Online Etymology Dictionary

land-shark (n.): "person who cheats or robs sailors ashore," 1769, from land (n.) + shark (n.). Smyth ("Sailor's Word-book," 1867) lists the types as "Crimps, pettifogging attorneys, slopmongers, and the canaille infesting the slums of seaport towns." As "land-grabber, speculator in real estate" from 1839. In both senses often in Australian and New Zealand publications during 19c.
hagio-: before vowels hagi-, word-forming element meaning "of a saint, saintly, holy," from Greek hagios "sacred, devoted to the gods" (of things), "holy, pure" (of persons), in Ecclesiastical Greek, "a saint," which is perhaps from PIE *yag- "to worship, reverence" (source also of Greek agnos "chaste," Sanskrit yajati "reveres (a god) with sacrifices, worships," Old Persian ayadana "temple").
hamartia (n.): "tragic flaw," Greek, literally "fault, failure, guilt, sin" from hamartanein "to fail of one's purpose; to err, sin," originally "to miss the mark," from PIE *hemert- "to miss, fail." "The aspiration must be analogical. The word has no known cognates, but the reconstructed root looks perfectly IE" [Robert Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"].
-happy: word-forming element used in World War II armed forces slang and after, meaning "crazed or frazzled from stress due to" the thing specified (as in bomb-happy (1942), flak-happy (1943), trigger-happy (1942). The model might have been slap-happy in pugilism from 1936 as a slang variant of "punch-drunk."
privilege (n.): mid-12c. "grant, commission" (recorded earlier in Old English, but as a Latin word), from Old French privilege "right, priority, privilege" (12c.) and directly from Latin privilegium "law applying to one person, bill of law in favor of or against an individual," in the post-Augustine period "an ordinance in favor of an individual, privilege, prerogative," from privus "individual" (see private (adj.)) + lex (genitive legis) "law" (see legal (adj.)). Meaning "advantage granted" is from mid-14c. in English.
leech (n.1): "bloodsucking aquatic worm," from Old English læce (Kentish lyce), of unknown origin (with a cognate in Middle Dutch lake). Commonly regarded as a transferred use of leech (n.2), but according to OED the Old English forms suggest this is a distinct word, which has been assimilated to leech (n.2) by folk etymology. Figuratively applied to human parasites since 1784.
legume (n.): plant of the group of the pulse family, pea, 1670s, from French légume (16c.), from Latin legumen "pulse, leguminous plant," of unknown origin. One suggestion ties it to Latin legere "to gather" (see lecture (n.)), because they can be scooped by the handful. Middle English had the word in the Latin form legumen (late 14c.).
Leicester: Middle English, earlier Ligraceaster, Ligera ceaster (early 10c.) "Roman Town of the People Called Ligore," a tribal name, perhaps "dwellers by the River Ligor." For second element, see Chester. The site is the Roman Ratae Coritanorum, fortified tribal capital of the Coritani, whose name is of unknown origin, with a Celtic word for "ramparts." The modern name "is best regarded as a new descriptive term for a deserted site" [Watts, "Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names"].
-ee: word-forming element in legal English (and in imitation of it), representing the Anglo-French -é ending of past participles used as nouns (compare -y (3)). As these sometimes were coupled with agent nouns in -or, the two suffixes came to be used as a pair to denote the initiator and the recipient of an action.

Not to be confused with the French -ée that is a feminine noun ending (as in fiancée), which is from Latin -ata.
kilo-: word-forming element meaning "one thousand," introduced in French 1795, when the metric system was officially adopted there; irregularly reduced from Greek khilioi "thousand," from PIE *gheslo- "thousand," source also of Sanskrit sahasra-, Avestan hazanjra "thousand." "It is usually assumed that Lat. mille should be connected too" [Beekes]; see milli-. "In the metric system, kilo- means multiplied, & milli- divided, by 1000" [Fowler].
student (n.): late 14c., from Old French estudiant "student, scholar, one who is studying" (Modern French étudiant), noun use of past participle of estudiier, from Medieval Latin studiare "to study," from Latin studium (see study (v.)). An Old English word for it was leorningcild "student, disciple." Student-teacher of a teacher in training working in a classroom is from 1851, American English.
leery (adj.): "knowing, wide-awake, untrusting, suspicious, alert," 1718, originally slang, with -y (2), but otherwise of unknown origin. Perhaps from dialectal lere "learning, knowledge" (see lore), or from leer (v.) in a now-obscure sense "walk stealthily with averted looks, sneak away" (1580s). OED suggests connection with archaic leer (adj.) "empty, useless," a general Germanic word (cognate with German leer, Dutch laar), of unknown origin.
lepido-: before vowels lepid-, word-forming element used since late 18c. in science with a sense of "scale" (of a fish, etc.), comb. form of Greek lepis (genitive lepidos) "scale of a fish" (related to lepein "to peel;" see leper). As in lepidodendron (1819 in German), common fossil "club-moss tree" of the Carboniferous.
lesion (n.): early 15c., "damage, injury," from Old French lesion "hurt, offense, wrong, injury, wound" (12c.), from Latin laesionem (nominative laesio) "a hurting, injuring, personal attack," noun of action from past participle stem of laedere "to strike, hurt, damage," a word of unknown origin with no certain cognates. Originally in English with reference to any sort of hurt, whether physical or not.
lecithin (n.): fatty substance found in the yolks of eggs (among other places), 1853, from French lécithine (coined 1850 by French pharmacist Theodore N. Gobley), from Greek lekithos "egg yolk," + chemical suffix -ine (2). Greek lekithos is of unknown origin; Beekes writes that, "Because of the suffixes and the meaning, the word is clearly of Pre-Greek origin." Related: Lecithinase.
lettuce (n.): garden herb extensively cultivated for use as a salad, late 13c., letuse, probably somehow from Old French laitues, plural of laitue "lettuce" (cognate with Spanish lechuga, Italian lattuga), from Latin lactuca "lettuce," from lac (genitive lactis) "milk" (see lacto-); so called for the milky juice of the plant. Old English had bprrpwed the Latin word as lactuce.
lethargy (n.): late 14c., litarge, "state of prolonged torpor or inactivity, inertness of body or mind," from Medieval Latin litargia, from Late Latin lethargia, from Greek lethargia "forgetfulness," from lethargos "forgetful," apparently etymologically "inactive through forgetfulness," from lethe "a forgetting, forgetfulness" (see latent) + argos "idle" (see argon). The form with -th- is from 1590s in English. The Medieval Latin word also is the source of Old French litargie (Modern French léthargie), Spanish and Italian letargia.
levee (n.2): "morning assembly held by a prince or king" (originally upon rising from bed), 1670s, a spelling intended to represent the pronunciation of French lever "a raising," noun use of verb meaning "to raise" (see levee (n.1)), or else from a variant form of levée in French, which, however, "has not the meaning 'a reception'" [Century Dictionary]. By mid-18c. the word in English was used of assemblies or receptions held at any hour.
poison (n.): c. 1200, "a deadly potion or substance," also figuratively, from Old French poison, puison (12c., Modern French poison) "a drink," especially a medical drink, later "a (magic) potion, poisonous drink" (14c.), from Latin potionem (nominative potio) "a drinking, a drink," also "poisonous drink" (Cicero), from potare "to drink" (see potion).

For form evolution from Latin to French, compare raison from rationem. The Latin word also is the source of Old Spanish pozon, Italian pozione, Spanish pocion. The more usual Indo-European word for this is represented in English by virus. The Old English word was ator (see attercop) or lybb (cognate with Old Norse lyf "medicinal herbs;" see leaf (n.)). Slang sense of "alcoholic drink" first attested 1805, American English.

For sense evolution, compare Old French enerber, enherber "to kill with poisonous plants." In many Germanic languages "poison" is named by a word equivalent to English gift (such as Old High German gift, German Gift, Danish and Swedish gift; Dutch gift, vergift). This shift might have been partly euphemistic, partly by influence of Greek dosis "a portion prescribed," literally "a giving," used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount of medicine (see dose (n.)).

Figuratively from late 15c.; of persons by 1910. As an adjective from 1520s; with plant names from 18c. Poison ivy first recorded 1784; poison oak is from 1743. Poison gas first recorded 1915. Poison-pen (letter) popularized 1913 by a notorious criminal case in Pennsylvania, U.S.; the phrase dates to 1898.
fee (n.): Middle English, representing the merger or mutual influence of two words, one from Old English, one from an Old French form of the same Germanic word, and both ultimately from a PIE root meaning "cattle."

The Old English word is feoh "livestock, cattle; movable property; possessions in livestock, goods, or money; riches, treasure, wealth; money as a medium of exchange or payment," from Proto-Germanic *fehu- (source also of Old Saxon fehu, Old High German fihu, German Vieh "cattle," Gothic faihu "money, fortune"). This is from PIE *peku- "cattle" (source also of Sanskrit pasu, Lithuanian pekus "cattle;" Latin pecu "cattle," pecunia "money, property").

The other word is Anglo-French fee, from Old French fieu, a variant of fief "possession, holding, domain; feudal duties, payment" (see fief), which apparently is a Germanic compound in which the first element is cognate with Old English feoh.

Via Anglo-French come the legal senses "estate in land or tenements held on condition of feudal homage; land, property, possession" (c. 1300). Hence fee-simple (late 14c.) "absolute ownership," as opposed to fee-tail (early 15c.) "entailed ownership," inheritance limited to some particular class of heirs (second element from Old French taillir "to cut, to limit").

The feudal sense was extended from landholdings to inheritable offices of service to a feudal lord (late 14c.; in Anglo-French late 13c.), for example forester of fe "a forester by heritable right." As these often were offices of profit, the word came to be used for "remuneration for service in office" (late 14c.), hence, "payment for (any kind of) work or services" (late 14c.). From late 14c. as "a sum paid for a privilege" (originally admission to a guild); early 15c. as "money payment or charge exacted for a licence, etc."
liable (adj.): mid-15c., "bound or obliged by law," probably from Anglo-French *liable, from Old French lier "to bind, tie up, fasten, tether; bind by obligation" (12c.), from Latin ligare "to bind, to tie" (see ligament). With -able. Perhaps from an unattested word in Old French or Medieval Latin. General sense of "exposed to" (something undesirable) is from 1590s. Incorrect use for "likely" is attested by 1850.
lame (n.): also lamé, "silk interwoven with metallic threads," 1918, from a specialized sense of French lame, which generally meant "thin metal plate (especially in armor), gold wire; blade; wave (of the sea)," from Old French lame "thin strip, panel, blade, sheet, slice" (13c.), from Latin lamina, lamna "thin piece or flake of metal" (see laminate (v.)). The same French word was used in English earlier in armory as "a plate of metal" (1580s).
aloft (adv.): c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse a lopti "up above," literally "up in the air," from a "in, on" + lopt "sky, air, atmosphere; loft, upper room," from the general Germanic word for "air" (cognate with Gothic luftus, Old High German luft, Old English lyft "air;" see loft (n.)).
vocabulary (n.): 1530s, "list of words with explanations," from Medieval Latin vocabularium "a list of words," from Latin vocabulum "word, name, noun," from vocare "to name, call," related to vox "voice," from PIE root *wekw- "give vocal utterance, speak" (see voice (n.)). Meaning "range of words in the language of a person or group" is first attested 1753.
linchpin (n.): also linch-pin, "peg that holds a wheel on an axle" (now mainly figurative), late 14c., a corruption of linspin, literally "axle-pin," from pin (n.) + from Middle English lins "axle," from Proto-Germanic *luniso (source also of Old Saxon lunisa, Middle Dutch lunse, Dutch luns, German Lünse), a word of uncertain origin.
limousine (n.): "enclosed automobile with open driver's seat," 1902, from French limousine, from Limousin, region in central France (see Limousine). The automobile meaning is from a perceived similarity of the car's profile to a type of hood worn by the inhabitants of that province. Since 1930s, it has been synonymous in American English with "luxury car." The word was applied from 1959 to vehicles that take people to and from large airports. Limousine liberal first attested 1969 (in reference to New York City Mayor John Lindsay).
limber (n.): "detachable forepart of a field-gun carriage," 1620s, alteration of Middle English lymer (early 15c.), earlier lymon (c. 1400), probably from Old French limon "shaft," a word perhaps of Celtic origin, or possibly from Germanic and related to limb (n.1). Compare related Spanish limon "shaft," leman "helmsman."

The nautical limber "hole cut in floor timbers to allow water to drain" (1620s), however, appears to be unrelated; perhaps from French lumière "hole, perforation," literally "light."
lilt (v.): 1510s, "to lift up" (the voice), probably from West Midlands dialect lulten "to sound an alarm" (late 14c.), a word of unknown origin. Possible relatives include Norwegian lilla "to sing" and Low German lul "pipe;" the whole loose group might be imitative. Sense of "sing in a light manner" is first recorded 1786. Related: Lilted; lilting. As a noun, 1728, "lilting song," from the verb. As "a rhythmical cadence," 1840.
lilac (n.): 1620s, shrub of genus Syringa with mauve flowers, from French lilac, from Spanish lilac, from Arabic lilak, from Persian lilak, variant of nilak "bluish," from nil "indigo" (compare Sanskrit nilah "dark blue"), a word of uncertain origin. Attested from 1791 as a color name; as a scent, from 1895. As an adjective, "pale pinkish-purple," from 1801. Related: Lilaceous.
lineage (n.): late 17c., from Middle English linage "line of descent; an ancestor" (c. 1300), from Old French lignage "descent, extraction, race" (11c.), from ligne "line," from Latin linea "line of descent," literally "string, line, thread" (see line (n.)). The word altered in spelling and pronunciation in early Modern English, apparently by some combined influence of line (n.) and lineal.
linkage (n.): "system of combined links," 1874, originally in mechanical engineering, from link (v.) + -age.
To understand the principle of Peaucellier's link-work, it is convenient to consider previously certain properties of a linkage, (to coin a new and useful word of general application), consisting of an arrangement of six links, obtained in the following manner ... (etc.). ["Recent Discoveries in Mechanical Conservation of Motion," in "Van Nostrand's Eclectic Engineering Magazine," vol. XI, July-December 1874]
linoleum (n.): 1860, coined by English inventor Frederick Walton (1837-1928), from Latin linum "flax, linen" (see linen) + oleum "oil" (see oil (n.)) and intended to indicate "linseed-oil cloth." Originally, a preparation of solidified linseed oil used to coat canvas for making floor coverings; the word was applied to the flooring material itself after 1878. The Linoleum Manufacturing Company was formed 1864.
berserker (n.): alternative form of berserk (q.v.), from Old Norse berserkr, accusative of berserk. This is the oldest form of the word in its revival in Modern English (1822), and perhaps Scott, who introduced it, mistook the -r for an agent-noun suffix. Further complicated because it has the form of the Old Norse plural, and English berserker sometimes is plural.
liquidate (v.): 1570s, of accounts, "to reduce to order, to set out clearly" (a sense now obsolete), from Late Latin or Medieval Latin liquidatus, past participle of liquidare "to melt, make liquid, make clear, clarify," from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist" (see liquid (adj.)). Sense of "clear away" (a debt) first recorded 1755. The meaning "wipe out, kill" is from 1924, possibly from Russian likvidirovat, ultimately from the Latin word. Related: Liquidated; liquidating.
ablaut (n.): "systematic vowel alteration in the root of a word to indicate shades of meaning or tense," a characteristic of Indo-European languages, 1849, from German Ablaut, literally "off-sound," coined by J.P. Zweigel in 1568 from ab "off" + Laut "sound, tone," from Old High German hlut (see listen (v.)). Popularized by Jacob Grimm.
lit (n.1): "color, hue, dye," early 12c., from Old Norse litr "color, hue; the color of the sky at dawn or dusk," from Proto-Germanic *wlitiz (source also of Old Frisian wlite "exterior, form," Gothic *wlits "face, form"). The cognate Old English word was wlite "brightness; appearance, form, aspect; look, countenance; beauty, splendor," which seems to have been rare after c. 1400. Compare litmus.
dome (n.): "round, vaulted roof," 1650s, from French dome (16c.), from Provençal doma, from Greek doma "house, housetop" (especially a style of roof from the east), related to domos "house" (see domestic (adj.)).

In the Middle Ages, German dom and Italian duomo were used for "cathedral" (on the notion of "God's house"), so English began to use this word in the sense "cupola," an architectural feature characteristic of Italian cathedrals. Used in U.S. also with reference to round summits of mountains.
lithotripsy (n.): operation of crushing a stone in the bladder, 1834, from litho- "stone" + -tripsy, from Greek tripsis "rubbing, friction," from tribein "to rub, thresh, pound, wear out," from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn, twist" (see throw (v.)). Klein says the intended Greek word is thryptein "to crush" and there has been "confusion" with tribein.
litigation (n.): "act of carrying on a lawsuit," 1640s, from Late Latin litigationem (nominative litigatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin litigare "to dispute, quarrel; sue, go to court," from phrase litem agere "to drive a suit," from litem (nominative lis) "lawsuit, dispute, quarrel, strife" + agere "to drive, conduct" (see act (n.)). The word was earlier in English in a now obsolete sense "disputation" (1560s). Other legal terms in English from Latin lis included litiscontestation (15c.), litispendence (17c.).
litigious (adj.): "fond of engaging in lawsuits," 1620s, from Middle French litigieux and directly from Latin litigiosus "contentious, quarrelsome," from litigium "dispute, strife," from litigare "to dispute, quarrel; sue, go to court" (see litigation). The word was in Middle English with a now-obsolete sense "fond of disputes" (late 14c.), making it senior in English to litigate or litigation. Related: Litigiousness; litigiosity.
livelihood (n.): 1610s, alteration of livelode "means of keeping alive" (c. 1300), from Old English liflad "course of life," from lif "life" (see life) + lad "way, course" (see load (n.)). Similar formation in Old High German libleita "provisions." Spelling assimilated to words in -hood. Earlier livelihood was a different word, meaning "liveliness," from lively.
lizard (n.): "an animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it" [Johnson], late 14c., lusarde, from Anglo-French lusard, Old French laisarde "lizard" (Modern French lézard), from Latin lacertus (fem. lacerta) "lizard," a word of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE root *leq- "to bend, twist" [Klein]. Ending probably influenced by words in -ard.
bad (adj.): c. 1200, "inferior in quality;" early 13c., "wicked, evil, vicious," a mystery word with no apparent relatives in other languages.* Possibly from Old English derogatory term bæddel and its diminutive bædling "effeminate man, hermaphrodite, pederast," probably related to bædan "to defile." A rare word before 1400, and evil was more common in this sense until c. 1700. Meaning "uncomfortable, sorry" is 1839, American English colloquial.

Comparable words in the other Indo-European languages tend to have grown from descriptions of specific qualities, such as "ugly," "defective," "weak," "faithless," "impudent," "crooked," "filthy" (such as Greek kakos, probably from the word for "excrement;" Russian plochoj, related to Old Church Slavonic plachu "wavering, timid;" Persian gast, Old Persian gasta-, related to gand "stench;" German schlecht, originally "level, straight, smooth," whence "simple, ordinary," then "bad").

Comparative and superlative forms badder, baddest were common 14c.-18c. and used as recently as Defoe (but not by Shakespeare), but yielded to comparative worse and superlative worst (which had belonged to evil and ill).

As a noun, late 14c., "evil, wickedness." In U.S. place names, sometimes translating native terms meaning "supernaturally dangerous." Ironic use as a word of approval is said to be at least since 1890s orally, originally in African-American vernacular, emerging in print 1928 in a jazz context. It might have emerged from the ambivalence of expressions like bad nigger, used as a term of reproach by whites, but among blacks sometimes representing one who stood up to injustice, but in the U.S. West bad man also had a certain ambivalence:
These are the men who do most of the killing in frontier communities, yet it is a noteworthy fact that the men who are killed generally deserve their fate. [Farmer & Henley]
*Farsi has bad in more or less the same sense as the English word, but this is regarded by linguists as a coincidence. The forms of the words diverge as they are traced back in time (Farsi bad comes from Middle Persian vat), and such accidental convergences exist across many languages, given the vast number of words in each and the limited range of sounds humans can make to signify them. Among other coincidental matches with English are Korean mani "many," Chinese pei "pay," Nahuatl (Aztecan) huel "well," Maya hol "hole."
Bible (n.): early 14c., from Anglo-Latin biblia, Old French bible (13c.) "the Bible," also any large book generally, from Medieval and Late Latin biblia "the Bible" (neuter plural interpreted as feminine singular), from phrase biblia sacra "holy books," a translation of Greek ta biblia to hagia "the holy books." The Latin word is from Greek biblion "paper, scroll," the ordinary word for "book," originally a diminutive of byblos "Egyptian papyrus."

The Greek word perhaps is from Byblos, the name of the Phoenician port from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece (modern Jebeil, in Lebanon; compare parchment). Or the place name might be from the Greek word, which then would be probably of Egyptian origin. The Christian scripture was referred to in Greek as Ta Biblia as early as c. 223. Bible replaced Old English biblioðece (see bibliothek) as the ordinary word for "the Scriptures." Figurative sense of "any authoritative book" is from 1804. Bible-thumper "strict Christian" is from 1870. Bible belt in reference to the swath of the U.S. South then dominated by fundamentalist Christians is from 1926; likely coined by H.L. Mencken in the "American Mercury."
Walter Scott and Pope's Homer were reading of my own election, but my mother forced me, by steady daily toil, to learn long chapters of the Bible by heart; as well as to read it every syllable through, aloud, hard names and all, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, about once a year; and to that discipline -- patient, accurate, and resolute -- I owe, not only a knowledge of the book, which I find occasionally serviceable, but much of my general power of taking pains, and the best part of my taste in literature. ... [O]nce knowing the 32nd of Deuteronomy, the 119th Psalm, the 15th of 1st Corinthians, the Sermon on the Mount, and most of the Apocalypse, every syllable by heart, and having always a way of thinking with myself what words meant, it was not possible for me, even in the foolishest times of youth, to write entirely superficial or formal English .... [John Ruskin, "Fors Clavigera," 1871]
fuck (v.): "to have sexual intercourse with" (transitive), until recently a difficult word to trace in usage, in part because it was omitted as taboo by the editors of the original OED when the "F" entries were compiled (1893-97). Johnson also had excluded the word, and fuck wasn't in a single English language dictionary from 1795 to 1965. "The Penguin Dictionary" broke the taboo in the latter year. Houghton Mifflin followed, in 1969, with "The American Heritage Dictionary," but it also published a "Clean Green" edition without the word, to assure itself access to the public high school market.

Written form attested at least from early 16c.; OED 2nd edition cites 1503, in the form fukkit, and the earliest attested appearance of current spelling is 1535 ("Bischops ... may fuck thair fill and be vnmaryit" [Sir David Lyndesay, "Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits"]). Presumably it is a more ancient word, but one not written in the kind of texts that have survived from Old English and Middle English [September 2015: the verb appears to have been found recently in an English court manuscript from 1310]. Buck cites proper name John le Fucker from 1278, but that surname could have other explanations. The word apparently is hinted at in a scurrilous 15c. poem, titled "Flen flyys," written in bastard Latin and Middle English. The relevant line reads:
Non sunt in celi
quia fuccant uuiuys of heli
"They [the monks] are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of [the town of] Ely." Fuccant is pseudo-Latin, and in the original it is written in cipher. The earliest examples of the word otherwise are from Scottish, which suggests a Scandinavian origin, perhaps from a word akin to Norwegian dialectal fukka "copulate," or Swedish dialectal focka "copulate, strike, push," and fock "penis." Another theory traces the Modern English verb to Middle English fyke, fike "move restlessly, fidget" (see fike) which also meant "dally, flirt," and probably is from a general North Sea Germanic word (compare Middle Dutch fokken, German ficken "fuck," earlier "make quick movements to and fro, flick," still earlier "itch, scratch;" the vulgar sense attested from 16c.). This would parallel in sense the vulgar Middle English term for "have sexual intercourse," swive, from Old English swifan "to move lightly over, sweep" (see swivel). But OED remarks that these "cannot be shown to be related" to the English word. Liberman has this to say:
Germanic words of similar form (f + vowel + consonant) and meaning 'copulate' are numerous. One of them is G. ficken. They often have additional senses, especially 'cheat,' but their basic meaning is 'move back and forth.' ... Most probably, fuck is a borrowing from Low German and has no cognates outside Germanic.
Chronology and phonology rule out Shipley's attempt to derive it from Middle English firk "to press hard, beat." The unkillable urban legend that this word is an acronym of some sort (a fiction traceable on the Internet to 1995 but probably predating that), and the "pluck yew" fable, are results of ingenious trifling (also see here). The Old English verb for "have sexual intercourse with" was hæman, from ham "dwelling, home," with a sense of "take home, co-habit." French foutre and Italian fottere seem to resemble the English word but are unrelated, descending rather from Latin futuere, which perhaps is from PIE root *bhau(t)- "knock, strike off," extended via a figurative use "from the sexual application of violent action" [Shipley; compare the sexual slang use of bang, etc.].

Fuck was outlawed in print in England (by the Obscene Publications Act, 1857) and the U.S. (by the Comstock Act, 1873). The word continued in common speech, however. During World War I: "It became so common that an effective way for the soldier to express this emotion was to omit this word. Thus if a sergeant said, 'Get your ----ing rifles!' it was understood as a matter of routine. But if he said 'Get your rifles!' there was an immediate implication of urgency and danger." [John Brophy, "Songs and Slang of the British Soldier: 1914-1918," pub. 1930]. The legal barriers against use in print broke down in mid-20c. with the "Ulysses" decision (U.S., 1933) and "Lady Chatterley's Lover" (U.S., 1959; U.K., 1960). The major breakthrough in publication was James Jones' "From Here to Eternity" (1950), with 50 fucks (down from 258 in the original manuscript).

The abbreviation F (or eff) probably began as euphemistic, but by 1943 it was regarded as a cuss word in its own right. In 1948, the publishers of "The Naked and the Dead" persuaded Norman Mailer to use the euphemism fug. When Mailer later was introduced to Dorothy Parker, she greeted him with, "So you're the man who can't spell 'fuck' " [The quip sometimes is attributed to Tallulah Bankhead]. Hemingway used muck in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940). Related: Fucked; fucking. Fuck-all "nothing" first recorded 1960. Verbal phrase fuck up "to ruin, spoil, destroy" is attested from c. 1916. A widespread group of Slavic words (such as Polish pierdolić) can mean both "fornicate" and "make a mistake." Fuck off attested from 1929; as a command to depart, by 1944. Egyptian legal agreements from the 23rd Dynasty (749-21 B.C.E.) frequently include the phrase, "If you do not obey this decree, may a donkey copulate with you!" [Reinhold Aman, "Maledicta," Summer 1977].
czar (n.): 1550s, from Russian tsar, from Old Slavic tsesari, from Gothic kaisar, from Greek kaisar, from Latin Caesar. First adopted by Russian emperor Ivan IV, 1547.
The spelling with cz- is against the usage of all Slavonic languages; the word was so spelt by Herberstein, Rerum Moscovit. Commentarii, 1549, the chief early source of knowledge as to Russia in Western Europe, whence it passed into the Western Languages generally; in some of these it is now old-fashioned; the usual Ger. form is now zar; French adopted tsar during the 19th c. This also became frequent in English towards the end of that century, having been adopted by the Times newspaper as the most suitable English spelling. [OED]
The Germanic form of the word also is the source of Finnish keisari, Estonian keisar. The transferred sense of "person with dictatorial powers" is first recorded 1866, American English, initially in reference to President Andrew Johnson. The fem. czarina is 1717, from Italian czarina, from Ger. Zarin, fem. of Zar "czar." The Russian fem. form is tsaritsa. His son is tsarevitch, his daughter is tsarevna.
fame (n.): early 13c., "character attributed to someone;" late 13c., "celebrity, renown," from Old French fame "fame, reputation, renown, rumor" (12c.), from Latin fama "talk, rumor, report; reputation, public opinion; renown, good reputation," but also "ill-fame, scandal, reproach," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (source also of Sanskrit bhanati "speaks;" Latin fari "to say," fabula "narrative, account, tale, story;" Armenian ban, bay "word, term;" Old Church Slavonic bajati "to talk, tell;" Old English boian "to boast," ben "prayer, request;" Greek pheme "speech, voice, utterance, a speaking, talk," phone "voice, sound," phanai "to speak;" Old Irish bann "law").

The goddess Fama was the personification of rumor in Roman mythology. The Latin derivative fabulare was the colloquial word for "speak, talk" since the time of Plautus, whence Spanish hablar.
I've always been afraid I was going to tap the world on the shoulder for 20 years, and when it finally turned around I was going to forget what I had to say. [Tom Waits, "Playboy" magazine interview, March, 1988]
fascinate (v.): 1590s, "bewitch, enchant," from Middle French fasciner (14c.), from Latin fascinatus, past participle of fascinare "bewitch, enchant, fascinate," from fascinus "a charm, enchantment, spell, witchcraft," which is of uncertain origin. Earliest used of witches and of serpents, who were said to be able to cast a spell by a look that rendered one unable to move or resist. Sense of "delight, attract and hold the attention of" is first recorded 1815.
To fascinate is to bring under a spell, as by the power of the eye; to enchant and to charm are to bring under a spell by some more subtle and mysterious power. [Century Dictionary]
Possibly from Greek baskanos "slander, envy, malice," later "witchcraft, sorcerery," with form influenced by Latin fari "speak" (see fame (n.)), but others say the resemblance of the Latin and Greek words is accidental. The Greek word might be from a Thracian equivalent of Greek phaskein "to say;" compare enchant, and German besprechen "to charm," from sprechen "to speak." Watkins suggests the Latin word is perhaps from PIE *bhasko- "band, bundle" via a connecting sense of "amulet in the form of a phallus" (compare Latin fascinum "human penis; artificial phallus; dildo"). Related: Fascinated; fascinating.
If [baskanos] and fascinum are indeed related, they would point to a meaning 'curse, spell' in a loanword from an unknown third language. [de Vaan]
garbage (n.): "refuse, filth," 1580s; earlier "giblets, refuse of a fowl, waste parts of an animal (head, feet, etc.) used for human food" (early 15c., in early use also gabage, garbish, garbidge ), of unknown origin; OED says probably from Anglo-French "like many other words found in early cookery books." In its sense of "waste material, refuse" it has been influenced by and partly confused with garble (q.v.) in its older sense of "remove refuse material from spices;" Middle English had the derived noun garbelage but it is attested only as the action of removing the refuse, not the material itself.

Perhaps the English word originally is from a derivative of Old French garbe/jarbe "sheaf of wheat, bundle of sheaves," though the sense connection is difficult. This word is from Proto-Germanic *garba- (source also of Dutch garf, German garbe "sheaf"), from PIE *ghrebh- (1) "to seize, reach" (see grab (v.)).

"In modern American usage garbage is generally restricted to mean kitchen and vegetable wastes" [Craigie]. Used figuratively for "worthless, offensive stuff" from 1590s. Garbage can is from 1901. Garbage collector "trash man" is from 1872; Australian shortening garbo attested from 1953. Garbology "study of waste as a social science" is by 1976; garbologist is from 1965.
jitney (n.): "bus which carries passengers for a fare," 1915, short for jitney bus (1906), American English, from gitney (n.), said in a 1903 newspaper article to be a St. Louis slang for any small coin, especially "a nickel," (the buses' fare typically was a nickel), the coin name perhaps via New Orleans from French jeton "coin-sized metal disk, slug, counter" (see jetton).
"I'll give a nickel for a kiss,"
Said Cholly to a pretty miss.
"Skiddo," she cried, "you stingy cuss,"
"You're looking for a jitney buss."

["Jitney Jingle," 1915]
The origin and signification of the word was much discussed when the buses first appeared. Some reports say the slang word for "nickel" comes from the bus; most say the reverse, however there does not seem to be much record of jitney in a coin sense before the buses came along (a writer in "The Hub," August 1915, claims to have heard and used it as a small boy in San Francisco, and reported hearsay that "It has been in use there since the days of '49"). Most sources credit it to the U.S. West, especially California, though others trace it to "southern negroes, especially in Memphis" ["The Pacific," Feb. 7, 1915].