian village," 1808, from Spanish pueblo "village, small town; people, population," from Latin populum, accusative of populus "people" (see people (n.)).
puericulture (n.): "science of bringing up healthy children," including prenatal care, 1887, from French puériculture (A. Caron, 1866), from Latin puer "boy, child" (see puerility) + cultura "cultivation" (see culture).
puerile (adj.): 1660s, "youthful, boyish," a back-formation from puerility, or else from French puéril (15c.), from Latin puerilis "boyish; childish," from puer "boy, child" (see puerility). Disparaging sense, "juvenile, immature," is from 1680s.
puerility (n.): late 15c., from Middle French puérilité (15c.), from Latin puerilitatem (nominative puerilitas) "childishness," from puerilis "boyish, youthful; childish, trivial, silly," from puer "child, boy," from PIE *pau- (1) "few, little," with sense extended to "small, young" (source also of Latin putus "boy," Sanskrit putrah "son, boy," Avestan puthra- "son, child;" see few (adj.)).
puerperal (adj.): 1768, with -al (1) + Latin puerperus "bringing forth children; bearing a child" (as a noun, "woman in labor"), from puer "child, boy" (see puerility) + parere "to bear" (see pare). Earlier puerperial (1620s).
puerperium (n.): "confinement during and after childbirth," 1863, from Latin puerperus (see puerperal).
Puerto Rican: 1873 (n.), 1874 (adj.), from Puerto Rico + -an. Earlier was Porto Rican (1842).
Puerto Rico: Spanish, literally "rich harbor;" Caribbean island, name given in 1493 by Christopher Columbus to the large bay on the north side of the island; he called the island itself San Juan. Over time the name of the bay became the name of the island and the name of the island was taken by the town that grew up at the bay. Often spelled Porto Rico in 19c.; current spelling was made official 1932.
puff (n.): c. 1200, perhaps Old English, puf, puffe "short, quick blast; act of puffing," from puff (v.). Meaning "type of light pastry" is recorded from late 14c.; that of "small pad for applying powder to skin or hair" is from 1650s. Figurative sense of "flattery, inflated praise" is first recorded 1732. Derogatory use for "homosexual male" is recorded by 1902.
puff (v.): Old English pyffan "to blow with the mouth," of imitative origin. Meaning "pant, breathe hard and fast" is from late 14c. Used of small swellings and round protuberances since 1530s. Transitive figurative sense of "exalt" is from 1530s; shading by early 18c. into meaning "praise with self-interest." Related: Puffed; puffing.
puff-adder (n.): 1789 of a South African snake that is venomous; 1882 of a western U.S. snake that is not; from puff (v.) + adder.
puff-ball (n.): type of fungus, 1640s, from puff + ball (n.1).
puffer (n.): 1620s, agent noun from puff (v.). As "one who praises or extols," from 1736. As a type of fish that inflates itself in defense, from 1814.
puffery (n.): "inflated laudation" [OED], 1782, from puff (v.) in its figurative sense + -ery.
puffin (n.): North Atlantic seabird, mid-14c., perhaps connected with puff on notion of appearance, or from some Celtic word (earliest association is with Cornwall and Scilly), and altered by influence of puff.
puffy (adj.): 1610s, of wind, "gusty," from puff + -y (2). Of other things, "swollen," from 1660s. Earliest attested use is figurative, "bombastic" (1590s). Related: Puffily; puffiness.
pug (n.): 1560s, general term of endearment (also puggy), probably related to puck (n.2); one of the earliest senses is "sprite, imp" (1610s). The sense of "miniature dog" is from 1749 (pug-dog); that of "monkey" is 1660s. The word at various times meant "a bargeman" (1590s), "a harlot" (c. 1600), and "an upper servant in a great house" (1847).
pug-nose (n.): 1778, from pug (n.) based on fancied similarity to the nose of either the monkey or the dog. Related: Pug-nosed.
pugilism (n.): 1789, from Latin pugil "boxer, fist-fighter," related to pugnus "fist" (see pugnacious) + -ism. Pugilation "fighting with fists," now obsolete, is recorded from 1650s.
pugilist (n.): 1789, from Latin pugil "boxer, fist-fighter," related to pugnus "a fist" (see pugnacious) + -ist. Related: Pugilistic (1789); pugilistically. Pugil occasionally turns up in English as "boxer, fist-fighter" (from 1640s), but it has not caught on. Pugil stick (1962) was introduced by U.S. military as a substitute for rifles in bayonet drills.
pugnacious (adj.): 1640s, a back-formation from pugnacity or else from Latin pugnacis, genitive of pugnax "combative, fond of fighting," from pugnare "to fight," especially with the fists, "contend against," from pugnus "a fist," from PIE *pung-, nasalized form of root *peuk-, *peug- "to stick, stab, to prick" (source also of Greek pyx "with clenched fist," pygme "fist, boxing," pyktes "boxer;" Latin pungere "to pierce, prick").
pugnacity (n.): c. 1600, from Latin pugnacitas "fondness for fighting," from pugnax (genitive pugnacis) "combative" (see pugnacious).
puisne (adj.): "junior," c. 1300 in Anglo-Latin, from Old French puisné "born later, younger, youngest" (see puny).
puissance (n.): early 15c., "power, strength, authority," from Old French puissance, poissance "power, might" (12c.), from puissant (see puissant).
puissant (adj.): mid-15c., from Middle French puissant "strong, mighty, powerful," earlier poissant (12c.), from stem of Old French poeir "to be able" (see power (n.)). Related: Puissantly.
puka: type of necklace made from small shell fragments (or plastic imitations), by 1974, from Hawaiian puka, said to mean literally "hole," in references to small shell fragments with naturally occurring holes through them, suitable for stringing, found on beaches.
puke (v.): 1600, probably of imitative origin (compare German spucken "to spit," Latin spuere); first recorded in the "Seven Ages of Man" speech in Shakespeare's "As You Like It." Related: Puked; puking.
puke (n.): 1737, "a medicine which excites vomiting;" 1966 as "material thrown up in vomiting," from puke (v.). U.S. colloquial meaning "native of Missouri" (1835) might be a different word, of unknown origin.
It is well known, that the inhabitants of the several western States are called by certain nicknames. Those of Michigan are called wolverines; of Indiana, hooshers; of Illinois, suckers; of Ohio, buckeyes; of Kentucky, corn-crackers; of Missouri pukes, &c. To call a person by his right nickname, is always taken in good part, and gives no offence; but nothing is more offensive than to mis-nickname--that is, were you to call a hoosher a wolverine, his blood would be up in a moment, and he would immediately show fight. [A.A. Parker, "Trip to the West and Texas," Concord, N.H., 1835]
Bartlett (1859) has "A nickname for a native of Missouri" as the second sense of puke (n.), the first being "A mean, contemptible fellow." The association of the state nickname with the "vomit" word is at least from 1858, and folk etymology talks of the old state literally vomiting forth immigrants to California.
pulchritude (n.): "beauty," c. 1400, from Latin pulchritudo "beauty; excellence, attractiveness," from pulcher "beautiful," of unknown origin.
pulchritudinous (adj.): 1877, American English, from pulchritude (from Latin pulchritudino "beauty," genitive pulchritudinis) + -ous.
pule (v.): "cry in a thin, weak voice," 1530s, from French piauler (16c.) "to cheep, chirp," echoic (compare Italian pigolare "to cheep as a chicken"). Related: Puled; puling.
Pulitzer (n.): annual awards for distinguished work in U.S. journalism, letters, music, etc., 1918, named for U.S. journalist Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), publisher of the "New York Globe," who established the awards in 1917 through an endowment to Columbia University.
pull (n.): c. 1300, "a fishing net;" mid-14c., "a turn at pulling," from pull (v.). From mid-15c. as "an act of pulling." Meaning "personal or private influence" is by 1889, American English, from earlier sense "power to pull (and not be pulled by)" a rival or competitor (1580s).
pull (v.): c. 1300, "to move forcibly by pulling, to drag," from Old English pullian "to pluck off (wool), to draw out," of unknown origin, perhaps related to Low German pulen "remove the shell or husk," Frisian pûlje "to shell, husk," Middle Dutch polen "to peel, strip," Icelandic pula "work hard." Related: Pulled; pulling.

Early 14c. as "to pick, pull off, gather" (fruit, flowers, berries, leaves, petals, etc.); mid-14c. as "to uproot, pull up" (of teeth, weeds, etc.). Sense of "to draw (to oneself), attract" is from c. 1400; sense of "to pluck at with the fingers" is from c. 1400; meaning "tear to pieces" is mid-15c. By late 16c. it had replaced draw (v.) in these senses. Common in slang 19c.-20c.; Bartlett (1859) has to pull foot "walk fast; run;" pull it "to run." To pull up "check a course of action" is from 1808, figurative of the lifting of the reins in horse-riding.

To pull (someone's) chain in figurative sense is from 1974, perhaps on the notion of a captive animal; the expression was also used for "to contact" (someone), on the notion of the chain that operates a signaling mechanism. To pull (someone's) leg is from 1882, perhaps on notion of "playfully tripping" (compare pull the long bow "exaggerate," 1830, and pulling someone's leg also sometimes was described as a way to awaken a sleeping person in a railway compartment, ship's berth, etc.). Thornton's "American Glossary" (1912) has pull (n.) "a jest" (to have a pull at (someone)), which it identifies as "local" and illustrates with an example from the Massachusetts "Spy" of May 21, 1817, which identifies it as "a Georgian phrase." To pull (one's) punches is from 1920 in pugilism, from 1921 figuratively.

To pull in "arrive" (1892) and pull out "depart" (1868) are from the railroads. To pull (something) off "accomplish, succeed at" is originally in sporting, "to win the prize money" (1870). To pull (something) on (someone) is from 1916; to pull (something) out of one's ass is Army slang from 1970s. To pull rank is from 1919; to pull the rug from under (someone) figuratively is from 1946.
pullet (n.): late 14c., "young fowl" (late 13c. as a surname), from Anglo-French pullet, Old French poulette, poilette, diminutive of poule, poille "hen," from Vulgar Latin *pulla, fem. of Latin pullus "young animal," especially "young fowl" (source also of Spanish pollo "chicken," Italian pollo "fowl;" see foal (n.)). Technically, a young hen from the time she begins to lay until the first molt.
pulley (n.): late 13c., from Old French polie, pulie "pulley, windlass" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin poliva, puliva, probably from Medieval Greek *polidia, plural of *polidion "little pivot," diminutive of Greek polos "pivot, axis" (see pole (n.2)). As a verb from 1590s.
Pullman (n.): sleeping car on a passenger train, 1867, Pullman car, in recognition of U.S. inventor George M. Pullman (1831-1897) of Chicago, who designed a railroad car with folding berths.
The Pullman Sleeping Car.--"The Western World." This splendid specimen of car architecture, being one of a number of sleeping-cars to be completed for the Michigan Central road, by Mr. Pullman, has created a great sensation among railway circles east. ... The car itself is admitted by all who have seen it to be, in the matter of sleeping and cooking accessories, and superb finish, the ne plus ultra of perfection. Nothing before has been seen to equal, much less surpass it. ["Western Railroad Gazette," Chicago, quoted in "Appleton's Illustrated Railway and Steam Navigation Guide," New York, June, 1867]
pullout (n.): also pull-out, 1825, "withdrawal," from pull (v.) + out (adv.). As "detachable section or page of a newspaper, magazine, etc." from 1952.
pullover (adj.): 1871, originally of shoes, from pull (v.) + over (adv.). As a noun, from 1875 as a kind of hat cover; 1925 as a type of sweater (short for pullover sweater, 1912), so called in reference to the method of putting it on.
pullulate (v.): 1610s, from Latin pullulatus, past participle of pullulare "put forth, grow, sprout, shoot up, come forth," from pullulus, diminutive of pullus "young animal" (see foal (n.)). Related: Pullulated; pullulating.
pullulation (n.): 1640s, noun of action from pullulate.
pulmonary (adj.): 1704, from French pulmonaire and directly from Latin pulmonarius "of the lungs," from pulmo (genitive pulmonis) "lung," cognate with Greek pleumon "lung," Old Church Slavonic plusta, Lithuanian plauciai "lungs," all from PIE *pleu- "to flow, to float, to swim" (see pluvial).

The notion perhaps is from the fact that, when thrown into a pot of water, lungs of a slaughtered animal float, while the heart, liver, etc., do not (compare Middle English lights "the lungs," literally "the light (in weight) organs"). Also see pneumo-.
pulp (n.): c. 1400, "fleshy part of a fruit or plant," from Latin pulpa "animal or plant pulp; pith of wood," earlier *pelpa, perhaps from the same root as pulvis "dust," pollen "fine flour" (see pollen); extended to other similar substances by early 15c. The adjective meaning "sensational" is from pulp magazine (1931), so called from pulp in sense of "type of rough paper used in cheaply made magazines and books" (1727). As a genre name, pulp fiction attested by 1943 (pulp writer "writer of pulp fiction" was in use by 1939). The opposite adjective in reference to magazines was slick.
pulp (v.): 1660s "reduce to pulp" (implied in pulping), from pulp (n.). As "to remove the pulp from," from 1791. Related: Pulped.
pulpit (n.): early 14c., from Late Latin pulpitum "raised structure on which preachers stand," in classical Latin "scaffold; stage, platform for actors," of unknown origin. Also borrowed in Middle High German as pulpit (German Pult "desk"). Sense of "Christian preachers and ministers generally" is from 1560s. Pulpiteer, old contemptuous term for "professional preacher," is recorded from 1640s.
pulpy (adj.): 1590s, from pulp (n.) + -y (2). Related: Pulpiness.
pulque (n.): 1690s, from American Spanish pulque, of unknown origin, said to be a word from Araucanian (native language spoken in part of Chile), or else from some language of Mexico.