Online Etymology Dictionary

treasury (n.): c. 1300, "room for treasure," from Old French tresorie "treasury" (11c.), from tresor (see treasure (n.)). Meaning "department of state that controls public revenue" is recorded from late 14c. An Old English word for "room for treasure" was maðm-hus and for "treasury," feo-hus (see fee).
without (adv., prep.): Old English wiðutan "outside of, from outside," literally "against the outside" (opposite of within), see with + out (adv.). As a word expressing lack or want of something (opposite of with), attested from c. 1200. In use by late 14c. as a conjunction, short for without that.
varietal (adj.): "having the characteristics of a variety," 1849, a biologists' word, from variety + -al (1). In reference to wines, "made from a single variety of grape," first attested 1941, American English. As a noun, in this sense, attested from 1955. Related: Varietally.
unstable (adj.): early 13c., "apt to move," from un- (1) "not" + stable (adj.). Similar formation in Middle High German unstabel. Meaning "liable to fall" is recorded from c. 1300; sense of "fickle" is attested from late 13c. An Old English word for this was feallendlic, which might have become *fally.
accountant (n.): mid-15c., "accounting officer, one who renders accounts," from Old French acuntant (Modern French accomptant), from present participle of accompter (see account (v.)). Sense of "professional maker of accounts" is recorded from 1530s. The word also was an adjective in Middle English, "accountable; liable to render accounts" (early 15c.).
activity (n.): c. 1400, "active or secular life," from Old French activité, from Medieval Latin activitatem (nominative activitas), a word in Scholastic philosophy, from Latin activus (see active). Meaning "state of being active, briskness, liveliness" recorded from 1520s; that of "capacity for acting on matter" is from 1540s.
affectionate (adj.): 1580s, "fond, loving," from affection + -ate (1). Early, now mostly obsolete, senses included "inclined" (1530s), "prejudiced" (1530s), "passionate" (1540s), "earnest" (c. 1600). Other forms also used in the main modern sense of the word included affectious (1580s), affectuous (mid-15c.).
assurance (n.): late 14c., "formal or solemn pledge, promise," also "certainty," from Old French asseurance (11c., Modern French assurance) "assurance, promise; truce; certainty, safety, security," from asseurer (see assure). The word had a negative tinge 18c., often suggesting impudence or presumption.
-ana: or ana, word-forming element denoting "collection of sayings, gossip, etc. connected with a person or place," early 18c., originally the neuter plural ending of Latin adjectives ending in -anus "pertaining to," from PIE adjectival suffix *-no-.
anarchic (adj.): 1755, "chaotic, without order or rule," from Greek anarkhos "without head or chief" (see anarchy) + -ic. An older word in this sense was anarchical (1590s). Differentiated from anarchistic (1845) which tends to refer to the political philosophy of anarchism. Anarchial is from 1710; Landor used anarchal (1824).
-ancy: word-forming element denoting quality or state, from Latin -antia, forming abstract nouns on past participle adjectives in -antem, appearing in English mostly in words borrowed directly from Latin (those passing through French usually have -ance or -ence; see -ance).
-ane: word-forming element in chemical use, indicating a chain of carbon atoms with no double bonds, proposed 1866 by German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818-1892) to go with -ene, -ine (2), -one.
Antietam: place name, eastern U.S., from an Algonquian word perhaps meaning "swift water;" the name occurrs in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but the best-known is a creek near Sharpsburg in Washington County, Maryland, site of a bloody Civil War battle Sept. 17, 1862.
succotash (n.): 1751, from a word in a Southern New England Algonquian language, such as Narragansett misckquatash "boiled whole kernels of corn." Used by 1793 in New England in reference to a dish of boiled corn and green beans (especially lima beans).
suckle (v.): c. 1400, perhaps a causative or frequentative form of Middle English suken "to suck" (see suck), but OED suggests instead a back-formation from suckling (though this word is attested only from mid-15c.). Related: Suckled; suckling.
stoat (n.): mid-15c., stote, "the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat," of uncertain origin. The word bears resemblance to Old Norse stutr "bull," Swedish stut "bull," Danish stud "ox," but the sense is difficult unless a common notion is "male animal."
stricture (n.): c. 1400, "abnormal narrowing in a body part," from Late Latin strictura "contraction, constriction," from past participle stem of stringere (2) "to bind or draw tight" (see strain (v.)). Sense of "criticism, critical remark" is first recorded 1650s, perhaps from the other Latin word stringere "to touch lightly" (see strigil).
startle (v.): c. 1300, "run to and fro" (intransitive), frequentative of sterten (see start (v.)). Sense of "move suddenly in surprise or fear" first recorded 1520s. Transitive meaning "frighten suddenly" is from 1590s. The word retains more of the original meaning of start (v.). Related: Startled; startling; startlingly. As a noun from 1714.
saffron (n.): c. 1200, from Old French safran (12c.), from Medieval Latin safranum (cognate with Italian zafferano, Spanish azafran), ultimately from Arabic az-za'faran, which is of unknown origin. As a color word and an adjective, late 14c. German Safran is from French; Russian shafran' is from Arabic.
salacious (adj.): 1660s, from Latin salax (genitive salacis) "lustful," probably originally "fond of leaping," as in a male animal leaping on a female in sexual advances, from salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)). Earliest form of the word in English is salacity (c. 1600). Related: Salaciously; salaciousness.
saline (adj.): "made of salt," c. 1500, probably from a Latin word related to salinum "salt cellar" and salinae "salt pits," from sal (genitive salis) "salt" (see salt (n.)). Also in Middle English as a noun meaning "salt pit" (13c.). Saline solution attested from 1833.
salutation (n.): late 14c., from Old French salutacion "greeting," from Latin salutationem (nominative salutatio) "a greeting, saluting," noun of action from past participle stem of salutare "to greet" (see salute (v.)). As a word of greeting (elliptical for "I offer salutation") it is recorded from 1530s. Related: Salutations.
stripe (n.2): "a stroke or lash," early 15c., probably a special use of stripe (n.1), from the marks left by a lash. Compare also Dutch strippen "to whip," West Frisian strips, apparently cognate but not attested as early as the English word.
stroll (v.): c. 1600, a cant word introduced from the Continent, probably from dialectal German strollen, variant of Swiss German strolchen "to stroll about, loaf," from Strolch "vagabond, vagrant," also "fortuneteller," perhaps from Italian astrologo "astrologer." Related: Strolled; strolling.
strut (n.): "supporting brace," 1580s, perhaps from strut (v.), or a cognate word in Scandinavian (compare Norwegian strut "a spout, nozzle") or Low German (compare Low German strutt "rigid"); ultimately from Proto-Germanic *strutoz-, from root *strut- (see strut (v.)).
subsidiary (adj.): 1540s, from Latin subsidiarius "belonging to a reserve, of a reserve, reserved; serving to assist or supplement," from subsidium "a help, aid, relief, troops in reserve" (see subsidy). As a noun, c. 1600, "subsidiary thing." In Latin the word was used as a noun meaning "the reserve."
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."
syllabus (n.): 1650s, "table of contents of a series of lectures, etc.," from Late Latin syllabus "list," ultimately a misreading of Greek sittybos "parchment label, table of contents," of unknown origin. The misprint appeared in a 15c. edition of Cicero's "Ad Atticum" (see OED). Had it been a real word, the proper plural would be syllabi.
syncopation (n.): 1530s, "contraction of a word by omission of middle sounds," from Medieval Latin syncopationem (nominative syncopatio) "a shortening or contraction," from past participle stem of syncopare "to shorten," also "to faint away, to swoon," from Late Latin syncope (see syncope). Musical sense is attested from 1590s.
samovar (n.): 1830, from Russian samovar, literally "self-boiler," from sam "self" (see same) + varit "to boil" (from Old Church Slavonic variti "to cook," from PIE root *wer- "to burn"); but this is perhaps folk-etymology if the word is from Tatar sanabar "tea-urn."
sash (n.2): framed part of a window, 1680s, sashes, mangled Englishing of French châssis "frame" of a window or door (see chassis). French word taken as a plural and -s trimmed off by 1704. Sash-weight attested from 1737.
Sassenach (n.): Gaelic for "English person," 1771, Sassenaugh, literally "Saxon," from Gaelic Sasunnach, from Latin Saxones, from a Germanic source (such as Old English Seaxe "the Saxons;" see Saxon). The modern form of the word was established c. 1814 by Sir Walter Scott, from Scottish Sasunnoch, Irish Sasanach, Welsh Seisnig.
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.
shebeen (n.): "cabin where unlicensed liquor is sold and drunk," 1781, chiefly in Ireland and Scotland, from Irish seibin "small mug," also "bad ale," diminutive of seibe "mug, bottle, liquid measure." The word immigrated and persisted in South African and West Indian English.
shore (n.): "land bordering a large body of water," c. 1300, from an Old English word or from Middle Low German schor "shore, coast, headland," or Middle Dutch scorre "land washed by the sea," all probably from Proto-Germanic *skur-o- "cut," from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)).

According to etymologists originally with a sense of "division" between land and water. But if the word began on the North Sea coast of the continent, it might as well have meant originally "land 'cut off' from the mainland by tidal marshes" (compare Old Norse skerg "an isolated rock in the sea," related to sker "to cut, shear"). Old English words for "coast, shore" were strand (n.), waroþ, ofer. Few Indo-European languages have such a single comprehensive word for "land bordering water" (Homer uses one word for sandy beaches, another for rocky headlands). General application to "country near a seacoast" is attested from 1610s.
schm-: substituted for the initial sound of a word and reduplicated with it to convey derision (as in "Oedipus schmoedipus" in the punchline of the old joke about the Jewish mother and the psychiatrist), 1929, from the numerous Yiddish words that begin with this sound.
significance (n.): c. 1400, "meaning," from Old French significance or directly from Latin significantia "meaning, force, energy," from significans, present participle of significare "to mean, import, signify" (see signify). The earlier word was signifiance (mid-13c.). Meaning "importance" is from 1725. Related: Significancy.
slew (v.): "to turn, swing, twist," 1834, earlier slue (1769), a nautical word, of unknown origin. Slewed (1801) is old nautical slang for "drunk." Slew-foot "clumsy person who walks with feet turned out" is from 1896.
slum (n.): 1845, from back slum "dirty back alley of a city, street of poor or low people" (1825), originally a slang or cant word meaning "room," especially "back room" (1812), of unknown origin, pastime popularized by East End novels. Related: slums. Slumscape is from 1947.
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).
skittles (n.): game played with nine pins, 1630s, plural of skittle, the word for the pins used in the game, probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish and Norwegian skyttel "shuttle, child's toy"). But OED says there is no evidence of a connection.
scrimshaw (n.): 1864, "A nautical word of unstable orthography" [Century Dictionary], back-formation from scrimshander ("Moby Dick," 1851), scrimshonting (1825), American English, of unknown origin. Scrimshaw is an English surname, attested from mid-12c., from Old French escremisseor "fencing-master."
scurrilous (adj.): "using such language as only the licence of a buffoon can warrant" [Johnson], 1570s, from scurrile "coarsely joking" (c. 1500, implied in scurrility), from Latin scurrilis "buffoonlike," from scurra "fashionable city idler, man-about-town," later "buffoon." According to Klein, "an Etruscan loan-word." Related: Scurrilously; scurrilousness.
selah: 1520s, Hebrew word occurring frequently at the end of verse in Psalter. Supposed to be a liturgical direction, perhaps meaning "pause," or perhaps a musical direction to raise the voice (compare Hebrew base s-l-l "to raise, lift").
self-conscious (adj.): 1680s, "aware of one's action," a word of the English Enlightenment (Locke was using it by 1690), from self- + conscious. Morbid sense of "preoccupied with one's own personality" is attested from 1834 (in J.S. Mill). Related: Self-consciously; self-consciousness.
semper-: word-forming element meaning "always, ever," from Latin semper "always, ever, at all times, continuously" (literally "once for all"), from PIE *sem- (1) "one, as one, together" (source also of Latin semel "once," similis "like;" see same).
sentinel (n.): 1570s, from Middle French sentinelle (16c.), from Italian sentinella "a sentinel." OED says "No convincing etymology of the It. word has been proposed," but perhaps (via a notion of "perceive, watch"), from sentire "to hear," from Latin sentire "feel, perceive by the senses" (see sense (n.)).
autogenous (adj.): "self-generated," 1846, earlier autogeneal (1650s), from Greek autogenes "self-produced," from autos "self" (see auto-) + genes "formation, creation" (see genus). Modern form and biological use of the word said to have been coined by English paleontologist Richard Owen (1804-1892).
Caesarea: Latin city name derived from Caesar, applied in honor of the emperors to some new and existing cities in the Roman Empire, including modern Kayseri, Turkey; Shaizar, Syria, and Cherchell, Algeria (representing a French spelling of an Arabic name based on a Berber garbling of the Latin word).
calcaneus (n.): from Latin (os) calcaneum "bone of the heel," from calcem (nominative calx (1)) "heel," a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Etruscan. De Vaan lists as possible cognates Old Prussian culczi "hip," Lithuanian kulkšnis "ankle-(bone)" Bulgarian kalka "hip, thigh."