Online Etymology Dictionary

rugby (n.): type of football, 1864, after Rugby, public school where the game was played, from city of Rugby in Warwickshire, central England. The place name is Rocheberie (1086), probably "fortified place of a man called *Hroca;" with second element from Old English burh (dative byrig), replaced by 13c. with Old Norse -by "village" due to the influence of Danish settlers. Otherwise it might be *Rockbury today. Or first element perhaps is Old English hroc "rook." Rugby Union formed 1871. Slang rugger for "rugby" is from 1893.
rush (v.): mid-14c. (implied in rushing), "to drive back or down," from Anglo-French russher, from Old French ruser "to dodge, repel" (see ruse). Meaning "to do something quickly" is from 1650s; transitive sense of "to hurry up (someone or something)" is from 1850. U.S. Football sense originally was in rugby (1857).

Fraternity/sorority sense is from 1896 (originally it was what the fraternity did to the student); from 1899 as a noun in this sense. Earlier it was a name on U.S. campuses for various tests of strength or athletic skill between freshmen and sophomores as classes (1860).
compass (n.): c. 1300, "space, area, extent, circumference," from Old French compas "circle, radius, pair of compasses" (12c.), from compasser "to go around, measure, divide equally," from Vulgar Latin *compassare "to pace out" (source of Italian compassare, Spanish compasar), from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + passus "a step" (see pace (n.)).

The mathematical instrument so called from mid-14c. The mariners' directional tool (so called since early 15c.) took the name, perhaps, because it's round and has a point like the mathematical instrument. The word is in most European languages, with a mathematical sense in Romance, a nautical sense in Germanic, and both in English.
archipelago (n.): c. 1500, from Italian arcipelago "the Aegean Sea" (13c.), from Greek arkhipelagos, from arkhi- "chief" (see archon) + pelagos "sea" (see pelagic). The Aegean Sea being full of island chains, the meaning was extended in Italian to "any sea studded with islands." Klein, noting the absence of arkhipelagos in ancient or Medieval Greek (the modern word in Greek is borrowed from Italian) believe it is an Italian mistake for Aigaion pelagos "Aegean Sea" (Medieval Latin Egeopelagus), or influenced by that name.
mite (n.2): "little bit," mid-14c., from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German mite "tiny animal," from Proto-Germanic *miton-, from PIE *mei- (2) "small" (see minus), and thus probably identical with mite (n.1). Also the name of a medieval Flemish copper coin of very small value, proverbial in English for "a very small unit of money," hence used since Wyclif to translate Latin minutum from Vulgate in Mark xii:43, itself a translation of Greek lepton. French mite (14c.) is a loan-word from Dutch.
miss (n.2): "the term of honour to a young girl" [Johnson], originally (c. 1600) a shortened form of mistress. By 1640s as "prostitute, concubine;" sense of "title for a young unmarried woman, girl" first recorded 1660s. In the 1811 reprint of the slang dictionary, Miss Laycock is given as an underworld euphemism for "the monosyllable." Miss America is from 1922 as the title bestowed on the winner of an annual nationwide U.S. beauty/talent contest. Earlier it meant "young American women generally" or "the United States personified as a young woman," and it also was the name of a fast motor boat.
murk (n): c. 1300, myrke, from Old Norse myrkr "darkness," from Proto-Germanic *merkwjo- (source also of Old English mirce "murky, black, dark; murkiness, darkness," Danish mǿrk "darkness," Old Saxon mirki "dark"); cognate with Old Church Slavonic mraku, Serbo-Croatian mrak, Russian mrak "darkness;" Lithuanian merkti "shut the eyes, blink," from PIE *mer- "to flicker" (see morn). Murk Monday was long the name in Scotland for the great solar eclipse of March 29, 1652 (April 8, New Style).
musket (n.): "firearm for infantry" (later replaced by the rifle), 1580s, from Middle French mousquette, also the name of a kind of sparrow-hawk, diminutive of mosca "a fly," from Latin musca (see midge). The hawk so called either for its size or because it looks speckled when in flight. Early firearms often were given names of beasts (compare dragoon, also falcon, a kind of cannon mentioned by Hakluyt), and the equivalent word in Italian was used to mean "an arrow for a crossbow." The French word was borrowed earlier into English (early 15c.) in its literal sense of "sparrow-hawk."
spondee (n.): "metrical foot consisting of two long syllables," late 14c., from Old French spondee (14c.), from Latin spondeus, from Greek spondeios (pous), the name of the meter originally used in chants accompanying libations, from sponde "solemn libation, a drink-offering," related to spendein "make a drink offering," from PIE root *spend- "to make an offering, perform a rite," hence "to engage oneself by a ritual act" (source also of Latin spondere "to engage oneself, promise," Hittite shipantahhi "I pour out a libation, I sacrifice"). Related: Spondaic.
spouse (n.): c. 1200, "a married person, either one of a married pair, but especially a married woman in relation to her husband," also "Christ or God as the spiritual husband of the soul, the church, etc.," also "marriage, the wedded state," from Old French spous (fem. spouse) "marriage partner," variant of espous/espouse (Modern French épous/épouse), from Latin sponsus "bridegroom" (fem. sponsa "bride"), literally "betrothed," from masc. and fem. past participle of spondere "to bind oneself, promise solemnly," from PIE *spend- "to make an offering, perform a rite" (see spondee). Spouse-breach (early 13c.) was an old name for "adultery."
courteous (adj.): mid-14c., earlier curteis (c. 1300), from Old French curteis (Modern French courtois) "having courtly bearing or manners," from curt "court" (see court (n.)) + -eis, from Latin -ensis.

Rare before c. 1500. In feudal society, also denoting a man of good education (hence the name Curtis). Medieval courts were associated with good behavior and also beauty; compare German hübsch "beautiful," from Middle High German hübesch "beautiful," originally "courteous, well-bred," from Old Franconian hofesch, from hof "court." Related: Courteously (mid-14c., kurteis-liche).
couth (adj.): Old English cuðe "known," past participle of cunnan (see can (v.1)), from Proto-Germanic *kunthaz (source also of Old Frisian kuth "known," Old Saxon cuth, Old High German kund, German kund, Gothic kunþs "known").

Died out as such 16c. with the emergence of could, but the old word was reborn 1896, with a new sense of "cultured, refined," as a back-formation from uncouth (q.v.). The Old English word forms the first element in the man's proper name Cuthbert, literally "famous-bright."
sneaker (n.): 1590s, "one who sneaks," agent noun from sneak (v.). Meaning "rubber-soled shoe" is attested from 1895, American English; earlier sneak (1862), so called because the shoe was noiseless. See also plimsoll; another early name for them was tackies (1902), from tacky (adj.1).
The night-officer is generally accustomed to wear a species of India-rubber shoes or goloshes on her feet. These are termed 'sneaks' by the women [of Brixton Prison]. ["Female Life in Prison," 1862]
Related: Sneakers.
spam (n.): proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937; probably a conflation of spiced ham. Soon extended to other kinds of canned meat.

In the sense of "Internet junk mail" it was coined by Usenet users after March 31, 1993, when Usenet administrator Richard Depew inadvertently posted the same message 200 times to a discussion group. The term had been used in online text games, and ultimately it is from a 1970 sketch on the British TV show "Monty Python's Flying Circus" wherein a reading of a restaurant's menu devolves into endless repetitions of "spam."
spinet (n.): 1660s, spinette, "small harpsichord," from Middle French espinette (16c., Modern French épinette), from Italian spinetta, said by Scaliger to be a diminutive of spina "thorn, spine," from Latin spina "thorn" (see spine), so called because the strings were plucked with thorn-like quills [Barnhart]. The other theory (favored by Klein and assigned "greater probability" by OED) dates to early 17c. and claims the word is from the name of the Venetian inventor, Giovanni Spinetti (fl. c. 1503). As "small, upright piano" from 1936.
shamefaced (adj.): "modest, bashful," 1550s, folk etymology alteration of shamefast, from Old English scamfæst "bashful," literally "restrained by shame," or else "firm in modesty," from shame (n.) + -fæst, adjectival suffix (see fast (adj.)). Related: Shamefacedly; shamefacedness.
shamefaced, -fast. It is true that the second is the original form, that -faced is due to a mistake, & that the notion attached to the word is necessarily affected in some slight degree by the change. But those who, in the flush of this discovery, would revert to -fast in ordinary use are rightly rewarded with the name of pedants .... [Fowler]
skyscraper (n.): very tall urban building, 1888, in a Chicago context, from sky (n.) + agent noun of scrape (v.). Used earlier for "ornament atop a building" (1883), "very tall man" (1857), "high-flying bird" (1840), "light sail at the top of a mast" (1794), and the name of a racehorse (1789). Compare cognate French gratte-ciel, from gratter "to scrape" + ciel "sky;" German Wolkenkratzer, from Wolke "cloud" + Kratzer "scraper."
cloud-cleaver, an imaginary sail jokingly assumed to be carried by Yankee ships. [W. Clark Russell, "Sailors' Word Book," 1883]
tilt (n.1): "a joust, a combat," 1510s, perhaps from tilt (v.1) on the notion of "to lean" into an attack, but the word originally seems to have been the name of the barrier which separated the combatants, which suggests connection with tilt in an earlier meaning "covering of coarse cloth, an awning" (mid-15c.). This is perhaps from tilt (v.1), or related to or influenced by tent. Watkins derives it from Old English teld "awning, tent," related to beteldan "to cover," from Proto-Germanic *teldam "thing spread out." Hence, also full tilt (c. 1600). Pinball machine sense is from 1934.
Tso: in Chinese restaurant dishes, a reference to General Tso Tsungtang (1812-1885), military leader during the late Qing dynasty who crushed the Taiping rebels in four provinces. The chicken dish that bears his name (for no apparent reason) in Chinese restaurants apparently is modified from a traditional Hunan chung ton gai and may have been named for the general c. 1972 by a chef in New York City during the time Hunan cuisine first became popular among Americans.
wuthering (adj.): "making a sullen roar" (as the wind does), Northern England dialectal variant of Scottish and dialectal whithering "rushing, whizzing, blustering," from a verb whither (late 14c.) which was used in reference to gusts of wind and coughing fits, from Old Norse *hviðra (related to Norwegian kvidra "to go quickly to and fro," Old English hwiþa "air, breeze").
Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. 'Wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed, in stormy weather. [Emily Brontë, "Wuthering Heights," 1847]
Charlotte also used forms of the word in her novels.
Varangian (n.): one of the Northmen who ravaged the Baltic coast in 9c. and by tradition overran part of western Russia and founded a dynasty there," 1788, from Medieval Latin Varangus, from Byzantine Greek Barangos, a name ultimately (via Slavic) from Old Norse væringi "a Scandinavian," properly "a confederate," from var- "pledge, faith," related to Old English wær "agreement, treaty, promise," Old High German wara "faithfulness" (see very). Attested in Old Russian as variagi; surviving in Russian varyag "a pedlar," Ukrainian varjah "a big strong man."
Uncle Sam (n.): symbol of the United States of America, 1813, coined during the war with Britain as a contrast to John Bull, and no doubt suggested by the initials U.S. in abbreviations. "[L]ater statements connecting it with different government officials of the name of Samuel appear to be unfounded" [OED]. The common figure of Uncle Sam began to appear in political cartoons c. 1850. Only gradually superseded earlier Brother Jonathan (1776), largely through the popularization of the figure by cartoonist Thomas Nast. British in World War I sometimes called U.S. soldiers Sammies.
Adirondack (adj.): 1906, in reference to a type of lawn or deck chair said to have been designed in 1903 by a Thomas Lee, owner of the Westport Mountain Spring, a resort in the Adirondack region of New York State, and commercially manufactured the following year, but said originally to have been called Westport chair after the town where it was first made. Adirondack Mountains is a back-formation from Adirondacks, treated as a plural noun but really from Mohawk (Iroquoian) adiro:daks "tree-eaters," a name applied to neighboring Algonquian tribes, in which the -s is an imperfective affix.
Tonto: former term for the Western Apaches, from Spanish, literally "foolish;" probably a translation of a name given to the people by other branches of the Apache, such as Chiricahua Apache /bini:'édiné/, Mescalero Apache /bini:'édinendé/, both literally "people without minds," and used to designate the Western Apaches. Spanish tonto is said to be originally a nursery word, used for its sound [Buck], but in some sources it is given as perhaps literally "thunderstruck," from Latin attonius, whence also Spanish atonar "to stupefy."
Ellis Island: sandy island in mouth of Hudson River, said to have been called "Gull Island" by local Indians and "Oyster Island" by the Dutch, renamed "Gull Island" after the British took over, then "Gibbet Island" because pirates were hanged there. Sold to Samuel Ellis in 1785, who made it a picnic spot and gave it his name. Sold by his heirs in 1808 to New York State and acquired that year by the U.S. War Department for coastal defenses. Vacant after the American Civil War until the government opened an immigration station there in 1892 to replace Castle Island.
North Sea: Old English norðsæ, usually meaning "the Bristol Channel." The application to the body of water presently so named (late 13c.) is from Dutch (Noordzee, Middle Dutch Noortzee); it lies to the north of Holland, where it was contrasted with the inland Zuider Zee, literally "Southern Sea"). To the Danes, it sometimes was Vesterhavet "West Sea." In English, this had been typically called the "German Sea" or "German Ocean," which follows the Roman name for it, Oceanus Germanicus. "German" persisted on some British maps at least into the 1830s.
Arctic Circle: 1550s, in reference to a celestial circle, a line around the sky which, in any location, bounds the stars which are ever-visible from that latitude (in the Northern Hemisphere, this is focused on the celestial north pole); the concept goes back to the ancient Greeks, for whom this set of constellations included most prominently the two bears (arktoi), hence the name for the circle (see arctic). Of Earth, the circle 66 degrees 32 minutes north of the equator, marking the southern extremity of the polar day, it is recorded from 1620s.
sucker (n.): "young mammal before it is weaned," late 14c., agent noun from suck. Slang meaning "person who is easily deceived" is first attested 1836, American English, on notion of naivete; but another theory traces the slang meaning to the fish called a sucker (1753), on the notion of being easy to catch in their annual migrations (the fish so called from the shape of its mouth). As a type of candy from 1823; especially "lollipop" by 1907. Meaning "shoot from the base of a tree or plant" is from 1570s. Also the old name of inhabitants of Illinois.
Sunday (n.): first day of the week, Old English sunnandæg (Northumbrian sunnadæg), literally "day of the sun," from sunnan, oblique case of sunne "sun" (see sun (n.)) + dæg "day" (see day). A Germanic loan-translation of Latin dies solis "day of the sun," which is itself a loan-translation of Greek hemera heliou. Compare Old Saxon sunnun dag, Old Frisian sunnandei, Old Norse sunnundagr, Dutch zondag, German Sonntag "Sunday."

In European Christian cultures outside Germanic often with a name meaning "the Lord's Day" (Latin Dominica). Sunday-school dates from 1783 (originally for secular instruction); Sunday clothes is from 1640s. Sunday driver is from 1925.
strand (n.1): "shore, beach," Old English strand "sea-shore," from Proto-Germanic *strandaz (source also of Danish and Swedish strand "beach, shore, strand," Old Norse strönd "border, edge, shore," Old Frisian strond, Middle Dutch strant, Dutch strand, Middle Low German strant, German Strand "beach"), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from PIE root *ster- "to stretch out." Strictly, the part of a shore that lies between the tide-marks. Formerly also used of river banks, hence the London street name (1246).
saxifrage (n.): type of plant typically found in cold regions, late 14c., from Old French saxifrage (13c.), from Late Latin saxifraga, name of a kind of herb, from Latin saxifraga herba, literally "a rock-breaking herb," from saxifragus "stonebreaking," from saxum "stone, rock" + frag-, root of frangere "to break" (see fraction). Pliny says the plant was so called because it was given to dissolve gallstones, but a more likely explanation is that it was so called because it grows in crevices in rocks. (Latin used different words for "stone" and "gallstone" -- saxum and calculus). Related: Saxifragaceous.
stegosaurus (n.): type of plant-eating dinosaur, 1892, from Modern Latin order name Stegosauria (O.C. Marsh, 1877), from comb. form of Greek stegos "a roof" (related to stege "covering," stegein "to cover," from PIE root *(s)teg- (2) "to cover," especially "cover with a roof" (source also of Sanskrit sthag- "cover, conceal, hide;" Latin tegere "to cover;" Lithuanian stegti "roof;" Old Norse þekja, Old English þeccan "thatch;" Dutch dekken, German decken "to cover, put under roof;" Irish tuigiur "cover," tech "house;" Welsh toi "thatch, roof," ty "house") + -saurus. The back-armor plates in the fossilized remains look like roof tiles.
sable (n.1): "fur or pelt of the European sable" (Martes zibellina), early 15c., from Middle French sable (also martre sable "sable martin"), in reference to the mammal or its fur, borrowed in Old French from Germanic (Middle Dutch sabel, Middle Low German sabel, Middle High German zobel), ultimately from a Slavic source (compare Russian, Czech sobol, Polish soból, the name of the animal), "which itself is borrowed from an East-Asiatic language" [Klein], but Russian sources (such as Vasmer) find none of the proposed candidates satisfactory.
surrealism (n.): 1927, from French surréalisme (from sur- "beyond" + réalisme "realism"), according to OED coined c. 1917 by Guillaume Apollinaire, taken over by Andre Breton as the name of the movement he launched in 1924 with "Manifeste de Surréalisme." Taken up in English at first in the French form; the Englished version is from 1931.
De cette alliance nouvelle, car jusqu'ici les décors et les costumes d'une part, la chorégraphie d'autre part, n'avaient entre eux qu'un lien factice, il este résulté, dans 'Parade,' une sorte de surréalisme. [Apollinaire, "Notes to 'Parade' "]
See sur- (1) + realism.
shrapnel (n.): 1806, from Gen. Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), who invented a type of exploding, fragmenting shell when he was a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery during the Peninsular War. The invention consisted of a hollow cannon ball, filled with shot, which burst in mid-air; his name for it was spherical case ammunition. Sense of "shell fragments" is first recorded 1940. The surname is attested from 13c., and is believed to be a metathesized form of Charbonnel, a diminutive form of Old French charbon "charcoal," in reference to complexion, hair color, or some other quality.
shamus (n.): "police officer, detective," 1920, apparently first in "The Shamus," a detective story published that year by Harry J. Loose (1880-1943), a Chicago police detective and crime writer; the book was marketed as "a true tale of thiefdom and an expose of the real system in crime." The word is said to be probably from Yiddish shames, literally "sexton of a synagogue" ("a potent personage only next in influence to the President" [Israel Zangwill]), from Hebrew shamash "servant;" influenced by Celtic Seamus "James," as a typical name for an Irish cop.
shuttle (n.): Old English scytel "a dart, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *skutilaz (source also of Old Norse skutill "harpoon"), from PIE *skeud- "to shoot, to chase, to throw, to project" (see shoot (v.)). The original sense in English is obsolete; the weaving instrument so called (mid-14c.) from being "shot" across the threads. Sense of "train that runs back and forth" is first recorded 1895, from image of the weaver's instrument's back-and-forth movement over the warp; extended to aircraft 1942, to spacecraft 1969. In some other languages, the weaving instrument takes its name from its resemblance to a boat (Latin navicula, French navette, German weberschiff).
signature (n.): 1530s, a kind of document in Scottish law, from Middle French signature (16c.) or directly from Medieval Latin signatura "signature, a rescript," in classical Latin "the matrix of a seal," from signatus, past participle of signare "to mark with a stamp, sign" (see sign (v.)).

Meaning "one's own name written in one's own hand" is from 1570s, replacing sign-manual (early 15c.) in this sense. Musical sense of "signs placed it the beginning of a staff to indicate the key and rhythm" is from 1806. Meaning "a distinguishing mark of any kind" is from 1620s.
Sistine (adj.): 1769, literally "pertaining to Pope Sixtus," from Italian sistino, from Sixtus, name of five popes, from Latin sextus "sixth" (see Sextus). The "chapel" is named for Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere), pope 1471-84, who had it built. The painting by Raphael known as the Sistine Madonna is so called because it also shows Sixtus II, a 3c. martyr and saint; it is better known now for the two cherubs at the bottom of the picture who by 1900 were well-known in isolation from the rest of the picture in engravings, etc.
scratch (v.): c. 1400, probably a fusion of Middle English scratten and crachen, both meaning "to scratch," both of uncertain origin. Related: Scratched; scratching. Billiards sense of "to hit the cue ball into a pocket" is first recorded 1909 (also, originally, itch), though earlier it meant "a lucky shot" (1850). Meaning "to withdraw (a horse) from a race" is 1865, from notion of scratching name off list of competitors; used in a non-sporting sense of "cancel a plan, etc." from 1680s. To scratch the surface "make only slight progress in penetrating or understanding" is from 1882. To scratch (one's) head as a gesture of perplexity is recorded from 1712.
Goldwynism (n.): 1937, in reference to the many humorous malaprop remarks credited to U.S. film producer Samuel G. Goldwyn (1882-1974); the best-known, arguably, being "include me out." Goldwyn is perhaps less popular as the originator of such phrases in American English than baseball player Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (1925-2015), but there doesn't seem to be a noun form based on Berra's name in popular use. The surname typically is Old English goldwyn, literally "gold-friend."
Prometheus: demigod (son of the Titan Iapetus) who made man from clay and stole fire from heaven and taught mankind its use, for which he was punished by Zeus by being chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where a vulture came every day and preyed on his liver. The name is Greek, and anciently was interpreted as literally "forethinker, foreseer," from promethes "thinking before," from pro- "before" (see pro-) + *methos, related to mathein "to learn," from enlargement of PIE root *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)). However Watkins suggests the second element is possibly from a base meaning "to steal," also found in Sanskrit mathnati "he steals."
Spock: half-alien character in the "Star Trek" U.S. entertainment franchise, developed and named 1964 by series creator Gene Roddenberry, who later said he was searching for an alien-sounding word and not thinking of U.S. physician and child-care specialist Benjamin M. Spock (1903-1998), whose name is of Dutch origin. The doctor wrote the enormously popular "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" (1946) and is the source of the first element in Spock-marked (1967), defined in OED as "(Adversely) affected by an upbringing held to be in accordance with the principles of Dr. Spock ...."
velociraptor (n.): 1924, from Latin velox (genitive velocis) "swift, speedy" (see velocity) + raptor "robber" (see raptor). Fossil remains discovered in 1923 in the red Djadochta sandstone at Shabarakh Usu in Mongolia.
The first (Fig. 1) of the typical megalosaurian type, although of small size, seems to have been an alert, swift-moving carnivorous dinosaur to which the generic name Velociraptor is applied. [Henry Fairfield Osborn, "Three New Therapoda, Protoceratops Zone, Central Mongolia," in "American Museum Novitates," Nov., 7, 1924]
hiker (n.): 1908, agent noun from hike (v.). Earlier as a type of boat:
The "hiker" or "tuck-up" as it is more generally termed, is a craft peculiar to the Delaware River, and is to the youth residing along the banks of that stream what the racing shell is to the Torontonian .... The origin of the name "hiker" is veiled in mystery. No member of the clubs engaged in sailing these boats can give anything like a satisfactory derivation of the word. The most common explanation is that it is corrupted from the local verb "to hike," which means to run or fly swiftly. ["Harper's Young People," 1885]
hyperborean (adj.): "of or from the extreme north of the Earth," 1590s, from Late Latin hyperboreanus (adj.), from Latin hyperboreus, from Greek hyperboreos "pertaining to the regions of the far north," from hyper "beyond" (see hyper-) + Boreas, name of the god of the North Wind (see boreal).

The Hyperboreans (Greek Hyperboreoi) were an imagined northern people believed by the ancients to be distinguished by piety and happiness; their land being "beyond" (hence, out of reach of) the North Wind, it was thought to be a blissful paradise. Middle English had iperborie "the far north of the Earth" (mid-15c.).
indiction (n.): late 14c., "period of fifteen years," a chronological unit of the Roman calendar that continued in use through the Middle Ages, from Latin indictionem (nominative indictio), literally "declaration, appointment," noun of action from past participle stem of indicere "to declare publicly, proclaim, announce," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + dicere "to speak, say, tell" (see diction).

Fixed by Constantine and reckoned from Sept. 1, 312. Originally for taxation purposes, it was "a common and convenient means for dating ordinary transactions" [Century Dictionary]. The name refers to the "proclamation," at the beginning of each period, of the valuation upon which real property would be taxed.
Hicksite: 1828, noun and adjective, in reference to a seceding group of American Quakers, from the name of their spiritual leader, Elias Hicks. The remainder of the profession (the minority numerically) were known as Orthodox Friends. The schism occurred in 1827 at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. The surname is from Hick, popular pet form of Richard.
About the only way I can tell whether a particular Meeting was Orthodox or Hicksite has to do with clocks and pianos. If these -- particularly a clock -- are present, that Meeting was Hicksite. If not, it was Orthodox. [Francis G. Brown, "Downingtown Friends Meeting," 1999]
Halifax: place in West Yorkshire, late 11c., from Old English halh "secluded spot, nook of land" (cognate with Old English holh "hole, cavity") + feax "rough grass," literally "hair." In popular expressions coupled with Hull and Hell since at least 1620s. "In the 16th cent. the name was wrongly interpreted as OE halig-feax, 'holy hair', and a story invented of a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she refused." [Victor Watts, "English Place-Names"]
futurism (n.): 1909 as the name of a movement in arts and literature, from Italian futurismo, coined 1909 by Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944); see future + -ism. Futurist is from 1911 in the arts movement sense; attested from 1842 in a Protestant theological sense ("one who holds that nearly the whole of the Book of Revelations refers principally to events yet to come" - Century Dictionary). As "one who has (positive) feelings about the future" it is attested from 1846 but marked in dictionaries as "rare."