Online Etymology Dictionary

clodhopper (n.): 1690s, slang, "one who works on plowed land, a rustic," from clod (n.) + agent noun from hop (v.). Compare in a similar sense clod-breaker, clod-crusher; in this word perhaps a play on grasshopper. Sense extended by 1836 to the shoes worn by such workers.
cocksure (adj.): 1520s, "certain," from cock (n.1) + sure (adj.). Probably "as assured as a cock." "The word was originally perfectly dignified, and habitually used in the most solemn connexions" [OED]. D.H. Lawrence playfully coined hensure as a female version (1929).
coco (n.): "palm tree," mid-16c., from Spanish and Portuguese coco "grinning face," on resemblance of the three holes at the base of the shell to a human face. The earlier word for it was the Latinized form cocus, which sometimes was Englished as cocos.
coinage (n.): late 14c., "currency, money," from Old French coignage, from coignier "to coin" (see coin (n.)). Meaning "act or process of coining money" is from early 15c.; sense "deliberate formation of a new word" is from 1690s, from a general sense of "something invented" (c. 1600).
barouche (n.): type of four-wheeled carriage, 1801, from dialectal German barutsche, from Italian baroccio "chariot," originally "two-wheeled car," from Latin birotus "two-wheeled," from bi- "two" + rotus "wheel," from rotare "go around" (see rotary). Frenchified in English, but the word is not French.
beforehand (adv., adj.): also before-hand, early 13c., from before + hand, which here is of uncertain signification, unless the original notion is payment in advance or something done before another's hand does it. Hyphenated from 18c., one word from 19c.
azo-: word-forming element denoting the presence of nitrogen, 1879, from comb. form of azote, the old term for "nitrogen" (from Greek a- "not, without" (see a- (3)) + zoion "a living being;" see zoo); coined in French by Lavoisier & de Morveau because living things cannot survive in the gas.
awol (adj.): also a.w.o.l., military initialism (acronym) for absent without leave. The -o- seems to be there mostly so the assemblage can be pronounced as a word. In U.S. military use at least from World War II, popular use by 1960.
benzodiazepine (n.): 1934, from benzo-, word-forming element used in chemistry to indicate presence of a benzene ring fused with another ring, + di + azo- + epine, a suffix denoting a seven-membered ring, from (h)ep(ta) (see seven).
bice (n.): "pale blue color," early 15c., shortened from blew bis "blue bice," from French bis "swarthy, brownish-gray" (12c.), cognate with Italian bigio; of unknown origin. Via French combinations azur bis, vert bis the word came into English with a sense of "blue" or "green."
violent (adj.): mid-14c., from Old French violent or directly from Latin violentus, related to violare (see violation). In Middle English the word also was applied in reference to heat, sunlight, smoke, etc., with the sense "having some quality so strongly as to produce a powerful effect." Related: Violently.
lusty (adj.): early 13c., "joyful, merry," from lust + -y (2). It largely has escaped the Christianization and denigration of its root word. The sense of "full of healthy vigor" is from late 14c.; that of "full of desire" is attested from c. 1400. Related: Lustily; lustiness.
obscenity (n.): 1580s, "obscene quality," from French obscénité, from Latin obscenitatem (nominative obscenitas) "inauspiciousness, filthiness," from obscenus "offensive" (see obscene). Meaning "a foul or loathsome act" is 1610s. Sense of "an obscene utterance or word" is attested by 1690. Related: Obscenities.
lorgnette (n.): "opera glass with a handle," 1803 (from 1776 as a French word in English), from French lorgnette, from lorgner "to squint," also "to leer at, oogle" (16c.), from lorgne "squinting," of uncertain origin. With diminutive suffix -ette. Compare also French lorgnon "eyeglass, eyeglasses."
-oma: word-forming element, from Greek -oma, with lengthened stem vowel + -ma, suffix forming neuter nouns and nouns that indicate result of verbal action (equivalent of Latin -men); especially taken in medical use as "morbid growth, tumor," based on sarcoma, carcinoma.
disobedience (n.): c. 1400, from Old French desobedience, from Vulgar Latin *disobedientia (replacing Latin inobedientia) from Latin dis- (see dis-) + obedientia (see obedience). The English word replaced earlier desobeissance in this sense, and inobedience (c. 1200).
-ology: word-forming element indicating "branch of knowledge, science," now the usual form of -logy. Originally used c. 1800 in nonce formations (commonsensology, etc.), it gained legitimacy by influence of the proper formation in geology, mythology, etc., where the -o- is a stem vowel in the previous element.
ophidiophobia (n.): 1914, "excessive fear of snakes or reptiles," from ophidio- apparently extracted from Modern Latin ophidia, a word coined arbitrarily (to provide an -ia form to serve as an order name in taxonomy) from Greek ophis "serpent" (see ophio-) + -phobia.
-genous: word-forming element meaning "generating, producing, yielding;" see -gen + -ous. In modern formations, making adjectives corresponding to words in -gen. In some older words, from Lat Latin -genus, from Latin -gena "born" (for example indigenous).
-ian: variant of suffix -an (q.v.), with connective -i-. From Latin -ianus, in which the -i- originally was from the stem of the word being attached but later came to be felt as connective. In Middle English frequently it was -ien, via French.
hieroglyph (n.): "a figure of a familiar object representing a word or sound," especially in the system of writing used on monuments, etc., in ancient Egypt, 1590s, a shortening of hieroglyphic (n.) "hieroglyphic character," from hieroglyphic (adj.). Greek hieroglyphos meant "a carver of hieroglyphics."
hiss (v.): late 14c., of imitative origin. Compare Danish hysse, German zischen, etc. Johnson wrote, "it is remarkable, that this word cannot be pronounced without making the noise which it signifies." Related: Hissed; hissing.
happening (n.): mid-15c., "chance, luck," verbal noun from happen (v.); meaning "an occurrence" is 1550s. Sense of "spontaneous event or display" is from 1959 in the argot of artists. Happenings "events" was noted by Fowler as a vogue word from c. 1905.
homograph (n.): 1810 as a method of signalling, from homo- (1) "same" + -graph "something written." Meaning "a word of identical spelling with another, but of different origin and meaning," is from 1873. Related: Homographic; homography. Greek homographos meant "of the same letters."
honorific (adj.): "conferring honor," 1640s, from French honorifique (16c.) or directly from Latin honorificus "that which does honor," from honorem (see honor (n.)) + -ficus "making," from stem of facere "make, do" (see factitious). As a noun, "a word used as an honorific term," by 1867.
irreconcilable (adj.): 1590s, from assimilated form of in- (1) "not, opposite of" + reconcilable, if that word is so old. Or perhaps from French irréconcilable (16c.). Related: Irreconcilably. As a noun, "one who refuses reconciliation or compromise" (especially in politics), from 1748.
iterative (adj.): "involving repetition," late 15c., from French iteratif (c. 1400), from Late Latin iterativus, from iterat-, past participle stem of Latin iterare "do again, repeat" (see iteration). As a noun, "an iterative word," by 1839. Related: Iteratively.
incarnate (adj.): late 14c., "embodied in flesh, in human or bodily form" (of souls, spirits, etc.), from Late Latin incarnatus "made flesh," a frequent word among early Christian writers, past-participle adjective from Latin incarnare "to make flesh" (see incarnation). Of qualities or abstractions, 1530s.
jabot (n.): 1823, "frill of a men's shirt," from French jabot "gizzard (of a bird), frill on a shirt front" (16c.), a word of unknown origin. Klein suggests a connection with gaver "to cram, gorge," and thus ultimately with English jaw (n.). Of women's clothing from 1869.
gluco-: before vowels, gluc-, word-forming element used since c. 1880s, a later form of glyco-, from Greek glykys "sweet," figuratively "delightful; dear; simple, silly," from *glku-, dissimilated in Greek from PIE root *dlk-u- "sweet" (source also of Latin dulcis). Now usually with reference to glucose.
grandiosity (n.): 1814, from French grandiosité; see grandiose + -ity.
The author now and then makes a word for his own use, as complicate, for complicated; and, still less fortunately 'grandiosity' (p. 343). [review of Joseph Forsyth's "Remarks on Italy," "Edinburgh Review," January 1814]
doggy (n.): also doggie, 1825, from dog (n.) + -y (3). Doggy-bag attested from 1965. As an adj. doggy is attested from late 14c., from -y (2). The word has been used in various formations since at least late 19c. to describe the sex act when one partner is on all fours.
signification (n.): early 14c., "symbolization, representation," from Old French significacion and directly from Latin significationem (nominative significatio) "a signifying, indication, expression, sign, token, meaning, emphasis," noun of action from past participle stem of significare "make known, indicate" (see signify). From late 14c. as "meaning" (of a word, etc.).
eggshell (n.): also egg-shell, early 15c., from egg (n.) + shell (n.). It displaced ay-schelle (Old English ægscill), from the native word for "egg." As a color term, from 1894. Emblematic of "thin and delicate" from 1835; the figure of treading on eggshells "to move cautiously" is attested by 1734.
sniggler (n.): 1840, in reference to fishing (especially for eels), agent noun from sniggle (v.), which is attested in a sense related to this from 1670s. It is the verbal suffix -le + snig "an eel" (late 15c.), a word of obscure origin but perhaps related to snake (n.) and sneak (v.).
en- (2): word-forming element meaning "near, at, in, on, within," from Greek en "in," cognate with Latin in (see in), and thus with en- (1). Typically assimilated to em- before -p-, -b-, -m-, -l-, and -r-.
ideation (n.): 1829; see idea + -ation. Related: Ideational.
As we say Sensation, we might say also, Ideation; it would be a very useful word; and there is no objection to it, except the pedantic habit of decrying a new term. [James Mill, "Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind," London, 1829]
informative (adj.): 1650s, "instructive, didactic," from Medieval Latin informativus, from Latin informatus, past participle of informare "to train, instruct, educate" (see inform). In Middle English, the same word meant "formative, shaping, plastic, having power to form or animate" (late 14c.). Related: Informatively.
Pokemon (n.): video and trading card franchise, released in Japan in 1996, said to be from a contracted Romanization of Japanese Poketto Monsuta "pocket monsters," both elements ultimately from European languages. Apparently it is a collective word with no distinctive plural form.
perjure (v.): mid-15c. "swear falsely" (implied in perjured; late 13c. in Anglo-French), from Old French parjurer "to break one's word, renege on a promise" (11c.), from Latin periurare "to swear falsely, break one's oath" (see perjury). Reflexive sense is from 18c.
petechia (n.): plural petechiae, "small crimson or purple spots on skin," c. 1795 (from 1580s in English texts as an Italian word), Modern Latin, from Italian petecchia "specks or freckles on the face," in plural form petecchie "measles," of unknown origin. Related: Petechial.
cockle (n.2): flowering weed that grows in wheat fields, Old English coccel "darnel," used in Middle English to translate the Bible word now usually given as tares (see tare (n.1)). It is in no other Germanic language and may be from a diminutive of Latin coccus "grain, berry."
nother: word formed from misdivision of another as a nother (see N for other examples), c. 1300. From 14c.-16c. no nother is sometimes encountered as a misdivision of none other or perhaps as an emphatic negative; Old English had noðer as a contraction of ne oðer "no other."
dendro-: word-forming element meaning "tree," from Greek dendro-, comb. form of dendron "tree," sometimes especially "fruit tree" (as opposed to hyle "timber"), from PIE *der-drew-, from root *deru- "to be firm, solid, steadfast," specifically used for "wood, tree" (see tree (n.)).
reticulum (n.): 1650s, "second stomach of a ruminant" (so called from the folds of the membrane), from Latin reticulum "a little net" (see reticulate (adj.)). The word was later given various uses in biology, cytology, histology, etc., and made a southern constellation by La Caille (1763).
quadri-: before vowels quad- (before -p- often quadru-, from an older form in Latin), word-forming element meaning "four, four times, having four, consisting of four," from Latin quadri-, related to quattor "four" (see four).
quasi-: word-forming element used since 18c. (but most productively in 20c.) and typically meaning "kind of, resembling, like but not really, as if;" from Latin quasi "as if, as it were" (see quasi).
repentance (n.): c. 1300, from Old French repentance "penitence" (12c.), from present participle stem of repentir (see repent).
Repentance goes beyond feeling to express distinct purposes of turning from sin to righteousness; the Bible word most often translated repentance means a change of mental and spiritual attitude toward sin. [Century Dictionary]
roustabout (n.): "deck hand, wharf worker," 1868, perhaps from roust + about. But another theory connects it to British dialect rousing "rough, shaggy," a word associated perhaps with rooster. With extended senses in U.S., including "circus hand" (1931); "manual laborer on an oil rig" (1948).
succinite (n.): 1816, "amber-colored mineral," from -ite (1) + Latin succinum "amber," which Klein calls a loan word from a Northern European language that has been assimilated in form to Latin succus, sucus "juice, sap." Related: Succinic, from French succinique.