Online Etymology Dictionary

yank (v.): "to pull, jerk," 1822, Scottish, of unknown origin. Related: Yanked; yanking. The noun is 1818 in sense of "sudden blow, cuff;" 1856 (American English) as "a sudden pull."
yore (adv.): Old English geara "of yore, formerly, in former times," literally "of years," originally adverbial genitive plural of gear (see year), and used without of. As a noun from mid-14c.
yuck (1): exclamation of disgust, 1966, origin perhaps echoic (compare Newfoundland slang yuck "to vomit," 1963; U.S. slang yuck "despised person," 1943; provincial English yuck "the itch, mange, scabies"). Variant yech is by 1969.
Zion: late Old English Sion, from Greek Seon, from Hebrew Tsiyon, name of a Canaanite hill fortress in Jerusalem captured by David and called in the Bible "City of David." It became the center of Jewish life and worship.
wan (adj.): Old English wann "dark, dusky, lacking luster," later "leaden, pale, gray," of uncertain origin, and not found in other Germanic languages. The connecting notion is colorlessness. Perhaps related to wane. Related: Wanly; wanness.
emmet (n.): "ant," from Old English æmete (see ant), surviving as a dialect word in parts of England; also, according to OED, in Cornwall a colloquial name for holiday tourists.
fell (adj.): "cruel," late 13c., possibly late Old English, perhaps from Old French fel "cruel, fierce, vicious," from Medieval Latin fello "villain" (see felon). Phrase at one fell swoop is from "Macbeth." Related: Fellness.
-fest: word-forming element in colloquial compounds (hen-fest, gabfest, etc.), from 1889, American English, borrowed from German Fest "festival," abstracted from Volksfest, etc., from Middle High German vëst, from Latin festum (see festivity).
fete (n.): 1754, from French fête "festival, feast," from Old French feste "feast, celebration" (see feast (n.)). If the date is right, first used in English by Horace Walpole (1717-1797).
cashier (n.): "person in charge of money," 1590s, from Middle French caissier "treasurer," from caisse "money box" (see cash (n.)). The immediate source of the English word might be Middle Dutch kassier.
afterward (adv.): Old English æftanweard, from æftan "after" (see aft) + -weard suffix indicating direction (see -ward); nautical use as aftward, then expanded by influence of after; variant afterwards shows adverbial genitive.
barb (n.): late 14c., "barb of an arrow," from Old French barbe (11c.) "beard, beardlike appendage," from Latin barba "beard," perhaps cognate with Old English beard (see beard (n.)).
barf (v.): "to vomit or retch,"1960, American English slang, probably imitative. Related: Barfed; barfing. As a noun, from 1966. Barf bag "air sickness pouch" attested from 1966.
deprive (v.): mid-14c., from Old French depriver, from Medieval Latin deprivare, from Latin de- "entirely" (see de-) + privare "release from" (see private). Replaced Old English bedælan. Related: Deprived; depriving.
telepathy (n.): 1882, coined (along with telæsthesia) by English psychologist Frederic Myers (1843-1901), literally "feeling from afar," from tele- + -pathy. The noun telepath is an 1889 back-formation.
opal (n.): 1590s, from Middle French opalle (16c.), from Latin opalus (Pliny), supposedly from Greek opallios, possibly ultimately from Sanskrit upala-s "gem, precious stone." Used in Middle English in Latin form (late 14c.).
ope (adj.): short for open (adj.), early 13c. "not closed; not hidden;" originally as awake is from awaken, etc. As a verb from mid-15c. Middle English had ope-head "bare-headed" (c. 1300).
or (conj.): c. 1200, from Old English conjunction oþþe "either, or," related to Old Frisian ieftha, Middle Dutch ofte, Old Norse eða, Old High German odar, German oder, Gothic aiþþau "or." This was extended in early Middle English (and Old High German) with an -r ending, perhaps by analogy with "choice between alternative" words that ended thus (such as either, whether), then reduced to oþþr, at first in unstressed situations (commonly thus in Northern and Midlands English by 1300), and finally reduced to or, though other survived in this sense until 16c.

The contraction took place in the second term of an alternative, such as either ... or, a common construction in Old English, where both words originally were oþþe (see nor).
Manchester: Mameceastre (1086), from Mamucio (4c.), the original Celtic name, perhaps from *mamm "breast, breast-like hill" + Old English ceaster "Roman town" (see Chester). Adjective Mancunian is from the Medieval Latin form of the place-name, Mancunium.
manganese (n.): 1670s as the name of a mineral, oxide of manganese, from French manganèse (16c.), from Italian manganese, alteration or corruption of Medieval Latin magnesia (see magnesia). From 1783 in English as the name of an element.
neo-classical: also neoclassical, style of art, architecture, etc., influenced by classical patterns, 1859, especially in reference to 18th century English literature; from neo- + classical. Related: Neo-classicism/neoclassicism.
nesh (adj.): "tender, delicate, weak," now a Northern England dialect word, from Old English hnesce "soft in texture" (cognate with early modern Dutch nesch, Gothic hnasqus), of unknown origin.
ness (n.): obsolete except in place names, Old English næs "a promontory," related to nasu "nose" (see nose (n.)). Cognate with Old Norse nes, Danish næs, Swedish näs, Middle Dutch nesse.
nestle (v.): Old English nestlian "build a nest," from nest (see nest (n.)) + suffix -el (3). Figurative sense of "settle (oneself) comfortably, snuggle" is first recorded 1540s. Related: Nestled; nestling.
Newspeak (n.): name of the artificial language of official communication in George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four," 1949, from new (adj.) + speak (n.). Frequently applied to what is perceived as propagandistic warped English.
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].
teach (v.): Old English tæcan (past tense tæhte, past participle tæht) "to show, point out, declare, demonstrate," also "to give instruction, train, assign, direct; warn; persuade," from Proto-Germanic *taikijan "to show" (source also of Old High German zihan, German zeihen "to accuse," Gothic ga-teihan "to announce"), from PIE *deik- "to show, point out" (see diction). Related to Old English tacen, tacn "sign, mark" (see token). Related: Taught; teaching.
enraged Lemonade Vendor [Edgar Kennedy]: I'll teach you to kick me!
Chico: you don't have to teach me, I know how. [kicks him]
The usual sense of Old English tæcan was "show, declare, warn, persuade" (compare German zeigen "to show," from the same root); while the Old English word for "to teach, instruct, guide" was more commonly læran, source of modern learn and lore.
teat (n.): mid-13c., from Old French tete "teat" (12c., Modern French tette), from Proto-Germanic *titta (source of Old English titt, see tit). Spanish teta, Italian tetta are from the same source.
Parkinson's disease: 1877, from French maladie de Parkinson (1876), named for English physician James Parkinson (1755-1824), who described it (1817) under the names shaking palsy and paralysis agitans.
Parsee (n.): 1610s, descendant of Zoroastrians who fled to India 7c.-8c. after Muslim conquest of Persia, from Old Persian parsi "Persian" (see Persian). In Middle English, Parsees meant "Persians."
partake (v.): 1560s, back-formation from Middle English part-taking (late 14c.), or part-taker (c. 1400), both translations of Latin particeps "participant" (n.), also "sharing, partaking" (see participation). Related: Partook; partaking.
beetle (n.1): type of insect, Old English bitela "beetle," literally "little biter," from bitel "biting," related to bitan "to bite" (see bite). As a nickname for the original Volkswagen car, 1946, translating German Käfer.
behalf (n.): c. 1300, behalve (with dative suffix), from Old English (him) be healfe "by (his) side," and on (his) healfe "on (his) side," from healfe "side" (see half).
bellow (v.): apparently from Old English bylgan "to bellow," from PIE root *bhel- (4) "to sound, roar." Originally of animals, especially cows and bulls; used of human beings since c. 1600. Related: Bellowed; bellowing. As a noun from 1779.
whence (adv., conj.): early 13c., whennes, with adverbial genitive -s, from Old English hwanone, related to hwænne (see when). Spelling with -ce (1520s) reflects the voiceless pronunciation.
whirl (v.): c. 1300, probably from Old Norse hvirfla "to go round, spin," related to hvirfill "circle, ring, crown," and to Old English hweorfan "to turn" (see wharf). Related: Whirled; whirling. Whirlybird "helicopter" is from 1951.
whit (n.): "smallest particle," 1520s, from na whit "no amount" (c. 1200), from Old English nan wiht, from wiht "amount," originally "person, human being" (see wight).
Whitsunday: "Pentecost," late Old English Hwita Sunnandæg "white Sunday" (see white (adj.)); possibly so called from the white baptismal robes worn by newly baptized Christians on this day. Related: Whitsuntide.
whom (pron.): objective case of who, Old English hwam (Proto-Germanic *hwam), dative form of hwa (see who). Ungrammatical use of who form whom is attested from c. 1300.
Cedric: masc. proper name, modern, apparently introduced by Sir Walter Scott (Cedric the Saxon is a character in "Ivanhoe"); apparently a mistake for Old English name Cerdic.
celibacy (n.): 1660s, formed in English, with -cy + Latin caelibatus "state of being unmarried," from caelebs "unmarried," probably from PIE root *kaiwelo- "alone" + lib(h)s- "living."
charcoal (n.): mid-14c., charcole, first element is either Old French charbon "charcoal," or, on the current theory, obsolete charren "to turn" (from Old English cerran) + cole "coal," thus, "to turn to coal."
chary (adj.): Old English cearig "sorrowful" (see care (n.)). Sense evolved 16c. from "full of care" to "careful." Cognate with Old Saxon carag, Old High German charag "sorrow, trouble, care." Related: Charily; chariness.
dirigible (n.): "airship," 1885, from French dirigeable, literally "capable of being directed or guided," from Latin dirigere (see direct (v.)). The word existed as an adjective in English from 1580s, with the literal sense.
dirndl (n.): 1937, from German dialectal diminutive of dirne "girl" (in dirndlkleid "peasant dress"), from a diminutive of Middle High German dierne "maid," from Old High German thiorna, which is related to Old English þegn (see thane).
alack: late 15c., from ah, lack, from lack in Middle English sense of "loss, failure, reproach, shame." Originally an expression of dissatisfaction, later of regret or unpleasant surprise.
Algernon: masc. proper name, literally "with mustaches," from Old French als gernons, from a les "to the, with the" + gernon, variant of grenon "mustache," from Vulgar Latin *granonem, from a Germanic source (compare Old English granu "mustache").
dill (n.): Old English dile "dill, anise," a Germanic word of unknown origin (cognates: Old Saxon dilli, Middle Dutch and Dutch dille, Swedish dill, German Dill).
nitty-gritty (n.): "basic facts," 1961, knitty-gritty, American English, said to have been chiefly used by black jazz musicians, perhaps ultimately from nit and grits "finely ground corn." As an adjective from 1966.
no-account (adj.): "worthless," 1845, American English, literally "of no account" (see account (n.)). The phrase of non acompte "of no value or importance" is from late 14c. Contracted form no'count is attested from 1853.