Online Etymology Dictionary

godchild (n.): "child one sponsors at baptism," c. 1200, "in ref. to the spiritual relation assumed to exist between them" [Century Dictionary], from God + child. The Old English word was godbearn
horseback (n.): "the back of a horse," especially the part upon which a rider sits, late 14c., from horse (n.) + back (n.). The alternative formerly was described in jest as footback [Century Dictionary].
devote (v.): 1580s, from Latin devotus, past participle of devovere (see devotion). Second and third meanings in Johnson's Dictionary (1755) are "to addict, to give up to ill" and "to curse, to execrate; to doom to destruction." Related: Devoted; devoting.
eventful (adj.): c. 1600, from event + -ful. According to OED, it is in Shakespeare, once ("As You Like It"), and there is no record of it between then and Johnson's "Dictionary." Related: Eventfully; eventfulness. Eventless is attested from 1815.
DAE: initialism (acronym) for "A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles," published in four volumes between 1936 and 1944, edited by Sir William A. Craigie and James R. Hulbert.
gazetteer (n.): 1610s, "journalist," from gazette (n.) + -eer. Meaning "geographical dictionary" is from 1704, from Laurence Eachard's 1693 geographical handbook for journalists, "The Gazetteer's, or Newsman's, Interpreter," second edition simply titled "The Gazetteer."
homeland (n.): 1660s, from home (n.) + land (n.). Old English hamland meant "enclosed pasture." Not in Century Dictionary (U.S., 1910); in more extensive use in U.S. after 2001.
substract (v.): "to subtract," 1540s, "now illiterate" [OED], "An erroneous form of subtract, common in vulger use" [Century Dictionary], from Modern Latin substractus, past participle of substrahere, alternative form of subtrahere (see subtraction). Related: Subtracted; subtracting.
theodolite (n.): surveying instrument, 1570s, of unknown origin (see OED for discussion). "The word has a Gr[eek] semblance, but no obvious Gr[eek] basis" [Century Dictionary].
rantallion (n.): "One whose scrotum is so relaxed as to be longer than his penis, i. e. whose shot pouch is longer than the barrel of his piece." ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," Grose, 1785]
ramp (n.2): "rude, boisterous girl or woman," mid-15c., perhaps from ramp (v.). Compare romp in Johnson's Dictionary (1755): "a rude, awkward, boisterous, untaught girl."
soever (adv.): 1550s, from so + ever. "A word generally used in composition to extend or render indefinite the sense of such words as who, what, where, when, how, etc. ...." [Century Dictionary].
tarbrush (n.): 1711, from tar (n.1) + brush (n.1). To have a touch of the tarbrush "have a dash of African ancestry visible in the skin tone" (1796) was "a term of contempt from the West Indies" [Century Dictionary].
eth (n.): name of an Anglo-Saxon runic character (Ð, ð) representing the sound "-th-," 1846, from th + e, "the usual assistant vowel in letter-names" [Century Dictionary].
warning (n.): "notice beforehand of the consequences that will probably follow continuance in some particular course" [Century Dictionary], Old English warnung, verbal noun from warnian (see warn (v.)).
Jobation (n.): "a long, tedious scolding," 1680s, a jocular formation from Job, the patriarch, with a Latinate noun ending, "in allusion to the rebukes he received from his 'comforters'" [Century Dictionary]. A verb jobe is attested from 1660s.
indent (n.): "cut or notch in a margin," 1590s, from indent (v.1). A supposed earlier noun sense of "a written agreement" (late 15c.) is described in Middle English Dictionary as "scribal abbrev. of endenture."
lexicographer (n.): "a dictionary-writer," 1650s, perhaps based on French lexicographe "lexicographer," from a Latinized form of Greek lexikographos, from lexikon "wordbook" (see lexicon) + -graphos "writer," from graphein "to write" (see -graphy).
limpidity (n.): 1650s, from French limpidité or directly from Late Latin limpiditatem (nominative limpiditas) "clarity, clearness," from Latin limpidus "clear, transparent" (see limpid). Bailey's dictionary (1727) has limpitude.
ketone (n.): chemical group, 1851, from German keton (1848), coined by German chemist Leopold Gmelin (1788-1853) from German Aketon, from French acétone (see acetone). "Appar. an arbitrary variation of acetone, to make a distinction" [Century Dictionary]. Its combining form is keto-. Related: Ketonic.
ea (n.): the usual Old English word for "river, running water" (still in use in Lancashire, according to OED); see aqua-. "The standard word in place-names for river denoting a watercourse of greater size than a broc or a burna" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names].
imperturbable (adj.): c. 1500, from Middle French imperturbable (15c.) and directly from Late Latin imperturbabilis "that cannot be disturbed" (Augustine), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + *perturbabilis, from Latin perturbare "to confuse, disturb" (see perturb). Related: Imperturbably (1785); imperturbability (1831; earlier as a dictionary word); imperturbation.
lash (n.): c. 1300, las "a blow, a stroke," later "flexible part of a whip" (late 14c.), possibly imitative; compare lash (v.1), which might be the immediate source of this. Century Dictionary says Irish lasg "a lash, whip, whipping" is of English origin. The lash "punishment by flogging" is from 1690s.
lackadaisical (adj.): "sentimentally woebegone" [Century Dictionary], 1768, lack-adaysical (Sterne), from interjection lackadaisy "alas, alack" (1748), a ludicrous alteration of lack-a-day (1690s), an exclamation of sorrow or regret, from alack the day (1590s). Hence, "given to crying 'lack-a-day,' vapidly sentimental." Sense probably altered by influence of lax. Related: Lackadaisically.
makeweight (n.): also make-weight, 1690s, "small quantity of something added to make the total reach a certain weight," from make (v.) + weight.
MAKE WEIGHT. A small candle: a term applied to a little slender man. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," London, 1785]
valise (n.): 1610s, "suitcase, soldier's kit bag," from Middle French valise (16c.), from Italian valigia, of uncertain origin. Attested in Medieval Latin forms valisia (early 15c.), valixia (late 13c.). "The name is generally given to a leather case of moderate size, opening wide on a hinge or like a portfolio ...." [Century Dictionary]
ramrod (n.): 1757, literally "a rod used in ramming" (the charge of a gun), from ram (v.) + rod. Used figuratively for straightness or stiffness from 1939, also figuratively for formality, primness (ramroddy is in Century Dictionary, 1902). The verb is 1948, from the noun. Related: Ramrodded; ramrodding.
pyrgologist (n.): "one versed in the structure and history of towers," 1877, from Greek pyrgos "a tower; highest point of a building" + -ologist. It seems to have been used once, in the "Athenaeum" of Aug. 18, and then forgotten except in the dictionary.
giaour (n.): 1560s, Turkish term of contempt for non-Muslims, from Turkish pronunciation of Persian gaur, variant of gabr "infidel, fire-worshipper," originally applied to the adherents of the Zoroastrian religion. Used by the Turks especially of Christians, "and so commonly that it does not necessarily imply an insult" [Century Dictionary].
xanthous (adj.): 1829, "fair-haired and light-complexioned," from Greek xanthos "yellow," of unknown origin (see xantho-). But the word also was used in 19c. anthropology as "specifying the yellow or Mongoloid type of mankind" [Century Dictionary].
yahoo (n.): "a brute in human form," 1726, from the race of brutish human creatures in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels." "A made name, prob. meant to suggest disgust" [Century Dictionary]. "Freq. in mod. use, a person lacking cultivation or sensibility, a philistine; a lout; a hooligan" [OED]. The internet search engine so called from 1994.
feng shui (n.): also feng-shui, fung-shui, 1797, from Chinese, from feng "wind" + shui "water." A system of spiritual influences in natural landscapes and a means of regulating them; "A kind of geomancy practiced by the Chinese for determining the luckiness or unluckiness of sites for graves, houses, cities, etc." [Century Dictionary].
flog (v.): 1670s, slang, of uncertain origin. Perhaps a schoolboy shortening of Latin flagellare "flagellate" (see flagellum); Century Dictionary suggests perhaps from a Low German word "of homely use, of which the early traces have disappeared." OED finds it presumably onomatopoeic. Figurative use from 1800. Related: Flogged; flogging.
helter-skelter (adv.): also helter skelter, 1590s, perhaps a rhyming reduplication from skelte "to hasten, scatter hurriedly," or merely "a riming formula vaguely imitative of hurry and confusion" [Century Dictionary] as in harum-scarum, etc. As an adjective from 1785.
floozie (n.): also floozy, "woman of disreputable character," 1902, perhaps a variation of flossy "fancy, frilly" (1890s slang), with the notion of "fluffiness." The c. 1700 "Dictionary of the Canting Crew" defines Florence as a slang word for "a Wench that is touz'd and ruffled."
flunky (n.): also flunkey, 1782, Scottish dialect, "footman, liveried servant," of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive variant of flanker (in reference to servants running alongside coaches; compare footman). Sense of "flatterer, toady" first recorded 1855. "Recent in literature, but prob. much older in colloquial speech" [Century Dictionary].
Hesperus: late 14c., poetic for "the evening star," from Latin Hesperus, from Greek hesperos (aster) "the evening (star)," from PIE *wes-pero- "evening, night" (see vesper). Related: Hesperian. Hence Latin and Greek Hesperia "the land of the west," "applied by the Greeks to Italy, by the Romans to Spain or regions beyond" [Century Dictionary].
lima bean (n.): 1756, associated with Lima, Peru, from which region the plant (Phaseolus lunatus) was introduced to Europe c. 1500. Among the earliest New World crops to be known in the Old World, Simmonds' "Dictionary of Trade" (1858) describes it as "esteemed," but it has the consistency of a diseased dog kidney.
IOU: also I.O.U., I O U, 1610s, originally written IOV (see V); a punning on "I Owe You." "A memorandum or acknowledgement of debt less formal than a promissory note, because no direct promise to pay is expressed." [Century Dictionary]
irascible (adj.): late 14c., from Old French irascible (12c.) and directly from Late Latin irascibilis, from Latin irasci "be angry, be in a rage," from ira "anger" (see ire).
Irascible indicates quicker and more intense bursts of anger than irritable, and less powerful, lasting, or manifest bursts than passionate. [Century Dictionary]
loll (v.): mid-14c., lollen "to lounge idly, hang loosely," perhaps related to Middle Dutch lollen "to doze, mumble," or somehow imitative of rocking or swinging. Specifically of the tongue from 1610s. Related: Lolled; lolling. As a noun, from 1709. Grose ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785] has lollpoop "A lazy, idle drone."
clandestine (adj.): 1560s, from Latin clandestinus "secret, hidden," from clam "secretly," from adverbial derivative of base of celare "to hide" (see cell), perhaps on model of intestinus "internal." Related: Clandestinely. As a noun form, there is awkward clandestinity (clandestineness apparently being a dictionary word).
hothead (n.): "short-tempered person," 1650s, from hot in the figurative sense + head (n.); Johnson's dictionary also lists hotmouthed "headstrong, ungovernable;" Elizabethan English had hot-brain "hothead" (c. 1600); and Old English had hatheort "anger, rage," literally "hot heart."
hullabaloo (n.): 1762, hollo-ballo (with many variant spellings) "uproar, racket, noisy commotion," chiefly in northern England and Scottish, perhaps a rhyming reduplication of hollo (see hello). Bartlett ("Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848) has it as hellabaloo "riotous noise; confusion," and says it is provincial in England.
doff (v.): mid-14c., contraction of do off, preserving the original sense of do as "put." At the time of Johnson's Dictionary [1755] the word was "obsolete, and rarely used except by rustics," but it was saved from extinction (along with don) by Sir Walter Scott. Related: Doffed; doffing.
gubernatorial (adj.): 1734, formed in American English from Latin gubernator "a governor" (see govern) + -al (1). OED marks it "Cheifly U.S.," and Century Dictionary says "Chiefly in newspaper use." As English words, gubernator was in use from 1520s, gubernation from mid-15c., but both are rare.
gules (adj.): "red," in heraldic descriptions, c. 1300, from Old French goules "neckpiece of (red) fur," plural of gole, guele "throat," from Latin gula "throat" (see gullet). Or perhaps the reference is to the red open mouth of the heraldic lion. Derivation from Persian gul "a rose" is "a poetical fancy" [Century Dictionary].
fresh (adj.2): "impudent, presumptuous," or as Century Dictionary puts it, "verdant and conceited," 1848, U.S. slang, probably from German frech "insolent, cheeky," from Old High German freh "covetous," related to Old English frec "greedy, bold" (see freak (n.2)).
rile (v.): 1825, American English spelling alteration to reflect a dialectal pronunciation of roil (q.v.); compare heist from hoist and in the same era spile for spoil (v.). Bartlett writes that in both England and America roil "is now commonly pronounced and written rile" ["Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]. Related: Riled; riling.
bugaboo (n.): 1843, earlier buggybow (1740), probably an alteration of bugbear (also see bug (n.)), but connected by Chapman ["Dictionary of American Slang"] with Bugibu, demon in the Old French poem "Aliscans" from 1141, which is perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Cornish bucca-boo, from bucca "bogle, goblin").