Online Etymology Dictionary

shrub (n.): Old English scrybb "brushwood, shrubbery," a rare and late word (but preserved also, perhaps, in Shrewsbury), possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare dialectal Danish skrub "brushwood," Norwegian skrubba "dwarf tree"). Presumably related to North Frisian skrobb "broom plant, brushwood;" West Flemish schrobbe "climbing wild pea," with a base notion of "rough plant," from PIE *(s)kerb-, extended form of root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)).
slab (n.): late 13c., "large, flat mass," of unknown origin, possibly related to Old French escopel, escalpe "thin fragment of wood," which according to Klein is possibly a Gaulish word (compare Breton scolp, Welsh ysgolp "splinter, chip"). But OED rejects this on formal grounds. Meaning "rectangular block of pre-cast concrete used in building" is from 1927. Slab-sided is "having flat sides like slabs," hence "tall and lank" (1817, American English).
slang (n.): 1756, "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves," later "jargon of a particular profession" (1801), of uncertain origin, the usual guess being that it is from a Scandinavian source, such as Norwegian slengenamn "nickname," slengja kjeften "to abuse with words," literally "to sling the jaw," related to Old Norse slyngva "to sling." But OED, while admitting "some approximation in sense," discounts this connection based on "date and early associations." Liberman also denies it, as well as any connection with French langue (or language or lingo). Rather, he derives it elaborately from an old slang word meaning "narrow piece of land," itself of obscure origin. Century Dictionary says "there is no evidence to establish a Gipsy origin." Sense of "very informal language characterized by vividness and novelty" first recorded 1818.
[S]lang is a conscious offence against some conventional standard of propriety. A mere vulgarism is not slang, except when it is purposely adopted, and acquires an artificial currency, among some class of persons to whom it is not native. The other distinctive feature of slang is that it is neither part of the ordinary language, nor an attempt to supply its deficiencies. The slang word is a deliberate substitute for a word of the vernacular, just as the characters of a cipher are substitutes for the letters of the alphabet, or as a nickname is a substitute for a personal name. [Henry Bradley, from "Slang," in "Encyclopedia Britannica," 11th ed.]
A word that ought to have survived is slangwhanger (1807, American English) "noisy or abusive talker or writer."
slather (v.): "spread liberally," 1847, of uncertain origin. Early 19c. local glossaries from western England have the word with a sense "to slip or slide."
Slather on the manure on all the hoed crops, if you have it; if not buy of your improvident neighbor. ["Genesee Farmer," June 1847]
Sometimes said to be from a dialectal noun meaning "large amount" (usually as plural, slathers), but this is first attested 1855. Related: Slathered; slathering.
sleuth (n.): c. 1200, "track or trail of a person," from Old Norse sloð "trail," of uncertain origin. Meaning "detective" is 1872, shortening of sleuth-hound "keen investigator" (1849), a figurative use of a word that dates back to late 14c. meaning a kind of bloodhound. The verb (intransitive) meaning "to act as a detective, investigate" is recorded from 1905. Related: Sleuthed; sleuthing.
slogan (n.): 1670s, earlier slogorne (1510s), "battle cry," from Gaelic sluagh-ghairm "battle cry used by Scottish Highland or Irish clans," from sluagh "army, host, slew," from Celtic and Balto-Slavic *slough- "help, service." Second element is gairm "a cry" (see garrulous). Metaphoric sense of "distinctive word or phrase used by a political or other group" is first attested 1704.
slump (v.): 1670s, "fall or sink into a muddy place," probably from a Scandinavian source such as Norwegian and Danish slumpe "fall upon," Swedish slumpa; perhaps ultimately of imitative origin. Related: Slumped; slumping.
The word "slump," or "slumped," has too coarse a sound to be used by a lady. [Eliza Leslie, "Miss Leslie's Behaviour Book," Philadelphia, 1839]
Economic sense from 1888.
simplex (adj.): "characterized by a single part," 1590s, from Latin simplex "single, simple, plain, unmixed, uncompounded," literally "onefold," from PIE compound of *sem- (1) "one, as one, together with" (source also of Latin semper "always," literally "once for all;" Sanskrit sam "together;" see same) + *plac- "-fold," from PIE *plek- "to plait" (see ply (v.1.)). The noun is attested from 1892, "simple uncompounded word."
skald (n.): "Scandinavian poet and singer of medieval times," 1763, from Old Norse skald "skald, poet" (9c.), of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE root *sekw- (3) "to say, utter." The modern word is an antiquarian revival. "Usually applied to Norwegian and Icelandic poets of the Viking period and down to c 1250, but often without any clear idea as to their function and the character of their work" [OED]. Related: Scaldic.
skedaddle (v.): "to run away," 1861, American Civil War military slang, of unknown origin, perhaps connected to earlier use in northern England dialect with a meaning "to spill." Liberman says it "has no connection with any word of Greek, Irish, or Swedish, and it is not a blend" [contra De Vere]. He calls it instead an "enlargement of dial. scaddle 'scare, frighten.'" Related: Skedaddled; skedaddling. As a noun from 1870.
Scratch (n.2): in Old Scratch "the Devil," 1740, from earlier Scrat, from Old Norse skratte "goblin, wizard," a word which was used in late Old English to gloss "hermaphrodite;" probably originally "monster" (compare Old High German scraz, scrato "satyr, wood demon," German Schratt, Old High German screz "a goblin, imp, dwarf;" borrowed from Germanic into Slavic, as in Polish skrzat "a goblin").
scruple (n.): "moral misgiving, pang of conscience," late 14c., from Old French scrupule (14c.), from Latin scrupulus "uneasiness, anxiety, pricking of conscience," literally "small sharp stone," diminutive of scrupus "sharp stone or pebble," used figuratively by Cicero for a cause of uneasiness or anxiety, probably from the notion of having a pebble in one's shoe. The word in the more literal Latin sense of "small unit of weight or measurement" is attested in English from late 14c.
scrutiny (n.): early 15c., "a vote to choose someone to decide a question," from Late Latin scrutinium "a search, inquiry" (in Medieval Latin, "a mode of election by ballot"), from Latin scrutari "to examine, investigate, search," from PIE root *skreu- "to cut; cutting tool" (see shred (n.)). Meaning "close examination" first recorded c. 1600. Perhaps the original notion of the Latin word is "to search through trash," via scruta (plural) "trash, rags" ("shreds"); or the original sense might be "to cut into, scratch."
segment (n.): 1560s, from Latin segmentum "a strip or piece cut off, a cutting, strips of colored cloth," from secare "to cut" (see section (n.)), with euphonious alteration of -c- to -g- before -m-. Latin segmentum was used in Medieval Latin as a geometry term, translating Greek tmema, and the word was first picked up in English in this sense. Meaning "segmental portion of anything circular" is from 1640s; general sense of "a division, section" is from 1762.
seraglio (n.): "harem," also the name of a former palace of the sultan in Istanbul, 1580s, from Italian seraglio, alteration of Turkish saray "palace, court," from Persian sara'i "palace, inn," from Iranian base *thraya- "to protect" (source also of Avestan thrayeinti "they protect"), from PIE *tra-, variant form of root *tere- (2) "to cross over, pass through, overcome" (see through).

The Italian word probably reflects folk etymology influence of serraglio "enclosure, cage," from Medieval Latin serraculum "bung, stopper" (see serried).
attention (n.): late 14c., "giving heed," from Latin attentionem (nominative attentio) "attention, attentiveness," noun of action from past participle stem of attendere "mental heeding" (see attend). Used with a remarkable diversity of verbs (such as pay, gather, attract, draw, call). As a military cautionary word preparative to giving a command, it is attested from 1792. Attention span is from 1903 (earlier span of attention, 1892).
cadmium (n.): bluish-white metal, 1822, discovered 1817 by German scientist Friedrich Strohmeyer, coined in Modern Latin from cadmia, a word used by ancient naturalists for various earths and oxides (especially zinc carbonate), from Greek kadmeia (ge) "Cadmean (earth)," from Kadmos "Cadmus," legendary founder of Boeotian Thebes. With metallic element ending -ium. So called because the earth was first found in the vicinity of Thebes (Kadmeioi was an alternative name for "Thebans" since the time of Homer).
boughten (adj.): irregular past participle of buy; as an adjective from 1793, especially in colloquial U.S. usage, of clothing and other items, opposed to "made."
BOUGHTEN. Which is bought. This is a common word in the interior of New England and New York. It is applied to articles purchased from the shops, to distinguish them from similar articles of home manufacture. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
bouche (n.): French, literally "mouth" (Old French boche, 11c.), from Latin bucca "cheek," which in Late Latin replaced os (see oral) as the word for "mouth" (and also is the source of Italian bocca, Spanish boca). Borrowed in English in various senses, such as "king's allowance of food for his retinue" (mid-15c.); "mouth" (1580s); "metal plug for a cannon's vent" (1862; verb in this sense from 1781).
-cide: word-forming element meaning "killer," from French -cide, from Latin -cida "cutter, killer, slayer," from -cidere, comb. form of caedere "to strike down, chop, beat, hew, fell, slay," from PIE *kae-id-, from root *(s)k(h)ai- "to strike" (Pokorny, not in Watkins; cognates: Sanskrit skhidati "beats, tears," Lithuanian kaisti "shave," German heien "beat"). For Latin vowel change, see acquisition. The element also can represent "killing," from French -cide, from Latin -cidium "a cutting, a killing."
bis-: word-forming element meaning "twice," from Latin bis "twice, in two ways, doubly," from Old Latin dvis, cognate with Sanskrit dvih, Avestan bish, Greek dis, Middle High German zwis "twice," from PIE *dwo- "two" (see two). Also the form of bi- used before -s-, -c-, or a vowel.
blaspheme (v.): mid-14c., from Old French blasfemer "to blaspheme" (14c., Modern French blasphémer), from Church Latin blasphemare (also in Late Latin "revile, reproach"), from Greek blasphemein "to speak lightly or amiss of sacred things, to slander," from blasphemos "evil-speaking" (see blasphemy). A reintroduction after the original word had been worn down and sense-shifted to blame (v.). Related: Blasphemed; blaspheming.
blotter (n.): 1590s, "thing for drying wet spots," agent noun from blot (v.). Meaning "bad writer" is from c. 1600. Sense of "day book" is from 1670s, and the word was applied early 19c. to rough drafts, scrap books, notebooks, and draft account books. Hence the police jargon sense "arrest record sheet," recorded from 1887.
bombazine (n.): (also bombasine, bambazine), 1550s, from French bombasin (14c.) "cotton cloth," from Medieval Latin bombacinium "silk texture," from Late Latin bombycinium, neuter of bombycinius "silken," from bombyx "silk, silkworm," from Greek bombyx. The post-classical transfer of the word from "silk" to "cotton" may reflect the perceived "silk-like" nature of the fabric, or a waning of familiarity with genuine silk in the European Dark Ages, but compare bombast.
ferro-: before vowels ferr-, word-forming element indicating the presence of or derivation from iron, from Latin ferro-, comb. form of ferrum "iron," which is of unknown origin. Possibly of Semitic origin, via Etruscan [Klein]; Watkins suggests "possibly borrowed (via Etruscan) from the same obscure source as OE bræs "brass." Also sometimes especially indicative of the presence of iron in the ferrous state; ferri- indicating iron in the ferric state.
xeno-: before vowels, xen-, word-forming element meaning "strange, foreign; stranger, foreigner," from Greek xeno-, comb. form of xenos "a guest, stranger, foreigner, refugee, guest-friend, one entitled to hospitality," cognate with Latin hostis (see guest (n.)). "The term was politely used of any one whose name was unknown" [Liddell & Scott].
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n.): by 1881, from French, first word from Greek a-, privative prefix, + mys, myos "muscle" (see muscle (n.)) + trophikos "feeding," from trophe "nourishment" (see -trophy). Often known in U.S. as Lou Gehrig's disease, after the New York Yankees baseball player (1903-1941) who was diagnosed with it in 1939.
shaw (n.): "strip of wood forming the border of a field," 1570s, from Old English sceaga "copse," cognate with North Frisian skage "farthest edge of cultivated land," Old Norse skage "promontory," and perhaps with Old English sceaga "rough matted hair" (see shag (n.)). The Old English word also is the source of the surname Shaw (attested from late 12c.) and its related forms.
fylfot (n.): supposedly a native name for the swastika (used as a decorative device), but only attested in a single, damaged c. 1500 manuscript, and in that it might rather refer to any sort of device used to fill the bottom (foot) of a design. "[I]t is even possible that it may have been a mere nonce-word" [OED].
gallinaceous (adj.): "of or resembling domestic fowl," 1783, from Latin gallinaceus "of hens, of fowls, pertaining to poultry," from gallina "hen," a fem. formation from gallus "cock," probably from PIE root *gal- (2) "to call, shout" (see call (v.)) as "the calling bird." But it also has an ancient association with Gaul (see Gallic), and some speculate that this is the source of the word, "on the assumption that the Romans became acquainted with the cock from Gaul, where it was brought by the Phoenicians" [Buck].
blamed (adv.): "confoundedly" 1833, later also as an adjective, from past participle of blame (v.), as a "euphemistic evasion of the horrible word damn." [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848].
This adjective 'blamed' is the virtuous oath by which simple people, who are improving their habits, cure themselves of a stronger epithet. [Edward Everett Hale, "If, Yes, and Perhaps," 1868]
Compare also blamenation (1837) as an expletive. The imprecation blame me is attested from 1830.
herdsman (n.): "one employed in tending a herd of cattle," an alteration of Middle English herdman, from Old English heordman; see herd (n.1) + man (n.). The word was not common until the noun herd (n.2) in sense "keeper of domestic animals which go in herds" fell from use (compare shepherd). Intrusive -s- appeared early 15c., on model of craftsman, etc.
stationer (n.): "book-dealer, seller of books and paper," early 14c. (late 13c. as a surname), from Medieval Latin stationarius "tradesman who sells from a station or shop," noun use of Latin stationarius (see stationary). Roving peddlers were the norm in the Middle Ages; sellers with a fixed location often were bookshops licensed by universities; hence the word acquired a more specific sense than its etymological one.
holo-: before vowels, hol-, word-forming element meaning "whole, entire, complete," from Greek holos "whole, entire, complete," also "safe and sound;" as a noun, "the universe," as an adverb, "on the whole;" from PIE *sol-wo-, from root *sol- "whole" (see safe (adj.)). Often translated as whole, which it resembles but with which it apparently has no etymological connection.
Huron: North American lake, named for the native people who lived nearby, whose name is attested in English from 1650s, from French, from obsolete French huron "bristle-haired" (the French word frequently was used in reference to head-dresses, and that might be its original sense here), from Old French huré "bristly, unkempt, shaggy," which is of uncertain origin, but French sources indicate it probably is from Germanic.
illative (adj.): 1610s, "stating or introducing an inference" (of words such as because, then, therefore); 1630s, "inferential, arising from inference," from Late Latin illativus, from Latin illatus "brought in," used as past participle of inferre "to bring in, introduce" (see infer). Grammatical sense "case expressing motion into" is from 1890. As a noun from 1590s, "illative word." Related: Illation "action of inferring" (1530s).
hibernacle (n.): "winter residence, that which serves for shelter in winter," 1708, from Latin hibernacula (plural) "winter quarters, tents for winter," which is related to hibernare "to winter, occupy winter quarters" (see hibernation) with instrumentive suffix -culum. The Latin word was used in English in biology from 1690s. Related: Hibernacular.
haff (n.): also haaf, Baltic lagoon, separated from open sea by a sandbar, German, from Middle Low German haf "sea," related to Old Norse haf, Swedish haf "the sea," especially "the high sea," Danish hav, Old Frisian hef, Old English hæf "sea," perhaps literally "the rising one," and related to the root of heave. The same word as haaf "the deep sea," which survived in the fishing communities of the Shetland and Orkney islands.
hornblende (n.): common dark mineral, 1770, from German Hornblende, from horn "horn of an animal" (see horn (n.)) + blende (see blende).
The term "Hornblende" is an old German name for any dark, prismatic crystal found with metallic ores but containing no valuable metal (the word "Blende" indicates "a deceiver") [Herbert Bucksch, "Dictionary Geotechnical Engineering," 1995]
Related: Horneblendic.
gloomy (adj.): 1580s, probably from gloom (n.) even though that word is not attested as early as this one. Shakespeare used it of woods, Marlowe of persons. Gloomy Gus has been used in a general sense of "sullen person" since 1902, the name of a pessimistic and defeatist newspaper comics character introduced about that time by U.S. illustrator Frederick Burr Opper. Related: Gloomily; gloominess.
diplomatic (adj.): 1711, "pertaining to documents, texts, charters," from Medieval Latin diplomaticus, from diplomat-, stem of diploma (see diploma).

Meaning "pertaining to international relations" is recorded from 1787, apparently a sense evolved in 18c. from the use of diplomaticus in Modern Latin titles of collections of international treaties, etc., in which the word referred to the "texts" but came to be felt as meaning "pertaining to international relations." In the general sense of "tactful and adroit," it dates from 1826. Related: Diplomatically.
disposition (n.): late 14c., "ordering, management," also "tendency of mind," from Old French disposicion (12c.) "arrangement, order; mood, state of mind," from Latin dispositionem (nominative dispositio) "arrangement, management," noun of action from past participle stem of disponere "to put in order, arrange" (see dispose). References to "temperament" (late 14c. in English) are from astrological use of the word for "position of a planet as a determining influence."
extremity (n.): late 14c., "one of two things at the extreme ends of a scale," from Old French estremite (13c.), from Latin extremitatem (nominative extremitas) "the end of a thing," from extremus "outermost;" see extreme (adj.), the etymological sense of which is better preserved in this word. Meaning "utmost point or end" is from c. 1400; meaning "limb or organ of locomotion, appendage" is from early 15c. (compare extremities). Meaning "highest degree" of anything is early 15c. Related: Extremital.
exploit (v.): c. 1400, espleiten, esploiten "to accomplish, achieve, fulfill," from Old French esploitier, espleiter "carry out, perform, accomplish," from esploit (see exploit (n.)). The sense of "use selfishly" first recorded 1838, from a sense development in French perhaps from use of the word with reference to mines, etc. (compare exploitation). Related: Exploited; exploiting.
independence (n.): 1630s, "fact of not depending on others or another, self-support and self-government;" see independent + -ence. Earlier in same sense was independency (1610s). U.S. Independence Day (July 4, commemorating events of 1776) is recorded under that name by 1791.

An Old English word for it was selfdom, with self + dom "law," but in form this is closer to privilege (n.). The two concepts are not always distinguishable.
industrious (adj.): 1550s, "characterized by energy, effort, and attention; marked by industry," from Middle French industrieux (c. 1500) and directly from Late Latin industriosus, from Latin industria "diligence, activity" (see industry). Of persons, "given to industry, working diligently," 1590s. It retains the etymological sense of the Latin word while industrial serves in the modern senses. Related: Industriously; industriousness.
Byblos: ancient Phoenician port (modern Jebeil, Lebanon) from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. The name probably is a Greek corruption of Phoenician Gebhal, said to mean literally "frontier town" (compare Hebrew gebhul "frontier, boundary," Arabic jabal "mountain"), or perhaps it is Canaanite gubla "mountain." The Greek name also might have been influenced by, or come from, an Egyptian word for "papyrus."
bibliothek (n.): Old English biblioðece "the Scriptures," from Latin bibliotheka "library, room for books; collection of books," from Greek bibliotheke, literally "book-repository" (from biblion, see Bible, + theke "case, chest, sheath," from root of tithenai "to put, place;" see theme), used of the Bible by Jerome and serving as the common Latin word for it until Biblia began to displace it 9c.
sympathetic (adj.): 1640s, "pertaining to sympathy," from Modern Latin sympatheticus, from late Greek sympathetikos "having sympathy," from sympathein, from sympathes "having a fellow feeling, affected by like feelings" (see sympathy). In English, the meaning "having fellow feeling, susceptible to altruistic feelings" is recorded from 1718.

In the anatomical sense, "subject to a common nervous influence," the word is attested from 1769, from Modern Latin (nervus) sympathicus, coined by Jacques-Benigne Winslow (1669-1760), Danish anatomist living in Paris. Related: Sympathetical (1630s); Sympathetically (1620s).
landfall (n.): "sighting of land," 1620s, also "the first land 'made' on a sea voyage" (1883); from land (n.) + fall (v.) in the sense of "happen." A word from the days of imprecise nautical navigation.
Land-fall. The first land discovered after a sea voyage. Thus a good land fall implies the land expected or desired; a bad landfall the reverse. [John Hamilton Moore, "The New Practical Navigator," London, 1814]
Of hurricanes, by 1932.