Online Etymology Dictionary

berate (v.): 1540s, from be- "thoroughly" + Middle English rate "to scold" (late 14c.), from Old French reter "accuse, blame," from Latin reputare (see reputation). "Obsolete except in U.S." [OED 1st ed.], but it seems to have revived in Britain 20c. Related: Berated; berating.
berry (n.): Old English berie, from Proto-Germanic *basjom (source also of Old Norse ber, Middle Dutch bere, German Beere "berry;" Old Saxon winber, Gothic weinabasi "grape"), which is of unknown origin. This and apple are the only native fruit names.
besom (n.): Old English besma "bundle of twigs" (used as a broom or a flail), from West Germanic *besmon (source also of Old Frisian besma, Old Saxon besmo, Old High German besmo, German Besen, Dutch bezem), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps "something bound or twisted," from PIE *bheidh-.
between (prep.): Old English betweonum "between, among, by turns," Mercian betwinum, from bi- "by" (see be-) + tweonum dative plural of *tweon "two each" (compare Gothic tweih-nai "two each"). Between a rock and a hard place is from 1940s, originally cowboy slang. Between-whiles is from 1670s.
espionage (n.): 1793, from French espionnage "spying," from Middle French espionner "to spy," from espion "a spy" (16c.), probably via Old Italian spione from a Germanic source akin to Old High German spehon "spy" (see spy (v.)). For initial e- see e-. Middle English had espiouress "female spy" (early 15c.).
-ess: fem. suffix, from French -esse, from Late Latin -issa, from Greek -issa (cognate with Old English fem. agent suffix -icge); rare in classical Greek but more common later, in diakonissa "deaconess" and other Church terms picked up by Latin.
etude (n.): a composition having musical value but primarily intended to exercise the pupil in technical difficulties, 1837, from French étude, literally "study" (12c., Old French estudie), from Latin studium (see study (n.)). Popularized in English by the etudes of Chopin (1810-1849).
chop (v.2): "shift quickly," 1530s, earlier "to bargain" (early 15c.), ultimately from Old English ceapian "to bargain" (see cheap); here with a sense of "changing back and forth," probably from common expressions such as to chop and change "barter." To chop logic is recorded from 1570s. Related: Chopped; chopping.
chopstick (n.): also chop-stick, 1690s, sailors' partial translation of Chinese k'wai tse, variously given as "fast ones" or "nimble boys," first element from pidgin English chop, from Cantonese kap "urgent." Chopsticks, the two-fingered piano exercise, is first attested 1893, probably from the resemblance of the fingers to chopsticks.
chrism (n.): "oil mingled with balm," Old English chrisma, from Church Latin chrisma, from Greek khrisma "an unguent, anointing, unction," from khriein "to anoint," from PIE root *ghrei- "to rub" (source also of Lithuanian griejù "to skim the cream off"). Chrisom "baptismal robe," is a c. 1200 variant of this. Related: Chrismal; chrismatory.
Christian (n., adj.): 16c., forms replacing earlier Christen, from Old English cristen (noun and adjective), from a West Germanic borrowing of Church Latin christianus, from Ecclesiastical Greek christianos, from Christos (see Christ). First used in Antioch, according to Acts xi:25-26. Christian Science as the name of a religious sect is from 1863.
churn (n.): Old English cyrin, from Proto-Germanic *kernjon (source also of Old Norse kirna, Swedish kärna, Danish kjerne, Dutch karn, Middle High German kern); probably akin to cyrnel "kernel" (see kernel) and describing the "grainy" appearance of churned cream.
discotheque (n.): 1954 as a French word in English; nativized by 1965, from French discothèque "nightclub with recorded music for dancing," also "record library," borrowed 1932 from Italian discoteca "record collection, record library," coined 1927 from disco "phonograph record" + -teca "collection," probably on model of biblioteca "library."
divorce (n.): late 14c., from Old French divorce (14c.), from Latin divortium "separation, dissolution of marriage," from divertere "to separate, leave one's husband, turn aside" (see divert). Not distinguished in English from legal separation until mid-19c.
Erse: "of or pertaining to the Celts of Ireland and Scotland," late 14c., an early Scottish variant of Old English Irisc or Old Norse Irskr "Irish" (for which see Irish (n.)). It was applied by Lowland Scots to the Gaelic speech of the Highlanders (which originally is from Ireland); the sense shifted 19c. from "Highlanders" to "Irish."
erstwhile (adv.): 1560s, "formerly," from erst "first, at first; once, long ago; till now" (13c.), earlier erest from Old English ærest "soonest, earliest," superlative of ær (see ere) + while (adv.). As an adjective, "former," from 1903. Cognate with Old Saxon and Old High German erist, German erst.
chicory (n.): late 14c., cicoree (modern form from mid-15c.), from Middle French cichorée "endive, chicory" (15c., Modern French chicorée), from Latin cichoreum, from Greek kikhorion (plural kikhoreia) "endive," which is of unknown origin. Klein suggests a connection with Old Egyptian keksher. The modern English form is from French influence.
chill (n.): Old English ciele, cele "cold, coolness, chill, frost," from Proto-Germanic *kal- "to be cold," from PIE root *gel- "cold" (see cold). According to OED, the word seems to have been obsolete after c. 1400 (displaced by cold) and the modern use is a back-formation since c. 1600 from the verb.
dislike (v.): 1540s (implied in disliking), hybrid which ousted native mislike as the opposite of like (v.). Related: Disliked; disliking. English in 16c. also had the excellent dislove "hate, cease to love," but it did not survive.
disperse (v.): late 14c., from Latin dispersus, past participle of dispergere "to scatter," from dis- "apart, in every direction" (see dis-) + spargere "to scatter" (see sparse). The Latin word is glossed in Old English by tostregdan. Related: Dispersed; dispersing.
disseminate (v.): c. 1600, from Latin disseminatus, past participle of disseminare "to spread abroad, disseminate," from dis- "in every direction" (see dis-) + seminare "to plant, propagate," from semen (genitive seminis) "seed" (see semen). Related: Disseminated; disseminates; disseminating. Middle English had dissemen "to scatter" (early 15c.).
grimace (n.): 1650s, from French grimace (15c.) "grotesque face, ugly mug," possibly from Frankish or another Germanic source (compare Old Saxon grima "face mask," Old English grima "mask, helmet"), from the same root as grim (adj.). With pejorative suffix -azo (from Latin -aceus).
Griselda: fem. proper name, from Italian, from German Grishilda, from Old High German grisja hilda, literally "gray battle-maid" (see gray (adj.) + Hilda). The English form, Grisilde, provided Chaucer's Grizel, the name of the meek, patient wife in the Clerk's Tale, the story and the name both from Boccaccio.
grist (n.): Old English grist "action of grinding; grain to be ground," perhaps related to grindan "to grind" (see grind (v.)), though OED calls this connection "difficult." Meaning "wheat which is to be ground" is early 15c., as is the figurative extension from this sense.
hire (v.): Old English hyrian "pay for service, employ for wages, engage," from Proto-Germanic *hurjan (source also of Danish hyre, Old Frisian hera, Dutch huren, German heuern "to hire, rent"), of uncertain origin. Reflexively, "to agree to work for wages" from mid-13c. Related: Hired; hiring.
his (pron.): Old English his (genitive of he), from Proto-Germanic *hisa (source also of Gothic is, Old Saxon is, German es). Originally also the neuter possessive pronoun, but in English it was replaced in that sense c. 1600 by its. In Middle English, hisis was tried for the absolute pronoun (compare her/hers), but it failed to stick. For dialectal his'n, see her.

In 16c.-17c. commonly used in place of a genitive inflection after nouns whose nominative ends in -s (for example, "When this Book became a particular book, that is, when Moses his book was divided into five parts, I cannot trace." [Donne, "Essayes in Divinity," "Exodus," 1651]). Here it is perhaps an expanded vocalized form of 's, originally -es. This tendency began in late Old English and was obsolete from c. 1750.
histrionic (adj.): "theatrical" (figuratively, "hypocritical"), 1640s, from French histrionique "pertaining to an actor," from stem of Latin histrio (genitive histrionis) "actor," a word said to be of Etruscan origin. The literal sense in English is from 1759. The earlier adjective was histrionical (1550s). Related: Histrionically.
hither (adv.): Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hideran (source also of Old Norse heðra "here," Gothic hidre "hither"), from Germanic demonstrative base *hi- (compare he, here). Spelling change from -d- to -th- is the same evolution seen in father, etc. Relation to here is the same as that of thither to there.
hive (n.): Old English hyf "beehive," from Proto-Germanic *hufiz (source also of Old Norse hufr "hull of a ship"), from PIE *keup- "round container, bowl" (source also of Sanskrit kupah "hollow, pit, cave," Greek kypellon "cup," Latin cupa "tub, cask, vat"). Figurative sense of "swarming, busy place" is from 1630s.
hobo (n.): "a tramp," 1889, Western U.S., of unknown origin. Barnhart compares early 19c. English dialectal hawbuck "lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin." Or possibly from ho, boy, a workers' call on late 19c. western U.S. railroads. Facetious formation hobohemia, "community or life of hobos," is from 1923 (see bohemian).
Hobson's choice (n.): English university slang term, supposedly a reference to Thomas Hobson (c. 1544-1631), Cambridge stable manager who let horses and gave customers a choice of the horse next in line or none at all. Phrase popularized c. 1660 by Milton, who was at Cambridge from 1625-29.
foresee (v.): Old English foreseon "have a premonition," from fore- "before" + seon "to see, see ahead" (see see (v.)). Perhaps modeled on Latin providere. Related: Foresaw; foreseeing; foreseen. Similar formation in Dutch voorzien, German vorsehen.
forlorn (adj.): mid-12c., forloren "disgraced, depraved," past participle of obsolete forlesan "be deprived of, lose, abandon," from Old English forleosan "to lose, abandon, let go; destroy, ruin," from for- "completely" + leosan "to lose" (see lose). In the Mercian hymns, Latin perditionis is glossed by Old English forlorenisse. OED's examples of forlese end in 17c., but the past participle persisted. Sense of "forsaken, abandoned" is 1530s; that of "wretched, miserable" first recorded 1580s.

A common Germanic compound (cognates: Old Saxon farilosan, Old Frisian urliasa, Middle Dutch verliesen, Dutch verliezen, Old High German virliosan, German verlieren, Gothic fraliusan "to lose").

In English now often in forlorn hope (1570s), which is a partial translation of Dutch verloren hoop, in which hoop means "troop, band," literally "heap," and the sense of the whole phrase is of a suicide mission. The phrase more often than not is used in English as if it meant "a faint hope, and the misuse has colored the meaning of forlorn. Related: Forlornly; forlornness.
forsooth (adv.): Old English forsoð "indeed, in truth, verily," from for-, perhaps here with intensive force (or else the whole might be "for a truth"), + soð "truth" (see sooth). Regarded as affected in speech by c. 1600.
euthanasia (n.): 1640s, "a gentle and easy death," from Greek euthanasia "an easy or happy death," from eu- "good" (see eu-) + thanatos "death" (see thanatology) + abstract noun ending -ia. Slightly earlier in Englished form euthanasy (1630s). Sense of "legally sanctioned mercy killing" is recorded in English by 1869.
even (adj.): Old English efen "level," also "equal, like; calm, harmonious; equally; quite, fully; namely," from Proto-Germanic *ebnaz (source also of Old Saxon eban, Old Frisian even "level, plain, smooth," Dutch even, Old High German eban, German eben, Old Norse jafn, Danish jævn, Gothic ibns). The adverb is Old English efne "exactly, just, likewise." Modern adverbial sense (introducing an extreme case of something more generally implied) seems to have arisen 16c. from use of the word to emphasize identity ("Who, me?" "Even you").

Etymologists are uncertain whether the original sense was "level" or "alike." Used extensively in Old English compounds, with a sense of "fellow, co-" (as in efeneald "of the same age;" Middle English even-sucker "foster-brother"). Of numbers, from 1550s. Sense of "on an equal footing" is from 1630s. Rhyming reduplication phrase even steven is attested from 1866; even break (n.) first recorded 1907. Even-tempered from 1712. To get even with "retaliate upon" is attested by 1833.
ever (adv.): Old English æfre "ever, at any time, always;" of uncertain origin, no cognates in any other Germanic language; perhaps a contraction of a in feore, literally "ever in life" (the expression a to fore is common in Old English writings). First element is almost certainly related to Old English a "always, ever," from Proto-Germanic *aiwo, from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity" (see eon). Liberman suggests second element is comparative adjectival suffix -re.

Sometimes contracted to e'er in dialect and poetry. Ever began to be used in late Old English as a way to generalize or intensify when, what, where, etc. The sense evolution was from "at any time at all, in any way" to "at any particular time; at some time or another; under any circumstances." Ever so "to whatever extent" is recorded by 1680s. Expression did you ever? (implying "see/do/hear of such a thing") attested by 1840.
fodder (n.): Old English fodder "food," especially "hay, straw, or other bulk food for cattle," from Proto-Germanic *fodram (source also of Old Norse foðr, Middle Dutch voeder, Old High German fuotar, German Futter), from PIE *pa-trom, suffixed form of *pa- "to feed" (see food).
foliage (n.): mid-15c., "representation of leaves or branches" (as an ornamental design), from Middle French feuillage, from Old French feuille "leaf, foliage" (see foil (n.)). The form has altered 17c. by influence of Latin folium or its derivatives in English.
font (n.1): "water basin," especially used in baptism, late Old English, from Latin fons (genitive fontis) "fountain" (see fountain), especially in Medieval Latin fons baptismalis "baptismal font." The word is sometimes used poetically for "a fountain; a source."
foray (n.): late 14c., "predatory incursion," Scottish, from the verb (14c.), perhaps a back-formation of Middle English forreyer "raider, forager" (mid-14c.), from Old French forrier, from forrer "to forage," from forrage "fodder; foraging; pillaging, looting" (see forage (n.)). Disused by 18c.; revived by Scott. As a verb from 14c.
forbear (v.): "to abstain," Old English forberan "bear up against, control one's feelings, abstain from, refrain; tolerate, endure" (past tense forbær, past participle forboren), from for- + beran "to bear" (see bear (v.)). Related: Forbearer; forbearing; forbore. Of similar formation are Old High German ferberen, Gothic frabairan "to endure."
frantic (adj.): mid-14c., "insane," unexplained variant of Middle English frentik (see frenetic). Compare franzy, dialectal form of frenzy. Transferred meaning "affected by wild excitement" is from late 15c. Of the adverbial forms, frantically (1749) is later than franticly (1540s).
grandeur (n.): c. 1500, "loftiness, height," from Middle French grandeur, from Old French grandor "size, height, extent, magnitude; greatness" (12c.), from grand "great" (see grand (adj.)). "Being a word of late adoption, it retains the Fr. form -eur of the suffix." Extended sense of "majesty, stateliness" in English is first recorded 1660s.
grand prix: 1863, French, literally "great prize," originally in English in reference to the Grand Prix de Paris, international horse race for three-year-olds, run every June at Longchamps beginning in 1863.
granola (n.): by 1967, American English, probably from Italian grano "grain," or granular, with commercial suffix -ola. Earlier, with a capital G-, it was a proprietary name (reg. 1886 by W.K. Kellogg, in use into early 20c.) for a kind of breakfast cereal.
Graves' disease: "exophthalmic goiter," 1862, named for Irish physician Robert James Graves (1796-1853), who first recognized the disease in 1835. The surname probably is from Old Norse greifi "steward," corresponding to Old English gerefa (see reeve).
graze (v.1): "to feed on grass," Old English grasian, from græs "grass" (see grass). Compare Middle Dutch, Middle High German grasen, Dutch grazen, German grasen. Transitive sense from 1560s. Figurative use by 1570s. Related: Grazed; grazing.
intramural (adj.): 1846, "within the walls, being within the walls or boundaries" (of a city, building, etc.), from intra- "within" + Latin muralis "pertaining to a wall," from murus "wall" (see mural). Equivalent to Late Latin intramuranus. Originally in English in reference to burials of the dead; in reference to college activities from 1871 (first at Columbia).
ipecac (n.): dried root of a South American shrub, used as an emetic, purgative, nauseant, etc., 1710, borrowing via Portuguese of a shortened form of Tupi ipecacuana (a word attested in English from 1682), a medicinal plant of Brazil. The Indian word is said to mean "small plant causing vomit."