Online Etymology Dictionary

scouse (n.): 1840, short for lobscouse "a sailor's stew made of meat, vegetables, and hardtack," of uncertain origin (compare loblolly); transferred sense of "native or inhabitant of Liverpool" (where the stew is a characteristic dish) is recorded from 1945. In reference to the regional dialect, from 1963. Related: Scouser (1959).
Lobscouse. A dish much eaten at sea, composed of salt beef, biscuit and onions, well peppered, and stewed together. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1788]
scrotum (n.): "purse-like tegumentary investment of the testes and part of the spermatic cord; the cod" [Century Dictionary], 1590s, from Latin scrotum, probably transposed from scortum "a skin, hide" (see corium), perhaps by influence of scrautum "leather quiver for arrows."
"Isn't the sea what Algy calls it: a grey sweet mother? The snotgreen sea. The scrotum-tightening sea. Epi oinopa ponton." [Joyce, "Ulysses"]
Related: Scrotal.
boughten (adj.): irregular past participle of buy; as an adjective from 1793, especially in colloquial U.S. usage, of clothing and other items, opposed to "made."
BOUGHTEN. Which is bought. This is a common word in the interior of New England and New York. It is applied to articles purchased from the shops, to distinguish them from similar articles of home manufacture. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
blamed (adv.): "confoundedly" 1833, later also as an adjective, from past participle of blame (v.), as a "euphemistic evasion of the horrible word damn." [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848].
This adjective 'blamed' is the virtuous oath by which simple people, who are improving their habits, cure themselves of a stronger epithet. [Edward Everett Hale, "If, Yes, and Perhaps," 1868]
Compare also blamenation (1837) as an expletive. The imprecation blame me is attested from 1830.
hair-trigger (n.): 1795; Figurative use by 1841. Hair perhaps in reference to the slight pressure required to activate it.
The difference between a hair-trigger and a common trigger is this--the hair-trigger, when set, lets off the cock by the slightest touch, whereas the common trigger requires a considerable degree of force, and consequently is longer in its operation. [Charles James, "Military Dictionary," London, 1802]
hornblende (n.): common dark mineral, 1770, from German Hornblende, from horn "horn of an animal" (see horn (n.)) + blende (see blende).
The term "Hornblende" is an old German name for any dark, prismatic crystal found with metallic ores but containing no valuable metal (the word "Blende" indicates "a deceiver") [Herbert Bucksch, "Dictionary Geotechnical Engineering," 1995]
Related: Horneblendic.
homoiousian (adj.): 1680s, "having a similar nature," from Greek homoiousios "of the same essence," from homos "one and the same" (see homo- (1)) + ousia "essence" (see Parousia). As a noun from 1732 in reference to the followers of the semi-Arian Eusebius, "who maintained that the nature of Christ is similar to, but not the same with, that of the father" [Century Dictionary].
indicative (adj.): mid-15c., "that points out, states, or declares" (grammatical), from Old French indicatif (14c.), from Late Latin indicativus "serving to point out," from indicat-, past participle stem of Latin indicare "to point out, show" (see indication). The "mood in the conjugation of a Latin verb whose essential function is to state a fact (as opposed to a wish, supposition or command)" [Middle English Dictionary]. Related: Indicatively.
forelock (n.): "lock of hair growing above the forehead," Old English forelocca "forelock;" see fore- + lock (n.2).
"Opportunity has hair in front, behind she is bald; if you seize her by the forelock, you may hold her; but, if she once escapes, not Jupiter himself can catch her again." ["Dictionary of Latin Quotations, Proverbs, Maxims and Mottos," H.T. Riley, London, 1866]
fast and loose: described as "a cheating game played with a stick and a belt or string, so arranged that a spectator would think he could make the latter fast by placing a stick through its intricate folds, whereas the operator could detach it at once." [James O. Halliwell, "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words," 1847]. The figurative sense (1550s) is recorded earlier than the literal (1570s).
Hell's Kitchen: disreputable, impoverished New York City neighborhood, the name attested from 1879. The phrase was used from at least 1866 as an intensive form of Hell.
Hell's kitchen (American), a horrible slum. Hell's Kitchen, Murderer's Row, and the Burnt Rag are names of localities which form collectively the worst place in New York. [Albert Barrère and Charles G. Leland, "A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant," 1889]
carminative (adj.): early 15c., from Latin carminat- (past participle stem of carminare "to card," from carmen, genitive carminis, "a card for wool or flax," which is related to carrere "to card;" see card (v.2)) + -ive. As a noun from 1670s.
A medical term from the old theory of humours. The object of carminatives is to expel wind, but the theory was that they dilute and relax the gross humours from whence the wind arises, combing them out like knots in wool. [Hensleigh Wedgwood, "A Dictionary of English Etymology," 1859-65]
deasil (adj.): "rightwise, turned toward the right; motion according to the apparent course of the sun," 1771, from Gaelic deiseil, deiseal (adjective and adverb) "toward the south," taken in sense of "toward the right," from deas "right, right-hand; south," cognate with Irish deas, Old Irish dess, des, Welsh dehau, and ultimately with Latin dexter (see dexterity). The second element of the Gaelic word is not explained (one old guess, in the Century Dictionary (1902), is a proposed *iul "direction, guidance").
donut (n.): see doughnut. It turns up as an alternate spelling in U.S. as early as 1870 ("Josh Billings"), common from c. 1920 in names of bakeries. Halliwell ("Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words," 1847) has donnut "a pancake made of dough instead of batter," which Bartlett (1848) writes "is no doubt the same word" as the American one.
bawdy (adj.): late 14c., "soiled, dirty, filthy," from bawd + -y (2). Meaning "lewd" is from 1510s, from notion of "pertaining to or befitting a bawd;" usually of language (originally to talk bawdy).
Bawdy Basket, the twenty-third rank of canters, who carry pins, tape, ballads and obscene books to sell. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]
Related: Bawdily; bawdiness.
berk (n.): "fool," 1936, abbreviation of Berkshire Hunt (or Berkeley Hunt), rhyming slang for cunt but typically applied only to contemptible persons, not to the body part.
This is not an objective, anatomical term, neither does it imply coitus. It connects with that extension of meaning of the unprintable, a fool, or a person whom one does not like. ["Dictionary of Rhyming Slang," 1960]
Grateful Dead: San Francisco rock band, 1965, the name taken, according to founder Jerry Garcia, from a dictionary entry he saw about the folk tale motif of a wanderer who gives his last penny to pay for a corpse's burial, then is magically aided by the spirit of the dead person. A different version of the concept is found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
hoe-cake (n.): also hoecake, 1745, American English, said to be so called because it originally was baked on the broad thin blade of a cotton-field hoe (n.). "In the interior parts of the country, where kitchen utensils do not abound, they are baked on a hoe; hence the name" [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848].
hallo (interj.): shout to call attention, 1781, earlier hollo, holla (see hello). "Such forms, being mere syllables to call attention, are freely varied for sonorous effect" [Century Dictionary]. Old English had ea la. Halow as a shipman's cry to incite effort is from mid-15c.; Halloo as a verb, "to pursue with shouts, to shout in the chase," is from late 14c. Compare also harou, cry of distress, late 13c., from French.
hang out (v.): c. 1400, intransitive (as of the tongue, from the mouth); transitive use by 1560s; see hang (v.) + out (adv.). Colloquial meaning "to be found" is recorded from 1811, "in allusion to the custom of hanging out a sign or 'shingle' to indicate one's shop and business" [Century Dictionary]. As a noun (often hangout) "residence, lodging" attested from 1893; earlier "a feast" (1852, American English).
holla: 1580s as a command to get attention, in which use it belongs in the group with hello, hallo. From 1520s as a command to "stop, cease," from French holà (15c.), which "Century Dictionary" analyzes as ho! + la "there." As an urban slang form of holler (v.) "greet, shout out to," it was in use by 2003.
imago (n.): "final or adult stage of an insect," 1797, from Latin imago "an image, a likeless" (see image (n.)). "The name is due to the fact that such an insect, having passed through its larval stages, and having, as it were, cast off its mask or disguise, has become a true representation or image of its species." [Century Dictionary]
kinsman (n.): "man of the same race or family; one related by blood," c. 1200, kenesmen, from late Old English cynnes mannum; see kin + man. Kinswoman is recorded from c. 1400. "The word is commonly and properly used only of a relative by blood, in contradistinction to relatives by marriage, who are properly termed affines" [Century Dictionary, 1902].
Italianate (adj.): 1570s, from Italian Italianato "rendered Italian," from Italiano (see Italian). In older use "applied especially to fantastic affectations of fashions borrowed from Italy" [Century Dictionary], or in reference to the supposed Italian proverb that translates as an Englishman Italianate is a Devil incarnate which circulated in English (there also was a version in Germany about Italianized Germans).
rand (n.): "rocky ridge overlooking a river valley," 1839, South African English, from Afrikaans, from Dutch rand "edge, margin," cognate with Old English rand "brink, bank." As a unit of currency, adopted by the Republic of South Africa in 1961 (see Krugerrand). Johnson's dictionary has rand "Border; seam: as the rand of a woman's shoe."
swage (v.): "to shape or bend by use of a tool," 1831, from swage (n.), also swedge, "tool or die for bending cold metal" (1812), from French suage, according to Century Dictionary from suer "to sweat." Uncertain connection to swage "ornamental moulding" (late 14c.), from Old French souage (Modern French suage), which, according to Klein, is from soue "rope," from Vulgar Latin *soca, probably of Gaulish origin (compare Breton sug "cord").
lock-step (n.): 1802, in military writing, for a very tight style of mass marching, from lock (n.) + step (n.).
Lock-step. A mode of marching by a body of men going one after another as closely as possible, in which the leg of each moves at the same time with and closely follows the corresponding leg of the person directly before him. [Thomas Wilhelm, "Military Dictionary and Gazetteer," Philadelphia, 1881]
Figurative use by 1836.
browser (n.): 1845, "animal which browses," agent noun from browse (v.). In the computer sense by 1982.
The first browser was invented at PARC by Larry Tesler, now a designer at Apple Computer. Tesler's first Smalltalk browser was a tree-structured device. It enabled programmers to hunt quickly for items in a Smalltalk dictionary. ["InfoWorld" magazine, vol. v., no. 4, Jan. 24, 1983]
varnish (v.): late 14c.; see varnish (n.). Related: Varnished; varnishing. Century Dictionary defines varnishing day as "A day before the opening of a picture exhibition on which exhibitors have the privilege of retouching or varnishing their pictures after they have been placed on the walls." The custom is said to date to the early years of 19c.
craze (n.): late 15c., "break down in health," from craze (v.) in its Middle English sense; this led to a noun sense of "mental breakdown," and by 1813 to the extension to "mania, fad," or, as The Century Dictionary (1902) defines it, "An unreasoning or capricious liking or affectation of liking, more or less sudden and temporary, and usually shared by a number of persons, especially in society, for something particular, uncommon, peculiar, or curious ...."
cheese (v.): "stop (what one is doing), run off," 1812, thieves' slang, of uncertain origin. Meaning "to smile" is from 1930 (see cheese (n.1)). For meaning "to annoy," see cheesed.
CHEESE IT. Be silent, be quiet, don't do it. Cheese it, the coves are fly; be silent, the people understand our discourse. ["Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence," London, 1811]
chondro-: word-forming element meaning "cartilage," from Latinized form of Greek khondros "cartilage" (of the breastbone), also "grain, grain of salt, seed, barley-grain," of uncertain origin. This is sometimes said to be from the PIE root meaning "to grind" which is the source of English grind (v.), but there are serious phonological objections and the word might be non-Indo-European [Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"]. The body material so called for its gristly nature.
eccentric (adj.): 1550s, from Middle French eccentrique and directly from Medieval Latin eccentricus (noun and adjective; see eccentric (n.)). Of persons, figurative sense of "odd, whimsical" first recorded 1620s. "Eccentric is applied to acts which are the effects of tastes, prejudices, judgments, etc., not merely different from those of ordinary people, but largely unaccountable and often irregular ..." [Century Dictionary].
cn-: consonant group used in Old English (the Clark Hall dictionary has 82 entries under cn-) but in Middle English all lost or turned to kn-. Also common in Greek, and retained in the spelling of some English words from Greek but not now admitted in speech, the n- only being sounded.
shag (v.2): in baseball, "to go after and catch" (fly balls), by 1913, of uncertain origin. Century Dictionary has it as a secondary sense of a shag (v.) "to rove about as a stroller or beggar" (1851), which is perhaps from shack (n.) "disreputable fellow" (1680s), short for shake-rag, an old term for a beggar.
training (n.): mid-15c., "protraction, delay," verbal noun from train (v.). From 1540s as "discipline and instruction to develop powers or skills;" 1786 as "exercise to improve bodily vigor." Training wheels as an attachment to a bicycle is from 1953.
Training is the development of the mind or character or both, or some faculty, at some length, by exercise, as a soldier is trained or drilled. Discipline is essentially the same as training, but more severe. [Century Dictionary]
flabbergast (v.): 1772, flabbergasted, mentioned (with bored) in a magazine article that year as a new vogue word, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from some dialect (in 1823 flabbergast was noted as a Sussex word), perhaps ultimately an arbitrary formation alluding to flabby or flapper and aghast. "Like many other popular words expressing intensity of action, ... not separable into definite elements or traceable to a definite origin" [Century Dictionary]. Related: Flabbergasted; flabbergasting; flabbergastation.
expert (n.): early 15c., "person wise through experience," from expert (adj.). The word reappeared 1825 in the legal sense, "person who, by virtue of special acquired knowledge or experience on a subject, presumably not within the knowledge of men generally, may testify in a court of justice to matters of opinion thereon, as distinguished from ordinary witnesses, who can in general testify only to facts" [Century Dictionary].
jaunt (v.): "tire (a horse) by riding back and forth on it, ride hard," 1560s, of unknown origin, "the word being confused with other words of similar or related meanings" [Century Dictionary]. Not found in Middle English, perhaps from some obscure French word. Also "be jolted or shaken up" (1570s), main modern sense "wander here and there for pleasure" is from 1640s. Related: Jaunted; jaunting.
Joe: pet-form of Joseph (q.v.). Meaning "generic fellow, man" is from 1846. Used in a wide range of invented names meaning "typical male example of," for example Joe college "typical college man" (1932); Joe Blow "average fellow" is U.S. military slang, first recorded 1941. "Dictionary of American Slang" lists, among other examples, Joe Average, Beige, Lunch Bucket, Public, Sad, Schmoe, Six-pack, Yale, Zilch
incivism (n.): "want of good citizenship," in English often with a menacing sense, a word from the French Revolution, 1794, from French incivisme; see in- (1) "not" + civic + -ism.
The words civisme and incivisme came into use during the first French revolution, when an appearance of active devotion to the existing government was the great test of good citizenship, and incivism was regarded a crime. [Century Dictionary]
incase (v.): variant of encase.
Theory of Incasement, an old theory of reproduction which assumed that when the first animal of each species was created, the germs of all other individuals of the same species which were to come from it were incased in its ova. The discovery of spermatozoa developed the theory in two opposite directions: the ovulists, or ovists, held still to the theory of incasement in the female while the animalculists, or spermists, entertained the theory of incasement in the male. [Century Dictionary]
horse-marine (n.): 1824, "one of an imaginary corps of mounted sailors," hence "a person out of his element and unfit for his place" [Century Dictionary], from horse (n.) + marine (n.). However by 1878 the term was being used in fact in reference to cavalrymen pressed into marine service or seamen mounted as an improvised shore defense.
grisette (n.): c. 1700, "gray woolen fabric," from French grisette, diminutive of gris "grey," which is from Frankish or some other Germanic source (see grey (adj.)). From 1723 as "young French working girl," especially a shopgirl or seamstress, on the notion of wearing clothing made from such fabric; "commonly applied by foreigners in Paris to the young women of this class who are free in their manners on the streets and in the shops" [Century Dictionary].
-el (3): derivational suffix, used mostly with verbs but originally also with nouns, "often denoting diminutive, repetitive, or intensive actions or events" ["Middle English Dictionary"], from Old English (compare brastlian alongside berstan, for which see burst; nestlian (see nestle) alongside nistan). New formations in Middle English might be native formations with this or borrowings from Dutch.
lacrymatory (n.): "small, slender glass vessel," of a type found in ancient sepulchers, 1650s, from Medieval Latin lacrimatorium, noun use of neuter of adjective lacrimatorius "pertaining to tears," from Latin lacrima "a tear" (see lachrymose). "It seems established that in some of them, at least, the tears of friends were collected to be buried with the dead" [Century Dictionary]. As an adjective 1849; the older adjective is lacrymary "designed to contain tears" (1705).
hamartia (n.): "tragic flaw," Greek, literally "fault, failure, guilt, sin" from hamartanein "to fail of one's purpose; to err, sin," originally "to miss the mark," from PIE *hemert- "to miss, fail." "The aspiration must be analogical. The word has no known cognates, but the reconstructed root looks perfectly IE" [Robert Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"].
Leicester: Middle English, earlier Ligraceaster, Ligera ceaster (early 10c.) "Roman Town of the People Called Ligore," a tribal name, perhaps "dwellers by the River Ligor." For second element, see Chester. The site is the Roman Ratae Coritanorum, fortified tribal capital of the Coritani, whose name is of unknown origin, with a Celtic word for "ramparts." The modern name "is best regarded as a new descriptive term for a deserted site" [Watts, "Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names"].
leitmotif (n.): also leitmotiv, "a musical figure to which some definite meaning is attached," 1876, from German Leitmotiv, literally "leading motive," from leiten "to lead" (see lead (v.1)) + Motiv (see motive). A term associated with Wagnerian musical drama, though the thing itself is at least as old as Mozart. "The leitmotif must be characteristic of the person or thing it is intended to represent." ["Elson's Music Dictionary"]
levee (n.2): "morning assembly held by a prince or king" (originally upon rising from bed), 1670s, a spelling intended to represent the pronunciation of French lever "a raising," noun use of verb meaning "to raise" (see levee (n.1)), or else from a variant form of levée in French, which, however, "has not the meaning 'a reception'" [Century Dictionary]. By mid-18c. the word in English was used of assemblies or receptions held at any hour.