Questions tagged [etymology]
Questions about tracing out and describing the elements of an individual word, as well as the historical changes in form and sense which that word has experienced over its history. Please use the 'phrase-origin' tag for phrase/expression origins.
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Is "samuraily" correct?
Pahlavāni, knighthood, and samuraily may be different in forms of
cultural output, but all three are inherently from the same
historical essence.
Pahlavāni (پهلوانی) is a Persian word. In its ...
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What is the origin of the word "f***" [closed]
Out of curiosity, I just want to know the origin of the word "fuck". I have researched a bit but I want to know what words from different languages make up this English word.
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What is the history of the word 'wherry,' and why is it virtually unknown today?
The boats crossing the Thames before all the bridges were built in the late 1700s were called wherries.
Wiktionary; however, says the term wherry is much older:
From Middle English whery (“small boat”...
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Questions about the word "enhance" [closed]
I want to know the usage over time from when the word enhance was first used and how many people are using it now. Also, I want to know the history of the word (enhance) if it was spelled differently ...
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“Crone” and “Crony”
Looking at the etymology of crone, a derogatory term for an old frail woman, we see it is a Late Middle English word, derived from Middle Dutch croonje, caroonje ‘carcass, old ewe’ with possible ties ...
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Is "inauthentic" inauthentic?
"Inauthentic" is more commonly used than "unauthentic", at least these days, but they are both valid. Several sources (World Wide Words for example) suggest what prefix the ...
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Why was the Sanskrit word "laksha" anglicized to "lakh"?
This is something that I have been wondering about for a while, and I thought that I could ask about it here. I am unsure about whether this is strictly "on-topic" because it may be only ...
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Why does the suffix “able” sometimes have the meaning of obligation in words such as payable or answerable?
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary,
the meanings of responsible, answerable, and payable
are
responsible: liable to be called on to answer
answerable: liable to be called to account
...
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Are these related in etymology: oculus, nox or noctis, and noceo? [migrated]
I was wondering if the following three word roots are related from the perspective of etymology:
oculus: eye, or puncture or hole. e.g. inoculate
nox, noctis: "night," e.g. nocturnal
noceo:...
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Etymology of the word 'cheatercock'
There's a word used in India, 'cheatercock.' Wiktionary defines a 'cheatercock' as
(India) Someone who violates rules in order to gain an advantage; a cheater.
There are a few hits online, mostly in ...
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Origin of the word "pinkendindies"
I was wondering if anyone has ever come across the term “pink-in-dindies,” which I came across in a Dublin newspaper from Dec. 1780 which records that “ruffians distinguished by the appellation of ...
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If "in-" forms antonyms, why is "invaluable" not the opposite of "valuable"?
I'm not an native speaker. Most of the time when I hear a word that starts with "in-" I think of an opposite, a negation:
visible – invisible
valid – invalid
dependent – independent
But I ...
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Why do some fetishes use the suffix -philia, but others have -lagnia?
I was interested to learn that hemophilia does not refer to the sexual fetish for blood, but a desiese. The fetish is called hemeotolagnia. This has me wondering, why do most words that refer to ...
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Origin of the term "intellectual"
The Wikipedia entry on the Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906) contains a sentence that says It was during The Affair that the term "intellectual" was coined in France. And a footnote links it to a &...
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What is the origin and meaning of the term "rack rent"? [closed]
I think that "rack rent" a term that's defined in case law but it doesn't seem to have much other/colloquial usage.
What is the origin and meaning of this term?
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Etymology of "what's the deal with __"?
What is the etymology of the informal usage of 'the deal' in phrases like "what's the deal with __?" or in "what's his deal?"
About the word 'deal', etymonline mentions
Business ...
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Why does mathematics say "quadratic" instead of "squaric"?
In mathematics, powers of 2 and 3 are often referred to using "square" and "cube" terminology: a "number squared/cubed", the "square/cube root of a number". ...
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Prospective means future-looking, retrospective means past-looking. What means present-looking?
This is actually two questions. One: is there a word that means present-looking? And: if there isn't, what should the neologism be? Spective? Conspective?
Note that although this is a serious question,...
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How come "screw over" means "to cheat"?
I looked it up in Wiktionary, and I've found out that the term "screw over" means "to cheat someone, or ruin their chances in a game or other situation."
I want to know how that ...
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Why do some irregular verbs, such as swing/swung and sting/stung, only have two forms instead of three?
Folks, my question has to do with really difficult things to understand, so I've chosen this forum and think only truly wise owls are able to help me.
As you, I hope, know, lots of English irregular ...
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Where does the subcontinental usage of 'one' to mean 'named' come from?
Sometimes, when reading texts published in India, written by authors of Indian origin, I notice a usage of the word one in the sense of 'named,' or 'is called.' For instance, it's present in this ...
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Approximately when did the term "meme" reach the tipping point into widespread popularity on the internet?
When you look up the etymology of the word "meme", you find a bunch of stuff talking about its origins in Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene of course, originally as a term to refer to an ...
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When and where did "perk" become the common shortened form of "perquisite"?
Merriam-Webster cites 1824 as the first usage of "perk" as a noun as short for "perquisite". I'm curious if this occurred in a particular location (e.g., America or England) or if ...
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Are the words "Adam" and "Earth" etymologyically related? [closed]
Tolkein named his world Arda likely because in the European languages the name for the earth generally has an er sound and d or th sound, sometimes with a soft vowel after "eerde" "...
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answer
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At what point did most English speakers know the joke, "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch!"? [closed]
When is the first documented usage of the joke, "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch!"? At what point in history would most English-speakers know this joke, meaning, if you stopped ...
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What is the meaning of 'choffer'?
While looking into this question asking for a word for someone who tries to impress another, I kept thinking of something I heard in the video game Dishonored:
Blow off, choffer!
It is used as a ...
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What is the antonym of 'Capital' letters? [duplicate]
Like how the antonym of uppercase is lowercase, and of majuscule is minuscule, what is capital's own antonym?
Alternatively, if capital has no unique antonym of its own, how did it come to refer to ...
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What is the origin of the idiom "I did her"?
I've been watching a TV show called Two and a Half Men and there's a part where Allan says to Charlie:
Why what'd you do?
and Charlie replies
I did Rose.
I've researched this and found that the ...
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Why does 'tropical' mean 'figurative'?
I came across the word tropical in a context which seemed nonsensical but, according to Merriam-Webster, the word can mean 'figurative' or 'metaphorical':
tropical:
...
2 : FIGURATIVE sense 2
...
an ...
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Constructing an active verb out of a passive word [closed]
Consider the following words:
capture:
to take captive, to gain control of especially by force; to gain or win especially through effort
captive:
taken and held as or as if a prisoner of war; kept ...
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What's the origin of the idiom "fish for a compliment"
I have been searching for the origin of the phrase "fish for a compliment", but I couldn't find anything on the internet. Goose egg!
The Free Dictionary defines the idiom
fish for ...
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"Lite" used instead of "light" in pinball
In pinball instructions, I always come across the spelling "lite" being used instead of "light", e.g. "drop all targets to lite special". The practice persists to this ...
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The origin of awesomesauce and weak sauce
John's awesomesauce weekend in Vegas ended prematurely.
And he prayed with such authority that my prayers felt like weak sauce by comparison.
How did the words awesomesauce and weak sauce originate ...
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Is there a possible connection between the two different meanings (forest, ruler) of the Old English word 'weald'?
The old english word for 'forest' is weald, yet the old english word for 'ruler' is also weald.
What could be a possible explanation for this? Is there a possible connection between the two meanings ...
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What is the term or word used to describe a name such as 'N.S Ennis' where the initials 'N.S' sound the same as the surname 'Ennis'?
My name, 'N.S Ennis', was called out in a waiting room some years ago and I was told there was an actual term for this occurrence where the initials 'NS' sound the same as the surname 'Ennis'. I am ...
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Why do South Indians call restaurants 'hotels'?
In South India, it's common to use the word 'hotel' when referring to what North Indians (and most of the rest of the world) know as a 'restaurant.' It's not just a phenomenon seen among small, micro-...
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Dupe etymology?
If one googles, one finds that Oxford Languages (ex 'Lexico' etc) claims that the etymology of dupe is that the word is based on the old French word for a type of bird thought to be unintelligent:
...
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Origin of the word 'unagreed'?
What’s the origin of unagreed?
I can find the word in Collin's Dictionary, used in parliamentary publications, as well as in American news articles.
However it's lacking from Merriam-Webster and there'...
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When did calling someone "Einstein" ironically become common?
In “The Children” (1937) by Howard Fast, a mentally-handicapped youngster is ironically referred to as “Thomas Edison” as Edison probably was, in the USA, the best-known "smart guy".
Today, ...
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Why are English tense names backward (adjective after noun)? [duplicate]
The adjectives in English tense names to often be postpositive adjective: present continuous/progressive/perfect(ive). Simple is used rather sloppily by different authorities, varying in either being ...
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Was cleavage first used for Jane Russell?
While trying to understand when and why the term cleavage was first used to refer to a woman neckline I’ve found that:
The sense of "cleft between a woman's breasts in low-cut clothing" is ...
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Redeem - different meanings - related?
I'm flummoxed by the various meanings on 'redeem' involving improvement or rescue (of a person) and also involving satisfaction of a debt/obligation and other financial uses. The connection between ...
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Why did 'decrepit' replace 'decrepid'
According to wiktionary, 'decrepid' was a common alternative spelling of 'decrepit', declining in usage and becoming uncommon around 1930s.
Why did 'decrepit' replace 'decrepid'? I can't think of any ...
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Darn and d—n, are they connected? [closed]
I am curious about the word darn and its use as a verb meaning to mend knitted clothing and as a minced oath substituting for damn.
Did darn become a minced oath simply because it sounds like damn and ...
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The history of “to see say” better known as “voir dire”
Fans of the American TV show, Law & Order, may be familiar with the procedure called voir dire, whereby lawyers interrogate would-be-members of the jury in order to select jurors who will be ...
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What is the origin of "New Year"?
When I search the origin of "New Year", I find its history and origin in Roman Empire (and Julian calendar) as it is expected. However, the notion of "New Year" goes back to ...
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Origin of "By a landslide" to mean "by a huge margin"
Since exactly when did the word "landslide" started being used in context of depicting anything huge (but especially margins) apart from it's literal meaning and sense.
Especially when did ...
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What is the origin and meaning of the expression "going doolally"?
Today I came across the expression "going doolally" which was aimed at an individual and I suspect it is uncomplimentary. From where did the expression originate and what does it mean?
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The Saxon word "Scop" as in "bard."
Old & Middle English/Germanic Languages–Scholars, please help.
I'm interested in any information you might share on all senses of the Saxon word "Scop," meaning "Bard" or "...
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"Tranche" as synonym for "collection"
Recently there have been a tranche (:/) of news articles referring to a "tranche of documents" found in Donald Trump's possession. Most dictionaries, e.g., Merriam-Webster
a division or ...
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