Online Etymology Dictionary

abduction (n.): 1620s, "a leading away," from Latin abductionem (nominative abductio), noun of action from past participle stem of abducere "to lead away, take away" (often by force), from ab- "away" (see ab-) + ducere "to lead" (see duke (n.)). The illegal activity so called from 1768; before that the word also was a term in surgery and logic. In the Mercian hymns, Latin abductione is glossed by Old English wiðlaednisse.
-ary: adjective and noun word-forming element, in most cases from Latin -arius, -aria, -arium "connected with, pertaining to; the man engaged in," from PIE relational adjective suffix *-yo- "of or belonging to." It appears in words borrowed from Latin in Middle English. In later borrowings from Latin to French, it became -aire and passed into Middle English as -arie, subsequently -ary.
Algeria: North African country, named for Algiers, city chosen by the French as its capital when they colonized it in 1830 + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. The city name is Arabic al-Jazair, literally "the islands," in reference to four islands formerly off the coast but joined to the mainland since 1525. A resident of the place formerly was an Algerine (1650s), and the word was practically synonymous with "pirate" in English and U.S. usage early 19c.
succubus (n.): late 14c., alteration (after incubus, giving a masc. form to a word generally felt as of female meaning) of Late Latin succuba "strumpet," applied to a fiend (generally in female form) having sexual connection with men in their sleep, from succubare "to lie under," from sub- "under" (see sub-) + cubare "to lie down" (see cubicle). Related: Succubine (adj.).
suite (n.): 1670s, "train of followers or attendants," from French suite, from Old French suite, sieute "act of following, attendance" (see suit (n.), which is an earlier borrowing of the same French word). The meanings "set of instrumental compositions" (1680s), "connected set of rooms" (1716), and "set of furniture" (1805) were imported from French usages or re-spelled on the French model from suit in its sense of "a number of things taken collectively and constituting a sequence; collection of things of like kind."
sultan (n.): 1550s, from Middle French sultan "ruler of Turkey" (16c.), ultimately from Arabic sultan "ruler, prince, monarch, king, queen," originally "power, dominion." According to Klein's sources, this is from Aramaic shultana "power," from shelet "have power." Earlier English word was soldan, soudan (c. 1300), used indiscriminately of Muslim rulers and sovereigns, from Old French souldan, soudan, from Medieval Latin sultanus. Related: Sultanic.
superlative (adj.): late 14c., from Old French superlatif "absolute, highest; powerful; best" (13c.) and directly from Late Latin superlativus "extravagant, exaggerated, hyperbolic," from Latin superlatus "exaggerated" (used as past participle of superferre "carry over or beyond"), from super "beyond" (see super-) + lat- "carry," from *tlat-, past participle stem of tollere "to take away" (see extol). Related: Superlatively; superlativeness.

The noun is attested from 1520s, originally in the grammatical sense, "a word in the superlative;" hence "exaggerated language" (1590s).
stour (n.): c. 1300, "tumult, armed conflict, struggle with adversity or pain," from Anglo-French estur, Old French estour "a tumult, conflict, assault, shock, battle," from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz "storm" (source also of Old High German sturm "storm; battle;" see storm (n.)). Became obsolete, revived by Spenser and his followers in various senses; also surviving as a Scottish and Northern English word meaning "a (driving) storm" or "uproar, commotion." Italian stormo also is from Germanic.
strafe (v.): 1915, "punish, attack, bomb heavily," picked up by British soldiers from German strafen "to punish" (from Proto-Germanic *stræf-), in slogan Gott strafe England "May God punish England," current in Germany c. 1914-16 at the start of World War I. The word used for many kinds of attack at first; meaning "shoot up ground positions from low-flying aircraft" emerged as the main sense 1942. Related: Strafed; strafing.
strap (n.): 1610s, "band of leather," from Scottish and/or nautical variant of strope "loop or strap on a harness" (mid-14c.), probably from Old French estrop "strap," from Latin stroppus "strap, band," perhaps via Etruscan, ultimately from Greek strophos "twisted band; a cord, rope," from strephein "to turn" (see strophe). Old English stropp, Dutch strop "halter" also are borrowed from Latin, and the Old English word might be the source of the modern one. Slang meaning "credit" is from 1828.
scamper (v.): "to run quickly," 1680s, probably from Flemish schampeeren, frequentative of schampen "run away," from Old North French escamper (Old French eschamper) "to run away, flee, quit the battlefield, escape," from Vulgar Latin *excampare "decamp," literally "leave the field," from Latin ex campo, from ex "out of" (see ex-) + campo, ablative of campus "field" (see campus). A vogue word late 17c. Related: Scampered; scampering. The noun is 1680s, from the verb.
Scandinavia: 1765, from Late Latin Scandinavia, Skandinovia, a mistake for Scadinavia, from a Germanic source (compare Old English Scedenig, Old Norse Skaney "south end of Sweden"), from Proto-Germanic *skadinaujo "Scadia island," first element of uncertain origin, second element from *aujo "thing on the water," from PIE *akwa- "water" (see aqua-). It might truly have been an island when the word was formed; the coastlines of the Baltic Sea has changed dramatically since the end of the Ice Ages.
scarab (n.): "black dung beetle," held sacred by the ancient Egyptians, 1570s, from Middle French scarabeé, from Latin scarabaeus, name of a type of beetle, from Greek karabos "beetle, crayfish," a foreign word, according to Klein probably Macedonian (the suffix -bos is non-Greek). Related: Scarabaean. In ancient use, also a gem cut in a shape like a scarab beetle and with an inscription on the underside.
scaramouche (n.): 1660s, name of a cowardly braggart (supposed by some to represent a Spanish don) in traditional Italian comedy, from Italian Scaramuccia, literally "skirmish," from schermire "to fence," from a Germanic source (such as Old High German skirmen "defend"); see skirmish (n.). According to OED, a vogue word in late 17c. London due to the popularity of Italian actor Tiberio Fiurelli (1608-1694) in the part.
stay (n.1): "support, prop, brace," 1510s, from Middle French estaie "piece of wood used as a support," Old French estaie "prop, support," perhaps from Frankish *staka "support" or some other Germanic word, from Proto-Germanic *stagaz (source also of Middle Dutch stake "stick," Old English steli "steel," stæg "rope used to support a mast"), from PIE *stak- "to stand, place" (see stay (n.2)). In some uses from stay (v.2).
stern (n.): early 13c., "hind part of a ship; steering gear of a ship," probably from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse stjorn "a steering," related to or derived from styra "to guide" (see steer (v.)). Or the word may come from Old Frisian stiarne "rudder," which also is related to steer (v.). Stern-wheeler as a type of steam-boat is from 1855, American English.
sable (n.2): "black" as a heraldic color, early 14c., commonly identified with sable (n.1), but the animal's fur is brown and this may be a different word of unknown origin; or it might reflect a medieval custom (unattested) of dyeing sable fur black. As an adjective from late 14c. Emblematic of mourning or grief from c. 1600; c. 1800 as "black" with reference to Africans and their descendants, often with mock dignity.
sag (v.): late 14c., possibly from a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse sokkva "to sink," or from Middle Low German sacken "to settle, sink" (as dregs in wine), from denasalized derivative of Proto-Germanic base *senkwanan "to sink" (see sink (v.)). A general North Sea Germanic word (compare Dutch zakken, Swedish sacka, Danish sakke). Of body parts from 1560s; of clothes from 1590s. Related: Sagged; sagging.
Salem: place mentioned in Gen. xiv:18, from Hebrew Shalem, usually said to be another word for Jerusalem and to mean "peace" (compare Hebrew shalom, Arabic salaam). Common as a Baptist and Methodist meetinghouse name, so much so that by mid-19c. it (along with Bethel and Ebenezer) had come to be used in Britain generically to mean "non-conformist chapel."
salmon (n.): early 13c., from Anglo-French samoun, Old French salmun (Modern French saumon), from Latin salmonem (nominative salmo) "a salmon," probably originally "leaper," from salire "to leap" (see salient (adj.)), though some dismiss this as folk etymology. Another theory traces it to Celtic. Replaced Old English læx, from PIE *lax, the more usual word for the fish (see lox). In reference to a color, from 1786.
subdue (v.): late 14c., "to conquer and reduce to subjection," from Old French souduire, but this meant "deceive, seduce," from Latin subducere "draw away, lead away, carry off; withdraw" (see subduce). The primary sense in English seems to have been taken in Anglo-French from Latin subdere and attached to this word. Related: Subdued; subduing. As an associated noun, subdual is attested from 1670s (subduction having acquired other senses).
subsistence (n.): early 15c., "existence, independence," from Late Latin subsistentia "substance, reality," in Medieval Latin also "stability," from Latin subsistens, present participle of subsistere "stand still or firm" (see subsist). Latin subsistentia is a loan-translation of Greek hypostasis "foundation, substance, real nature, subject matter; that which settles at the bottom, sediment," literally "anything set under." In the English word, meaning "act or process of support for physical life" is from 1640s.
substantive (adj.): mid-15c., "standing by itself," from Old French substantif, from Late Latin substantivus "of substance or being, self-existent," from Latin substantia "being, essence, material" (see substance). The grammatical term (late 14c.) was introduced by the French to denote the noun in contradistinction to the adjective, from Latin nomen substantivum "name or word of substance." Related: Substantival; substantively.
supra-: word-forming element meaning "above, over, beyond, before," from Latin supra "above, over, before, beyond, on the upper side," in supera (parte), literally "on the upper (side)," from old fem. ablative singular of superus (adj.) "above," related to super "above, over" (see super-). In English interchangeable with, but somewhat more technical than, super-. Rare as a prefix in Latin, more common in Medieval Latin, in English chiefly scientific or technical.
surd (adj.): 1550s, "irrational" (of numbers), from Latin surdus "deaf, unheard, silent, dull; willfully deaf, inattentive," possibly related to susurrus "a muttering, whispering" (see susurration). The mathematical sense is from the use of Latin surdus to translate Arabic (jadhr) asamm "deaf (root)," itself apparently a loan-translation of Greek alogos, literally "speechless, without reason" (Euclid book x, Def.). In French, sourd remains the principal word for "deaf." As a noun from 1540s. Related: Surdity.
surveillance (n.): 1802, from French surveillance "oversight, supervision, a watch," noun of action from surveiller "oversee, watch" (17c.), from sur- "over" (see sur- (1)) + veiller "to watch," from Latin vigilare, from vigil "watchful" (see vigil). Seemingly a word that came to English from the Terror in France ("surveillance committees" were formed in every French municipality in March 1793 by order of the Convention to monitor the actions and movements of suspect persons, outsiders, and dissidents).
suttee (n.): "self-cremation of a Hindu widow on her husband's funeral pyre," 1786, from Hindi, from Sanskrit sati "virtuous woman, faithful wife," used also of the burning, fem. of sat "good, wise, virtuous, true," literally "existing," present participle of asmi "I am" (cognate with Latin esse; see essence). Properly, the word for the woman who does so. The custom was abolished in British India in 1829.
swale (n.): "low, hollow place, often boggy," 1580s, special use of Scottish swaill "low, hollow place," or East Anglian dialectal swale "shady place" (mid-15c.); both probably from Old Norse svalr "cool," from Proto-Germanic *swalaz. A local word in England, in U.S. given broad application, especially to the lower tracts of the prairie and recently to landscaping features in suburban developments.
swart (adj.): Old English sweart "black, dark," of night, clouds, also figurative, "wicked, infamous," from Proto-Germanic *swarta- (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, and Middle Dutch swart, Dutch zwart, Old Norse svartr, German schwarz, Gothic swarts "dark-colored, black"), from PIE root *swordo- "dirty, dark, black" (source of sordid). The true Germanic word, surviving in the Continental languages, displaced in English by black. Of skin color of persons from late 14c. Related: Swartest.
Swiss (n.): 1510s, from Middle French Suisse, from Middle High German Suizer, from Suiz "Switzerland" (see Switzerland and compare Switzer (1570s), archaic word for "a Swiss," and German Schweiz). As an adjective from 1520s. Swiss banks were notable for assuring anonymity and security by 1949. Swiss cheese is attested from 1808; as a type of something full of holes, from 1924.
sylvan (adj.): "of the woods," 1570s, from Middle French sylvain (1530s), from Latin silvanus "pertaining to wood or forest" (originally only in silvanae "goddesses of the woods"), from silva "wood, woodland, forest, orchard, grove," of unknown origin. The unetymological -y- is a misspelling in Latin from influence of Greek hyle "forest," from which the Latin word formerly was supposed to derive.
Sabaoth (n.): early 14c., from Late Latin, from Greek Sabaoth, rendering Hebrew tzebhaoth "hosts, armies," plural of tzabha "army," from tzaba "he waged war, he served." A word translated in English in the Old Testament by the phrase "the Lord of Hosts," but originally left untranslated in the New Testament and in the "Te Deum" in the designation Lord of Sabaoth; often confused with sabbath.
sanhedrim (n.): 1580s, from Late Hebrew sanhedrin (gedola) "(great) council," from Greek synedrion "assembly, council," literally "sitting together," from syn- "together" (see syn-) + hedra "seat" (see cathedral). Abolished at the destruction of Jerusalem, C.E. 70. The proper form is sanhedrin; the error began as a false correction when the Greek word was taken into Mishanic Hebrew, where -in is a form of the plural suffix of which -im is the more exact form.
sarcasm (n.): 1570s, sarcasmus, from Late Latin sarcasmus, from late Greek sarkasmos "a sneer, jest, taunt, mockery," from sarkazein "to speak bitterly, sneer," literally "to strip off the flesh," from sarx (genitive sarkos) "flesh," properly "piece of meat," from PIE root *twerk- "to cut" (source also of Avestan thwares "to cut"). Current form of the English word is from 1610s. For nuances of usage, see humor (n.).
sarsen (n.): "large sandstone boulder," 1640s, properly sarsen stone, i.e. "Saracen stone," from Saracen in the old sense of "pagan, heathen." The same word was applied to the ancient leavings outside Cornish tin mines, also known as Jews' pits, those being the terms that came to mind once to describe any ancient features, based on the Bible.
sassafras (n.): small flowering tree of North America, 1570s, from Spanish sasafras, perhaps an adaptation of saxifraga "saxifrage," from Late Latin saxifragia, variant of saxifraga (see saxifrage). But the connection of the plants is difficult to explain, and the word perhaps represents a lost Native American name that sounded like Spanish saxifraga and was altered to conform to it. The tree supposedly was discovered by the Spanish in 1528.
cope (v.): late 14c., "come to blows with," from Old French couper, earlier colper "hit, punch," from colp "a blow" (see coup). Meaning evolved 17c. into "handle successfully," perhaps influenced by obsolete cope "to traffic" (15c.-17c.), a word in North Sea trade, from the Flemish version of the Germanic source of English cheap. Related: Coped; coping.
coral (n.): c. 1300, from Old French coral (12c., Modern French corail), from Latin corallium, from Greek korallion; perhaps of Semitic origin (compare Hebrew goral "small pebble," Arabic garal "small stone"), originally just the red variety found in the Mediterranean, hence use of the word as a symbol of "red." Related: Coralline. Coral snake (1760) is so called for the red zones in its markings. Coral reef is attested from 1745.
shard (n.): also sherd, Old English sceard "incision, cleft, gap; potshard, a fragment, broken piece," from Proto-Germanic *skardas (source also of Middle Dutch schaerde "a fragment, a crack," Dutch schaard "a flaw, a fragment," German Scharte "a notch," Danish skaar "chink, potsherd"), a past participle from the root of Old English sceran "to cut" (see shear). Meaning "fragment of broken earthenware" developed in late Old English. Used late 14c. as "scale of a dragon." French écharde "prickle, splinter" is a Germanic loan-word.
shark (n.): 1560s, of uncertain origin; apparently the word and the first specimen were brought to London by Capt. John Hawkins's second expedition (landed 1565; see Hakluyt).
There is no proper name for it that I knowe, but that sertayne men of Captayne Haukinses doth call it a 'sharke' [handbill advertising an exhibition of the specimen, 1569]
The meaning "dishonest person who preys on others," though attested only from 1599 (sharker "artful swindler" in this sense is from 1594), may be the original sense, later transferred to the large, voracious marine fish. If so, it is possibly from German Schorck, a variant of Schurke "scoundrel, villain," agent noun of Middle High German schürgen (German schüren) "to poke, stir."

But on another theory, the English word is from a Mayan word, xoc, which might have meant "shark." Northern Europeans seem not to have been familiar with sharks before voyages to the tropics began. A slightly earlier name for it in English was tiburon, via Spanish (where it is attested by 1520s), from the Carib name for the fish.

The English word was applied (or re-applied) to voracious or predatory persons, on the image of the fish, from 1707 (originally of pick-pockets); loan shark is attested from 1905. Sharkskin (1851) was used for binding books, etc. As the name of a type of fabric held to resemble it, it is recorded from 1932.
There is the ordinary Brown Shark, or sea attorney, so called by sailors; a grasping, rapacious varlet, that in spite of the hard knocks received from it, often snapped viciously at our steering oar. [Herman Melville, "Mardi"]
sheldrake (n.): early 14c., from sheld- "variegated" + drake "male duck." First element cognate with Middle Dutch schillede "separated, variegated," West Flemish schilde, from schillen (Dutch verschillen "to make different"), from Proto-Germanic *skeli-, from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut" (see scale (n.1)). This is the origin considered most likely, though English sheld by itself is a dialect word attested only from c. 1500. OED finds derivation from shield (n.), on resemblance to the patterns on shields, "improbable."
shewbread (n.): 1530, Tyndale's word (Exodus xxv:30), based on or influenced by German schaubrot (in Luther), literally "show-bread," translating Latin panes propositiones, from Greek artai enopioi, from Hebrew lechem panim, the 12 loaves placed every Sabbath "before the Lord" on a table beside the altar of incense, from lechem "bread" + panim "face, presence." Old English translations used offring-hlafas.
shiver (n.1): "small piece, splinter, fragment, chip," c. 1200, perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word, related to Middle Low German schever schiver "splinter," Old High German scivero, from Proto-Germanic *skif- "split" (source also of Old High German skivaro "splinter," German Schiefer "splinter, slate"), from PIE *skei- "to cut, split" (see shed (v.)). Commonly in phrases to break to shivers "break into bits" (mid-15c.). Also, shiver is still dialectal for "a splinter" in Norfolk and Lincolnshire.
shock (n.2): "bundle of grain," early 14c., from Middle Low German schok "shock of corn," originally "group of sixty," from Proto-Germanic *skukka- (source also of Old Saxon skok, Dutch schok "sixty pieces; shock of corn;" German schock "sixty," Hocke "heap of sheaves"). In 16c.-17c. English the word sometimes meant "60-piece lot," from trade with the Dutch.
sere (adj.): Old English sear "dried up, withered, barren," from Proto-Germanic *sauzas (source also of Middle Low German sor, Dutch zoor "dry"), from PIE root *saus- "dry" (source also of Sanskrit susyati "dries, withers;" Old Persian uška- "dry" (adj.), "land" (n.); Avestan huška- "dry;" Greek auos "dry," auein "to dry;" Latin sudus "dry"). A good word now relegated to bad poetry. Related to sear. Sere month was an old name for "August."
serge (n.): type of strong, twilled fabric used for coats, etc., late 14c., from Old French serge (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *sarica, in Medieval Latin "cloth of wool mixed with silk or linen," from Latin serica (vestis) "silken (garment)," from serica, from Greek serike, fem. of serikos "silken" (see silk). The French word is the source of German sarsche, Danish sarge, etc. Also as a verb. Related: Serger.
sesquipedalian (n.): 1610s, "person or thing a foot and a half long," from Latin sesquipedalia "a foot-and-a-half long," from sesqui- "half as much again" (see sesqui-) + stem of pes "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). As an adjective 1650s. Meaning "sesquipedalian word" (1830) is from Latin sesquipedalia verba "words a foot-and-a-half long," in Horace's "Ars Poetica" (97), nicely illustrating the thing he is criticizing.
scarf (v.): "eat hastily," 1960, U.S. teen slang, originally a noun meaning "food, meal" (1932), perhaps imitative, or from scoff (attested in a similar sense from 1846). Or perhaps from a dialectal survival of Old English sceorfan "to gnaw, bite" (see scarf (n.2)); a similar word is found in a South African context in the 1600s. Related: Scarfed; scarfing.
Scot (n.): Old English Scottas (plural) "inhabitants of Ireland, Irishmen," from Late Latin Scotti (c. 400), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Celtic (but answering to no known tribal name; Irish Scots appears to be a Latin borrowing). The name followed the Irish tribe which invaded Scotland 6c. C.E. after the Romans withdrew from Britain, and after the time of Alfred the Great the Old English word described only the Irish who had settled in the northwest of Britain.
shrine (n.): Old English scrin "ark (of the covenant); chest, coffer; case for relics," from Latin scrinium "case or box for keeping papers," of unknown origin. From late 14c. as "a tomb of a saint" (usually elaborate and large). A widespread word, compare Dutch schrijn, German Schrein, French écrin, Russian skrynya, Lithuanian skrine.