Online Etymology Dictionary

strontium (n.): light metallic element, 1808, coined in Modern Latin by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) from Strontian, name of a parish in Argyllshire, Scotland, the site of lead mines where strontium was first found, in 1787.
strychnine (n.): powerful poisonous alkaloid, 1819, from French strychnine, from Modern Latin Strychnos, the genus name of the plant (nux vomica) from which the poison is obtained, from Greek strychnon, a kind of nightshade, of uncertain origin. The chemical was discovered 1818 by Pelletier and Caventou in the Asian tree Strychnos ignatii.
Susanna: also Susannah, fem. proper name, from Latin Susanna, from Greek Sousanna, from Hebrew Shoshannah, literally "a lily." One of the women that attended Jesus in his journeys. Greek also borrowed the Semitic word in its literal sense as souson "lily."
samba (n.): Brazilian dance of African origin, 1885, Zemba, from Portuguese samba, shortened form of zambacueca, a type of dance, probably altered (by influence of zamacueco "stupid") from zambapalo, the name of a grotesque dance, itself an alteration of zampapalo "stupid man," from zamparse "to bump, crash." As a verb from 1949.
Saratoga: in reference to a kind of large trunk, 1858, so called because it was much used by ladies traveling to the summer resort of Saratoga, N.Y. The name, early recorded as saraghtogo, apparently is from an Iroquoian language, but it is of unknown origin.
coriander (n.): late 14c., from Old French coriandre (14c.), from Latin coriandrum, from Greek koriannon, often said by botanists to be related to koris "bedbug" from the bad smell of the unripe fruit, or perhaps a non-Indo-European word conformed to the Greek insect name.
cortisone (n.): 1949, coined by its discoverer, Dr. Edward C. Kendall, shortening of chemical name, 17-hydroxy-11 dehydrocorticosterone, ultimately from Latin corticis (genitive of cortex; see cortex). So called because it was obtained from the "cortex" of adrenal glands; originally called Compound E (1936).
shillelagh (n.): "cudgel," 1772, earlier, "oak wood used to make cudgels" (1670s), from Shillelagh, town and barony, famous for its oaks, in County Wicklow, Ireland. The name is literally "seeds (or descendants) of Elach, from Irish siol "seed."
Seth: masc. proper name, Biblical third son of Adam, literally "set, appointed," from Hebrew Sheth, from shith "to put, set." The Gnostic sect of Sethites (2c.) believed Christ was a reappearance of Seth, whom they venerated as the first spiritual man.
shantung (n.): type of coarse silk, 1882, from Shantung province, in China, where the fabric was made. The place name is "east of the mountain," from shan (mountain) + dong (east). The mountain in question is Tan Shan. West of it is Shansi, from xi "west."
sibyl (n.): "woman supposed to possess powers of prophecy, female soothsayer," c. 1200, from Old French sibile, from Latin Sibylla, from Greek Sibylla, name for any of several prophetesses consulted by ancient Greeks and Romans, of uncertain origin. Said to be from Doric Siobolla, from Attic Theoboule "divine wish."
Sienna: city in central Italy, probably from Senones, the name of a Gaulish people who settled there in ancient times. Related: Sienese. The brownish-ochre color (1760) is from Italian terra di Sienna "earth of Siena," where the coloring material first was produced.
silphium (n.): plant genus, 1771, from Latin, from Greek Silphion, name of a North African Mediterranean plant whose identity has been lost, the gum or juice of which was prized by the ancients as a condiment and a medicine. Probably of African origin.
simian (adj.): "characteristic of monkeys or apes," c. 1600, from Latin simia "ape," from simus "snub-nosed," from Greek simos "snub-nosed" (like the Scythians), also a masculine proper name, of unknown origin. Biological meaning "pertaining to monkeys" is from 1863. The noun meaning "an ape or monkey" first is attested in 1880.
simoleon (n.): slang for "a dollar," 1895, American English, of unknown origin. Related sambolio is attested from 1886; perhaps this was altered based on Napoleon, name of a late 19c. French gold coin. And compare Latin coin-names semodius "half a modius," simbella "coin worth half a libella."
Sino-: before vowels Sin-, word-forming element meaning "Chinese," 1879, from Late Latin Sinæ (plural) "the Chinese," from Ptolemaic Greek Sinai, from Arabic Sin "China," probably from Chinese Ch'in, name of the fourth dynasty of China (see China).
skipjack (n.): 1550s, "a pert shallow-brained fellow; a puppy, a whipper-snapper; a conceited fop or dandy" [OED], from skip (v.) + generic name jack (n.). Applied 1703 to tropical fishes with leaping tendencies. In reference to a kind of sailing boat used on Chesapeake Bay, attested from 1887.
Scotland Yard (n.): used for "London Metropolitan Police," 1864, from the name of short street off Whitehall, London; where from 1829 to 1890 stood the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Force, hence, the force itself, especially the detective branch. After 1890, located in "New Scotland Yard."
screwball (n.): "eccentric person," 1933, U.S. slang, earlier as a type of erratic baseball pitch (1928), from a still earlier name for a type of delivery in cricket (1866), from screw (n.) + ball (n.1). Screwball comedy is attested from 1938, in reference to Carole Lombard.
Scythian (n.): 1540s, from Latin Scythia, from Greek Skythia, name anciently given to the region along the north coast of the Black Sea, from Skythes "a Scythian," said to be from an Indo-European root meaning "shepherd" [Room]. As an adjective from 1560s. Herodotus is responsible for Scythian disease or Scythian insanity.
Sebastian: masc. proper name, from Latin Sebastianus, from Greek Sebastianos, "man of Sebastia," a city in Pontus that was named for Augustus Caesar, first Roman emperor, from Greek sebastos "venerable," a translation of Latin augustus, the epithet of Caesar.
Cappadocia (n.): ancient name for the region roughly corresponding to modern Turkey, from Greek Kappadokía, perhaps ultimately from Persian Hvaspadakhim "land of fine horses." In ancient Athens, Cappadocians were notorious as knaves and cowards, but the region's horses were celebrated.
bossy (adj.): 1540s, "swelling, projecting and rounded, decorated with bosses" from boss (n.2). Meaning "domineering, fond of ordering people about" is recorded 1882, from boss (n.1) + -y (2). As a common cow name it represents Latin bos "cow" (see cow (n.)).
bork (v.): 1987, "to discredit a candidate for some position by savaging his or her career and beliefs," from name of U.S. jurist Robert H. Bork (1927-2012), whose Supreme Court nomination in 1987 was rejected after an intense counter-campaign.
braggadocio (n.): Spenser's coinage, 1590, as a name for his personification of vainglory, from brag, with augmentative ending by analogy to the Italian words then in vogue in England. In general use by 1594 for "an empty swaggerer;" of the talk of such persons, from 1734.
brainiac (n.): "very smart person," 1982, U.S. slang, from brain (n.) + ending from ENIAC, etc. Brainiac also was the name of a comic book villain in the Superman series and a do-it-yourself computer building kit, both from the late 1950s, and the word may bear traces of either or both of these.
Birmingham: industrial city in central England, 1086, Bermingehame, literally "homestead of the place (or people) named for Beorma, some forgotten Anglo-Saxon person, whose name probably is a shortening of Beornmund. The Birmingham in Alabama, U.S., was founded 1871 as an industrial center and named for the English city.
bialy (n.): bagel with onion flakes sprinkled on it, by 1936, ultimately short for Białystok, city in modern Poland. The city name is literally "white river," from Polish biały "white" + stok "river" (the Bialy River flows through the region).
Budapest: Hungarian capital, formed 1872 from merger of two cities on opposite shores of the Danube, Buda (probably from a word originally meaning "water") + Pest, a Hungarian word meaning "furnace, oven, cove," also in Slavic (compare Russian pech'). Compare Ofen, literally "oven," the old German name for the place.
bullpen (n.): also bull-pen, 1915, in the baseball sense, from bull (n.1) + pen (n.2); perhaps from earlier slang meaning "temporary holding cell for prisoners" (1809). Bullpen also was the name of a baseball-like game played in U.S. late 19c.
Trent: river in England, a Celtic name, perhaps "great wanderer," in reference to its flooding. The city in Italy (Italian Trento) is Roman Tridentum, in reference to the triple-peaked mountain nearby. The great ecumenical council there was held from 1543-63.
worry wart (n.): 1956, from comic strip "Out Our Way" by U.S. cartoonist J.R. Williams (1888-1957). According to those familiar with the strip, Worry Wart was the name of a character who caused others to worry, which is the inverse of the current colloquial meaning.
wrangler (n.): 1510s, "one who takes part in quarrels," agent noun from wrangle (v.). Meaning "person in charge of horses or cattle, herder" is from 1888; as a proprietary name for a brand of jeans, copyrighted 1947, claiming use from 1929.
Tibet: said to be a corruption in Chinese or Arabic of Bod, indigenous name, of unknown origin. As an adjective in English, Tibetian is older (1747) but Tibetan (1822) is now the usual word. With comb. form Tibeto-.
Frankish (adj.): "pertaining to the ancient Franks," 1802, from Frank + -ish. As the name of the West Germanic language spoken by the ancient Franks, from 1863. (Frenkis is recorded c. 1400.). The language was absorbed into French, which it influenced, especially in the northern regions from which the Normans conquered England in 1066.
Gervais: masc. proper name, French Gervais, from Old High German Gervas, literally "serving with one's spear," from ger "spear" (see gar) + Celtic base *vas- "servant," from Old Celtic *wasso- "young man, squire" (see vassal).
godless (adj.): 1520s, from God + -less. Similar formation in Dutch goddeloos, German gottlos, Swedish gudlös, Gothic gudalaus. Related: Godlessness. Phrase godless communism attested by 1851; The Godless (Russian bezbozhnik) was the name of an organization for the suppression of religion in the Soviet Union.
mustelid (n.): 1910, from Modern Latin Mustelidae, taken as a genus name by Linnaeus (1758), from Latin mustela "weasel," possibly related to mus "mouse" (see mouse (n.)). Tucker tentatively suggests *mus-ters-la "mouse harrier" and Klein notes that the weasel was identified in antiquity as "the catcher of mice."
Brooklyn: New York City borough, named for village founded there 1646 and named for Dutch township of Breukelen near Utrecht; from Old High German bruoh "moor, marshland;" spelling of U.S. place name influenced by brook (n.), which probably is distantly related.
Evelyn: fem. proper name, a double diminutive of Eve or in some cases from Old High German Avelina, from Avi. Popular (top 20) for girls born in U.S. c. 1910-1930 and rising in popularity again 2000s.
Gaylord: masc. proper name, also a surname (from early 13c.), also Galliard, from Old French Gaillart, from Proto-Germanic *Gailhard "lofty-hard;" or from Old French gaillard "lively, brisk, gay, high-spirited," from PIE root *gal- (3) "to be able, have power."
Galatians (n.): Biblical epistle, from Galatia, name of an ancient inland region in Asia Minor, from Greek Galatia, based on Gaul, in reference to the Gaulish people who conquered the region and settled there 3c. B.C.E. In Latin Gallograeci, hence Middle English Gallocrecs "the Gallatians."
Algonquian: also Algonkian, 1885, an ethnologist's word, modified from Algonquin + -ian. Both forms of the name have been used as adjectives and nouns. An American-Indian language family spread over a wide area of northeast and north-central North America, from Nova Scotia (Micmac) to Montana (Cheyenne).
ganch (v.): "to impale on hooks or pointed stakes as a means of capital punishment," 1610s, from French *ganchor, from Italian *ganciare, from gancio "hook," from Turkish kanca "hook, barb, grapnel." Related: Ganched; ganching. Also, as a noun, the name of the punishment or the thing used in it, 1620s.
gross (n.): "a dozen dozen," early 15c., from Old French grosse douzaine "large dozen;" see gross (adj.). Earlier as the name of a measure of weight equal to one-eighth of a dram (early 15c.). Sense of "total profit" (opposed to net (adj.)) is from 1520s.
hafnium (n.): rare element, 1923, Modern Latin, from Hafnia, Medieval Latin form of Danish Havn "harbor," the usual pre-1400 name of Copenhagen, Denmark, where the element was discovered by physicist Dirk Coster (1889-1950) and chemist George de Hevesy (1885-1966). With metallic element ending -ium.
pin-up (adj.): 1670s, from pin (v.) + up (adv.). From 1940, in reference to pictures of "winsome young ladies in daring undress" ("Life," May 6, 1940) such as soldiers pinned up on their dugout walls, etc. The thing itself is older than the name. The noun in this sense is recorded from 1943.
hustle (n.): "pushing activity; activity in the interest of success," 1891, American English, from hustle (v.) in its later colloquial senses; earlier the noun meant "a shaking together" (1715). Sense of "a swindle, illegal business activity" is by 1963, American English. As the name of a popular dance, by 1975.
truck (v.2): "to convey on a truck," 1809, from truck (n.). Verbal meaning "dance, move in a cool way," first attested 1935, from popular dance of that name in U.S., supposedly introduced at Cotton Club, 1933. Related: Trucked; trucking.
-ina: fem. word- and name-forming element, from Latin -ina (see -ine (1)), or its identical descendants in Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian. The French form is -ine. As a suffix in royal titles (czarina, etc.) it represents an extension from Latin regina.