Online Etymology Dictionary

dictionary (n.): 1520s, from Medieval Latin dictionarium "collection of words and phrases," from Latin dictionarius "of words," from dictio "word" (see diction). Probably first English use in title of a book was in Sir Thomas Elyot's "Latin Dictionary" (1538) though Latin Dictionarius was so used from early 13c. Grose's 1788 "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" has "RICHARD SNARY. A dictionary."
DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work. [Bierce]
OED: initialism (acronym) of Oxford English Dictionary, attested from 1898, according to the "Oxford English Dictionary."
dye (v.): Old English deagian "to dye," from the source of dye (n.). Spelling distinction between dye and die was not firm till 19c. "Johnson in his Dictionary, spelled them both die, while Addison, his near contemporary, spelled both dye" [Barnhart]. Related: dyed. For dyed in the wool (or grain) see wool (n.).
caldron (n.): spelling of cauldron preferred by other dictionary editors.
half-assed (adj.): "ineffectual," 1932; "Dictionary of American Slang" suggests it is perhaps a humorous mispronunciation of haphazard. Compare half-hearted.
ho-de-ho (interj.): 1932, defined in the "Oxford English Dictionary" as "An exclamation, used as the appropriate response to HI-DE-HI."
doofus (n.): student slang, "dolt, idiot, nerd," by 1960s. "Dictionary of American Slang" says "probably related to doo-doo and goofus."
sub voce: Latin, literally "under the word or heading." A common dictionary reference, usually abbreviated s.v.
firefly (n.): also fire-fly, "An insect which has the faculty of becoming luminous" [Century Dictionary], 1650s, from fire (n.) + fly (n.).
fragmentary (adj.): 1610s, but mainly a dictionary word until early 19c., from fragment (n.) + -ary. Fragmental was used from 1798.
supportive (adj.): 1590s, from support (v.) + -ive. Called "rare" in OED 1st edition and Century Dictionary. Related: Supportively; supportiveness.
despatch: 18c. variant of dispatch (q.v.), apparently the result of an error in the printing of Johnson's dictionary.
Madge: pet form of fem. proper name Margaret.
MADGE. The private parts of a woman. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," London, 1785]
Gadhelic (adj.): 1796, originally "Irish," now "pertaining to the Gaels" in the broadest sense; a "discriminated form" [Century Dictionary] of Gaelic.
idioticon (n.): "a dictionary of a dialect," 1842, via German, from Latinized form of idiotikon, neuter of Greek idiotikos, from idioma (see idiom).
varsity (adj.): 1825, "university," variant of earlier versity (1670s), shortened form of university. Compare varsal (1690s), short for universal; varmint from vermin; and Grose's "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1788) has vardy as slang for verdict. "Used in English universities, and affected to some extent in American colleges" [Century Dictionary].
harridan (n.): 1700, "one that is half Whore, half Bawd" ["Dictionary of the Canting Crew"]; "a decayed strumpet" [Johnson], probably from French haridelle "a poore tit, or leane ill-favored jade," [Cotgrave's French-English dictionary, 1611], attested in French from 16c., a word of unknown origin.
choad (n.): also chode, "penis," c. 1968, U.S. teen slang, of unknown origin. Guesses include supposed Navajo chodis "penis" ["Cassell's Dictionary of Slang" 2005], or a supposed Hindi, Bengali or Gujarati vernacular word for "copulate" ["New Hacker's Dictionary," 1996].
van (n.2): "covered truck or wagon," 1829, shortening of caravan. Century Dictionary suggests this was perhaps regarded as *carry-van.
blimey: by 1889, probably a corruption of (God) blind me! First attested in a slang dictionary which defines it as "an apparently meaningless, abusive term."
standpoint (n.): 1829, from stand (v.) + point (n.). A loan-translation of German Standpunkt. Century Dictionary calls it "a word objected to by purists."
webster (n.): "a weaver," Old English webbestre "a female weaver," from web (q.v.) + fem. suffix -ster. Noah Webster's dictionary first published 1828.
uphill (adj.): 1610s, from up + hill (n.). As an adverb from c. 1600. Grose's "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1785) has "Uphills, false dice that run high."
pessimist (n.): 1820, "one who habitually expects the worst" (Knowles' dictionary, 1835, defines it as "A universal complainer"), from 19c. French pessimiste (see pessimism).
inartistic (adj.): "not conformable to the rules or principles of art" [Century Dictionary], 1836, from in- (1) "not" + artistic. Inartistical is attested from 1849. Related: Inartistically.
sizeable (adj.): also sizable, 1610s, "of relatively good, suitable, or desirable size, usually somewhat large" [Century Dictionary], from size + -able. Related: Sizeably; sizeableness.
spearmint (n.): 1530s, from spear (n.2) + mint (n.1). "Said to be a corruption of spire-mint, with reference to the pyramidal inflorescence" [Century Dictionary].
sundries (n.): "various small things," 1755, plural of sundry (adj.) used as a noun. "[A] comprehensive term used for brevity, especially in accounts" [Century Dictionary].
urge (n.): 1610s, "act of urging," from urge (v.). Marked as "rare" in Century Dictionary (1902); "in frequent use from c. 1910" [OED].
submittal (n.): "act or process of submitting," 1866, from submit (v.) + -ance. Marked "rare" in Century Dictionary and OED. Submittance (17c.) also is used.
eel-skin (n.): 1560s, from eel + skin (n.). "Formerly used as a casing for the cue or pigtail of the hair or the wig, especially by sailors." [Century Dictionary]
lang syne: "long ago," c. 1500, Scottish dialect variant of long since; popularized in Burns' song, 1788. Century Dictionary has langsyner "person who lived long ago."
old hat (adj.): "out of date," first recorded 1911. As a noun phrase, however, it had different sense previously. The "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1796) defines it as, "a woman's privities, because frequently felt."
johnny-cake (n.): 1739, American English, of unknown origin, perhaps a corruption of Shawnee cake, from the Indian tribe. Folk etymology since 1775, however, connects it to journey cake. Century Dictionary says "It is of negro origin."
inane (adj.): 1660s, "empty, void," from Latin inanis or else a back-formation from inanity (q.v.). Sense of "silly, empty-headed" is from 1819. Related: Inanely. Bailey's Dictionary (1731) has inaniloquent "given to empty talk."
indecision (n.): 1735, from in- (1) "not, opposite of, without" + decision. Perhaps from or modeled on French indécision (17c.), which Cotgrave's "French and English Dictionary" (1673) translates with An undecision.
zounds (interj.): c. 1600, oath of surprise or anger, altered from (by) God's wounds!, in reference to the wounds of Christ on the Cross. "One of the innumerable oaths having reference to Christ's passion" [Century Dictionary]. Compare gadzooks.
newt (n.): early 15c., misdivision of an ewte (see N for other examples), from Middle English evete (see eft). "Eft, though now only provincial, is strictly the correct form" [Century Dictionary].
wraith (n.): 1510s, "ghost," Scottish, of uncertain origin. Weekley and Century Dictionary suggest Old Norse vorðr "guardian" in the sense of "guardian angel." Klein points to Gaelic and Irish arrach "specter, apparition."
chit (n.2): "small child," 1620s, originally "young of a beast" (late 14c.); unrelated to chit (n.1); perhaps a playful deformation of kitten, but the "Middle English Dictionary" compares Old High German kizzin "kid."
lutz (n.): type of skating jump, 1932, from the name Alois Lutz, "an obscure Austrian skater of the 1920s" [James R. Hines, "Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating," 2011], who is said to have first performed it in 1913.
cocoa (n.): powder from cacao seeds, 1707, corruption (by influence of coco) of cacao. The printing of Johnson's dictionary ran together the entries for coco and cocoa, fostering a confusion that never has been undone.
sprain (n.): c. 1600, of uncertain origin. The verb is attested from 1620s. A connection has been suggested to Middle French espraindre "to press out," from Latin exprimere [Klein, Century Dictionary], but the sense evolution is difficult. Related: Sprained; spraining.
unravel (v.): c. 1600 (transitive), from un- (2) + ravel (v.). Intransitive from 1640s. "The prefix is either reversive or intensive, according as ravel is taken to mean 'tangle' or 'untangle'" [Century Dictionary]. Related: Unravelled; unravelling; unravellment.
absenteeism (n.): 1829, from absentee + -ism; originally in reference to landlords, especially in Ireland (absentee in this sense is in Johnson's dictionary); reference to pupils or workers is from 1922.
swatch (n.): 1510s, "the countercheck of a tally" (Northumberland dialect), later "a tally attached to cloth sent to be dyed" (1610s, in Yorkshire), of unknown origin. Century Dictionary compares swath. Meaning "a sample piece of cloth" is from 1640s.
axolotl (n.): 1786, genus of Mexican salamanders, from Spanish, from Nahuatl, literally "servant of water," from atl "water" + xolotl "slippery or wrinkled one, servant, slave" [see Frances Karttunen, "An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl"].
shivaree (n.): 1843, earlier sherrie-varrie (1805), alteration of charivari. Century Dictionary describes it as "vulgar, southern U.S.;" OED describes it as "U.S. and Cornwall."
field-day (n.): 1747, originally a day of military exercise and review (see field (v.)); figurative sense "any day of unusual bustle, exertion, or display" [Century Dictionary] is from 1827.
ghawazee (n.): Egyptian dancing-girls, 1799, from Arabic gawazi, plural of gaziya. "In Egypt, a degraded class of public dancers, male and female, by some considered a race of Gipsies, devoted to the amusement of the lowest populace" [Century Dictionary, 1902].