Online Etymology Dictionary

scruffy (adj.): 1650s, "covered with scurf," from scruff "dandruff, scurf" (late Old English variant of scurf) + -y (2). Generalized sense of "rough and dirty" is from 1871. Related: Scruffily; scruffiness.
second-guess (v.): 1941, back-formation from second-guesser (1937), American English, originally baseball slang for a fan who loudly questions decisions by players, managers, etc.; perhaps from guesser in the baseball slang sense of "umpire."
avaricious (adj.): late 15c., from Old French avaricios "greedy, covetous" (Modern French avaricieux), from avarice (see avarice). An Old English word for it was feoh-georn. Related: Avariciously; avariciousness.
Cantonese (n.): 1816, from Canton, former transliteration of the name of the Chinese region now known in English as Guangzhou. The older form of the name is from the old British-run, Hong Kong-based Chinese postal system. As an adjective from 1840.
brack (adj.): "salty, briny," 1510s, from Dutch brak "brackish," probably from Middle Dutch brak "worthless," a word also used in commercial trade and which also made its way into early Modern English.
breastwork (n.): "fieldwork thrown up breast-high for defense," 1640s, from breast (n.) + work (n.) in "fortification" sense. Old English had breostweall in same sense.
billionaire (n.): 1844, American English, from billion on model of millionaire. The first in the U.S. likely was John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), some time after World War I.
black code (n.): local or state legal restrictions on black persons, free or slave; attested by 1840, American English, though the thing itself is much older.
broad-minded (adj.): 1590s; see broad (adj.) + minded. This abstract mental sense of broad existed in Old English; for example in bradnes "breadth," also "liberality."
Buddhist (n.): 1810, from Buddha + -ist. An earlier word in this sense was a direct borrowing of Sanskrit Bauddha "follower of Buddha" (1801 in English), hence early erroneous hybrid compounds such as Boudhist, Bauddhist.
bund (n.): "league, confederacy," 1850, from German Bund (related to English band (n.2) and bind (v.)). In names of various fraternal organizations, in U.S. especially the German-American Bund, pro-Nazi organization founded 1936.
blessing (n.): Old English bletsunga, bledsunge; see bless. Meaning "gift from God" is from mid-14c. In sense of "religious invocation before a meal" it is recorded from 1738. Phrase blessing in disguise is recorded from 1746.
blind side (n.): "unguarded aspect," c. 1600; see blind (adj.). As a verb, also blind-side, blindside, "to hit from the blind side," first attested 1968, American English, in reference to U.S. football tackles.
bloodshed (n.): also blood-shed, c. 1500, "the shedding of (one's) blood," from verbal phrase (attested in late Old English), from blood (n.) + shed (v.). The sense of "slaughter" is much older (early 13c., implied in bloodshedding).
boffin (n.): "person engaged in innovative research," especially in aviation, 1945; earlier "elderly naval officer" (1941), probably from one of the "Mr. Boffins" of English literature (as in "Our Mutual Friend").
boodle (n.): 1833, "crowd;" 1858, "phony money," especially "graft money," actual or potential (1883), both American English slang, either or both based on bundle, or from Dutch boedel "property."
bootless (adj.2): late Old English botleas "unpardonable, not to be atoned for, without help or remedy," from boot (n.2) + -less. Meaning "useless, unprofitable" is from early 15c.
verification (n.): 1520s, from Medieval Latin *verificationem (nominative verificatio), noun of action from past participle stem of verificare (see verify). Middle English had verifiaunce "confirmation, corroboration" (c. 1400).
wringer (n.): "device for squeezing water from clothes," 1799, agent noun from wring (v.). (Earlier it meant "extortioner," c. 1300.) Figurative phrase to put (someone) through the wringer first recorded 1942, American English.
textual (adj.): late 14c., textuel "of or pertaining to text," also "well-read," from Old French textuel, from Latin textus (see text). English spelling conformed to Latin from late 15c. Related: Textually.
weel (n.): "deep pool," Old English wæl "whirlpool, eddy; pool; sea," cognate with West Frisian wiel, Old Low Frankish wal, Middle Dutch wael, German wehl, wehle.
wintry (adj.): Old English wintrig (see winter (n.) + -y (2)); also winterlic; "but the modern word appears to be a new formation" [Barnhart]. Similar formation in German wintericht.
wonky (adj.): "shaky, groggy, unstable," 1919, of unknown origin. German prefix wankel- has a similar sense. Perhaps from surviving dialectal words based on Old English wancol "shaky, tottering" (see wench (n.)).
wooden (adj.): 1530s, from wood (n.) + -en (2). Figurative use by 1560s. Wooden nickel "counterfeit coin, worthless token" is from 1916, American English. Related: Woodenly; woodenness.
worker (n.): mid-14c., "laborer, toiler, performer, doer," agent noun from work (v.). As a type of bee, 1747. As "one employed for a wage," 1848. Old English had wyrcend "worker, laborer."
achy (adj.): 1875, first recorded in George Eliot's letters, from ache (n.) + -y (2). Middle English had akeful "painful" (early 15c.). Related: Achily; achiness.
fourfold (adj.): Old English feowerfeald; see four + -fold. As an adverb from 1530s. Similar formation in Old Frisian fiuwerfald, Dutch viervoudig, Old High German fiervalt, German vierfältig, Danish firfold, Gothic fidurfalþs.
fromward (adv.): (obsolete), late Old English framweardes, from framweard (adj.) "about to depart; doomed to die; with back turned;" opposed to toweard (see toward)); from from + -ward, and compare froward. As a preposition from c. 1200.
Frenchify (v.): 1590s, from French + -ify. Usually contemptuous (Richardson in his introduction to "Pamela," beseeches the editor not to "Frenchify our English solidity into froth and whip-syllabub"). Related: Frenchified; Frenchifying.
frauendienst (n.): "excessive chivalry toward women," 1879 as a German word in English, from the title of a work by Ulrich von Lichtenstein (13c.), from German frauen, plural of frau "woman" + dienst "service."
goatherd (n.): "one whose occupation is the care of goats," early 13c. (as a surname), from or replacing Old English gat-hyrde (West Saxon); see goat + herd (n.).
godchild (n.): "child one sponsors at baptism," c. 1200, "in ref. to the spiritual relation assumed to exist between them" [Century Dictionary], from God + child. The Old English word was godbearn
goldsmith (n.): "artisan who works in gold," Old English goldsmið, from gold (n.) + smith (n.). Similar formation in Dutch goudsmid, German Goldschmeid, Danish guldsmed.
ambush (n.): late 15c., embushe, from the English verb or from Middle French embusche, from Old French embuscher (see ambush (v.)). Earlier was ambushment (late 14c.). Figurative use by 1590s.
gowk (n.): "cuckoo," early 14c., from Old Norse gaukr, from Proto-Germanic *gaukoz (source also of Old English geac "cuckoo," Old High German gouh). Meaning "fool" attested from c. 1600.
inchworm (n.): also inch-worm, 1844, American English, from inch (v.) + worm (n.). Other old names for it included loaper caterpiller, measuring worm, and surveyor. All are from its mode of progress.
footstool (n.): also foot-stool, 1520s, from foot (n.) + stool. Earlier was fotsceomel, from Old English fotsceamel; for the second element of which see shambles. Figurative sense of "one who is the abject thrall of another" is from 1530s.
fore (adj.): mid-15c., "forward;" late 15c., "former, earlier;" early 16c., "situated at the front;" all senses apparently from fore- compounds, which frequently were written as two words in Middle English.
forager (n.): late 14c., "a plunderer," from Old French foragier, from forrage "fodder; pillaging" (see forage (n.)). From early 15c. in English as "one who gathers food for horses and cattle."
grub-stake (n.): also grubstake, "material, provisions, etc. supplied to an enterprise (originally a prospector) in return for a share in the profits," by 1876, American English western mining slang, from grub (n.) + stake (n.2).
hiccups (n.): a bout of hiccupping, by 1723; see hiccup (n.). This often also was called hiccup or the hiccup. An earlier word for it (noun and verb) was yex, imitative, from Old English gesca, geosca.
KGB: national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991, attested from 1955 in English, initialism (acronym) of Russian Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti "Committee for State Security."
thaught (n.): "rower's bench," 1620s, alteration of thoft, from Old English þofte, from Proto-Germanic *thufto- (source also of Dutch doft, German ducht), from PIE *tupta-, from root *tup- "to squat."
all-time (adj.): "during recorded time," 1910, American English, from all + time (n.). Earlier it had been used in a sense "full-time," of employment, or in opposition to one-time (1883).
gathering (n.): mid-12c., gadering, "an assembly of people, act of coming together," from late Old English gaderung "a gathering together, union, collection, assembly," verbal noun from gather (v.).
greengage (n.): type of plum, from green (adj.) + name of English botanist Sir William Gage (1657-1727) who first cultivated it in England c. 1725. In early 20c., rhyming slang for "stage."
green (v.): Old English grenian "to become green, flourish" (see green (adj.)). Compare Dutch groenen, German grünen, Old Norse grona. Meaning "to make green" is 1560s. Related: Greened; greening.
greenness (n.): Old English grennes "green color; quality of being green," in plural, "green things, plants;" see green (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "immaturity" is from early 15c. Walpole coined greenth (1753) in the same sense.
Gretna Green: town in Scotland just across the border, proverbial from late 18c. as the customery place for English couples to run off and be married without parental consent.
jimmies (n.): bits of candy as ice cream topping, by 1963, American English, of uncertain origin. Earlier it meant "delirium tremens" (1900) from earlier jim-jam (1885).