Online Etymology Dictionary

unwashed (adj.): late 14c., from un- (1) "not" + past participle of wash (v.). Replaced Middle English unwashen, from Old English unwæscen. Noun sense of "the lower class" is attested from 1830.
unwilling (adj.): early 15c., altered from or re-formed to replace Middle English unwilland, from Old English unwillende; see un- (1) "not" + willing (adj.); see -ing (2). Related: Unwillingly; unwillingness.
windy (adj.): Old English windig "windy, breezy;" see wind (n.1) + -y (2). Meaning "affected by flatulence" is in late Old English. Chichago has been the Windy City since at least 1885.
deadly (adj.): Old English deadlic "mortal, subject to death," also "causing death;" see dead + -ly (1). Meaning "having the capacity to kill" is from late 14c. (Old English words for this included deaðbærlic, deaðberende).
hunter (n.): mid-13c. (attested in place names from late 12c.), from hunt + -er (1). The Old English word was hunta, Middle English hunte. The hunter's moon (1710) is the next full moon after the harvest moon.
thicken (v.): late 14c. (transitive), 1590s (intransitive), from thick + -en (1). Related: Thickened; thickening. An earlier verb was Middle English thick, Old English þiccian "to thicken, to crowd together."
suburbanite (n.): 1862, from suburban + -ite (1). Middle English used suburban (n.) in this sense (mid-14c.). An Old English word for "suburbanites" was underburhware.
twentieth (adj.): 16c., from twenty + -th (1), replacing Middle English twentithe, from Old English twentigoða. The Twentieth Century Limited was an express train from New York to Chicago 1902-1967.
Radnor: place in eastern Wales, the name is Old English, literally "at the red bank," from Old English read (dative singular readan; see red (n.1) + ofer "bank, slope."
parricide (n.): 1. "person who kills a parent or near relative" (1550s), also 2. "act of killing parent or near relative" (1560s), both from Middle French parricide (13c. in sense 1, 16c. in sense 2), from 1. Latin parricida, 2. Latin parricidium, probably from parus "relative" (of uncertain origin, but compare Greek paos, peos "relation," Sanskrit purushah "man") + 1. cida "killer," 2. cidium "killing," both from caedere (see -cide). Old English had fæderslaga.
afeared (adj.): Old English afæred, past participle of now-obsolete afear (Old English afæran) "to terrify," from a- (1) + færan (see fear (v.)). Used frequently by Shakespeare, but supplanted in literary English after 1700 by afraid (q.v.). It still survives in popular and colloquial speech.
tear (v.2): early 15c., "shed tears," 1650s, "fill with tears" mainly in American English, from tear (n.1). Related: Teared; tearing. Old English verb tæherian, tearian "to weep" did not survive into Middle English.
im-: variant of in- before -b-, -m-, -p- in the sense of "not, opposite of" (immobile, impersonal; see in- (2)) as well as "in, into" (implant, impoverish; see in- (1)). In some English words it alternates with em- (1).
billboard (n.): 1845, American English, from bill (n.1) + board (n.1). Any sort of board where bills were meant to be posted. Billboard magazine founded 1894, originally a trade paper for the bill-posting industry. Its music sales charts date from 1930s.
incorporeal (adj.): early 15c., "spiritual, immaterial," with -al (1) and Late Latin incorporeus "without body," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + adjective from corpus (genitive corporis) "body" (see corporeal). The Old French adjective was incorporel. Glossed in Old English as lichhaemleas (see lich).
orchard (n.): late Old English orceard "fruit garden," earlier ortgeard, perhaps reduced from wortgeard, from wort (Old English wyrt "vegetable, plant root") + geard "garden, yard" (the word also meant "vegetable garden" until 15c.); see yard (n.1). First element influenced in Middle English by Latin hortus (in Late Latin ortus) "garden," which also is from the root of yard (n.1).
deacon (n.): Old English deacon, diacon, from Late Latin diaconus, from Greek diakonos "servant of the church, religious official," literally "servant," from dia- "thoroughly" + PIE *kon-o-, from root *ken- (1) "to set oneself in motion."
abysmal (adj.): 1650s, formed in English from abysm + -al (1). Weakened sense of "extremely bad" is first recorded 1904, perhaps from abysmal ignorance (suggestive of its "depth"), an expression attested from 1847. Related: Abysmally.
jackass (n.): "male ass," 1727, from jack (n.) + ass (n.1). Contemptuous meaning "stupid person" is attested from 1823. Related: Jackassism (1837, American English); jackassery (1833).
unbeaten (adj.): late 13c., "not beaten or struck," from un- (1) + beaten. In the sense of "undefeated" it is first recorded 1757. Old English had ungebeaten "unwrought, unstruck."
raft (n.2): "large collection," 1830, variant of raff "heap, large amount," from Middle English raf (compare raffish, riffraff); form and sense associated with raft (n.1).
geriatric (adj.): 1909, formed in English from Latinized forms of Greek geras, geros "old age" (from PIE root *gere- (1) "to grow old;" see gerontology) + iatrikos "of a physician," from iatros (see -iatric).
incommunicado (adj./adv.): 1844, American English, from Spanish incomunicado, past participle of incomunicar "deprive of communication," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + comunicar "communicate," from Latin communicare "to share, impart" (see communication).
indecision (n.): 1735, from in- (1) "not, opposite of, without" + decision. Perhaps from or modeled on French indécision (17c.), which Cotgrave's "French and English Dictionary" (1673) translates with An undecision.
wealth (n.): mid-13c., "happiness," also "prosperity in abundance of possessions or riches," from Middle English wele "well-being" (see weal (n.1)) on analogy of health.
basketball (n.): 1892, American English, from basket + ball (n.1). The game was invented 1891 by James A. Naismith (1861-1939), physical education instructor in Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
affright (v.): 1580s, a late construction from a- (1) + fright (v.), probably on model of earlier past participle adjective affright "struck with sudden fear" (metathesized from Old English afyrht). Related: Affrighted; affrighting.
redcap (n.): "porter at a railroad station," 1914, American English, from red (adj.1) + cap (n.). Earlier it was the name of the goldfinch, a type of hen, and a long-toothed spectre in Scottish castles.
red cent (n.): obsolete type of copper penny, 1839, American English, from red (adj.1) + cent. "Red" has been the color of copper, brass, and gold since ancient times.
redcoat (n.): "British soldier," 1510s, from red (adj.1) + coat (n.). In Britain, especially of Cromwellian troops in the English Civil War; in the U.S., of British soldiers in the American Revolution.
chasten (v.): 1520s, with -en (1) + the word it replaced, obsolete verb chaste "to correct (someone's) behavior" (Middle English chastien, c. 1200), from Old French chastiier "to punish" (see chastise). Related: Chastened; chastening.
dibble (n.): "tool to make a hole in the soil (as to plant seeds)," mid-15c., probably from Middle English dibben (perhaps akin to dip) + instrumental suffix -el (1). The verb is from 1580s. Related: Dibbled; dibbling.
ninety (n.): Old English nigontig, from nine + -tig "group of ten" (see -ty (1)). Cognate with Old Frisian niontich, Middle Dutch negentich, Dutch negentig, German neunzig.
enthrall (v.): also enthral "to hold in mental or moral bondage," 1570s, from en- (1) "make, put in" + thrall (n.). Literal sense (1610s) is rare in English. Related: Enthralled; enthralling.
withe (n.): Old English wiððe "twisted cord, tough, flexible twig used for binding, especially a willow twig," from PIE *withjon-, from PIE *wei- (1) "to turn, twist" (see withy).
billet (v.): 1590s, "to assign quarters to," earlier, as a noun, "official record or register" (Middle English), from Anglo-French billette "list, schedule," diminutive of bille (see bill (n.1)) with -let. Related: Billeted; billeting.
chit (n.2): "small child," 1620s, originally "young of a beast" (late 14c.); unrelated to chit (n.1); perhaps a playful deformation of kitten, but the "Middle English Dictionary" compares Old High German kizzin "kid."
throstle (n.): "thrush," Old English þrostle "thrush," from Proto-Germanic *thrust- (source also of Old Saxon throsla, Old High German droscala, German Drossel "thrush"), altered from (perhaps a diminutive of) *thurstaz (see thrush (n.1)).
donkey (n.): 1785, originally slang, perhaps a diminutive from dun "dull gray-brown," the form perhaps influenced by monkey. Or possibly from a familiar form of Duncan (compare dobbin). The older English word was ass (n.1).
pibroch (n.): kind of bagpipe music, 1719, from Gaelic piobaireachd, literally "piper's art," from piobair "a piper" (from piob "pipe," an English loan word; see pipe (n.1)) + -achd, suffix denoting function.
drivel (v.): Old English dreflian "to dribble or run at the nose, slobber," from Proto-Germanic *drab-, from PIE *dher- (1) "to make muddy, darken." Meaning "to speak nonsense" is mid-14c. Related: Driveling, drivelling.
dropsy (n.): late 13c., a shortening of Middle English ydropsy, from Old French idropsie, from Latin hydropsis, from Greek hydrops (genitive hydropos) "dropsy," from hydor "water" (see water (n.1)).
miller (n.): mid-14c. (attested as a surname by early 14c.), agent noun from mill (v.1). The Old English word was mylnweard, literally "mill-keeper" (preserved in surname Millward, attested from late 13c.).
pitchfork (n.): mid-14c., altered (by influence of pichen "to throw, thrust;" see pitch (v.1)) from Middle English pic-forken (c. 1200), from pik (see pike (n.4)) + fork (n.). The verb is attested from 1837.
ashore (adv.): 1580s, "toward the shore," from a- (1) + shore (n.). Meaning "on the shore" is from 1630s. Middle English had ashore (late 15c.), but it meant "on a slant," literally "propped up," from shore (v.).
asinine (adj.): c. 1600, "obstinate, stupid," from Latin asininus "stupid," literally "like an ass," from asinus "ass," also "dolt, blockhead" (see ass (n.1)). The literal sense in English is recorded from 1620s.
poteen (n.): "illicit whiskey," 1812, from Irish poitin "little pot," suggesting distillation in small quantities, from English pot (n.1) "vessel" + diminutive suffix -in, -een.
treadle (n.): "lever worked by foot," c. 1400, from Old English tredel "step, stair, sole of the foot," from tredan "to tread" (see tread (v.)) + instrumental suffix -el (1). Compare handle (n.).
root (v.2): "cheer, support," 1889, American English, originally in a baseball context, probably from root (v.1) via intermediate sense of "study, work hard" (1856). Related: Rooted; rooting.
polenta (n.): Old English polente, from Latin pollenta, polenta, literally "peeled barley," related to pollen "fine flour," from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (1) "flour; dust" (see pollen). Later reborrowed from Italian polenta, from the Latin word.