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2110 entries found
funipendulous (adj.)
"hanging from a rope," 1706, from stem of Latin funis "a cord, rope" + pendulus (see pendulous) + -ous.
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funk (n.2)
"bad smell," 1620s, probably from the verb funk in the sense "blow smoke upon; stifle with offensive vapor" (though this is not recorded until later 17c.). It is from dialectal French funkière "to smoke," from Old French fungier "give off smoke; fill with smoke," from Latin fumigare "to smoke" (see fume (n.)).

Not considered to be related to obsolete funk (n.) "a spark," mid-14c., fonke, a general Germanic word (compare Dutch vonk, Old High German funcho, German Funke. The Middle English word is probably from Low German or from an unrecorded Old English form.

In reference to a style of music felt to have a strong, earthy quality, it is attested by 1959, a back-formation from funky (q.v.).
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funk (n.1)
"depression, ill-humor," perhaps from earlier sense "cowering state of fear" (1743), identified in OED as originally Oxford slang, probably from Scottish and Northern English verb funk "become afraid, shrink through fear, fail through panic," (1737), of unknown origin. Perhaps from Flemish fonck "perturbation, agitation, distress," which is possibly related to Old French funicle "wild, mad."
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funky (adj.)
1784, "old, musty," in reference to cheeses, then "repulsive," from funk (n.2) + -y (2). It began to develop an approving sense in jazz slang c. 1900, probably on the notion of "earthy, strong, deeply felt." Funky also was used early 20c. by white writers in reference to body odor allegedly peculiar to blacks. The word reached wider popularity c. 1954 (it was defined in "Time" magazine, Nov. 8, 1954) and in the 1960s acquired a broad slang sense of "fine, stylish, excellent."
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funnel (v.)
1590s, from funnel (n.). Related: Funneled; funneling.
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funnel (n.)
c. 1400, funell, fonel, from Middle French fonel, apparently a word from a southern French dialect, such as Provençal enfounilh (Weekley calls it "a word from the Southern wine trade"), from Late Latin fundibulum, shortened from Latin infundibulum "a funnel or hopper in a mill," from infundere "pour in," from in- "in" + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour").
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funnies (n.)
"newspaper comic strips," 1852, plural noun formation from funny (adj.).
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funnily (adv.)
"in an amusing manner, comically," 1814, from funny + -ly (2).
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funniment (n.)
"drollery, jesting," 1842, jocular formation from funny on model of merriment.
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funning (n.)
"jesting, joking," by 1900, verbal noun from fun (v.).
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