Online Etymology Dictionary

daily (adj.): Old English dæglic (see day). This form is known from compounds: twadæglic "happening once in two days," þreodæglic "happening once in three days;" the more usual Old English word was dæghwamlic, also dægehwelc. Cognate with German täglich.
dairy (n.): late 13c., "building for making butter and cheese; dairy farm," formed with Anglo-French -erie affixed to Middle English daie (in daie maid "dairymaid"), from Old English dæge "kneader of bread, housekeeper, female servant" (see dey (n.1)). The purely native word was dey-house.
daze (v.): early 14c., dasen, perhaps from Old Norse *dasa (compare dasask "to become weary," with reflexive suffix -sk). Or perhaps from Middle Dutch dasen "act silly." Perhaps originally "to make weary with cold," which is the sense of Icelandic dasask (from the Old Norse word). Related: Dazed.
curl (v.): mid-15c., metathesis of crulle (c. 1300), probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch krul "curly," from Proto-Germanic *krusl- (source also of East Frisian krull "lock of hair," Middle High German krol, Norwegian krull, Danish krølle "curl"). The noun is recorded from c. 1600.
curriculum (n.): 1824, from Modern Latin transferred use of classical Latin curriculum "a running, course, career" (also "a fast chariot, racing car"), from currere (see current (adj.)). Used in English as a Latin word since 1630s at Scottish universities.
acacia (n.): 1540s, from Latin acacia, from Greek akakia "thorny Egyptian tree," perhaps related to Greek ake "point, thorn," from PIE root *ak- "sharp" (see acrid). Or perhaps a Hellenization of some Egyptian word. From late 14c. in English as the name of a type of gum used as an astringent, etc.
caddy (n.): "small box for tea," 1792, from Malay kati a weight equivalent to about a pound and a third (in English from 1590s as catty), adopted as a standard mid-18c. by British companies in the East Indies. Apparently the word for a measure of tea was transferred to the chest it was carried in.
caffeine (n.): trimethyl-derivative of xanthine, 1830, from German Kaffein, coined by chemist F.F. Runge (1795-1867), apparently from German Kaffee "coffee" (see coffee) + chemical suffix -ine (2) (German -in). The form of the English word may be via French caféine.
cahoots (n.): 1829, American English, of unknown origin; said to be perhaps from French cahute "cabin, hut" (12c.), but U.S. sources credit it to French cohorte (see cohort), a word said to have been in use in the U.S. South and West with a sense of "companions, confederates."
calamine (n.): zinc carbonate; zinc silicate, 1590s, from French calamine, from Old French calemine, chalemine (13c.), from Medieval Latin calamina, corrupted by alchemists from Latin cadmia "zinc ore," from Greek kadmeia (see cadmium). Or possibly the Medieval Latin word is from Latin calamus "reed," in reference to the mineral's shape.
calyx (n.): 1680s, from Latin calyx, from Greek kalyx "seed pod, husk, outer covering" (of a fruit, flower bud, etc.), from root of kalyptein "to cover, conceal" (see cell). The proper plural is calyces. Some sources connect the word rather with Greek kylix "drinking cup."
camouflage: 1917, noun, verb, and adjective, from French camoufler, Parisian slang, "to disguise," from Italian camuffare "to disguise," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a contraction of capo muffare "to muffle the head." Probably altered by influence of French camouflet "puff of smoke," on the notion of "blow smoke in someone's face." The British navy in World War I called it dazzle-painting.
Since the war started the POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY has published photographs of big British and French field pieces covered with shrubbery, railway trains "painted out" of the landscape, and all kinds of devices to hide the guns, trains, and the roads from the eyes of enemy aircraft.

Until recently there was no one word in any language to explain this war trick. Sometimes a whole paragraph was required to explain this military practice. Hereafter one word, a French word, will save all this needless writing and reading. Camouflage is the new word, and it means "fooling the enemy." ["Popular Science Monthly," August 1917]
cub (n.): 1520s, cubbe "young fox," of unknown origin; perhaps from Old Irish cuib "whelp," or from Old Norse kobbi "seal." Extended to the young of bears, lions, etc., after 1590s. The native word was whelp. Cub Scout is from 1922.
cubit (n.): ancient unit of measure based on the forearm from elbow to fingertip, usually from 18 to 22 inches, early 14c., from Latin cubitum "the elbow," from PIE *keu(b)- "to bend." Such a measure, known by a word meaning "forearm" or the like, was known to many peoples (Greek pekhys, Hebrew ammah, English ell).
deconstruction (n.): 1973, as a strategy of critical analysis, in translations from French of the works of philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004). The word was used in English in a literal sense from 1865 of building and architecture, and in late 1860s sometimes as an ironic variant of Reconstruction in the U.S. political sense.
decry (v.): 1610s, from French decrier (14c.; Old French descrier "cry out, announce"), from de- "down, out" (see de-) + crier "to cry," from Latin quiritare (see cry (v.)). In English, the sense has been colored by the presumption that de- in this word means "down."
deft (adj.): Old English gedæfte "mild, gentle," differentiated in Middle English into daft (q.v.) and this word, via sense of "apt, skillful, adept." Cognate with Gothic gadaban "to be fit," Old Norse dafna "to grow strong," Dutch deftig "important, relevant."
facsimile (n.): "exact copy," 1690s, two words, from Latin fac simile "make similar," from fac imperative of facere "to make" (see factitious) + simile, neuter of similis "like, similar" (see similar). One-word form predominated in 20c. As an adjective from 1877
Farsi (n.): "the modern Persian language," 1878, from the usual Iranian word for it, from Fars, the Arabic form of Pars (no "p" in Arabic), the name of a region in southwestern Iran, where the modern language evolved from Persian (an Indo-European language), to which many Arabic (Semitic) elements have been added.
gabbro (n.): type of igneous rock, 1823, introduced in geology 1809 by German geologist Christian Leopold von Buch (1774-1853), from Italian (Tuscan) gabbro, a word among the marble-workers, of obscure origin; perhaps from Latin glaber "bare, smooth, bald" (see glad). Related: Gabbroic.
ganglion (n.): 1680s, "tumor, swelling;" 1732 as "bundle of nerves," from Greek ganglion "tumor under the skin," used by Galen for "nerve bundle;" of unknown origin. According to Galen, the proper sense of the word was "anything gathered into a ball."
gazebo (n.): 1752, supposedly a facetious formation from gaze + -bo, Latin first person singular future tense suffix (as in videbo "I shall see"), on model of earlier belvedere "cupola," from Italian, literally "a fair sight." But according to OED perhaps rather a corruption of some oriental word.
gemeinschaft (n.): 1913, as a German word in English (the article suggests "Parish Brotherhoods" as a translation of German Gemeinschaften), from German Gemeinschaft "social relationship based on affection or kinship" (contrasted with gesellschaft), from gemein "common, general" (see mean (adj.1)) + -schaft (see -ship).
handcuff (n.): 1640s as a decorative addition to a sleeve; 1690s as a type of restraining device, from hand (n.) + cuff (n.). Old English had hondcops "a pair of hand cuffs," but the modern word is a re-invention. The verb is first attested 1720. Related: Handcuffed; handcuffing.
handiwork (n.): late 12c., from Old English handgeweorc "work of the hand, creation," from hand (n.) + geweorc, collective form of weorc "work" (see work (n.)). Old English collective prefix ge- regularly reduces to i- in Middle English, and the word probably came to be felt as handy + work.
kaddish (n.): doxology of the Jewish ritual, 1610s, from Aramaic qaddish "holy, holy one," from stem of q'dhash "was holy," ithqaddash "was sanctified," related to Hebrew qadhash "was holy," qadhosh "holy." According to Klein, the name probably is from the second word of the text veyithqaddash "and sanctified be."
kahuna (n.): 1886, in a report in English by the Hawaiian government, which defines the word as "doctor and sorcerer," from Hawaiian, where it was applied as well to priests and navigators. In surfer slang, "a god of surfing," it is attested from 1962 (but big kahuna in same sense is said to date from 1950s).
Kali: a name of Devi, the Hindu mother-goddess, in her black-skinned death-aspect, 1798, from Sanskrit kali, literally "the black one," fem. of kalah "blue-black, black," a word from a Dravidian language. Also taken as the fem. of kala "time" (as destroyer).
kidney (n.): early 14c., kidenere, a word of unknown origin, perhaps a compound of Old English cwið "womb" (see bowel) + ey "egg" (see egg (n.)) in reference to the shape of the organ. Figurative sense of "temperament" is from 1550s. Kidney-bean is from 1540s, so called for its shape.
kitsch (n.): 1926, from German kitsch, literally "gaudy, trash," from dialectal kitschen "to smear." Earlier as a German word in English.
What we English people call ugliness in German art is simply the furious reaction against what Germans call süsses Kitsch, the art of the picture postcard, and of what corresponds to the royalty ballad. It has for years been their constant reproach against us that England is the great country of Kitsch. Many years ago a German who loved England only too well said to me, 'I like your English word plain; it is a word for which we have no equivalent in German, because all German women are plain.' He might well have balanced it by saying that English has no equivalent for the word Kitsch. [Edward J. Dent, "The Music of Arnold Schönberg," "The Living Age," July 9, 1921]
koine (n.): common literary dialect of Greek in the Roman and early medieval period, 1903, from feminine singular of Greek koinos "common, ordinary" (see coeno-). Used earlier as a Greek word in English. From 1926 of other dialects in similar general use.
earthling (n.): Old English yrþling "plowman" (see earth + -ling); the sense of "inhabitant of the earth" is from 1590s and might be a re-formation, as the word seems to be missing in Middle English. Compare earthman. Earlier in this sense was earthite (1825).
-iatric: word-forming element, from Latinized form of Greek iatrikos "healing," from iatros "physician, healer" (related to iatreun "treat medically," and iasthai "heal, treat"); of uncertain origin, perhaps from iaomai "to cure," related to iaino "heat, warm, cheer," probably from a root meaning "enliven, animate."
idea (n.): late 14c., "archetype, concept of a thing in the mind of God," from Latin idea "Platonic idea, archetype," a word in philosophy, the word (Cicero writes it in Greek) and the idea taken from Greek idea "form; the look of a thing; a kind, sort, nature; mode, fashion," in logic, "a class, kind, sort, species," from idein "to see," from PIE *wid-es-ya-, suffixed form of root *weid- "to see" (see vision). In Platonic philosophy, "an archetype, or pure immaterial pattern, of which the individual objects in any one natural class are but the imperfect copies, and by participation in which they have their being" [Century Dictionary].

Meaning "mental image or picture" is from 1610s (the Greek word for it was ennoia, originally "act of thinking"), as is the sense "concept of something to be done; concept of what ought to be, differing from what is observed." Sense of "result of thinking" first recorded 1640s. Idée fixe (1836) is from French, literally "fixed idea." Through Latin the word passed into Dutch, German, Danish as idee, which also is found in English dialects. The philosophical sense has been somewhat further elaborated since 17c. by Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant. Colloquial big idea (as in what's the ...) is from 1908.
imperturbable (adj.): c. 1500, from Middle French imperturbable (15c.) and directly from Late Latin imperturbabilis "that cannot be disturbed" (Augustine), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + *perturbabilis, from Latin perturbare "to confuse, disturb" (see perturb). Related: Imperturbably (1785); imperturbability (1831; earlier as a dictionary word); imperturbation.
jacinth (n.): c. 1200, a blue gem (occasionally a red one), from Old French jacinte, iacinte "hyacinth; jacinth," or directly from Late Latin iacintus (see hyacinth). In modern use, a reddish-orange gem. The word is hyacinth with the h- lost and the initial -i- made consonantal.
jerkin (n.): "short, close-fitting men's jacket" popular 16c.-17c., 1510s, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Dutch jurk "a frock," but this is a modern word, itself of unknown origin, and the initial consonant presents difficulties (Dutch -j- typically becomes English -y-).
Lares (n.): Roman tutelary gods and household deities, worshipped in primitive cult rites, Latin, plural of Lar, a word of unknown origin. Infernal, protective of the state and the family, they could be potently evil if offended. Their shrine in the home was a lararium.
larynx (n.): "cartilaginous cavity in the upper windpipe where vocal sounds are made," 1570s, from Middle French larynx (16c.), via medical Latin, from Greek larynx (genitive laryngos) "the upper windpipe," which is probably from laimos "throat" (a word of uncertain etymology) but influenced by pharynx "throat, windpipe" (see pharynx).
lasagna (n.): "pasta cut in long, wide strips; a dish made from this," 1760 (as an Italian word in English), from Italian (plural is lasagne), from Vulgar Latin *lasania, from Latin lasanum "a cooking pot," from Greek lasanon "pot with feet, trivet." Sometimes nativized as lasagne.
-latry: word-forming element meaning "worship of," used as an element in native formations from 19c. (such as bardolatry), from Greek -latreia "worship, service paid to the gods, hired labor," related to latron (n.) "pay, hire," latris "servant, worshipper," from PIE *le- (1) "to get" (see larceny).
lama (n.): "Buddhist priest of Mongolia or Tibet," 1650s, according to OED from Tibetan blama "chief, high priest," with silent b-. Related: Lamaism; lamarchy. Lamasery "Buddhist monastery" (1849) is from French lamaserie, perhaps a word invented in French, as if from Persian sarai "an inn" (see caravanserai).
nag (n.): "old horse," c. 1400, nagge "small riding horse," of unknown origin, perhaps related to Dutch negge, neg (but these are more recent than the English word), perhaps related in either case to imitative neigh. Term of abuse is a transferred sense, first recorded 1590s.
nape (n.): "back of the neck," c. 1300, of unknown origin, perhaps from Old French hanap "a goblet," in reference to the hollow at the base of the skull. "The entire absence of forms with initial k makes it difficult to connect the word with the apparently synonymous OFris (hals) knap [OED].
naphtha (n.): inflammable liquid distilled from petroleum, 1570s, from Latin, from Greek naphtha "bitumen," perhaps from Persian neft "pitch," or Aramaic naphta, nephta, but these could as well be from Greek. In Middle English as napte (late 14c.), from Old French napte, but the modern word is a re-introduction.
narcissus (n.): type of bulbous flowering plant, 1540s, from Latin narcissus, from Greek narkissos, a plant name, not the modern narcissus, possibly a type of iris or lily, perhaps from a pre-Greek Aegean word, but associated with Greek narke "numbness" (see narcotic) because of the sedative effect of the alkaloids in the plant.
nausea (n.): early 15c., vomiting, from Latin nausea "seasickness," from Ionic Greek nausia (Attic nautia) "seasickness, nausea, disgust," literally "ship-sickness," from naus "ship" (see naval). Despite its etymology, the word in English seems never to have been restricted to seasickness.
pronunciation (n.): early 15c., "mode in which a word is pronounced," from Middle French prononciation and directly from Latin pronuntiationem (nominative pronuntiatio) "act of speaking, utterance, delivery," also "proclamation, public declaration," noun of action from past participle stem of pronuntiare "announce" (see pronounce).
propose (v.): mid-14c., from Old French proposer "propose, advance, suggest" (12c.), from pro- "forth" (see pro-) + poser "put, place" (see pose (v.1)). Meaning "make an offer of marriage" is first recorded 1764. Related: Proposed; proposing. See also propone, which coexisted with this word for a time.
provide (v.): early 15c., from Latin providere "look ahead, prepare, supply, act with foresight," from pro- "ahead" (see pro-) + videre "to see" (see vision). Related: Provided; providing. Earlier in same sense was purvey, which is the same word as deformed in Old French.