Online Etymology Dictionary

cold feet (n.): 1893, American English; the presumed Italian original (avegh minga frecc i pee) is a Lombard proverb meaning "to have no money," but some of the earliest English usages refer to gamblers, so a connection is possible.
heretofore (adv.): c. 1200, from here + obsolete Old English toforan "formerly, before now," from to (prep.) + foran (adv.) "in front," dative of for. Also in Middle English heretoforn.
highness (n.): Old English heanes; see high (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "royalty, excellence, nobility" is early 13c.; Your Highness as a form of address to English royalty is attested from c. 1400.
homeward (adv.): mid-13c., homward "towards home," from Old English ham weard; see home (n.) + -ward. Also Homewards, with adverbial genitive -s (Old English hamweardes). Homeward-bound is from c. 1600, originally of ships.
heathenism (n.): c. 1600, from heathen + -ism. Old English words for it included hæðennes, hæðendom, and a later ones were heathenship (late Old English), heathenhood (late 13c.), heathenry (1560s).
seventeen: late Old English seofontyne; see seven + -teen. Replacing Old English form seofon-teoða. Compare German siebzehn, a contraction of Middle High German siben-zehen.
mousetrap (n.): late 15c., from mouse (n.) + trap (n.). Figurative use from 1570s. The thing is older than the word. Old English had musfealle; Middle English had mouscacche (late 14c.).
slothful (adj.): c. 1400, from sloth + -ful. Related: Slothfully; slothfulness. For the latter, Middle English also had sloth-head (c. 1300), with Middle English -hede, cognate with -hood.
pyjamas (n.): also pyjama (adj.), chiefly British English spelling of pajamas. Early spellings in English also include pai jamahs (1800); pigammahs (1834), peijammahs (1840).
drug store (n.): also drug-store, 1810, American English, from drug (n.) + store (n.). Drug-store cowboy is 1925, American English slang, originally one who dressed like a Westerner but obviously wasn't.
nest (v.): Old English nistan "to build nests," from Proto-Germanic *nistijanan, from the source of nest (n.). The modern verb is perhaps a new formation in Middle English from the noun. Related: Nested; nesting.
blind (v.): "deprive of sight," early 13c., from Old English blendan "to blind, deprive of sight; deceive," from Proto-Germanic *blandjan (see blind (adj.)); form influenced in Middle English by the adjective. Related: Blinded; blinding.
oxen (n.): plural of ox, it is the only true continuous survival in Modern English of the Old English weak plural. OED reports oxes occurs 14c.-16c., "but has not survived."
pillage (v.): "plunder, despoil," 1590s, from pillage (n.). Related: Pillaged; pillaging. The earlier verb in English was simply pill (late Old English), which probably is from Latin pilare.
swoon (v.): c. 1200, "to become unconscious," probably from a lost Old English verb *swogan (as in Old English aswogan "to choke"), of uncertain origin. Compare Low German swogen "to sigh." Related: Swooned; swooning.
epidemic (n.): 1757, "an epidemic disease, a temporary prevalence of a disease throughout a community," from epidemic (adj.); earlier epideme (see epidemy). An Old English noun for this (persisting in Middle English) was man-cwealm.
soothfast (adj.): "truthful," Old English soðfæst "true, trustworthy, honest, just righteous;" see sooth (n.) + -fast. Related: Old English soðfæstnes "truthfulness, fairness, fidelity;" soðfæstlic "true, sincere;" soðfæstlice "truly, honestly."
sharply (adv.): Old English scearplice "acutely, keenly; painfully, severely; attentively, quickly;" see sharp (adj.) + -ly (2). Old English also had adverbial form scearpe "sharply."
Snowdon: mountain in Caernarvonshire, northern Wales, from English snow (n.) + Old English dun "hill, mountain" (see down (n.2); presumably translating a former Celtic name. The height is snow-covered much of the year.
France: late Old English, from Old French France, from Medieval Latin Francia, from Francus "a Frank" (see Frank). Old English had Franc-rice "kingdom of the Franks," more commonly Franc-land.
freak (n.2): "brave man, warrior," Scottish freik, from Middle English freke "a bold man, a warrior, a man," from Old English freca "bold man, a warrior," from frec "greedy, eager, bold" (compare German frech "bold, impudent").
hone (v.): "rub or sharpen on or as on a hone," 1788, from hone (n.). Related: Honed; honing. The verb form in Middle English (hene) and Old English (hænan) meant "cast stones at."
-head: word-forming element meaning "state or condition of being," Middle English -hede, from a variant of Old English -had, the source of -hood. The only surviving words with it are maidenhead and godhead.
-el (1): instrumental word-forming element, expressing "appliance, tool," from Old English -ol, -ul, -el, representing PIE *-lo- (see -ule). In modern English usually -le except after -n-.
workday (n.): Old English weorcdæg, from work (n.) + day (n.). The modern word is perhaps a Middle English re-formation. As an adjective (c. 1500) it has generally only the literal sense (compare workaday).
Hudson: both the bay in Canada and the river in New York named for English navigator Henry Hudson (died c. 1611), who hired on variously to the English and Dutch authorities.
latter (adv.): Old English lator, "more slowly," comparative of late. From c. 1200 as "at a later time." Old English also had lætemest (adv.) "lastly, finally."
leal (adj.): "loyal, faithful, honest, true," c. 1300, lele, surviving from Middle English as Northern English and Scottish form of loyal. But the Land of the leal (Lady Nairne) is Heaven, not Scotland. Related: Lealty.
leechcraft (n.): "art of healing," Old English læcecræft; see leech (2) + craft (n.). Old English also had læcedom "medicine." A later word for it was leechery (c. 1600).
Lichfield: city in central England, Old English Licitfelda (c. 710) "Open Land near Letocetum" (Celtic place name meaning "gray wood"), with Old English feld.
accurate (adj.): 1610s, "done with care," from Latin accuratus "prepared with care, exact, elaborate," past participle of accurare "take care of," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + curare "take care of" (see cure (n.1)). The notion of doing something carefully led to that of being exact (1650s). Related: Accurately; accurateness.
babouche (n.): 1690s, from French babouche, from Arabic babush, from Persian papush, from pa "foot" (related to Avestan pad-, from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot;" see foot (n.)) + posh "covering." Arabic, lacking a -p-, regularly converts -p- in foreign words to -b-.
backlog (n.): 1680s, "large log placed at the back of a fire," from back (adj.) + log (n.1). Figurative sense of "something stored up for later use" is first attested 1883, but this and the meaning "arrears of unfulfilled orders" (1932) might be from, or suggested by, log (n.2).
bandana (n.): also often bandanna, 1752, from Hindi bandhnu, a method of dyeing, from Sanskrit badhnati "binds" (because the cloth is tied like modern tie-dye), from same PIE root as band (n.1). Etymologically, the colors and spots are what makes it a bandana.
cranium (n.): early 15c., craneum, from Medieval Latin cranium "skull," from Greek kranion "skull, upper part of the head," related to kara (poetic kras) "head," from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn, head" (see horn (n.)). Strictly, the bones which enclose the brain.
canon (n.2): "clergyman," c. 1200, from Anglo-French canun, from Old North French canonie (Modern French chanoine), from Church Latin canonicus "clergyman living under a rule," noun use of Latin adjective canonicus "according to rule" (in ecclesiastical use, "pertaining to the canon"), from Greek kanonikos, from kanon "rule" (see canon (n.1)).
cutlass (n.): 1590s, from Middle French coutelas (16c.), probably from Italian coltellaccio "large knife" (with augmentative suffix -accio), from coltello "knife," from Latin cultellus "small knife," diminutive of culter "knife, plowshare," from PIE *kel-tro-, from root *(s)kel- "to cut" (see scale (n.1)).
crude (adj.): late 14c., "in a raw state," from Latin crudus "rough; not cooked, raw, bloody," from PIE *krue-do-, from PIE *kreue- (1) "raw flesh" (see raw). Meaning "lacking grace" is first attested 1640s. Related: Crudely; crudeness. Crude oil is from 1865.
decadence (n.): 1540s, from Middle French décadence (early 15c.), from Medieval Latin decadentia "decay," from decadentem (nominative decadens) "decaying," present participle of decadere "to decay," from Latin de- "apart, down" (see de-) + cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). Used of periods in art since 1852, on French model.
deciduous (adj.): 1680s, from Latin deciduus "that which falls off," from decidere "to fall off," from de- "down" (see de-) + cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)). Originally with reference to leaves, petals, teeth, etc.; specific sense of "trees whose leaves fall off" (opposed to evergreen) is from 1778.
gastropod (n.): 1826, gasteropod (spelling without -e- by 1854), from Modern Latin Gasteropoda, name of a class of mollusks, from Greek gaster (genitive gastros) "stomach" (see gastric) + pous (genitive podos) "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). From the ventral position of the mollusk's "foot."
haggle (v.): 1570s, "to cut unevenly, mangle in cutting" (implied in haggler "clumsy workman"), frequentative of haggen "to chop" (see hack (v.1)). Sense of "argue about price" first recorded c. 1600, probably from notion of chopping away. Related: Haggled; haggling.
hallmark (n.): 1721, official stamp of purity in gold and silver articles, from Goldsmiths' Hall in London, site of the assay office; see hall + mark (n.1). General sense of "mark of quality" first recorded 1864. As a verb from 1773.
jetty (n.): early 15c., from Old French jetee, getee "a jetty, a pier; a projecting part of a building," also "a throw," noun use of fem. past participle of jeter "to throw" (see jet (v.1)). Notion is of a structure "thrown out" past what surrounds it.
kirsch-wasser (n.): also kirschwasser, "liquor distilled from fermented cherry juice," 1819, from German Kirschwasser, literally "cherry-water;" first element from Middle High German kirse, from Old High German kirsa, from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from Late Latin cerasium "cherry" (see cherry). For second element, see water (n.1).
easel (n.): 1590s, from Dutch ezel "easel," originally "ass," from Middle Dutch esel, from Latin asinus "ass" (see ass (n.1)); the comparison being of loading a burden on a donkey and propping up a painting or canvas on a wooden stand (compare sawhorse, French chevalet, Italian cavalletto).
illicit (adj.): c. 1500, from Old French illicite "unlawful, forbidden" (14c.), from Latin illicitus "not allowed, unlawful, illegal," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + licitus "lawful," past participle of licere "to be allowed" (see licence (n.)). Related: Illicitly.
immediate (adj.): late 14c., "intervening, interposed;" early 15c., "with nothing interposed; direct," also with reference to time, "without delay, instant," from Old French immediat (14c.), from Late Latin immediatus "without anything between," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + mediatus "in the middle" (see mediate).
immutable (adj.): early 15c., "unchanging, unalterable," from Old French immutable (Modern French immuable), and directly from Latin immutabilis "unchangeable, unalterable," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + mutabilis "changeable," from mutare "to change" (see mutable). Related: Immutably.
impeccable (adj.): 1530s, "not capable of sin," from Middle French impeccable (15c.) or directly from Late Latin impeccabilis "not liable to sin," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + peccare "to sin" (see peccadillo). Meaning "faultless" is from 1610s. Related: Impeccably; impeccant; impeccancy.