Online Etymology Dictionary

goes: third person singular of go, Old English gaæs (Northumbrian), displacing alternative goeth (Old English gaeþ) except in archaic and liturgical use. Who goes there? as a sentry's challenge is from 1590s. Expression anything goes "there are no rules or limits" is from 1921; earlier everything goes (1879). That goes without saying (1878) translates French cela va sans dire.
sith (adv., conj., prep.): "since" (obsolete), Middle English, reduced from Old English siððan "then, thereupon; continuously, during which; seeing that," from *sið þon "subsequent to that," from sið "after," from Proto-Germanic *sith- "later, after" (source also of Old Saxon sith "after that, since, later," German seit "since," Gothic seiþus "late"), from PIE *se- (2) "long, late" (see soiree).
grind (n.): late Old English, "the gnashing of teeth;" c. 1200, "the act of chewing or grinding," from grind (v.). The sense "steady, hard, tedious work" first recorded 1851 in college student slang (but compare gerund-grinder, 1710); the meaning "hard-working student, one who studies with dogged application" is American English slang from 1864. Slang meaning "sexual intercourse" is by 1893.
hate (n.): Old English hete "hatred, spite, envy, malice, hostility," from Proto-Germanic *hatis- (source also of Old Norse hattr, Old Frisian hat, Dutch haat, Old High German has, German Hass, Gothic hatis; see hate (v.)). Altered in Middle English to conform with the verb. Hate mail is first attested 1951. Hate crime attested from 1988; hate speech by 1990.
gilded (adj.): 1560s, past participle adjective from gild (v.). Late Old English had gegylde; Middle English had gilden (adj.). In modern use the more dignified past participle of gild, alternative to gilt. Shakespeare's lilies were never gilded; the quote ("King John," iv.2) is, "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily." Gilded Age as an era in U.S. history (roughly 1870-1900) is from the novel "The Gilded Age" by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, published in 1873.
steadfast (adj.): Old English stedefæst "secure in position, steady, firm in its place," from stede (see stead) + fæst (see fast (adj.)); similar formation in Middle Low German stedevast, Old Norse staðfastr "steadfast, firm; faithful, staunch, firm in one's mind." Of persons, in English, "unshakable, stubborn, resolute" from c. 1200. Related: Steadfastly, steadfastness.
necessity (n.): late 14c., "constraining power of circumstances," from Old French necessité "need, necessity; privation, poverty; distress, torment; obligation, duty" (12c.), from Latin necessitatem (nominative necessitas) "compulsion, need for attention, unavoidableness, destiny," from necesse (see necessary). Meaning "condition of being in need" in English is from late 15c.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention. [Richard Franck, c. 1624-1708, English author and angler, "Northern Memoirs," 1658]
To maken vertu of necessite is in Chaucer. Related: Necessities.
freely (adv.): Middle English frely, from Old English freolice "of one's own accord, readily;" see free (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "unstintedly; plentifully" is from c. 1300; that of "without constraint, under free conditions" is from 1590s. Similar formation in Middle Low German vrilike, Dutch vrijelijk "freely," German freilich "to be sure."
fullness (n.): mid-14c., "state of being sated or satisfied; wholeness, totality, completion" (translating Latin saturitas, plenitudo), from full (adj.) + -ness. There might have been an Old English *fulnes but it has not survived in texts. Earlier was fullhead (c. 1300), and Middle English also had fulth "fullness, abundance" (early 14c.). Fullness of time (c. 1400) is Biblical, from Paul's letters.
forgetful (adj.): late 14c., from forget + -ful. A curious formation. Used in the sense "causing forgetting" from 1550s, but almost exclusively in poetry (Milton, Tennyson, etc.). An older word in this sense was Middle English forgetel, from Old English forgitel "forgetful," from a formation similar to that in Dutch vergetel. Related: Forgetfully; forgetfulness.
lather (v.): from a Middle English variant of letheren (v.), from Old English leþran (late West Saxon lyþran) "become covered with (sweat, blood, etc.)," also transitive, from Proto-Germanic *lauthrjan (source also of Old Norse leyðra "to clean, wash;" see lather (n.)). Meaning "to form in froth, produce suds or foam" is from c. 1600. Related: Lathered; lathering.
Catalan (adj.): "pertaining to Catalonia," also as a noun, "person from Catalonia," late 15c., from the indigenous name, which is said to be of Celtic origin and probably means "chiefs of battle." As a noun meaning "a Catalan," Middle English used Catelaner (mid-14c.), Catellain (early 15c., from French). As a language name in English by 1792. Related: Catalonian (1707).
contra-: word-forming element meaning "against, in opposition," from Latin adverb and preposition contra "against" (see contra). The Latin word was used as a prefix in Late Latin. In French, it became contre- and passed into English as counter-. The Old English equivalent was wiðer (surviving in withers and widdershins), from wið "with, against."
bann (n.): in phrase banns of marriage (late 12c., spelling with double -n- attested from 1540s), from Old English bannan "to summon, command, proclaim" (see ban (v.)). Also probably partly from Old French ban "announcement, proclamation, banns, authorization," from Frankish *ban or some other Germanic cognate of the Old English word.
heartless (adj.): Old English heortleas "dispirited, dejected;" see heart (n.) + -less. In Middle English with expanded senses "lacking in courage; foolish; listless; half-hearted; sluggish." Sense of "callous, cruel, wanting in kindly feeling" is not certainly attested before Shelley used it thus in 1816. Literal meaning "lacking a heart, lifeless" (mid-15c.) is rare. Related: Heartlessly; heartlessness. Similar formation in Dutch harteloos, German herzlos.
-ly (1): suffix forming adjectives from nouns and meaning "having qualities of, appropriate to, fitting;" irregularly descended from Old English -lic, from Proto-Germanic *-liko- (Old Frisian -lik, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -lih, German -lich, Old Norse -ligr), related to *likom- "appearance, form" (Old English lich "corpse, body;" see lich, which is a cognate; see also like (adj.), with which it is identical).
mankind (n.): "the human race," c. 1300, earlier man-kende (early 13c.), from man (n.) + kind (n.). Replaced Old English mancynn "human race." Also used occasionally in Middle English for "male persons" (late 14c.), but otherwise preserving the original gender neutrality of man (n.). For "menfolk, the male sex," menkind (late 14c.) and menskind (1590s) have been used.
glorious (adj.): late 13c., from Anglo-French glorious, Old French glorieus "glorious, blessed" (12c., Modern French glorieux), from Latin gloriosus "full of glory, famous," from gloria (see glory (n.)). In classical Latin and in English late 14c.-17c. it also could mean "boastful, vainglorious." Related: Gloriously; gloriousness. In Middle English with comparative gloriouser, superlative gloriousest.
gimme (v.): by 1828, representing the colloquial contraction of give me. To have the gimmes "be eagerly greedy" is from 1918; gimme cap attested by 1978. Middle English had yemme, gemme, contractions of yeve me (Middle English form of give me).
TOMMY -- Gimme a cake.
MAMMA -- If what? -- If you please .
TOMMY -- O, let up on that Pinafore business; gimme a cake!
["Puck," July 2, 1878]
hearsay (n.): "information communicated by another, gossip," mid-15c., from phrase to hear say (Middle English heren seien, Old English herdon secgan). The notion is "hear (some people) say;" from hear (v.) + say (v.). As an adjective from 1570s. Hearsay evidence (1670s) is that which the witness gives not from his own perception but what was told to him. Compare similar formation in Dutch hooren zeggen, German hörensagen.
honeycomb (n.): Old English hunigcamb; see honey (n.) + comb (n). Probably the image is from wool combing. Transferred use, in reference to various structures resembling honeycomb, from 1520s. The image is not found outside English; in other Germanic languages the word for it is "honey-string," "honey-cake," "bee-wafer," etc. Latin has favus, Greek melikerion. As a verb, from 1620s (implied in honeycombed).
gymkhana (n.): 1854, Anglo-Indian, said to be from Hindustani gend-khana, literally "ball house," said in Yule & Burnell's 1886 glossary of Anglo-Indian words to be "the name usually given in Hindu to an English racket-court." The second element is from Middle Persian khan "house," from Iranian *ahanam "seat," from PIE *es- "to sit." Altered in English by influence of gymnasium, etc.
going (n.): "a moving" in any way, c. 1300, verbal noun from go (v.). The Old English verbal noun was gang "a going, journey; passage, course" (see gang (n.)). Meaning "condition of a road or route for travel" is from 1848, American English; hence to go while the going is good (1907). Going to "be about to" is from late 15c. Goings-on "(questionable) proceedings" attested from 1775.
sleepy (adj.): early 13c. from sleep (n.) + -y (2). Perhaps in Old English but not recorded. Old English had slæpor, slæpwerig in the sense "sleepy;" slæpnes "sleepiness." Similar formation in Old High German slafag. Of places, from 1851 (Irving's Sleepy Hollow is from 1820). Sleepy-head is from 1570s. Related: Sleepily; sleepiness.
haze (n.): "opaqueness of the atmosphere," 1706, probably a back-formation of hazy (q.v.). Sense of "confusion, vagueness" is 1797. The differentiation of haze, mist, fog (and other dialectal words) is unmatched in other tongues, where the same word generally covers all three and often "cloud" as well; this may be an effect of the English climate on the English language.
fatherland (n.): "one's native country," 1620s, from father (n.) + land (n.). In modern use often a loan-translation of German Vaterland, itself a loan-translation of Latin patria (terra), literally "father's land." Similar formation in Dutch vaderland, Danish fædreland, Swedish fädernesland. Late Old English/Middle English fæderland (c. 1100) meant "parental land, inheritance."
icy (adj.): Old English isig; see ice (n.) + -y (2). Modern use is said to be a late Middle English re-formation. Figurative sense "characterized by coldness or chill, frigid" (of manners, expressions, etc.) is from 1590s. Similar formation in Dutch ijzig, German eisig, Swedish isig. Related: Icily; iciness.
pneuma (n.): used in English in various sense, from Greek pneuma "a blowing, a wind, blast; breeze; influence; breathed air, breath; odor, scent; spirit of a person; inspiration, a spirit, ghost," from pnein "to blow, to breathe," from PIE root *pneu- "to breathe," of imitative origin (compare Greek pnoe "breath," pnoia "breathing;" Old English fnora "sneezing," fnæran "to snort").
nill (v.): Old English nylle, nelle "to be unwilling," from ne "no" (see no) + will (v.). Often paired with will; the construction in nill he, will he, once common, attested from c. 1300, surviving principally in willy-nilly, which, however, reverses the usual Middle English word order. Latin expressed a similar idea in nolens volens.
rand (n.): "rocky ridge overlooking a river valley," 1839, South African English, from Afrikaans, from Dutch rand "edge, margin," cognate with Old English rand "brink, bank." As a unit of currency, adopted by the Republic of South Africa in 1961 (see Krugerrand). Johnson's dictionary has rand "Border; seam: as the rand of a woman's shoe."
remain (n.): "those left over or surviving," mid-15c., from Middle French remain, back-formation from Old French remanoir, remaindre, or else formed in Middle English from remain (v.). But the more usual noun in English has been remainder except in remains, euphemism for "corpse," attested from c. 1700, from mortal remains.
Mac-: common element in Scottish and Irish names, from Old Celtic *makko-s "son." Cognate root *makwos "son" produced Old Welsh map, Welsh mab, ap "son;" also probably cognate with Old English mago "son, attendant, servant," Old Norse mögr "son," Gothic magus "boy, servant," Old English mægð "maid" (see maiden).
Surrey: Old English suþrige (722), literally "Southerly District" (relative to Middlesex), from suðer, from suð (see south) + -ge "district" (see yeoman). Bede and others use it as a folk-name, as if "People from Surrey." Meaning "two-seated, four-wheeled pleasure carriage" is from 1895, short for Surrey cart, an English pleasure cart (introduced in U.S. 1872), named for Surrey, England, where it first was made.
smear (n.): "mark or stain left by smearing," 1610s, from smear (v.). Sense of "small quantity prepared for microscopic examination" is from 1903. Meaning "a quantity of cream cheese, etc., smeared on a bagel" is by 1999, from Yiddish shmir. The earliest noun sense in English is "fat, grease, ointment" (c. 1200), from Old English had smeoru "fat, grease," cognate with Middle Dutch smere, Dutch smeer, German Schmer "grease, fat" (Yiddish schmir), Danish smør, Swedish smör "butter."
Perseid (n.): meteor from an annual shower that appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus, 1867, from Modern Latin Perseides (plural), from Greek Perseis "daughter of Perseus" (see Perseus; also see -id). The name might have been introduced in English via the writings of Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Other recorded old names for them in English include August meteors and Tears of St. Lawrence.
plight (n.2): "pledge," mid-13c., "pledge, promise," usually involving risk or loss in default, from Old English pliht "danger, risk, peril, damage," from Proto-Germanic *pleg- (source also of Old Frisian plicht "danger, concern, care," Middle Dutch, Dutch plicht "obligation, duty," Old High German pfliht, German Pflicht "obligation, duty" (see plight (v.)). Compare Old English plihtere "look-out man at the prow of a ship," plihtlic "perilous, dangerous."
pur-: Middle English and Anglo-French perfective prefix, corresponding to Old French por-, pur- (Modern French pour), from Vulgar Latin *por-, variation of Latin pro- "before, for" (see pro-). This is the earliest form of the prefix in English, and it is retained in some words, but in many others it has reverted to Latinate pro-.
ruth (n.): "sorrow for the misery of another; repentance, regret," c. 1200, ruthe, from Old Norse hryggð "ruth, sorrow," from hryggr "sorrowful, grieved" (see rue (v.)) + Proto-Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)). Or else formed in English from reuwen "to rue" on the model of true/truth, etc. The Old English word was rue (n.2).
sharn (n.): Old English scearn "dung, muck," from Proto-Germanic *skarnom- (source also of Old Frisian skern, Old Norse skarn, Danish skarn), a past participle form from *sker- "to cut" (see shear). Compare Old English scearnbudda "dung beetle," and Scottish Sharnie "a name given to the person who cleans a cow-house" [Jamieson].
snell (adj.): Old English snel "quick, active," cognate with Old Saxon, Dutch, Old High German snel, German schnell "swift, quick," Old Danish snel "swift, fleet," Old Norse snjallr "eloquent, able, bold." It survived as a surname and in Scottish and northern English; used by Burns and Scott. Italian snello is from Germanic.
snow-white (adj.): Old English snawhwit, from snow (n.) + white (adj.). Similar formation in Dutch sneeuwwit, Middle Low German snewhit, German schneeweiss, Old Norse snæhvitr, Swedish snöhvit, Danish snehvid. The fairy tale is so-called from 1885, translating German Schneewittchen in Grimm; the German name used in English by 1858.
kindly (adv.): c. 1200, cundeliche, "natively, congenitally; according to nature," from Old English gecyndelice "naturally;" see kind (adj.) -ly (2). From mid-13c. as "pleasantly, gladly, with kind feelings, in a kind manner." Also in Middle English, "by birth or descent; in the approved manner, properly" (late 14c.).
French (n.): from Old English frencisc (early Middle English frencisc, frenscen) "French person; the French nation," from the adjective (see French (adj.)). From c. 1300 as "the French language." Euphemistic meaning "bad language" (pardon my French) is from 1895. French Français is from Medieval Latin *francencis, from francus "a Frank" + nationality suffix -ensis "belonging to" (see -ese).
-et: word-forming element, originally a diminutive suffix but not now always felt as one, Middle English, from Old French -et (fem. -ete; Modern French -et, -ette), from Vulgar Latin *-ittum/*-itta (source also of Spanish -eto/-eta, Italian -etto/-etta), of unknown origin. The French forms are reduced to -et in English, but later borrowings of French words in -ette tend to keep that ending.
further (adj.): Old English furðra "further, greater, superior," probably a prehistoric derivative of further (adv.). Compare Old Frisian fordera, German vorder "that is before another." In early Middle English it also meant "earlier, former, previous;" a great-grandfather was a furþur ealdefader (12c.), and a previous wife was referred to legally as a forther wife.
great-: word-forming element denoting "kinship one degree further removed," early 15c. (in great uncle), from great (adj.), based on similar use of French grand (see grand-). An Old English way of saying "great-grandfather" was þridda fæder, literally "third father;" in early Middle English furþur ealdefader was used (12c.).
last (n.2): late Old English, "the last or final man, object, time, etc.," from last (adj.). From late 14c. as "most recent person, latest comer." Also in Middle English as a noun, "duration" (early 14c.), from the verb. Phrase at (the) last is from c. 1200; extended form long last is from 1520s. To the last is from c. 1400.
privilege (n.): mid-12c. "grant, commission" (recorded earlier in Old English, but as a Latin word), from Old French privilege "right, priority, privilege" (12c.) and directly from Latin privilegium "law applying to one person, bill of law in favor of or against an individual," in the post-Augustine period "an ordinance in favor of an individual, privilege, prerogative," from privus "individual" (see private (adj.)) + lex (genitive legis) "law" (see legal (adj.)). Meaning "advantage granted" is from mid-14c. in English.
lean (adj.): "thin, spare, with little flesh or fat," c. 1200, from Old English hlæne "lean, thin," possibly (Skeat) from hlænan "cause to lean or bend," from Proto-Germanic *khlainijan, which would connect it to Old English hleonian (see lean (v.)). But perhaps rather, according to OED, from a PIE *qloinio- (with cognates in Lithuanian klynas "scrap, fragment," Lettish kleins "feeble"). Extended and figurative senses from early 14c.
leech (n.1): "bloodsucking aquatic worm," from Old English læce (Kentish lyce), of unknown origin (with a cognate in Middle Dutch lake). Commonly regarded as a transferred use of leech (n.2), but according to OED the Old English forms suggest this is a distinct word, which has been assimilated to leech (n.2) by folk etymology. Figuratively applied to human parasites since 1784.