Online Etymology Dictionary

keel (v.2): "to keep cool, make cool," Middle English kelen, from Old English celan "to cool," from Proto-Germanic *koljan "to cool," from the same source as cool (adj.). The form kele (from Old English colian) was used by Shakespeare, but later it was assimilated with the adjective form into the modern verb cool. Cognate with Dutch koelen, Old High German chuolen, German kühlen.
bedridden (adj.): also bed-ridden, mid-14c., from adjectival use of late Old English bæddrædæn "bedridden (man)," from bedrid, from Old English bedreda, literally "bedrider, bedridden (man)," from bed + rida "rider" (see ride (v.)). Originally a noun, it became an adjective in Middle English and acquired an -en on the analogy of past participle adjectives from strong verbs such as ride.
lustful (adj.): Old English lustfull "wishful, desirous, having an eager desire;" see lust (n.) + -ful. Specifically of sexual desire from 1570s. Related: Lustfully; lustfulness. Middle English also had lustsome, which was used in a sense of "voluptuous, lustful" from c. 1400. Old English had lustbære "desirable, pleasant, cheerful, joyous."
Genoa: city in Italy, Italian Genova, from Latin Genua, perhaps from a PIE root meaning "curve, bend," which could make it a cognate of Geneva. Other theories hold it to be perhaps from janua "gate," or from the Italic god Janus. Adjective forms in English included Middle English Genoway (also in plural, Janeways), c. 1400, from Old French Genoveis, from Italian Genovese. In later English, Genoese (1550s); Genovese (c. 1600); Genoan (c. 1600); Genovesian (1620s).
healer (n.): late Old English, "one who heals," especially "savior, Jesus," agent noun from heal (v.). As "a curative medicine" from late 14c. The usual Old English noun for Jesus as savior was hæland (Middle English healend), a noun use of a present participle, being a rough translation of the name (see Joshua) or of Latin salvator.
grinder (n.): Old English grindere "one who grinds (grain);" agent noun from grind (v.). Meaning "molar tooth" is late 14c. (Old English had grindetoð). Meaning "machine for milling" is from 1660s; of persons, from late 15c. "Large sandwich" sense is from 1954, American English, though the exact signification is uncertain (perhaps from the amount of chewing required to eat one).
rainbow (n.): Old English renboga; see rain (n.) + bow (n.). Common Germanic compound (Old Frisian reinboga, Old Norse regnbogi, Swedish regenbåge, Dutch regenboog, German Regenbogen). Rainbow trout (1876, American English) so called for its resplendent colors. Old English also had scurboga "shower-bow."
Sweden: c. 1600, originally in Scottish (Swethin, Swadne, etc.), from Middle Dutch Sweden, probably a dative plural of Swede (earlier in English Sweden was used of the people and until 17c. Swedeland was the English name of the country). In Old English, the country was Sweoland or Sweorice (compare Old Norse sviariki, source of Swedish Sverige). Ultimately named for the original inhabitants (see Swede).
game (v.): Middle English gamen "to sport, joke, jest," from Old English gamenian "to play, jest, joke;" see game (n.). The Middle English word is little recorded from c. 1400 and modern use for "to play at games" (1520s) probably is a new formation from the noun; and it might have been re-re-coined late 20c. in reference to computer games. Related: Gamed; gaming.
over-: word-forming element meaning "above; highest; across; too much; above normal; outer," from Old English ofer (see over). Over and its Germanic relations were widely used as prefixes, and sometimes could be used with negative force. This is rare in Modern English, but compare Gothic ufarmunnon "to forget," ufar-swaran "to swear falsely;" Old English ofercræft "fraud."
fox (v.): 1660s, "to delude" (perhaps implied in Old English foxung "fox-like wile, craftiness"), from fox (n.). The same notion is implied in Old English verbal noun foxung "fox-like wile, craftiness;" and Middle English had foxerie "wiliness, trickery, deceit." Foxed in booksellers' catalogues (1847) means "stained with fox-colored marks" (rusty red-brown). In other contexts the past-participle adjective typically meant "drunk" (1610s).
fast (n.): "act of fasting," late Old English fæsten "voluntary abstinence from food and drink or from certain kinds of food," especially, but not necessarily, as a religious duty; either from the verb in Old English or from Old Norse fasta "a fast, fasting, season for fasting," from a Proto-Germanic noun formed from the verbal root of fast (v.). In earlier Old English fæsten meant "fortress, cloister, enclosure, prison."
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.
-some (2): suffix added to numerals meaning "a group of (that number)," as in twosome, from pronoun use of Old English sum "some" (see some). Originally a separate word used with the genitive plural (as in sixa sum "six-some"); the inflection disappeared in Middle English and the pronoun was absorbed. Use of some with a number meaning "approximately" also was in Old English.
swallow (n.2): "an act of swallowing," 1822, from swallow (v.). In late Old English and Middle English it meant "gulf, abyss, hole in the earth, whirlpool," also, in Middle English, "throat, gullet." Compare Old Norse svelgr "whirlpool," literally "devourer, swallower." Meaning "as much as one can swallow at once, mouthful" is from 1861.
fremd (adj.): Northern English and Scottish survival of Middle English fremed "foreign; remote; unfamiliar; not related; unheard-of; unfriendly, distant and formal;" as a noun, "a stranger," from Old English fremde (Northumbrian fremþe); cognate with Old Saxon fremithi, Old Frisian fremed, Dutch vreemd, Old High German framidi, German fremd, Gothic framaþs "strange, foreign."
-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.
luke (adj.): obsolete except in lukewarm (late 14c.), from Middle English leuk "tepid" (c. 1200), of unknown origin; perhaps from Middle Dutch or Old Frisian leuk "tepid, weak," or from Old English hleowe (adv.) "warm," all from Proto-Germanic *khlewaz (see lee). In Middle English lew-warm was a parallel form to luke-warm.
least (adj.): Old English læst, earlier læsest "smallest, lowest in power or position" (superlative of little (adj.)), from Proto-Germanic superlative *laisista-, from PIE root *leis- (2) "small" (see less). Qualifying phrase at least "not to say more than is certainly true" is Middle English æt læstan, from the notion of "at the lowest degree." As a noun, "smallest admissible quantity or degree," from early 12c.; as an adverb, Old English læst "in the least degree."
a- (1): in native (derived from Old English) words, it most commonly represents Old English an "on" (see a (2)), as in alive, asleep, abroad, afoot, etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns; but it also can be Middle English of, as in anew, abreast (1590s); or a reduced form of Old English past participle prefix ge-, as in aware; or the Old English intensive a-, as in arise, awake, ashame, marking a verb as momentary, a single event. In words from Romanic languages, often it represents Latin ad- "to, at."
[I]t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic, or even archaic, and wholly otiose. [OED]
barn (n.): Old English bereærn "barn," literally "barley house," from bere "barley" (see barley) + aern "house," metathesized from *rann, *rasn (source also of Old Norse rann, Gothic razn "house," Old English rest "resting place"). For the formation, compare Old English sealtærn "saltworks," horsern "stable."
Barley was not always the only crop grown as the data recovered at Bishopstone might suggest but it is always the most commonly represented, followed by wheat and then rye and oats. [C.J. Arnold, "An Archaeology of the Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms," 1988, p.36]
Another word for "barn" in Old English was beretun, "barley enclosure" (from tun "enclosure, house"), which accounts for the many Barton place names on the English map, and the common surname. Barn door used figuratively for "broad target" and "great size" since 1540s.
fever (n.): earlier also feaver, late Old English fefor, fefer "fever, temperature of the body higher than normal," from Latin febris "fever," related to fovere "to warm, heat," probably from PIE root *dhegh- "burn" (source also of Gothic dags, Old English dæg "day," originally "the heat;" Greek tephra "ashes"); but some suggest a reduplication of a root represented by Sanskrit *bhur- "to be restless."

The Latin word was adopted into most Germanic languages (German Fieber, Swedish feber, Danish feber), but not in Dutch. English spelling influenced by Old French fievre. Alternative to Old English hrið, hriðing (cognate with Old High German hritto, Irish crith, Welsh cryd, Lithuanian skriečiù). Extended sense of "intense nervous excitement" is from 1580s. Also as a verb in Old English, feferian.
which (pron.): Old English hwilc (West Saxon, Anglian), hwælc (Northumbrian) "which," short for hwi-lic "of what form," from Proto-Germanic *hwa-lik- (source also of Old Saxon hwilik, Old Norse hvelikr, Swedish vilken, Old Frisian hwelik, Middle Dutch wilk, Dutch welk, Old High German hwelich, German welch, Gothic hvileiks "which"), from *hwi- "who" (see who) + *likan "body, form" (source also of Old English lic "body;" see like (adj.)). In Middle English used as a relative pronoun where Modern English would use who, as still in the Lord's Prayer. Old English also had parallel forms hwelc and hwylc, which disappeared 15c.
fleet (n.): Old English fleot "a ship, raft, floating vessel," also, collectively, "means of sea travel; boats generally," from fleotan "to float" (see fleet (v.)). Sense of "naval force, group of ships under one command" is in late Old English. The more usual Old English word was flota "a ship," also "a fleet; a sailor." The fleet for "the navy" is from 1712.

The Old English word also meant "estuary, inlet, flow of water," especially the one into the Thames near Ludgate Hill, which lent its name to Fleet Street (home of newspaper and magazine houses, standing for "the English press" since 1882), Fleet prison (long used for debtors), etc.
for (prep.): Old English for "before, in the sight of, in the presence of; as far as; during, before; on account of, for the sake of; in place of, instead of," from Proto-Germanic *fur "before; in" (source also of Old Saxon furi "before," Old Frisian for, Middle Dutch vore, Dutch voor "for, before;" German für "for;" Danish for "for," før "before;" Gothic faur "for," faura "before"), from PIE *pr- (see fore (adv.)).

From late Old English as "in favor of." For and fore differentiated gradually in Middle English. For alone as a conjunction, "because, since, for the reason that; in order that" is from late Old English, probably a shortening of common Old English phrases such as for þon þy "therefore," literally "for the (reason) that."
down (adv.): late Old English shortened form of Old English ofdune "downwards," from dune "from the hill," dative of dun "hill" (see down (n.2)). A sense development peculiar to English.

Used as a preposition since c. 1500. Sense of "depressed mentally" is attested from c. 1600. Slang sense of "aware, wide awake" is attested from 1812. Computer crash sense is from 1965. As a preposition from late 14c.; as an adjective from 1560s. Down-and-out is from 1889, American English, from situation of a beaten prizefighter. Down home (adj.) is 1931, American English; down the hatch as a toast is from 1931; down to the wire is 1901, from horse-racing. Down time is from 1952. Down under "Australia and New Zealand" attested from 1886; Down East "Maine" is from 1825; Down South "in the Southern states of the U.S." is attested by 1834.
work (v.): a fusion of Old English wyrcan (past tense worhte, past participle geworht) "prepare, perform, do, make, construct, produce; strive after" (from Proto-Germanic *wurkijan); and Old English wircan (Mercian) "to operate, function, set in motion," a secondary verb formed relatively late from Proto-Germanic noun *werkan (see work (n.)). Sense of "perform physical labor" was in Old English, as was sense "ply one's trade" and "exert creative power, be a creator." Transitive sense "manipulate (physical substances) into a desired state or form" was in Old English. Meaning "have the expected or desired effect" is from late 14c. In Middle English also "perform sexually" (mid-13c.). Related: Worked (15c.); working. To work up "excite" is from c. 1600. To work over "beat up, thrash" is from 1927. To work against "attempt to subvert" is from late 14c.
send (v.): Old English sendan "send, send forth; throw, impel," from Proto-Germanic *sandijan (source also of Old Saxon sendian, Old Norse and Old Frisian senda, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch senden, Dutch zenden, German senden, Gothic sandjan), causative form of base *sinþan, denoting "go, journey" (source of Old English sið "way, journey," Old Norse sinn, Gothic sinþs "going, walk, time"), from PIE root *sent- "to head for, go" (source also of Lithuanian siusti "send;" see sense (n.)).

Also used in Old English of divine ordinance (as in godsend, from Old English sand "messenger, message," from Proto-Germanic *sandaz "that which is sent"). Slang sense of "to transport with emotion, delight" is recorded from 1932, in American English jazz slang.
limp (v.): "move with a halting or jerky step," 1560s, of unknown origin, not found in Old or Middle English; perhaps related to Middle English lympen "to fall short" (c. 1400), which probably is from Old English lemphealt "halting, lame, limping," the first element of which is itself obscure.

OED notes that German lampen "to hang limp" (Middle High German limphin) "has been compared." Perhaps it is from a PIE root meaning "slack, loose, to hang down" (source also of Sanskrit lambate "hangs down," Middle High German lampen "to hang down"). Related: Limped; limping. Limpen in Middle English was a different verb, "to happen, befall, fall to the lot of," from Old English limpan, which might ultimately be from the same root.
woman (n.): "adult female human," late Old English wimman, wiman (plural wimmen), literally "woman-man," alteration of wifman (plural wifmen) "woman, female servant" (8c.), a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being" (in Old English used in reference to both sexes; see man (n.)). Compare Dutch vrouwmens "wife," literally "woman-man."
It is notable that it was thought necessary to join wif, a neuter noun, representing a female person, to man, a masc. noun representing either a male or female person, to form a word denoting a female person exclusively. [Century Dictionary]
The formation is peculiar to English and Dutch. Replaced older Old English wif and quean as the word for "female human being." The pronunciation of the singular altered in Middle English by the rounding influence of -w-; the plural retains the original vowel. Meaning "wife," now largely restricted to U.S. dialectal use, is attested from mid-15c. Also in American English, "In loose and especially polite usage, a woman" [Craigie, "Dictionary of American English"]. The peculiar usage was much commented upon by English writers; in the U.S. the custom was considered especially Southern, but the English didn't bother with nice distinctions and regarded it simply as American. "This noble word [woman], spirit-stirring as it passes over English ears, is in America banished, and 'ladies' and 'females' substituted; the one to English taste mawkish and vulgar; the other indistinctive and gross. The effect is odd." [Harriet Martineau, 1837]

Woman-hater "misogynist" is from c. 1600. Women's work is from 1660s. Women's liberation is attested from 1966; women's rights is from 1840, with an isolated example in 1630s.
enough (adj.): c. 1300, from Old English genog "sufficient in quantity or number," from Proto-Germanic compound *ganoga- "sufficient" (source also of Old Saxon ginog, Old Frisian enoch, Dutch genoeg, Old High German ginuog, German genug, Old Norse gnogr, Gothic ganohs).

First element is Old English ge- "with, together" (also a participial, collective, intensive, or perfective prefix), making this word the most prominent surviving example of the Old English prefix, the equivalent of Latin com- and Modern German ge- (from PIE *kom- "beside, near, by, with;" see com-). Second element is from PIE *nok-, from root *nek- (2) "to reach, attain" (source also of Sanskrit asnoti "reaches," Hittite ninikzi "lifts, raises," Lithuanian nešti "to bear, carry," Latin nancisci "to obtain").

As an adverb, "sufficiently for the purpose," in Old English; meaning "moderately, fairly, tolerably" (good enough) was in Middle English. Understated sense, as in have had enough "have had too much" was in Old English (which relied heavily on double negatives and understatement). As a noun in Old English, "a quantity or number sufficient for the purpose." As an interjection, "that is enough," from c. 1600. Colloquial 'nough said is attested from 1839.
seldom (adv.): late Old English seldum, alteration of seldan "seldom, rarely," from Proto-Germanic *selda- "strange, rare" (source also of Old Norse sjaldan, Old Frisian selden, Dutch zelden, Old High German seltan, German selten), perhaps ultimately from the base of self (q.v.).

Form shifted on analogy of adverbial dative plurals in -um (such as whilom "at one time," from while). The same development also created litlum from little, miclum from mickle. German seltsam "strange, odd," Dutch zeldzaam are related, but with the second element conformed to their versions of -some.

Seldom-times is from mid-15c. (Old English had seldhwanne "seldwhen"). Seldom-seen is from mid-15c. (Old English had seldsiene, "seld-seen").

Some compounds using the old form survived through Middle English, such as selcouth"rarely or little-known, unusual, strange, wonderful," from Old English selcuð, seld-cuð, from seldan + cuð (see couth). Old English seldan had comparative seldor, superlative seldost; in early Middle English, as seldan changed form and lost its connection with these, selde was formed as a positive. Shakespeare uses seld-shown.
-ful: word-forming element attached to nouns (and in modern English to verb stems) and meaning "full of, having, characterized by," also "amount or volume contained" (handful, bellyful); from Old English -full, -ful, which is full (adj.) become a suffix by being coalesced with a preceding noun, but originally a separate word. Cognate with German -voll, Old Norse -fullr, Danish -fuld. Most English -ful adjectives at one time or another had both passive ("full of x") and active ("causing x; full of occasion for x") senses.

It is rare in Old English and Middle English, where full was much more commonly attached at the head of a word (for example Old English fulbrecan "to violate," fulslean "to kill outright," fulripod "mature;" Middle English had ful-comen "attain (a state), realize (a truth)," ful-lasting "durability," ful-thriven "complete, perfect," etc.).
accord (v.): early 12c., from Old French acorder (12c.) "reconcile, agree, be in harmony," from Vulgar Latin *accordare "make agree," literally "be of one heart, bring heart to heart," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + cor (genitive cordis) "heart," from PIE root *kerd- (1) "heart" (see heart (n.)). Related: Accorded; according.
bail (v.1): "to dip water out of," 1610s, from baile (n.) "small wooden bucket" (mid-14c.), from nautical Old French baille "bucket, pail," from Medieval Latin *bajula (aquae), literally "porter of water," from Latin bajulare "to bear a burden" (see bail (n.1)). To bail out "leave suddenly" (intransitive) is recorded from 1930, originally of airplane pilots. Related: Bailed; bailing.
balls (n.): "testicles," early 14c., from plural of ball (n.1). See also ballocks. Meaning "courage, nerve" is from 1928. Balls to the wall, however, probably is from World War II Air Forces slang, from the ball that topped the aircraft throttle, thrust to the bulkhead of the cockpit to attain full speed. Ball-busting "difficult" is first recorded 1944; ball-buster, disparaging for "dominant female," is from 1974.
band (n.2): "an organized group," late 15c., from Middle French bande, which is traceable to the Proto-Germanic root of band (n.1), probably via a band of cloth worn as a mark of identification by a group of soldiers or others (compare Gothic bandwa "a sign"). The extension to "group of musicians" is c. 1660, originally musicians attached to a regiment of the army. To beat the band (1897) is to make enough noise to drown it out, hence to exceed everything.
crayfish (n.): "small, freshwater lobster," early 14c., crevis, from Old French crevice "crayfish" (13c., Modern French écrevisse), probably from Frankish *krebitja or a similar Germanic word that is a diminutive form of the root of crab (n.1); compare Old High German krebiz "crab, shellfish," German Krebs. Modern spelling is 16c., under influence of fish (n.).
credo (n.): late 12c., from Latin, literally "I believe," first word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, first person singular present indicative of credere "to believe," from PIE compound *kerd-dhe- "to believe," literally "to put one's heart" (source also of Old Irish cretim, Irish creidim, Welsh credu "I believe," Sanskrit śrad-dhā- "faith"), from PIE root *kerd- (1) "heart" (see heart (n.)). The nativized form is creed. General sense of "formula or statement of belief" is from 1580s.
Cymric (adj.): 1839, from Welsh Cymru "Wales," Cymry "the Welsh," plural of Cymro, probably from ancient combrox "compatriot," from British Celtic *kom-brogos, from collective prefix *kom- (see com-) + *brogos "district," from PIE *merg- "boundary, border" (see mark (n.1)). Compare Allobroges, name of a warlike people in Gallia Narbonensis, literally "those from another land."
cyto-: before a vowel, cyt-, word-forming element, from Latinized form of Greek kytos "a hollow, receptacle, basket" (from PIE *ku-ti-, from root *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal;" see hide (n.1)); used in modern science since c. 1859 for "cell," perhaps especially from the sense (in Aristophanes) of "a cell of a hive of wasps or bees."
accident (n.): late 14c., "an occurrence, incident, event," from Old French accident (12c.), from Latin accidentem (nominative accidens), present participle of accidere "happen, fall out, fall upon," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + cadere "fall" (see case (n.1)). Meaning grew from "something that happens, an event," to "something that happens by chance," then "mishap." Philosophical sense "non-essential characteristic of a thing" is late 14c. Meaning "unplanned child" is attested by 1932.
cadence (n.): late 14c., "flow of rhythm in verse or music," from Middle French cadence, from Old Italian cadenza "conclusion of a movement in music," literally "a falling," from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from neuter plural of Latin cadens, present participle of cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). In 16c., sometimes used literally for "an act of falling." A doublet of chance (n.).
Cadmean victory (n.): c. 1600, "victory involving one's own ruin," translating Greek Kadmeia nike, from Cadmus (Greek Kadmos), legendary founder of Thebes in Boeotia and bringer of the alphabet to Greece. Probably a reference to the story of Cadmus and the "Sown-Men," who fought each other till only a handful were left alive. Compare Pyrrhic (adj.1).
calamity (n.): early 15c., from Middle French calamite (14c.), from Latin calamitatem (nominative calamitas) "damage, loss, failure; disaster, misfortune, adversity," origin obscure. Early etymologists associated it with calamus "straw" (see shawm); but it is perhaps from a lost root preserved in incolumis "uninjured," from PIE *kle-mo-, from base *kel- (1) "to strike, cut" (see holt).
decay (v.): late 15c., "to decrease," from Anglo-French decair, Old North French decair (Old French decheoir, 12c., Modern French déchoir) "to fall, set (of the sun), weaken, decline, decay," from Vulgar Latin *decadere "to fall off," from de- (see de-) + Latin cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). Meaning "decline, deteriorate" is c. 1500; that of "to decompose, rot" is from 1570s. Related: Decayed; decaying.
defile (n.): "narrow passage," 1640s, especially in a military sense, "a narrow passage down which troops can march only in single file," from French défilé, noun use of past participle of défiler "march by files" (17c.), from de- "off" (see de-) + file "row," from Latin filum "thread" (see file (v.1)). The verb in this sense is 1705, from French défiler.
ecu (n.): old French silver coin, 1704, from French écu, "a shield," also the name of a coin, from Old French escu (12c.) "shield, coat of arms," also the name of a coin with three fleur-de-lys stamped on it as on the shield, formerly escut, from Latin scutum "shield" (see hide (n.1)). First issued by Louis IX (1226-1270); so called because the shield of France was imprinted on them.
ignoble (adj.): mid-15c., "of low birth;" 1590s as "not honorable, of low character;" from Middle French ignoble (14c.), from Latin ignobilis "unknown, undistinguished, obscure; of base birth, not noble," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + gnobilis "well-known, famous, renowned, of superior birth" (see noble (adj.)). Related: Ignobly; ignobility.
ignominious (adj.): early 15c., from Middle French *ignominieus or directly from Latin ignominiosus "disgraceful, shameful," from ignominia "disgrace, infamy, loss of a (good) name," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + nomen (genitive nominis) "name" (see name (n.)). The Latin spelling perhaps influenced by words from Old Latin gnoscere "come to know." Related: Ignominiously; ignominiousness.