connection (n.) Look up connection at Dictionary.com
Middle English conneccion (late 14c.), also connexioun (mid-15c.), from Old French connexion, from Latin connexionem (nominative connexio) "a binding or joining together," from *connexare, frequentative of conectere "to fasten together, to tie, join together," from com- "together" (see com-) + nectere "to bind, tie" (see nexus).

Spelling shifted from connexion to connection (especially in American English) mid-18c. under influence of connect, abetted by affection, direction, etc. See -xion.
pock (n.) Look up pock at Dictionary.com
Old English pocc "pustule, blister, ulcer," from Proto-Germanic *puh(h)- "to swell up, blow up" (source also of Middle Dutch pocke, Dutch pok, East Frisian pok, Low German poche, dialectal German Pfoche), from PIE root *beu- "to swell, to blow" (see bull (n.2)). Middle French pocque is from Germanic. The plural form, Middle English pokkes, is the source of pox, which since early 14c. has been used in the sense "disease characterized by pocks."
trough (n.) Look up trough at Dictionary.com
Old English trog "wooden vessel, tray, hollow vessel, canoe," from Proto-Germanic *trugaz (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Norse trog, Middle Dutch troch, Dutch trog, Old High German troc, German trog), from PIE *dru-ko-, from root *dru-, *deru- "wood, tree" (see tree (n.)). Originally pronounced in English with a hard -gh- (as in Scottish loch); pronunciation shifted to "-ff," but spelling remained.
moth (n.) Look up moth at Dictionary.com
Old English moððe (Northumbrian mohðe), common Germanic (Old Norse motti, Middle Dutch motte, Dutch mot, German Motte "moth"), perhaps related to Old English maða "maggot," or from the root of midge (q.v.). Until 16c. used mostly of the larva and usually in reference to devouring clothes (see Matt. vi:20).
mount (n.1) Look up mount at Dictionary.com
"hill, mountain," mid-13c., from Anglo-French mount, Old French mont "mountain;" also perhaps partly from Old English munt "mountain;" both the Old English and the French words from Latin montem (nominative mons) "mountain," from PIE root *men- (2) "to stand out, project" (source also of Latin eminere "to stand out;" Sanskrit manya "nape of the neck," Latin monile "necklace;" Old Irish muin "neck," Welsh mwnwgl "neck," mwng "mane;" Welsh mynydd "mountain").
mucus (n.) Look up mucus at Dictionary.com
1660s (replacing Middle English mucilage), from Latin mucus "slime, mold, mucus of the nose, snot," from PIE root *meug- "slippery, slimy," with derivatives referring to wet or slimy substances or conditions (source also of Latin emungere "to sneeze out, blow one's nose," mucere "be moldy or musty," Greek myssesthai "to blow the nose," myxa "mucus," mykes "fungus," Sanskrit muncati "he releases"). Old English had horh, which may be imitative.
porcupine (n.) Look up porcupine at Dictionary.com
c. 1400, porke despyne, from Old French porc-espin (early 13c., Modern French porc-épic), literally "spiny pig," from Latin porcus "hog" + spina "thorn, spine" (see spine). The word had many forms in Middle English and early Modern English, including portepyn, porkpen, porkenpick, porpoynt, and Shakespeare's porpentine (in "Hamlet").
trundle (n.) Look up trundle at Dictionary.com
"small wheel to support heavy weights," 1540s (implied in trundle bed "low bed on small wheels"), possibly from Middle English trendle "wheel, suspended hoop" (early 14c.), from Old English trendel "ring, disk" (see trend (v.)). Also probably in part from Old French trondeler "to roll down, fall down," which is of Germanic origin.
praise (v.) Look up praise at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, "to laud, commend, flatter," from Old French preisier, variant of prisier "to praise, value," from Late Latin preciare, earlier pretiare (see price (n.)). Replaced Old English lof, hreþ.

Specifically with God as an object from late 14c. Related: Praised; praising. Now a verb in most Germanic languages (German preis, Danish pris, etc.), but only in English is it differentiated in form from cognate price.
morn (n.) Look up morn at Dictionary.com
contracted from Middle English morwen, from Old English (Mercian) margen (dative marne), earlier morgen (dative morgne) "morning, forenoon, sunrise," from Proto-Germanic *murgana- "morning" (source also of Old Saxon morgan, Old Frisian morgen, Middle Dutch morghen, Dutch morgen, Old High German morgan, German Morgen, Gothic maurgins), from PIE *merk-, perhaps from root *mer- "to blink, twinkle" (source of Lithuanian mirgeti "to blink").
burly (adj.) Look up burly at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, perhaps from Old English burlic "noble, stately," literally "bowerly," fit to frequent a lady's apartment (see bower). Sense descended through "stout," and "sturdy" by 15c. to "heavily built." Another theory connects the Old English word to Old High German burlih "lofty, exalted," related to burjan "to raise, lift."
bus (n.) Look up bus at Dictionary.com
1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The modern English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense of "lose an opportunity," is from 1901, Australian English (OED has a figurative miss the omnibus from 1886). Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.
bustle (v.) Look up bustle at Dictionary.com
"be active," 1570s (bustling "noisy or excited activity" is from early 15c.), frequentative of Middle English bresten "to rush, break," from Old English bersten (see burst (v.)), influenced by Old Norse buask "to make oneself ready" (see busk (v.)), or it might be from busk (v.) via a frequentative form buskle. Related: Bustled; bustling; bustler.
atheling (n.) Look up atheling at Dictionary.com
"member of a noble family," Old English æðling, from æðel "noble family," related to Old English æðele "noble," from Proto-Germanic *athala-, from PIE *at-al- "race, family," from *at(i)- "over, beyond, super" + *al- "to nourish." With suffix -ing "belonging to." A common Germanic word (cognates: Old Saxon ediling, Old Frisian etheling, Old High German adaling).
bugle (n.) Look up bugle at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., abbreviation of buglehorn "musical horn, hunting horn" (c. 1300), from Old French bugle "(musical) horn," also "wild ox, buffalo," from Latin buculus "heifer, young ox," diminutive of bos "ox, cow" (see cow (n.)). Middle English also had the word in the "buffalo" sense and it survived in dialect with meaning "young bull." Modern French bugle is a 19c. borrowing from English.
Portland Look up Portland at Dictionary.com
in Portland cement, 1720, named by its inventor, English mason Joseph Aspdin, from resemblance of the color to the stone of Portland peninsula on the coast of Dorsetshire. The place name is literally "land surrounding a harbor," Old English Portlanda. Portland, Maine, U.S.A., took its name 1786, for the place in England. Portland, Oregon, was said to have been named for the city in Maine, which won the honor by a coin toss over Boston.
treasure (n.) Look up treasure at Dictionary.com
mid-12c., tresor, from Old French tresor "treasury, hoard, treasure" (11c., Modern French trésor), from Gallo-Roman *tresaurus, from Latin thesaurus "treasury, treasure" (source also of Spanish, Italian tesoro), from Greek thesauros "store, treasure, treasure house" (see thesaurus). In Middle English also thresur, etc.; modern spelling is from 16c. Replaced Old English goldhord. General sense of "anything valued" is recorded from c. 1200. Treasure hunt is first recorded 1913. For treasure trove, see trove.
rove (v.) Look up rove at Dictionary.com
"to wander with no fixed destination," 1530s (earliest sense was "to shoot arrows at a mark selected at pleasure or at random," late 15c.); possibly a Midlands dialectal variant of northern English and Scottish rave "to wander, stray," from Middle English raven, probably from Old Norse rafa "to wander, rove" (compare rave (v.)). Influenced by rover, if not a back-formation from it. Related: Roved; roving.
breach (n.) Look up breach at Dictionary.com
Old English bryce "breach, fracture, a breaking," from brecan (see break), influenced by Old French breche "breach, opening, gap," from Frankish; both from Proto-Germanic *brecho, *bræko "broken," from PIE root *bhreg- "to break" (see fraction). Figurative sense of "a breaking of rules, etc." was in Old English Breach of contract is at least from 1660s.
brier (n.1) Look up brier at Dictionary.com
"thorny shrub, heath," 1540s, variant of Middle English brere, from Old English brer (Anglian), brær (West Saxon) "brier, bramble, prickly bush," which is of unknown origin. Briar is the most recent variant (c. 1600). Originally used of prickly, thorny bushes in general, now mostly restricted to wild rose bushes. Used figuratively (in plural) for "troubles" from c. 1500.
broth (n.) Look up broth at Dictionary.com
Old English broþ, from Proto-Germanic *bruthan (source also of Old High German *brod), from verb root *bhreue- "to heat, boil, bubble; liquid in which something has been boiled" (source also of Old English breowan "to brew;" see brew (v.)). Picked up from Germanic by the Romanic and Celtic languages.

The Irishism broth of a boy, which is in Byron, was "thought to originate from the Irish Broth, passion -- Brotha passionate, spirited ..." [Farmer], and if so is not immediately related.
browse (v.) Look up browse at Dictionary.com
mid-15c., "feed on buds," from Middle French brouster, from Old French broster "to sprout, bud," from brost "young shoot, twig," probably from Proto-Germanic *brust- "bud, shoot," from PIE *bhreus- "to swell, sprout" (see breast (n.)). Lost its final -t in English on the mistaken notion that the letter was a past participle inflection. Figurative extension to "peruse" (books) is 1870s, American English. Related: Browsed; browsing.
compost (n.) Look up compost at Dictionary.com
late 14c., compote, from Old French composte "mixture of leaves, manure, etc., for fertilizing land" (13c.), also "condiment," from Vulgar Latin *composita, noun use of fem. of Latin compositus, past participle of componere "to put together" (see composite). The fertilizer sense is attested in English from 1580s, and the French word in this sense is a 19th century borrowing from English.
arse (n.) Look up arse at Dictionary.com
"buttocks," Old English ærs "tail, rump," from Proto-Germanic *arsoz (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Norse ars, Middle Dutch ærs, German Arsch "buttock"), from PIE root *ors- "buttock, backside" (source also of Greek orros "tail, rump, base of the spine," Hittite arrash, Armenian or "buttock," Old Irish err "tail"). Middle English had arse-winning "money obtained by prostitution" (late 14c.).
mold (n.3) Look up mold at Dictionary.com
also mould, "loose earth," Old English molde "earth, sand, dust, soil; land, country, world," from Proto-Germanic *mulda (source also of Old Frisian molde "earth, soil," Old Norse mold "earth," Middle Dutch moude, Dutch moude, Old High German molta "dust, earth," Gothic mulda "dust"), from PIE root *mele- "to rub, grind" (see meal (n.2)). Specifically, since late (Christian) Old English, "the earth of the grave."
pinot (n.) Look up pinot at Dictionary.com
type of grape vine used in wine-making, 1912, American English variant spelling of French pineau (attested in English from 1763), name of a family of wine grapes, from pin "pine tree" (see pine (n.)) + diminutive suffix -eau. So called from the shape of the grape clusters. Variants are pinot noir, "black," pinot blanc, "white," and pinot gris, "gray."
twig (n.) Look up twig at Dictionary.com
Old English twig "twig, branch, shoot, small tree," from Proto-Germanic *twigga "a fork" (source also of Middle Dutch twijch, Dutch twijg, Old High German zwig, German Zweig "branch, twig"), from PIE *dwi-ko-, from *dwo- "two" (see two). Compare Old English twisel "fork, point of division."
tympanum (n.) Look up tympanum at Dictionary.com
"drum of the ear," 1610s, from Medieval Latin tympanum, introduced in this sense by Italian anatomist Gabriello Fallopio (1523-1562), from Latin tympanum "a drum, timbrel, tambourine," from Greek tympanon "a kettledrum," from root of typtein "to beat, strike" (see type (n.)). Compare Old English timpan "drum, timbrel, tambourine," from Latin tympanum. The modern meaning "a drum" is attested in English from 1670s.
mulch (n.) Look up mulch at Dictionary.com
1650s, probably from a noun use of Middle English molsh (adj.) "soft, moist" (early 15c.), from Old English melsc, milisc "mellow, sweet," from Proto-Germanic *mil-sk- (source also of Dutch mals "soft, ripe," Old High German molawen "to become soft," German mollig "soft"), from PIE root *mel- "soft" (see mild).
stag (n.) Look up stag at Dictionary.com
late 12c., probably from Old English stagga "a stag," from Proto-Germanic *stag-, from PIE *stegh- "to prick, sting" (see sting (v.)). The Old Norse equivalent was used of male foxes, tomcats, and dragons; and the Germanic root word perhaps originally meant "male animal in its prime." Meaning "pertaining to or composed of males only" (stag party) is American English slang from 1848. Stag film "pornographic movie" is attested from 1968. Stag beetle, so called for its" horns," is from 1680s.
stalwart (adj.) Look up stalwart at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "resolute, determined," Scottish variant of stalworth, from Old English stælwierðe "good, serviceable," probably a contracted compound of staðol "base, foundation, support; stability, security" (from Proto-Germanic *stathlaz, from PIE root *stā- "to stand, set down, make or be firm;" see stet) + wierðe "good, excellent, worthy" (see worth). Another theory traces the first element of stælwierðe to Old English stæl "place," from Proto-Germanic *stælaz.
-ship Look up -ship at Dictionary.com
word-forming element meaning "quality, condition; act, power, skill; office, position; relation between," Middle English -schipe, from Old English -sciepe, Anglian -scip "state, condition of being," from Proto-Germanic *-skapaz (cognates: Old Norse -skapr, Danish -skab, Old Frisian -skip, Dutch -schap, German -schaft), from *skap- "to create, ordain, appoint," from PIE root *(s)kep-, forming words meaning "to cut, scrape, hack" (see shape (v.)).
spondulicks (n.) Look up spondulicks at Dictionary.com
1856, American English slang, "money, cash," of unknown origin, said to be from Greek spondylikos, from spondylos, a seashell used as currency (the Greek word means literally "vertebra"). "[U]sed by Mark Twain and by O. Henry and since then adopted into British English" [Barnhart], where it survived after having faded in the U.S.
country (n.) Look up country at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "district, native land," from Old French contree, from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata "(land) lying opposite," or "(land) spread before one," from Latin contra "opposite, against" (see contra-). Sense narrowed 1520s to rural areas, as opposed to cities. Replaced Old English land. As an adjective from late 14c. First record of country-and-western music style is from 1942. Country club first recorded 1886. Country mile "a long way" is from 1915, American English.
cove (n.1) Look up cove at Dictionary.com
early 14c., "den, cave," from Old English cofa "small chamber, cell," from Proto-Germanic *kubon (compare Old High German kubisi "tent, hut," German Koben "pigsty," Old Norse kofi "hut, shed"). Extension of meaning to "small bay" is 1580s, apparently via Scottish dialectal meaning "small hollow place in coastal rocks" (a survival of an Old English secondary sense).
smelt (n.) Look up smelt at Dictionary.com
Old English smelt "sardine, small salmon-like sea fish," cognate with Dutch smelt "sand eel," Danish smelt (c. 1600). OED notes that it has a peculiar odor (but doesn't suggest a connection with smell); Klein suggests a connection with the way the fish melts in one's mouth. Century Dictionary speculates it means "smooth" and compares Old English smeolt, smylt "serene, smooth."
snare (n.1) Look up snare at Dictionary.com
"noose for catching animals," late Old English, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from Proto-Germanic *snarkho (source also of Middle Dutch snare, Dutch snaar, Old High German snare, German Schnur "noose, cord," Old English snear "a string, cord"). Figuratively from c. 1300.
sneak (v.) Look up sneak at Dictionary.com
1550s (implied in sneakish), perhaps from some dialectal survival of Middle English sniken "to creep, crawl" (c. 1200), related to Old English snican "to sneak along, creep, crawl," from Proto-Germanic *sneikanan, which is related to the root of snake (n.). Of feelings, suspicions, etc., from 1748. Transitive sense, "to partake of surreptitiously" is from 1883. Related: Sneaking. Sneak-thief first recorded 1859; sneak-preview is from 1938.
snot (n.) Look up snot at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Old English gesnot "nasal mucus," from Proto-Germanic *snuttan (source also of Old Frisian snotta, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch snotte, Middle Low German snute), from the same base as snout. Old English also had a verb snite "wipe or pick one's nose." Meaning "despicable person" is from 1809.
soothe (v.) Look up soothe at Dictionary.com
Old English soðian "show to be true," from soð "true" (see sooth). Sense of "quiet, comfort, mollify" is first recorded 1690s, via notion of "to assuage one by asserting that what he says is true" (i.e. to be a yes-man), a sense attested from 1560s (and compare Old English gesoð "a parasite, flatterer"). Meaning "reduce the intensity" (of a pain, etc.) is from 1711. Related: Soothed; soothing.
sop (n.) Look up sop at Dictionary.com
Old English sopp- "bread soaked in some liquid," (in soppcuppe "cup into which sops are put"), from Proto-Germanic *supp-, related to Old English verb suppan (see sup (v.2)), probably reinforced by Old French soupe (see soup (n.)). Meaning "something given to appease" is from 1660s, a reference to the sops given by the Sibyl to Cerberus in the "Aeneid."
spare (v.) Look up spare at Dictionary.com
Old English sparian "to refrain from harming, be indulgent to, allow to go free; use sparingly," from the source of Old English spær "sparing, frugal," from Proto-Germanic *sparaz (source also of Old Saxon sparon, Old Frisian sparia, Old Norse spara, Dutch sparen, Old High German sparon, German sparen "to spare"). Meaning "to dispense from one's own stock, give or yield up," is recorded from early 13c. Related: Spared; sparing.
-th (2) Look up -th at Dictionary.com
suffix forming nouns of action, state, or quality from verbs or adjectives (such as depth, strength, truth), from Old English -ðu, , from Proto-Germanic *-itho (cognates: Old Norse , Old High German -ida, Gothic -iþa), abstract noun suffix, from PIE *-ita (cognates: Sanskrit -tati-; Greek -tet-; Latin -tati-, as in libertatem "liberty" from liber "free"). Sometimes in English reduced to -t, especially after -h- (as in height).
Sheraton Look up Sheraton at Dictionary.com
severe style of late 18c. English furniture, 1883, from name of cabinetmaker Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). The family name is from a place in Durham, late Old English Scurufatun (c.1040), probably "farmstead of a man called Skurfa" (an old Scandinavian personal name). The hotel chain dates from 1937 and has no obvious direct connection.
sin (v.) Look up sin at Dictionary.com
Old English syngian "to commit sin, transgress, err," from synn (see sin (n.)); the form influenced by the noun. Compare Old Saxon sundion, Old Frisian sendigia, Middle Dutch sondighen, Dutch zondigen, Old High German sunteon, German sündigen "to sin." Form altered from Middle English sunigen by influence of the noun.
slippery (adj.) Look up slippery at Dictionary.com
"having a slippery surface," c. 1500, from Middle English sliper (adj.) "readily slipping," from Old English slipor "slippery, having a smooth surface" (see slip (v.)) + -y (2). Metaphoric sense of "deceitful, untrustworthy" is first recorded 1550s. Related: Slipperiness. In a figurative sense, slippery slope is first attested 1844. Slippery elm (1748) so called for its mucilaginous inner bark.
shine (n.) Look up shine at Dictionary.com
1520s, "brightness," from shine (v.). Meaning "polish given to a pair of boots" is from 1871. Derogatory meaning "black person" is from 1908 (perhaps from glossiness of skin or, on another guess, from frequent employment as shoeshines). Phrase to take a shine to "fancy" is American English slang from 1839, perhaps from shine up to "attempt to please as a suitor." Shiner is from late 14c. as "something that shines;" sense of "black eye" first recorded 1903, American English, in East Side immigrant dialect.
ship (v.) Look up ship at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, "to send or transport (merchandise, people) by ship; to board a ship; to travel by ship, sail, set sail," also figurative, from ship (n.). Old English scipian is attested only in the senses "take ship, embark; be furnished with a ship." Transferred to other means of conveyance (railroad, etc.) from 1857, originally American English. Related: Shipped; shipping.
shotgun (n.) Look up shotgun at Dictionary.com
1821, American English, from shot (n.) in the sense of "lead in small pellets" (1770) + gun (n.). As distinguished from a rifle, which fires bullets. Shotgun wedding first attested 1903, American English. To ride shotgun is 1963, from custom of having an armed man beside the driver on the stagecoach in Old West movies to ward off trouble.
to- Look up to- at Dictionary.com
particle expressing separation, putting asunder, from West Germanic *ti- (source also of Old Frisian ti-, Old High German zi-, German zer-), from Proto-Germanic *tiz-, cognate with Latin-derived dis-. According to OED, some 125 compound verbs with this element are recorded in Old English; their number declined rapidly in Middle English and disappeared by c. 1500 except as conscious archaisms (such as to-shiver "break to pieces;" all to-brast).