Online Etymology Dictionary

Harry: masc. proper name, a familiar form of Henry. Weekley takes the overwhelming number of Harris and Harrison surnames as evidence that "Harry," not "Henry," was the Middle English pronunciation of Henry. Compare Harriet, English equivalent of French Henriette, fem. diminutive of Henri.
weal (n.1): "well-being," Old English wela "wealth," in late Old English also "welfare, well-being," from West Germanic *welon-, from PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will" (see will (v.)). Related to well (adv.).
elder (adj.): "more old," Old English (Mercian) eldra, comparative of eald, ald (see old); only English survival of umlaut in comparison. Superseded by older since 16c. Elder statesman (1921) originally was a translation of Japanese genro (plural).
bassinet (n.): "wicker cradle," 1854, from French bassinet "a little basin," diminutive of bassin (see basin), or, as per Klein, the English word is from French bercelonette, double diminutive of berceau "cradle," altered by bassin "basin." Middle English had bacinet "hemispherical helmet" (c. 1300).
advent (n.): "important arrival," 1742, an extended sense of Advent "season before Christmas" (Old English), from Latin adventus "a coming, approach, arrival," in Church Latin "the coming of the Savior," from past participle stem of advenire "arrive, come to," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come" (see venue). In English, also sometimes extended to the Pentecost.
aft (adv.): Old English æftan "from behind, behind, farthest back," from superlative of Old English æf, af, of "away, away from, off" (see of). The Germanic superlative suffix *-ta corresponds to PIE *-to (compare Greek protos "first," superlative of pro "before"). Now purely nautical.
ooze (v.): late 14c., wosen, verbal derivative of Old English noun wos "juice, sap," from Proto-Germanic *wosan (source of Middle Low German wose "scum"), from same source as ooze (n.). Modern spelling from late 1500s. The Old English verb was wesan. Related: Oozed; oozing.
teasel (n.): also teazel, teazle, type of plant, Old English tæsel "large thistle used in teasing cloth," from Proto-Germanic *taisilo (source also of Old High German zeisala), from root of Old English tæsan "to pluck" (see tease (v.)).
reckless (adj.): Old English receleas "careless, thoughtless, heedless," earlier reccileas, from *rece, recce "care, heed," from reccan "to care" (see reck (v.)) + -less. The same affixed form is in German ruchlos, Dutch roekeloos "wicked." Root verb reck (Old English reccan) is passing into obscurity.
beadle (n.): Old English bydel "herald, messenger from an authority, preacher," from beodan "to proclaim" (see bid). Sense of "warrant officer, tipstaff" was in late Old English; that of "petty parish officer," which has given the job a bad reputation, is from 1590s. French bédeau (Old French bedel, 12c.) is a Germanic loan-word.
behest (n.): Old English behæs "a vow," perhaps from behatan "to promise" (from be- + hatan "command, call;" see cite) and confused with obsolete hest "command," which may account for the parasitic -t as well as the Middle English shift in meaning to "command, injunction" (late 12c.).
behind (adv.): Old English behindan "behind, after," from bi "by" + hindan "from behind" (see hind (adj.)). The prepositional sense emerged in Old English. Euphemistic noun meaning "backside of a person" is from 1786. Phrase behind the times is from 1905. Behind the scenes (1711) is from the theater; figurative sense attested by 1779.
wheedle (v.): "to influence by flattery," 1660s, of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with Old English wædlian "to beg," from wædl "poverty" [OED], or borrowed by English soldiers in the 17c. German wars from German wedeln "wag the tail," hence "fawn, flatter" (compare adulation). Related: Wheedled; wheedling.
whelm (v.): early 14c., probably from a parallel form of Old English -hwielfan (West Saxon), -hwelfan (Mercian), in ahwelfan "cover over;" probably altered by association with Old English helmian "to cover," from Proto-Germanic *hwalbjan, from PIE *kwelp- "to arch" (see gulf (n.)).
ajar (adv.): "slightly open," 1718, also on a jar, on the jar, perhaps from Scottish dialectal a char "turned a little way," earlier on char (early 16c.), "on the turn (of a door or gate)," from Middle English char, from Old English cier "a turn."
godhead (n.): c. 1200, "divine nature, deity, divinity," from god + Middle English -hede (see -head). Along with maidenhead, the sole survival of this form of the suffix. Old English had godhad "divine nature." Parallel form godhood is from early 13c., now chiefly restricted to "state or condition of being a god."
hellfire (n.): also hell-fire, "the fire of Hell, eternal torment," from Old English hellefyr, in which helle is the genitive case of hell. It translates Greek gehenna tou pyros, literally "hell of fire." Also used in Middle English for "erysipelas" (mid-15c.).
flue (n.): "smoke channel in a chimney," 1580s, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Middle English flue, flewe "mouthpiece of a hunting horn" (early 15c.), which is perhaps from Old French fluie "stream;" or the modern word is perhaps from Old English flowan "to flow." Originally a small chimney in a furnace connected to the main chimney.
flurry (n.): "snow squall" 1828, American English; earlier with a sense of "commotion, state of perturbed action" (1710), "a gust, a squall" (1690s); perhaps imitative, or else from 17c. flurr "to scatter, fly with a whirring noise," which is perhaps from Middle English flouren "to sprinkle, as with flour" (late 14c.).
interstate (adj.): 1838, American English, in reference to traffic in slaves, from inter- "between" + state (n.) in the U.S. sense. Interstate commerce is that carried on by persons in one U.S. state with persons in another. Noun sense of "an interstate highway" is attested by 1975, American English.
Eocene (adj.): in reference to the second epoch of the Tertiary Period, 1831, from eo- "earliest" + Latinized form of Greek kainos "new" (see recent). Coined in English (along with Miocene and Pliocene) by the Rev. William Whewell (1794-1866), English polymath, and meant as "the dawn of the recent." As a noun from 1851.
reggae (n.): 1968, Jamaican English (first in song title "Do the Reggay" by Toots & the Maytals), perhaps [OED, Barnhart] related to rege-rege "a quarrel, protest," literally "ragged clothes," variant of raga-raga, alteration and reduplication of English rag (n.).
outgoing (adj.): 1630s, "that goes out," from out (adv.) + going. Meaning "sociable, friendly," attested from 1950, on same notion as in extrovert. Middle English had a noun outgoing "a departure," mid-14c., from a verb outgo "to go forth," and Old English had utgangende "outgoing" (literal). Related: Outgoingness.
overgrown (adj.): late 14c., "covered with growth," past participle adjective from overgrow "overspread with foliage" (Old English ofergrowan); see over- + grown, and compare Old English verb ofergrowan "to overgrow." Meaning "having grown too large" is attested from late 15c.
Oxford: university town in England, Middle English Oxforde, from Old English Oxnaforda (10c.) literally "where the oxen ford." In reference to a type of shoe laced over the instep, it is attested from 1721 (Oxford-cut shoes). Related: Oxfordian; Oxfordish; Oxfordist; Oxfordy.
thicket (n.): "close-set growth of shrubs, bushes, trees, etc.," late Old English þiccet, from þicce (see thick) + denominative suffix -et. Absent in Middle English, reappearing early 16c., perhaps a dialectal survival or a re-formation.
wistful (adj.): 1610s, "closely attentive," perhaps from obsolete wistly "intently" (c. 1500), of uncertain origin. Perhaps formed on the model of wishful. Middle English wistful meant "bountiful, well-supplied," from Old English wist "provisions." The meaning of "longingly pensive, musing" is by 1714. Related: Wistfully; wistfulness.
benediction (n.): c. 1400, from Latin benedictionem (nominative benedictio), noun of action from bene dicere "to speak well of, bless," from bene "well" (see bene-) + dicere "to say, speak" (see diction). The oldest sense in English is of grace before meat. The older French form, beneiçon passed into Middle English as benison.
betwixt (prep., adv.): Old English betweox "between, among, amidst, meanwhile," from bi- "by" (see be-) + tweox "for two," from Proto-Germanic *twa "two" + *-isk "-ish." With parasitic -t that first appeared in Old English and became general after c. 1500.
bewitch (v.): c. 1200, biwicchen, "cast a spell on; enchant, bewitch," from be- + Old English wiccian "to enchant, to practice witchcraft" (see witch). Literal at first, figurative sense of "to fascinate" is from 1520s. *Bewiccian may well have existed in Old English, but it is not attested. Related: Bewitched; bewitching; bewitchingly.
chow (n.): "food," 1856, American English (originally in California), from Chinese pidgin English chow-chow (1795) "food," reduplication of Chinese cha or tsa "mixed." The dog breed of the same name is from 1886, of unknown origin, but some suggest a link to the Chinese tendency to see dogs as edible.
disc (n.): Latinate spelling preferred in British English for most uses of disk (q.v.). American English tends to use it in the musical recording sense; originally of phonograph records, recently of compact discs. Hence, discophile "enthusiast for gramophone recordings" (1940).
dissemble (v.): early 15c. (implied in dissemblable), apparently a variant of Middle English dissimule (influenced by Middle French dessembler or English resemble), late 14c., from Old French dissimuler, from Latin dissimulare (see dissimulation). Related: Dissembled; dissembling.
fortnight (n.): "period of two weeks," 17c. contraction of Middle English fourteniht, from Old English feowertyne niht, literally "fourteen nights," preserving the ancient Germanic custom of reckoning by nights (mentioned by Tacitus in "Germania" xi). Related: Fortnightly.
forward (adv.): Old English forewearde "toward the front, in front; toward the future; at the beginning;" see fore + -ward. Adjectival sense of "early" is from 1520s; that of "presumptuous" is attested from 1560s. The Old English adjective meant "inclined to the front; early; former."
foundling (n.): "deserted infant," c. 1300, from Middle English founden "found," past participle of finden (see find (v.)) + diminutive suffix -ling. Compare Dutch vondeling, German Findling. Middle English also had finding in this sense (late 14c.).
frappe (n.): "iced drink," 1922, American English, from French noun use of frappé "made cold by application of ice," past participle of frapper "to chill," literally "to beat," from Old French fraper "to hit, strike" (see frap (v.)). Earlier in English as an adjective, "iced" (1848).
grandiose (adj.): 1828 (earlier as a French word in English), from French grandiose "impressive, grand in effect" (18c.), from Italian grandioso (which also was borrowed directly into English as a musical term), from Latin grandis "big" (see grand (adj.)). Related: Grandiosely.
boar (n.): Old English bar "boar," from Proto-Germanic *bairaz (source also of Old Saxon ber, Dutch beer, Old High German ber "a boar"), which is of unknown origin with no cognates outside West Germanic. Applied in Middle English to persons of boar-like character.
pen (n.2): "enclosure for animals," Old English penn, penne, "enclosure, pen, fold," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Old English pinn "pin, peg" (see pin (n.)) on notion of a bolted gate or else "structure made of pointed stakes."
clew (n.): "ball of thread or yarn," northern English and Scottish relic of Old English cliewen "sphere, ball, skein, ball of thread or yarn," probably from West Germanic *kleuwin (source also of Old Saxon cleuwin, Dutch kluwen), from Proto-Germanic *kliwjo-, from PIE *gleu- "gather into a mass, conglomerate" (see clay).
clump (n.): 1580s, "lump; cluster of trees," from Middle English clompe "a lump" (c. 1300), from Dutch klomp "lump, mass," or Middle Low German klumpe "clog, wooden shoe." Old English had clympre "lump, mass of metal."
cigarette (n.): 1835, American English, from French cigarette (by 1824), diminutive of cigare "cigar" (18c.), from Spanish cigarro (see cigar). Spanish form cigarito, cigarita also was popular in English mid-19c. Cigarette heart "heart disease caused by smoking" is attested from 1884. Cigarette lighter attested from 1884.
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."
hull (n.1): "seed covering," Middle English hol, hole, from Old English hulu "husk, pod," from Proto-Germanic *hulu- "to cover" (source also of Old High German hulla, hulsa; German Hülle, Hülse, Dutch huls), from PIE root *kel- (2) "to cover, conceal" (see cell (n.)). Figurative use by 1831.
thole (n.): "peg," from Old English þoll "oar-pin," from Proto-Germanic *thulnaz (source also of Old Norse þollr, Middle Low German dolle, East Frisian dolle, Dutch dol), of unknown origin. No record of the word in English from c. 1000 to mid-15c.
fro (adv., prep.): "away, backwards," c. 1200, Northern English and Scottish dialectal fra, Midlands dialect fro, from Old Norse fra "from," from Proto-Germanic *fra "forward, away from," from PIE *pro- (see pro-). The Norse word is equivalent to Old English fram, thus fro is a doublet of from.
lunacy (n.): 1540s, "condition of being a lunatic," formed in English from lunatic + -cy. Originally in reference to intermittent periods of insanity, such as were believed to be triggered by the moon's cycle. The Old English equivalent was monaðseocnes "month-sickness."
Merry Widow: 1907, from the English title of Franz Lehar's operetta "Die Lustige Witwe" (1905). "The Lusty Widow" would have been more etymological (see lust (n.)), but would have given the wrong impression in English. Meaning "a type of wide-brimmed hat" (popularized in the play) is attested from 1908.
rind (n.): Old English rinde "bark, crust," later "peel of a fruit or vegetable" (c. 1400), from Proto-Germanic *rind- (source also of Old Saxon rinda, Middle Dutch and Dutch rinde "bark of a tree," Old High German rinda, German Rinde), probably related to Old English rendan (see rend (v.)).