Online Etymology Dictionary

joint (n.): c. 1300, "an (anatomical) joint, a part of a body where two bones meet and move in contact with one another, the structure that holds such bones together," from Old French joint "joint of the body" (12c.), from Latin iunctus "united, connected, associated," past participle of iungere "join" (see jugular). Related: Joints.

In general use from late 14c., of insect and plant parts, also "that which joins two components of an artificial structure." In butchering, "cut of meat on the bone," early 15c. Slang or cant meaning of "place, building, establishment" (especially one where persons meet for shady activities) first recorded 1877; earlier it was used in an Anglo-Irish context (1821), perhaps on the notion of a private side-room, one "joined" to a main room. In late 19c. U.S. use especially "an opium-smoking den" (1883).

Meaning "marijuana cigarette" (1938) is perhaps from notion of something often smoked in common, but there are other possibilities; earlier joint in drug slang meant "hypodermic outfit" (1935). Meaning "prison" is attested from 1953 but probably is older. Out of joint in the figurative sense "disordered, confused, gone wrong" is from early 15c. (literally, of bone displacement, late 14c.). Joint-stock "of or pertaining to holding stock in shares" is from 1610s.
joint (adj.): early 15c., "united or sharing" (in some activity), from Old French jointiz (adj.) "joined together, close together" and Old French joint (14c.), past participle adjective from joindre "to join, connect, unite" (see join (v.)).
jointed (adj.): "provided with joints," early 15c., from joint (n.).
jointly (adv.): c. 1300, from joint (adj.) + -ly (2). It seems to have chased out joinly (early 15c.).
universal (adj.): late 14c., "pertaining to the whole of something specified; occurring everywhere," from Old French universel "general, universal" (12c.), from Latin universalis "of or belonging to all," from universus "all together, whole, entire" (see universe). In mechanics, a universal joint (1670s) is one which allows free movement in any direction. Universal product code is recorded from 1974.
clip (v.1): "to cut or sever with a sharp instrument," c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse klippa, Swedish klippa, Danish klippe "clip, shear, cut"), which is probably echoic. Related: Clipped; clipping.

Meaning "to pronounce short" is from 1520s. The verb has a long association with shady activities, originally especially in reference to cutting or shaving metal from coins (c. 1400), but later extended to swindles from the sense "to shear sheep," hence clip-joint "place that overcharges outrageously" (1933, American English, a term from Prohibition). To clip (someone's) wings figuratively (1590s) is from the method of preventing a captive bird from flying.
jukebox (n.): also juke-box, "machine that automatically plays selected recorded music when a coin is inserted," 1939, earlier jook organ (1937), from jook joint "roadhouse, brothel" (1935), African-American vernacular, from juke, joog "wicked, disorderly," a word in Gullah (the creolized English of the coastlands of South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida). This is probably from an African source, such as Wolof and Bambara dzug "unsavory." The adjective is said to have originated in central Florida (see "A Note on Juke," Florida Review, vol. VII, no. 3, spring 1938). The spelling with a -u- might represent a deliberate attempt to put distance between the word and its origins.
For a long time the commercial juke trade resisted the name juke box and even tried to raise a big publicity fund to wage a national campaign against it, but "juke box" turned out to be the biggest advertising term that could ever have been invented for the commercial phonograph and spread to the ends of the world during the war as American soldiers went abroad but remembered the juke boxes back home. ["Billboard," Sept. 15, 1945]
rib (n.): Old English ribb "rib," from Proto-Germanic *rebja- (source also of Old Norse rif, Old Saxon ribbi, Old Frisian ribb, Middle Dutch, Dutch ribbe, Old High German ribba, German Rippe), literally "a covering" (of the cavity of the chest), from PIE *rebh- "to roof, cover" (source also of Greek ereptein "to roof," Old Church Slavonic rebro "rib, reef"). As an item of food from early 15c. Rib joint "brothel" is slang from 1943, probably in reference to Adam's rib (compare rib "woman, wife," attested from 1580s).
weld (n.2): "joint formed by welding," 1831, from weld (v.).
jointure (n.): late 14c., "act or fact of being joined," from Old French jointure "a putting together," from Latin iunctura "a joining, juncture" (see juncture). Specific legal sense is from mid-15c.: "estate or property settled on an intended husband and wife, meant as a provision for the latter."
arthralgia (n.): "pain in a joint," 1848, from Greek arthron "joint" (see arm (n.1)) + -algia.
muggle (n.): "marijuana, a joint," 1926, apparently originally a New Orleans word, of unknown origin.
vertebrate (n.): "a vertebrate animal," 1826, from Latin vertebratus (Pliny), from vertebra "joint or articulation of the body, joint of the spine" (see vertebra). As an adjective also from 1826.
invertebrate (adj.): "having naturally no backbone," 1819, from Latin in- "not" (see in- (1)) + vertebratus (Pliny), from vertebra "joint or articulation of the body, joint of the spine" (see vertebra). As a noun, "an invertebrate animal," 1826.
arthritis (n.): "inflammation of a joint," 1540s, from medical Latin arthritis, from Greek (nosos) arthritis "(disease) of the joints," from arthritis, fem. of arthrites (adj.) "pertaining to joints" (Greek nosos is a fem. noun), from arthron "a joint" (see arm (n.1)).
drumstick (n.): 1580s, from drum (n.) + stick (n.); applied to the lower joint of cooked fowl 1764.
vertebra (n.): "bone of the spine," early 15c., from Latin vertebra "joint or articulation of the body, joint of the spine" (plural vertebræ), perhaps from vertere "to turn" (see versus) + instrumental suffix -bra. The notion would be the spine as the "hinge" of the body.
articulation (n.): early 15c., "a joint or joining; setting of bones," from Old French articulation, from Medieval Latin articulationem (nominative articulatio) "separation into joints," noun of action from past participle stem of articulare "to separate (meat) into joints," also "to utter distinctly," from articulus, diminutive of artus "joint" (see article).
tenon (n.): projection inserted to make a joint, late 14c., from Middle French tenon "a tenon," from Old French tenir "to hold" (see tenet). As a verb from 1590s.
ischium (n.): "the seat bone," 1640s, from Latin, from Greek iskhion "hip joint," in plural, "the hips," probably from iskhi "loin," a word of unknown origin. Related: Ischiatic.
coexistence (n.): also co-existence, mid-15c., "joint existence;" see co- + existence. As "peaceful relations between states of different ideologies," 1954, a Cold War term.
mortise (n.): c. 1400, "hole or groove in which something is fitted to form a joint," from Old French mortaise (13c.), possibly from Arabic murtazz "fastened," past participle of razza "cut a mortise in." Compare Spanish mortaja.
miter (n.2): in the carpentry sense of "joint at a 45 degree angle," 1670s, perhaps from mitre, via notion of joining of the two peaks of the folded cap. As a verb from 1731.
pinion (n.1): "wing joint, segment of a bird's wing," mid-15c., from Old French pignon "wing-feather, wing, pinion" (c. 1400), from Vulgar Latin *pinnionem (nominative *pinnio), augmentative of Latin pinna "wing" (see pin (n.)).
varvel (n.): "metal ring attached to the end of a hawk's jess and connecting it to the leash," 1530s, from Old French vervelle "falcon's leg fetter" (14c.), from Vulgar Latin derivation of Latin vertibulum "joint." Related: Varvels.
trochanter (n.): 1610s as a part of the thigh-bone, from French trochanter (16c.), from Greek trokhanter (Galen), from trekhein "to run" (see truckle (n.)). From 1816 as the second joint of an insect leg.
arthro-: word-forming element meaning "pertaining to the joints," from Greek arthro- (before vowels arth-), comb. form of arthron "joint," from PIE *ar-dhro-, from *ar- "to fit together;" see arm (n.1).
juke (v.): "to duck, dodge, feint," by 1971, variant of jook (q.v.). From 1933 as "dance," especially at a juke-joint or to jukebox music; see jukebox. Related: Juked; juking.
knuckle (n.): mid-14c., knokel "finger joint; any joint of the body, especially a knobby one; morbid lump or swelling." Perhaps in Old English, but not attested there. Common Germanic (compare Middle Low German knökel, Middle Dutch cnockel, German knöchel), literally "little bone," a diminutive of Proto-Germanic root *knuk- "bone," which is not represented in English in its simple form (but compare German Knochen "bone). For pronunciation, see kn-.
partner (n.): c. 1300, altered from parcener (late 13c.), from Old French parçonier "partner, associate; joint owner, joint heir," from parçon "partition, division. portion, share, lot," from Latin partitionem (nominative partitio) "a sharing, partition, division, distribution" (see partition (n.)). Form in English influenced by part (n.). The word also may represent Old French part tenour "part holder."
hock (n.1): "joint in the hind leg of a horse or other quadruped," corresponding to the ankle-joint in man, mid-15c., earlier hockshin (late 14c.), from Old English hohsinu "sinew of the heel, Achilles' tendon," literally "heel sinew," from Old English hoh "heel" (in compounds, such as hohfot "heel"), from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (source also of German Hachse "hock," Old English hæla "heel"), from PIE *kenk- (3) "heel, bend of the knee" (see heel (n.1)).
condominium (n.): c. 1714, "joint rule or sovereignty," from Modern Latin condominium "joint sovereignty," apparently coined in German c. 1700 from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + dominum "right of ownership" (see domain). A word in politics and international law until sense of "privately owned apartment" arose in American English 1962 as a special use of the legal term.
lith (n.): "joint, limb of the body" (now obsolete or provincial), Old English liþ "limb, member, joint," cognate with Old Frisian lith, Dutch lid, Old High German lid, Old Norse liðr, Gothic liþus, and, compounded with ga-, German glied "limb, member." Lith and limb was a Middle English alliterative pairing.
lard (n.): late 14c. (possibly early 13c.), "rendered fat of a swine," from Old French larde "joint, meat," especially "bacon fat" (12c.), and directly from Latin lardum "lard, bacon, cured swine's flesh" (source also of Spanish, Italian lardo), probably cognate with Greek larinos "fat," laros "pleasing to the taste."
juncture (n.): late 14c., "place where two things are joined," from Latin iunctura "a joining, uniting, a joint," from iunctus, past participle of iungere "to join" (see jugular). Meaning "action of joining together" is from 1580s. Sense of "point in time" first recorded 1650s, probably from astrology.
aleatory (adj.): "of uncertain outcome," literally "depending on the throw of a die," 1690s, from Latin aleatorius "pertaining to a gamester," from aleator "a dice player," from alea "a game with dice; chance, hazard, risk; a die, the dice;" perhaps literally "a joint-bone, a pivot-bone," and related to axis.
dislocate (v.): c. 1600, from earlier adjective or past participle dislocate "out of joint" (c. 1400), from Medieval Latin dislocatus, past participle of dislocare "put out of place," from Latin dis- "away" (see dis-) + locare "to place" (see locate). Related: Dislocated; dislocating.
Arthropoda (n.): 1870, Modern Latin, literally "those with jointed feet," coined 1845 by German zoologist Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold (1804-1885) from Greek arthron "a joint" (see arthro-) + podos genitive of pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)).
arthritic (adj.): mid-14c., artetyk, "pertaining to arthritis," also as a noun, from Old French artetique (12c., Modern French arthritique), corresponding to Latin arthriticus, from Greek arthritikos, from arthron "joint" (see arm (n.1)). Spelling gradually restored to Latin form in 17c.
alar (adj.): "wing-like," c. 1840; "of or pertaining to wings," 1847, from Latin alaris, from ala "wing, armpit, wing of an army" (source of Spanish ala, French aile), from *axla, originally "joint of the wing or arm;" from PIE *aks- (see axis).
sciatica (n.): late 14c., from Medieval Latin sciatica, in sciatica passio "sciatic disease," fem. of sciaticus "sciatic," corruption of Latin ischiadicus "of pain in the hip," from Greek iskhiadikos, from iskhias (genitive iskhiados) "pain in the hips," from iskhion "hip joint."
kneecap (n.): 1650s, "a covering or protection for the knee," from knee (n.) + cap (n.). Meaning "bone in front of the knee joint" is from 1869; the verb in the underworld sense of "to shoot (someone) in the knee" as punishment is attested by 1975. Related: Kneecapped.
rheumatism (n.): c. 1600, from Late Latin rheumatismus, from Greek rheumatismos, from rheumatizein "suffer from the flux," from rheuma "a discharge from the body" (see rheum). "The meaning of a disease of the joints is first recorded in 1688, because rheumatism was thought to be caused by an excessive flow of rheum into a joint thereby stretching ligaments" [Barnhart].
knapweed (n.): so called for its knobby heads, from Middle English knap "ornamental knob; bunch or tuft; a button; knot or protuberance on a tree; joint in the stalk of a plant; testicle," from Old English cnæp "top, summit of a hill," or its cognate, Old Norse knappr "a knob, button, stud."
scarf (n.2): "connecting joint," late 13c., probably from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse skarfr "nail for fastening a joint," Swedish skarf, Norwegian skarv). A general North Sea Germanic ship-building word (compare Dutch scherf), the exact relationship of all these is unclear. Also borrowed into Romanic (French écart, Spanish escarba); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skarfaz (source also of Old English sceorfan "to gnaw, bite"), from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)). Also used as a verb.
gambol (n.): "frolic, merrymaking," 1590s, earlier gambolde "a skipping, a leap or spring" (1510s), from Middle French gambade (15c.), from Late Latin gamba "horse's hock or leg," from Greek kampe "a bending" (on notion of "a joint"), from PIE *kamp- "to bend" (see campus). Ending altered perhaps by confusion with formerly common ending -aud, -ald (as in ribald).
haunch (n.): early 13c., from Old French hanche "hip, thigh; haunch" (12c.), from Frankish *hanka or a similar Germanic source (cognates: Old High German hinkan "to limp," ancha "leg," literally "joint;" Middle Dutch hanke "haunch"). "It is only since the 18th c. that the spelling haunch has displaced hanch" [OED]. Related: Haunches.
fetlock (n.): "tuft of hair behind the pastern-joint of a horse," early 14c., fetlak, from a Germanic source (cognates: Dutch vetlock, Middle High German fizlach, German Fiszloch), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *fetel- (source of German fessel "pastern"), from PIE *ped-el-, from root *ped- (1) "foot" (see foot (n.)). The Middle English diminutive suffix -ok (from Old English -oc) was misread and the word taken in folk etymology as a compound of feet and lock (of hair).
gout (n.): joint disease, c. 1200, from Old French gote "a drop, bead; the gout, rheumatism" (10c., Modern French goutte), from Latin gutta "a drop," in Medieval Latin "gout," a word of unknown origin. The disease was thought to be caused by drops of viscous humors seeping from the blood into the joints, which turns out to be close to the modern scientific explanation.
wrist (n.): Old English wrist, from Proto-Germanic *wristiz (source also of Old Norse rist "instep," Old Frisian wrist, Middle Dutch wrist, German Rist "back of the hand, instep"), from Proto-Germanic *wreik- "to turn" (see wry). The notion is "the turning joint." Wrist-watch is from 1889. Wrist-band is from 1570s as a part of a sleeve, 1969 as a perspiration absorber.