- yuck (2)
- "laugh," 1938, yock, probably imitative.
- yucky (adj.)
- 1970, from yuck (1) + -y (2). Related: Yuckiness.
- Yugoslav (n.)
- 1853, from Slav + Serbo-Croatian jugo- "south," comb. form of jug "south, south wind, noon," from Old Church Slavonic jugu "south, south wind, noon."
- Yugoslavia
- 1929 (earlier the country was Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes); from Yugoslav + -ia. The name vanished from the map in 2003.
- yuk (n.)
- "laughter, something evoking laughs," 1964, imitative; see yuck (2).
- Yukon
- territory of northwestern Canada, named for the river, from Athabaskan, perhaps Koyukon yookkene or Lower Tanana yookuna, said to mean "big river."
- yule (n.)
- Old English geol, geola "Christmas Day, Christmastide," from Old Norse jol (plural), a heathen feast, later taken over by Christianity, of unknown origin.
The Old English (Anglian) cognate giuli was the Anglo-Saxons' name for a two-month midwinter season corresponding to Roman December and January, a time of important feasts but not itself a festival. After conversion to Christianity it narrowed to mean "the 12-day feast of the Nativity" (which began Dec. 25), but was replaced by Christmas by 11c., except in the northeast (areas of Danish settlement), where it remained the usual word.
Revived 19c. by writers to mean "the Christmas of 'Merrie England.' " First direct reference to the Yule log is 17c. Old Norse jol seems to have been borrowed in Old French as jolif, hence Modern French joli "pretty, nice," originally "festive" (see jolly).
- yuletide (n.)
- late 15c., from yule + tide.
- yum (interj.)
- exclamation of pleasure, attested from 1878.
- Yuma
- native people of Arizona, also their language, of the Yuman family, the name probably is from O'odham (Piman) yu'mi and represents the name the Piman peoples applied to the Yuma people.
- yummy
- "delicious," 1899, from baby talk. Yum-yum as an exclamation of pleasure is recorded from 1878.
- yup
- 1906, variant of yes.
- yuppie (n.)
- 1982, acronym from "young urban professional," ousting competition from yumpie (1984), from "young upward-mobile professional," and yap (1984), from "young aspiring professional." The word was felt as an insult by 1985.
- yurt (n.)
- "house or hut of the natives of north and central Asia," 1784, ultimately from Russian yurta, from a Turkic language and originally meaning "home, dwelling."
- YWCA (n.)
- also Y.W.C.A., 1874, initialism (acronym) of Young Women's Christian Association.
