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171 entries found
YMCA (n.)
also Y.M.C.A., 1868, initialism (acronym) of Young Men's Christian Association.
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yo 
as a greeting, 1859, but the word is attested as a sailor's or huntsman's utterance since early 15c. Modern popularity dates from World War II (when, it is said, it was a common response at roll calls) and seems to have been most intense in Philadelphia.
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yo-yo (n.)
1915, apparently from a language of the Philippines. Registered as a trademark in Vancouver, Canada, in 1932, the year the first craze for them began (subsequent fads 1950s, 1970s, 1998). The toy itself is much older and was earlier known as bandalore (1802), a word of obscure origin, "but it was from American contact in the Philippines that the first commercial development was established" [Century Dictionary]. Figurative sense of any "up-and-down movement" is first recorded 1932. Meaning "stupid person" is recorded from 1970. The verb in the figurative sense is attested from 1967.
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yob (n.)
"a youth," 1859, British English, back-slang from boy. By 1930s with overtones of "hooligan, lout." Related: extended form yobbo.
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yod (n.)
10th and smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet (compare jot, iota).
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yodel (v.)
"sing by sudden changing to and from falsetto," 1827, from German jodeln, from dialectal German jo, an exclamation of joy, of imitative origin. As a noun from 1849.
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yoga (n.)
1820, from Hindi yoga, from Sanskrit yoga-s, literally "union, yoking" (with the Supreme Spirit), from PIE root *yeug- "to join." Related: Yogic.
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yogh (n.)
Middle English letter (Ȝ), c. 1300; see Y. The name probably is identical with yoke (Middle English yogh) and so called because yoke began with a yogh.
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yogi (n.)
"one who practices yoga," 1610s, from Hindi yogi, from Sanskrit yoga- (see yoga). Related: Yogism.
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yogurt (n.)
also yoghurt, 1620s, a mispronunciation of Turkish yogurt, in which the -g- is a "soft" sound, in many dialects closer to an English "w." The root yog means roughly "to condense" and is related to yogun "intense," yogush "liquify" (of water vapor), yogur "knead."
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