Word and Phrase Origins
Includes questions related to the origins and etymology of English words and phrases.
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Answers
Durkee Atwood
Ntembu
AquaRescue
IObsceneBarbie
Francepa
Edits
Lazarus
Peterc14
Durkee Atwood
Theprismgroup
On the Wallaby
Organization
Peterc14
Snooze2702
An8thg
Adamlance
Notyouraveragedummy
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Dragonk
Maria Davies
Teppet
Sierra Marie Ciesielski
Marissa Murrayaffiance, affirmation, agreement, asseveration,assurance, avowal, betrothal, bond, commitment,compact, consent, contract,...
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its comes from the shothern hemipesa in Asia
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Ultimately, from Latin: Middle English frenesie, from Old French, from Medieval Latin phrenēsia, from Latin phrenēsis,...
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Two peas in a pod means to be very similar in something.
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Many decades ago, children's roller skates were made of metal, and clamped on to children's shoes. They were tightened with a...
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they are words that have two sounds to them
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Shoah is a Biblical word which means "Calamity" that was started in use in the 1940's by Jewish people to refer to the Holocaust....
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October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. October is the eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October...
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1598: Latin uxorious, uxorial, from uxor 'wife.'
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you call them a speaker that speaks in situations...?
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where was the word colonel origin
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Trouvé dans le dictionnaire etimologique 1864, after Rugby, public school where the game was played, from city of Rugby in...
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The English word remember derives from Anglo-Norman French remembrer, which in turn comes from Latin re- (again) and memorare (to...
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From a Spanish word meaning "to go, to walk".
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Apparently that is what a comet looked like to the ancients.
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It started in its rawest format in Rugby School, Rugby Warwickshire England in 1823. In those days football (soccer) was played...
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Earliest forms were for a male goat and then later a male deer. The shift to the usage with money comes from buckskins, which...
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Klima is a tagalog word for climate.
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This was the pet name that Alma Spreckels gave to her husband Adolph Spreckels who was the heir along with his brother Rudolph to...
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It comes to English via the Saxons, who spoke Low German; they called it a Huus. Before that, it may have come from the...
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Jazz Musician Lester Young is said to have popularised the term in the 1930's in Jazz circles with his style of "smooth Jazz" It...
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AnswerFrom the greek aster to the latin Stella, which became in olde English estella and eventually star.
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"Fiddlesticks" is a dismissive term meaning that what was just said was nonsense or irrelevant.(for further information, see the...
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they are north,northeast.,northwest.east southeast,south,southwest, and of course southe east The "Cardinal directions" are...
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job 1557, in phrase jobbe of worke "piece of work" (contrasted with continuous labor), perhaps a variant of gobbe "mass, lump"...
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It is French, ultimately either from a Basque word for "beard" (Spanish soldiers, who were bearded, were a shock to the French)...
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From old practice of land claims, mineral rights, etc., where one placed a (wooden) stake to delineate the boundary of a claim of...
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"You're welcome" is the grammatical combination of the Old English word "wilcume" ("wil"-"cume"; or "pleasure"-"come"). In...
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The term "Fighting Irish" is a handle which traces back to an infantry brigade made up of all Irish immigrants who fought for the...
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I'm guessing it comes from the word "Phoenicians"--people who are credited with the first alphabet. However, I am not 100% sure.
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Plain Jane "unattractive woman" first attested 1912. Plain-spoken first attested 1678. Plain clothes "ordinary dress" (as opposed...
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From the Moden French populace (people), Italian popolaccio (riffraf and rabble), from the Latin populus (people).
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Existing in or belonging to one by nature; innate: native ability. Being such by birth or origin: a native Scot. Being one's own...
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The birth as such of the game came when William Web-Ellis, a 17 year old student of Rugby School, Warwickshire, England picked up...
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French. That is why derriere is putting your foot behind because in French it means behind...!!
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The word gothic is derived from a European tribe called the Goths, thought to have originated in southern Sweden, who spread all...
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someone or thing that feels limp and worn out!
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probably a typist
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'Fathom' has no Latin root. It is a Germanic word.
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Levittown, New York, Long Island, the United States, Merrick, New York and Levittown, New York
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From the word "kimia" in Old Persian language, referring to transformation of elements. Some believe that it is from Egyptian...
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The term "swear words" comes from the same source as the verb "to swear" (to affirm, vow, or give an oath) but it has an entirely...
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Rumour comes from Old French, meaning "widespread noise". It initially meant, in Middle English "a good report" but later came to...
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Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO) is a phrase that indicates that computers cannot give a right answer if they have the wrong...
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From the private life, and sexual preferences, of the Austrian writer and journalist Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. See the...
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When you begin to drive a wooden wedge under an object you are trying to lift, the major problem is getting it started: in other...
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Once in a very long time or takes ages to happenA "blue moon" is when there is a full moon twice in a calendar month-which IS...
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i dont believe there is one exept that "shoppping" mall has three "p"s and all the words are attached, and "shopping" mall isnt.
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There is no reference to a Church Mouse in any of Lewis Carroll's writings. It doesn't appear in any of his fictional works, nor...
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The English word hotel comes from French, where the word also means residence. It is derived from Old French hostel.
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north American English
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Railroad and railway are both words referring to 'tracked' roads, where a guides (rails) keep the wheeled vehicle on a specific...
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Such a person would be referred to as a Mess Deck Lawyer. They usually know, or thinnk they know, a little bit about a lot of...
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A century is one hundred years. The 20th century ended in 2000 so we are now near the beginning of the 21st century.
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It is not a saying or myth- it can happen. very real occupational hazard of firemen and paramedical men who aid them. Prime cause...
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a good thing but in this case you can always have another o in to
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When the person referred to is the OBJECT of a sentence, or following a preposition - places, that is, where the Accusative case...
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Saturnalia was a wild Roman festival in honour of the god Saturn.
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Here is my guess: I believe the word has meta-morphed in to the current form after years of lost translation. Over a century...
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Awesome - created in 1598, very commonly used today.
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Photographs are Primary sources.
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Well, someone who has traveled the world might say "I've been from Australia to Zimbabwe... and everything in between."
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Before 12th century: Old English freondscipe.
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This phrase appears to have been coined in the late 1800s to describe trail drives bringing cattle to the railroads. They had to...
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Dog tired is an old English phrase usually hyphenated to dog-tired. An adjectival phrase meaning to be physically exhausted, it...
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The title comes from a Oswego NY doctor who helped finance the band in their early years
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It refers to a task or situation which is (or is suposed to be) incapable of amelioration. It particularly applies to (or derives...
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From the Related Link: ; apple : O.E. æppel "apple," from P.Gmc. *ap(a)laz (cf. O.Fris., Du. appel, O.N. eple, O.H.G. apful,...
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The word came from a PIE base, and "spork" wasn't coined until 1909.
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I'm assuming your question is about the British slang term for Pounds Sterling. It's probably derived from the Latin phrase...
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38 I believe at the moment, but the English language is forever changing, so may not be the same in years to come,
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It is grammatically correct, but "You and your husband took..." flows better.
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Originally from Greek (meaning leisure, discussion, lecture, school), then to Latin, Old English, and Middle English.
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I'm no linguist but doesn't it mean to crow about or boast loudly in the manner of a noisy and coarse sounding carrion bird ( eg....
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I would have to say Go is a VERB.. Go can also be an explicative or an imperative
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The word "museum", which is exists both in English and in Latin, comes originally from the Greek word Mouseion, "the seat of the...
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Because Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar added a month to honour themselves. Answer:On the earliest calendar of ancient Rome,...
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The original Hebrew term for the Jewish nation is "Yehudi" (Yehudim is the plural). That name comes from Judah, son of Jacob. His...
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Need, i.e. when we encounter something new and need a name for it. For example, early explorers needed names for the new things...
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The word "Dollar" is derived from the 16th century Low German "Daler", which was derived from the German "Taler" or "Thaler"...
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