Online Etymology Dictionary

clerk (n.): "man ordained in the ministry," c. 1200, from Old English cleric and Old French clerc "clergyman, priest; scholar, student," both from Church Latin clericus "a priest," noun use of adjective meaning "priestly, belonging to the clerus" (see cleric).

Modern bureaucratic usage is a reminder of the dark ages when clergy alone could read and write and were employed for that skill by secular authorities. In late Old English the word can mean "king's scribe; keeper of accounts;" by c. 1200 clerk took on a secondary sense in Middle English (as the cognate word did in Old French) of "anyone who can read or write." This led to the sense "assistant in a business" (c. 1500), originally a keeper of accounts, later, especially in American English, "a retail salesman" (1790). Related: Clerkship.
clot (n.): Old English clott "a round mass, lump," akin to Dutch kloot "ball," Danish klods "a block, lump," German Klotz "lump, block;" probably related to cleat and clod.
cluck (v.): Old English cloccian originally echoic. Compare Turkish culuk, one of the words for "turkey;" Greek klozein, Latin glocire, German glucken. Related: Clucked; clucking.
do (v.): Middle English do, first person singular of Old English don "make, act, perform, cause; to put, to place," from West Germanic *don (source also of Old Saxon duan, Old Frisian dua, Dutch doen, Old High German tuon, German tun), from PIE root *dhe- "to put, place, do, make" (see factitious).

Use as an auxiliary began in Middle English. Periphrastic form in negative sentences ("They did not think") replaced the Old English negative particles ("Hie ne wendon"). Slang meaning "to do the sex act with or to" is from 1913. Expression do or die is attested from 1620s. Compare does, did, done.
dobbin (n.): "farm horse," 1596 (in "Merchant of Venice"), probably from diminutive form of Dob (early 13c.), common Middle English familiar form of masc. proper name Robin or Robert; personal name applied to a horse.
dobro (n.): 1952, American English, contracted from the name of its Slovakia-born inventors, the Dopera Brothers (John, Rudy, Emil). The word also happens to mean "good thing" in Slovak. Patent filed 1947, claims use from 1929.
clamber (v.): "to climb with difficulty using hands and feet," late 14c., possibly frequentative of Middle English climben "to climb" (preterit clamb), or akin to Old Norse klembra "to hook (oneself) on." Related: Clambered; clambering.
clasp (n.): c. 1300, claspe, "metal catch or hook used to hold things together," perhaps a metathesis of clapse, and thus from or related to Old English clyppan "clasp" (see clip (v.2)).
gyro (n.): sandwich made from roasted lamb, 1971, originally the meat itself, as roasted on a rotating spit, from Modern Greek gyros "a circle" (see gyre (n.)). Mistaken in English for a plural and shorn of its -s.
hoodoo (n.): "one who practices voodoo," 1870, American English, probably an alteration of voodoo. Meaning "something that causes or brings bad luck" is attested from 1880. As a verb from 1886.
horrendous (adj.): 1650s, from Latin horrendus "dreadful, fearful, terrible," literally "to be shuddered at," gerundive of horrere "to bristle with fear, shudder" (see horror). Earlier form in English was horrend (mid-15c.).
lox (n.): 1934, American English, from Yiddish laks, from Middle High German lahs "salmon," from Proto-Germanic *lakhs-, from the common IE root for the fish, *laks- (source also of Lithuanian laszisza, Russian losos, Polish łosoś "salmon").
dodder (v.): 1610s, perhaps from Middle English daderen "to quake, tremble" (late 15c.), apparently frequentative of dialectal dade, on a form similar to totter, patter. Related: Doddered; doddering.
doe (n.): Old English da "a female deer," of unknown origin, perhaps a Celtic loan-word (compare Cornish da "fallow deer," Old Irish dam "ox," Welsh dafad "sheep").
domineer (v.): 1580s, from Dutch domineren "to rule" (16c.), from Middle French dominer, from Latin dominari "to rule, 'lord' it over" (see domination). Shakespeare's usage is not the earliest in English. Related: Domineering.
Doric (adj.): 1560s, see Dorian; in reference to the architectural order, 1610s. The Doric dialect in ancient Greek theater was broad and rustic, hence it has been applied in English to northern and Scots dialects (1837).
Dover: port in Kent, Old English Dofras (c.700), from Latin Dubris (4c.), from British Celtic *Dubras "the waters." Named for the stream that flows nearby.
groom (n.2): "husband-to-be at a wedding; newly married man," c. 1600 (usually as a correlative of bride), short for bridegroom (q.v.), in which the second element is Old English guma "man."
growl (v.): 1660s, from Middle English grollen "to rumble, growl" (early 15c.), from Old French grouler "to rumble," said to be from Frankish; probably ultimately of imitative origin. Related: Growled; growling. The noun is 1727, from the verb.
thorough (adj.): c. 1300, adjectival use of Old English þuruh (adv.) "from end to end, from side to side," stressed variant of þurh (adv., prep.); see through. Related: thoroughly; thoroughness.
those (pron.): c. 1300, Midlands and southern variant of Old English þas, nominative and accusative plural of þes, þeos "this" (see this). A collateral form of these, now used as the plural of that.
thrice (adv.): c. 1200, from Old English þriga, þriwa "thrice" (from þrie "three;" see three) + adverbial genitive -es, changed c. 1600 to -ce to reflect voiceless pronunciation.
requite (v.): c. 1400, "repay" (for good or ill), from re- "back" + Middle English quite "clear, pay up," earlier variant of quit (see quit). Related: Requited; requiting.
eyesore (n.): c. 1300, "a soreness of the eyes" (obsolete); modern sense of "something offensive to the eye" is from 1520s; from eye (n.) + sore (n.). In the sense "eye disease" Old English had eagseoung.
luge (n.): kind of small toboggan, 1905, from French luge "small coasting sled," from Savoy dialect, from Medieval Latin sludia "sled" (9c.), perhaps from a Gaulish word from the same root as English sled, slide.
rheostat (n.): 1843, coined by English physicist Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) from Greek rheos "a flowing, stream" (from PIE root *sreu-, see rheum) + -stat "regulating device." Related: Rheostatic.
ribose (n.): 1892, from German Ribose (1891), from Ribonsäure, a tetrahydroxy acid, with first element shortened and arbitrarily rearranged from English arabinose (c. 1880), a sugar which is so called because it is formed from gum arabic.
rick (n.): Old English hreac "stack of hay or straw," from Proto-Germanic *khraukaz (source also of Old Norse hraukr, Frisian reak, Dutch rook "heap"); perhaps related to ridge.
rider (n.): "one who rides," Old English ridere "rider, trooper, knight, mounted warrior," agent noun from ride (v.). Meaning "clause tacked on to a document after first draft" is from 1660s. Related: Riderless.
to-do (n.): 1570s, from the verb phrase to do, from Old English to don "proper or necessary to be done" (see to + do). Meaning "disturbance, fuss" is first recorded 1827. Similar formation in French affaire, from à "to" + faire "do."
tony (adj.): "of a high tone, affecting social elegance," 1877, American English slang, from tone (n.) + -y (2). It was the name of a reddish-brown fashion color in the 1920s.
midday (n.): Old English middæg "midday, noon," contracted from midne dæg; see mid + day. Similar formation in Old High German mittitag, German mittag, Old Norse miðdagr.
midwife (n.): c. 1300, "woman assisting," literally "woman who is 'with' " (the mother at birth), from Middle English mid "with" (see mid) + wif "woman" (see wife). Cognate with German Beifrau.
midwinter (n.): also mid-winter, Old English midwinter, also midde winter; see mid + winter (n.). The middle of winter, especially the period around the winter solstice (Dec. 21). As an adjective from mid-12c.
philhellene (adj.): 1824, "loving the Greeks," from Greek, from philos "loving" (see -phile) + Hellene "a Greek" (compare Hellenic). Originally in English in reference to the cause of Greek independence. Related: Philhellenic.
risotto (n.): rice cooked in broth with meat and cheese, 1848, from Italian risotto, from riso "rice" (see rice). At first in Italian contexts; it begins to appear in English cookery books c. 1880.
phooey: expression of contempt, 1929, from Yiddish, from German pfui (attested in English from 1866); popularized by Walter Winchell. Phoo "vocalic gesture expressing contemptuous rejection" is recorded from 1640s.
totalitarian (adj.): 1926, first in reference to Italian fascism, formed in English on model of Italian totalitario "complete, absolute, totalitarian," from total (adj.) + ending from authoritarian. The noun is recorded from 1938.
bollix (v.): "bungle," respelling (perhaps euphemistic) of bollocks, plural of bollock "testicle," from Old English beallucas "testicles," from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to inflate, swell" (see bole). Related: Bollixed; bollixing.
bonanza (n.): 1844, American English, from Spanish bonanza "a rich lode," originally "fair weather at sea, prosperity," from Vulgar Latin *bonacia, from Latin bonus "good" (see bene-).
metrical (adj.): "pertaining to versification," early 15c., from Latin metricus "metrical," from Greek metrikos "of or for meter, metrical," from metron "poetic meter" (see meter (n.2)). Old English had meterlic in this sense.
microwave (n.): type of electromagnetic wave, 1931, coined in English from micro- + wave (n.). First record of microwave oven is from 1961; microwave as short for this is attested from 1974; as a verb, from 1976.
hurst (n.): "hillock" (especially a sandy one), also "grove, wooded eminence," from Old English hyrst "hillock, wooded eminence," from Proto-Germanic *hursti- (see horst). Common in place names (such as Amherst).
hydrofoil (n.): 1959, "boat that travels through water on wings," short for hydrofoil boat, hydrofoil being originally the name of the "wings" themselves (1920); formed in English from hydro- + foil (n.).
hydrolysis (n.): "chemical decomposition by water," 1879, formed in English from hydro- + Greek lysis "a loosening, a dissolution," from lyein "to loosen, dissolve" (see lose). Related: Hydrolitic (1875).
hydroponics (n.): "process of growing plants without soil," 1937, formed in English from hydro- + -ponics, from Greek ponein "to labor, toil," from ponos "labor" (see span (v.)). Related: Hydroponic (adj.).
droop (v.): early 13c., from Old Norse drupa "to drop, sink, hang (the head)," from Proto-Germanic *drup-, from PIE *dhreu-, related to Old English dropian "to drop" (see drip). Related: Drooped; drooping. As a noun, from 1640s.
drove (n.): Old English draf "beasts driven in a body, road along which cattle are driven," originally "act of driving," from drifan "to drive" (see drive (v.)).
duet (n.): 1740, from French duet, from Italian duetto "short musical composition for two voices," diminutive of duo "two" (see two). As a verb, from 1822. The Italian form of the noun was used in English from c. 1724.
duffle (n.): 1670s, from Dutch duffel, from Duffel, town in Brabant where the cloth was originally sold. Duffel bag is American English, first recorded 1917 in a letter of e e cummings.