Online Etymology Dictionary

sequel (n.): early 15c., "train of followers," from Old French sequelle (14c.), from Late Latin sequela "that which follows, result, consequence," from sequi "to follow, come after, follow after, attend, follow naturally," from PIE root *sekw- (1) "to follow" (source also of Sanskrit sacate "accompanies, follows," Avestan hacaiti, Greek hepesthai "to follow," Lithuanian seku "to follow," Latin secundus "second, the following," Old Irish sechim "I follow"). Meaning "consequence" is attested from late 15c. Meaning "story that follows and continues another" first recorded 1510s.
file (n.1): 1520s, "string or wire on which documents are strung," from French file "a row" (15c.), noun derived from Middle French filer "string documents; spin thread" (see file (v.1)). The literal sense explains why from the beginning until recently things were generally on file (or upon file). The meaning "collection of papers systematically arranged for ready reference" is from 1620s; computer sense is from 1954. The sense "row of persons or things one behind another" (1590s) is originally military, from the French verb in the sense of "march in file." Meaning "line of squares on a chessboard running directly from player to player" is from 1610s.
gloss (v.): c. 1300, glosen "use fair words; speak smoothly, cajole, flatter;" late 14c. as "comment on (a text), insert a word as an explanation, interpret," from Medieval Latin glossare and Old French gloser, from Late Latin glossa (see gloss (n.2)). Modern spelling from 16c.; formerly also gloze.

The other verb, meaning "to add luster, make smooth and shining," is from 1650s, from gloss (n.1). Figurative sense of "smooth over, hide" is from 1729, mostly from the first verb, in its extended sense of "explain away, veil or shift the meaning of," but showing influence of the second. Related: Glossed; glossing.
velociraptor (n.): 1924, from Latin velox (genitive velocis) "swift, speedy" (see velocity) + raptor "robber" (see raptor). Fossil remains discovered in 1923 in the red Djadochta sandstone at Shabarakh Usu in Mongolia.
The first (Fig. 1) of the typical megalosaurian type, although of small size, seems to have been an alert, swift-moving carnivorous dinosaur to which the generic name Velociraptor is applied. [Henry Fairfield Osborn, "Three New Therapoda, Protoceratops Zone, Central Mongolia," in "American Museum Novitates," Nov., 7, 1924]
heel-tap (n.): also heeltap, 1680s, "one of the bits of leather that are stacked up to make a shoe heel" (see heel (n.1)); meaning "bit of liquor left in a glass or bottle" first recorded 1767; the exact connection is uncertain unless it be "the last or final part." Related: Heeltaps.
A jolly dog, is one who has no conversation in company, but "fill about, what's the toast, damn your heel-taps," and roars out an obscene ballad when he gets drunk. ["The Batchelor," March 28, 1767]
-ine (2): word-forming element in chemistry, often interchangeable with -in (2), though modern use distinguishes them; early 19c., from French -ine, the suffix commonly used to form words for derived substances, hence its extended use in chemistry. It was applied unsystematically at first (as in aniline), but now has more restricted use.

The French suffix is from Latin -ina, fem. form of -inus, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, and thus is identical with -ine (1).
-ate (3): in chemistry, word-forming element used to form the names of salts from acids in -ic; from Latin -atus, -atum, suffix used in forming adjectives and thence nouns; identical with -ate (1).
The substance formed, for example, by the action of acetic acid (vinegar) on lead was described in the 18th century as plumbum acetatum, i.e. acetated lead. Acetatum was then taken as a noun meaning "the acetated (product)," i.e. acetate. [W.E. Flood, "The Origins of Chemical Names," London, 1963]
indiction (n.): late 14c., "period of fifteen years," a chronological unit of the Roman calendar that continued in use through the Middle Ages, from Latin indictionem (nominative indictio), literally "declaration, appointment," noun of action from past participle stem of indicere "to declare publicly, proclaim, announce," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + dicere "to speak, say, tell" (see diction).

Fixed by Constantine and reckoned from Sept. 1, 312. Originally for taxation purposes, it was "a common and convenient means for dating ordinary transactions" [Century Dictionary]. The name refers to the "proclamation," at the beginning of each period, of the valuation upon which real property would be taxed.
indenture (n.): late 14c., endenture, indenture, "written formal contract for services (between master and apprentice, etc.), a deed with mutual covenants," from Anglo-French endenture, Old French endenteure "indentation," from endenter "to notch or dent" (see indent (v.1)).

Such contracts (especially between master craftsmen and apprentices) were written in full identical versions on a sheet of parchment, which was then cut apart in a zigzag, or "notched" line. Each party took one, and the genuineness of a document of indenture could be proved by laying it beside its counterpart.
lackluster (adj.): also lack-luster, c. 1600, "dull, wanting brightness" (originally of eyes), first attested in "As You Like It," from lack (v.) + luster (n.1). Such combinations with lack- were frequent once: Shakespeare alone also has lack-love, lack-beard, lack-brain, lack-linen. Outside Shakespeare there was lackland (1590s), of a landless man; lack-Latin (1530s), of an ignorant priest; lack-learning (1590s), lack-wit (Dryden), lack-thought (1829), lack-life (1889), and the comprehensive lack-all (1850).
ladies (n.): plural of lady (q.v.). Ladies' night (1880) originally was any event to which women were invited at an all-male club.
Every succeeding occasion is usually said to be "the best ever," but for true pleasure, comfort and genuine enjoyment it is doubtful if any occasion has been more truly "the best ever" than the ladies' night of the Paint, Oil and Varnish Club of Chicago, which was given in the Crystal ballroom of the Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, Thursday evening January 26. ["Paint, Oil and Drug Review," Feb. 1, 1911]
frog-march (n.): also frog's march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog (n.1) perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down. By the 1930s, the verb was used in reference to the much more efficient (but less frog-like) method of getting someone in an arm-behind-the-back hold and hustling him or her along. As a verb by 1884.
bitter end (n.): In lexicons of sea language going back to 1759, the bitter end is the part of a cable which is round about the bits (two great timbers used to belay cables) when the ship is at anchor.
Bitter end of the Cable, the End which is wound about the Bitts. ["The News-Readers Pocket-Book: Or, a Military Dictionary," London, 1759]
See bit (n.1). So, when a cable is played out to the bitter end, there is no more left to play. The term began to be used c. 1835 in non-nautical use and with probable influence of bitter (adj.).
dative (adj.): mid-15c., from Latin dativus "pertaining to giving," from datus "given" (see date (n.1)); in grammatical use from Greek dotike (ptosis) "dative (case)," from dotikos "of giving nature," from dotos "given," from PIE root *do- "to give," from the same PIE root as the Latin word. In law, "that may be disposed of at pleasure," from 1530s. Typically the case of the indirect object, but sometimes also denoting "motion toward." In old Germanic languages, the "fourth case," catch-all for Indo-European dative, ablative, locative, and other cases.
chiropodist (n.): 1785, from chiro- "hand" + pod-, stem of Greek pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)) + -ist. Probably coined by Canadian-born U.S. healer Daniel Palmer (1845-1913); originally they treated both hands and feet. A much-maligned word among classicists, who point out it could mean "having chapped feet" but probably doesn't, and in that case it is an etymological garble and no one can say for sure what it is meant to signify. Related: Chiropody.
mail-order (adj.): 1875, from mail (n.1) + order. Before television and the Internet, the bane of retailers and shop-owners.
The origin, foundation and principle of mail order trading is universally recognized as wrong. It was conceived in iniquity and brought forth in despair as the world's greatest destructive medium. Mail Order Trading was born in the brain of knaves and thieves who fired their building for insurance profits, then sold the salvaged and damaged stock to the unsuspecting sons of man in distant territory. [Thomas J. Sullivan, "Merchants and Manufacturers on Trial," Chicago, 1914]
global (adj.): 1670s, "spherical," from globe + -al (1). Meaning "worldwide, universal, pertaining to the whole globe of the earth" is from 1892, from a sense development in French. Global village first attested 1960, popularized, if not coined, by Canadian educator Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980).
Postliterate man's electronic media contract the world to a village or tribe where everything happens to everyone at the same time: everyone knows about, and therefore participates in, everything that is happening the minute it happens. Television gives this quality of simultaneity to events in the global village. [Carpenter & McLuhan, "Explorations in Communication," 1960]
treadmill (n.): invented (and named) 1822; originally an instrument of prison discipline; from tread (v.) + mill (n.1). Treadwheel as a similar method of driving machinery is from 1570s.
As a corrective punishment, the discipline of the stepping mill has had a most salutary effect upon the prisoners, and is not likely to be easily forgotten, while it is an occupation which by no means interferes with, nor is calculated to lessen the value of, those branches of prison regulation which provide for the moral and religious improvement of the criminal. ["Description of the Tread Mill Invented by Mr. William Cubitt of Ipswich for the Employment of Prisoners," London, 1822]
By later generations regarded as a path to physical fitness.
rack (v.): "to stretch out for drying," also "to torture on the rack," early 15c., from rack (n.1). Of other pains from 1580s. Figurative sense of "to torment" is from c. 1600. Meaning "raise above a fair level" (of rent, etc.) is from 1550s. Meaning "fit with racks" is from 1580s. Teenager slang meaning "to sleep" is from 1960s (rack (n.) was Navy slang for "bed" in 1940s). Related: Racked; racking. Rack up "register, accumulate, achieve" is first attested 1943 (in "Billboard"), probably from method of keeping score in pool halls.
biographer (n.): 1715; see biography + -er (1). Earlier was biographist (1660s).
Of every great and eminent character, part breaks forth into public view, and part lies hid in domestic privacy. Those qualities which have been exerted in any known and lasting performances may, at any distance of time, be traced and estimated; but silent excellencies are soon forgotten; and those minute peculiarities which discriminate every man from all others, if the are not recorded by those whom personal knowledge enabled to observe them, are irrecoverably lost. [Johnson, "Life of Sir Thomas Browne," 1756]
methylene (n.): 1835, from French méthylène (1834), coined by Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas (1800-1884) and Eugène-Melchior Péligot (1811-1890) from Greek methy "wine" (see mead (n.1)) + hyle "wood" + Greek name-forming element -ene. So called because detected in wood alcohol. "The breakdown of methylene into methyl and -ene, and the identification of the last syllable of methyl with the general suffix -ly, led to the use of meth- as a separate combining-element, as, for example, in methane, methacrylic" [Flood].
toast (n.2): "piece of bread browned by fire or dry heat," early 15c., from toast (v.1); originally as something added to wine, ale, etc. From 17c. in the modern sense as something eaten on its own with a spread. Slang meaning "a goner, person or thing already doomed or destroyed" is recorded by 1987, perhaps from notion of computer circuits being "fried," and with unconscious echoes of earlier figurative phrase to be had on toast (1886) "to be served up for eating."
queer (v.): "to spoil, ruin," 1812, from queer (adj.). Related: Queered; queering. Earlier it meant "to puzzle, ridicule, cheat" (1790). To queer the pitch (1846) is in reference to the patter of an itinerant tradesman or showman (see pitch (n.1)).
These wanderers, and those who are still seen occasionally in the back streets of the metropolis, are said to 'go a-pitching ;' the spot they select for their performance is their 'pitch,' and any interruption of their feats, such as an accident, or the interference of a policeman, is said to 'queer the pitch,'--in other words, to spoil it. [Thomas Frost, "Circus Life and Circus Celebrities," London, 1875]
drill (v.): c. 1600 (implied in drilling), from Dutch drillen "to bore (a hole), turn around, whirl," from Proto-Germanic *thr- (source also of Middle High German drillen "to turn, round off, bore," Old Engish þyrel "hole"), from PIE *tere- (1) "to turn, rub" (see throw (v.)). Sense of "to instruct in military exercise" is 1620s (also in Dutch drillen and in the Danish and German cognates), probably from the notion of troops "turning" in maneuvers. Extended noun sense of "the agreed-upon procedure" is from 1940. Related: Drilled.
rent (v.): mid-15c., "to rent out property, grant possession and enjoyment of in exchange for a consideration paid," from Old French renter "pay dues to," or from rent (n.1). Related: Rented; renting. Earlier (mid-14c.) in the more general sense of "provide with revenue." Sense of "to take and hold in exchange for rent" is from 1520s. Intransitive sense of "be leased for rent" is from 1784. Prefix rent-a- first attested 1921, mainly of businesses that rented various makes of car (Rentacar is a trademark registered in U.S. 1924); extended to other "temporary" uses since 1961.
gauge (n.): early 15c., "fixed standard of measure" (surname Gageman is early 14c.), from Old North French gauge "gauging rod" (see gauge (v.)). Meaning "instrument for measuring" is from 1670s; meaning "distance between rails on a railway" is from 1841.
Railway-gage, the distance between perpendiculars on the insides of the heads of the two rails of a track. Standard gage is 4 feet 8 1/2 inches; anything less than this is narrow gage; anything broader is broad gage. The dimension was fixed for the United States by the wheels of the British locomotive imported from the Stephenson Works in 1829. [Century Dictionary]
tendential (adj.): 1877, from Latin stem of tendency + -al (1). Related: Tendentially.
Tendenziöse is a term that has become very common in Germany to describe the Tübingen criticism, and has arisen from the lengths to which theologians of this school have shown themselves ready to go, to establish the hypothesis that the New Testament writings arose out of conflicting tendencies in the early church and efforts to bring about compromises between these factions. The word has been transferred in the translation under the form "tendential." [translator's preface to "Hermeneutics of the New Testament" by Dr. Abraham Immer, translated by Albert H. Newman, 1877]
intramercurial (adj.): "being within the orbit of the planet Mercury," 1859, especially in reference to a supposed planet orbiting there (sought in vain in the eclipse of 1860), from intra- "within, inside" + Mercury (Latin Mercurius) + -al (1). The idea originated in France in the 1840s with Urbain Le Verrier, who later became director of the Paris Observatory. There was some excitement about it in 1859 when a French doctor named Lescarbault claimed to have tracked it crossing the Sun's disk and convinced Le Verrier. It was sought in vain in the solar eclipses of 1860, '68, and '69. See Vulcan.
literal (adj.): late 14c., "taking words in their natural meaning" (originally in reference to Scripture and opposed to mystical or allegorical), from Late Latin literalis/litteralis "of or belonging to letters or writing," from Latin litera/littera "letter, alphabetic sign; literature, books" (see letter (n.1)). Related: Literalness.

Meaning "of or pertaining to alphabetic letters" is from late 15c. Sense of "verbally exact, according to the letter of verbal expression" is attested from 1590s, as is application to the primary sense of a word or passage. Literal-minded is attested from 1791.
littoral (adj.): "pertaining to the seashore," 1650s, from Latin littoralis "of or belonging to the seashore," from litus (genitive litoris) "seashore, coast, seaside, beach, strand," from Proto-Italic *leitos, a word of unknown origin, possibly from PIE root *lei- "to flow" [Watkins], but de Vaan finds a better candidate in the PIE root *leit- (2) "to go forth" (see lead (v.1)), with sense evolution "the going away," hence "the edge."

The noun meaning "part of a country lying along the coast" is from 1828, from Italian littorale, originally an adjective, from Latin littoralis. Compare Lido.
tele-: before vowels tel-, word-forming element meaning "far, far off, operating over distance" (also, since c. 1940, "television"), from Greek tele-, combining form of tele "far off, afar, at or to a distance," related to teleos (genitive telos) "end, goal, completion, result," from PIE root *kwel- (2) "far" in space and time (source also of Sanskrit caramah "the last," Breton pell "far off," Welsh pellaf "uttermost"). Some sources connect this root with *kwel- (1), forming words to do with turning (see cycle (n.)), via the notion of "completion of a cycle."
bake (v.): Old English bacan "to bake," from Proto-Germanic *bakan "to bake" (source also of Old Norse baka, Middle Dutch backen, Old High German bahhan, German backen), from PIE *bheg- (source also of Greek phogein "to roast"), extended form of root *bhe- "to warm" (see bath). Related: Baked (Middle English had baken); baking. Baked beans attested by 1803.
bam: interjection, imitative of the sound of a hard hit, first recorded 1922 (from 1917 as the sound of an artillery shell bursting). Middle English had a verb bammen "to hit or strike" (late 14c.). A literary work from c. 1450 represents the sound of repeated impact by Lus, bus! las, das!, and Middle English had lushe "a stroke, blow" (c. 1400); lushen "to strike, knock, beat" (c. 1300).
bane (n.): Old English bana "killer, slayer, murderer; the devil," from Proto-Germanic *banon, cognate with *banja- "wound" (source also of Old Frisian bona "murderer," Old Norse bani, Old High German bana "murder," Old English benn "wound," Gothic banja "stroke, wound"), from PIE root *gwhen- "to strike, kill, wound" (source also of Avestan banta "ill"). Modern sense of "that which causes ruin or woe" is from 1570s.
banjo (n.): 1764, in various spellings (Jefferson has banjar), American English, usually described as of African origin, probably akin to Bantu mbanza, an instrument resembling a banjo. The word has been influenced by colloquial pronunciation of bandore (1560s in English), a 16c. stringed instrument like a lute and an ancestor (musically and linguistically) of mandolin; from Portuguese bandurra, from Latin pandura, from Greek pandoura "three-stringed instrument." The origin and influence might be the reverse of what is here described.
crab (n.1): crustacean, Old English crabba, from a general Germanic root (compare Dutch krab, Old High German krebiz, German Krabbe, Old Norse krabbi "crab"), related to Low German krabben, Dutch krabelen "to scratch, claw," from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch, carve" (see carve). The constellation name is attested in English from c. 1000; the Crab Nebula (1840), however, is in Taurus, the result of the supernova of 1054, and is so called for its shape. French crabe (13c.) is from Germanic, probably Old Norse.
crack (v.): Old English cracian "make a sharp noise," from Proto-Germanic *krakojan (source also of Middle Dutch craken, Dutch kraken, German krachen), probably imitative. Related: Cracked; cracking. From early 14c. as "to utter, say, speak, talk," especially "speak loudly or boastingly" (late 14c.). To crack a smile is from 1835, American English; to crack the whip in the figurative sense is from 1886.
craps (n.): 1843, American English, unrelated to the term for excrement, instead it is from Louisiana French craps "the game of hazard," from an 18c. continental French corruption of English crabs, which was 18c. slang for "a throw of two or three" (the lowest throw), which perhaps is from crab (n.2), the sense in crab apple. The 1843 citation (in an anti-gambling publication, "An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling") calls it "a game lately introduced into New Orleans."
crass (adj.): 1540s, from Middle French crasse (16c.), from Latin crassus "solid, thick, fat; dense." The literal sense always has been rare in English; meaning "grossly stupid" is recorded from 1650s, from French. Middle English had cras (adj.) "slow, sluggish, tardy" (mid-15c.), also crassitude "thickness." Related: Crassly; crassness.
credit (n.): 1520s, from Middle French crédit (15c.) "belief, trust," from Italian credito, from Latin creditum "a loan, thing entrusted to another," from past participle of credere "to trust, entrust, believe" (see credo). The commercial sense was the original one in English (creditor is mid-15c.). Meaning "honor, acknowledgment of merit," is from c. 1600. Academic sense of "point for completing a course of study" is 1904. Movie/broadcasting sense is 1914. Credit rating is from 1958; credit union is 1881, American English.
caper (n.1): type of prickly Mediterranean bush, also in reference to the plant's edible buds, late 14c., from Latin capparis (source of Italian cappero, French câpre, German Kaper), from Greek kapparis "the caper plant or its fruit," which is of uncertain origin. Arabic kabbar, Persian kabar are from Greek. Perhaps reborrowed into English 16c. The final -s was mistaken for a plural inflection in English and dropped.
capon (n.): "a castrated cock," late Old English capun, from Latin caponem (nominative capo) "castrated cock" (also source of French chapon, Spanish capon, Italian cappone), perhaps literally "to strike off," from PIE root *(s)kep- "to cut" (see hatchet (n.)). Probably reinforced in Middle English by cognate Old North French capon.
daft (adj.): Old English gedæfte "gentle, becoming," from Proto-Germanic *gadaftjaz (source also of Old English daeftan "to put in order, arrange," gedafen "suitable;" Gothic gadaban "to be fit"), from PIE *dhabh- "to fit together" (see fabric). Sense of "mild, well-mannered" (c. 1200) led to that of "dull, awkward" (c. 1300). Further evolution to "foolish" (mid-15c.), "crazy" (1530s) probably was influenced by analogy with daffe "halfwit" (see daffy); the whole group probably has a common origin.
abode (n.): mid-13c., "action of waiting," verbal noun identical with Old English abad, past participle of abiden "to abide" (see abide), used as a verbal noun. The present-to-preterite vowel change is consistent with an Old English class I strong verb (ride/rode, etc.). Meaning "habitual residence" is first attested 1570s.
absinthe (n.): also absinth, alcoholic liqueur distilled from wine mixed with wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), 1842, from French absinthe, "essence of wormwood," from Latin absinthum "wormwood," from Greek apsinthion, perhaps from Persian (compare Persian aspand, of the same meaning). The plant so called in English from c. 1500 (Old English used the word in the Latin form).
camel (n.): Old English camel, perhaps via Old North French camel (Old French chamel, Modern French chameau), from Latin camelus, from Greek kamelos, from Hebrew or Phoenician gamal, perhaps related to Arabic jamala "to bear."

Another Old English word for the beast was olfend, apparently based on confusion of camels with elephants in a place and time when both were known only from travelers' vague descriptions. The Arabian have one hump (the lighter variety is the dromedary); the Bactrian have two.
crocodile (n.): 1560s, restored spelling of Middle English cokedrille, kokedrille (c. 1300), from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, from Latin crocodilus, from Greek krokodilos, word applied by Herodotus to the crocodile of the Nile, apparently due to its basking habits, from kroke "pebbles" + drilos "worm." The crocodile tears story was in English from at least c. 1400.
crook (n.): early 13c., "hook-shaped instrument or weapon," from Old Norse krokr "hook, corner," cognate with Old High German kracho "hooked tool," of obscure origin but perhaps related to a widespread group of Germanic kr- words meaning "bent, hooked." Meaning "swindler" is American English, 1879, from crooked in figurative sense of "dishonest" (1708). Crook "dishonest trick" was in Middle English.
abase (v.): late 14c., abaishen, from Old French abaissier "diminish, make lower in value or status" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *ad bassiare "bring lower," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + Late Latin bassus "thick, fat, low" (see base (adj.)). Form in English altered 16c. by influence of base (adj.), thus the word is an exception from the rule that Old French verbs with stem -iss- enter English as -ish. Related: Abased; abasing.
fakir (n.): c. 1600, from Arabic faqir "a poor man," from faqura "he was poor." Term for Muslim holy man who lived by begging, supposedly from a saying of Muhammad's, el fakr fakhri ("poverty is my pride"). Misapplied in 19c. English (possibly under influence of faker) to Hindu ascetics. Arabic plural form fuqara may have led to variant early English forms such as fuckeire (1630s).