A

Source: the Online Etymology Dictionary
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a/an - From O.E. an (with a long vowel) "one, lone," also used as a prefix an- "single, lone." In other European languages, identity between indefinite article and the word for "one" remains explicit (Fr. un, Ger. ein, etc.) The indefinite article began to emerge in English 12c. (O.E. didn't use it), and a and an began to differentiate 1100s.
a- - in native (derived from O.E.) words, it most commonly represents O.E. an, on, as in alive, asleep, etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns; but it also can be M.E. of, as in anew, abreast (1599); or a reduced form of O.E. ge-, as in aware; or the O.E. intens. a-, as in arise, awake, ashame, marking a verb as momentary, a single event. The habit of tacking a- onto a gerund (as in a-hunting we will go) died out 18c. As a prefix meaning "not," it is from Gk. Many words beginning with a- in Mod.Eng. are transparent (afire, etc.) and etymologies can be found in listings for their stems. Words listed here are those whose unprefixed form is not an obvious word in Eng. or whose meaning has drifted significantly (amuse).
aardvark - 1833, from Afrikaans aard "earth" + vark "pig."
aback - O.E. on bæc, "at or on the back." Now surviving mainly in taken aback, originally a nautical expression for a sudden change of wind that flattens the square sails back against the masts. The figurative sense is first recorded 1840.
abaft - O.E. on bæftan, the second component itself a compound of by and æftan "aft."
abide - O.E. abidan, gebidan "remain," from ge- completive prefix + bidan "bide, remain, wait, dwell." Originally intransitive (with genitive of the object); transitive sense emerged in M.E. Meaning "to put up with" (now usually negative) first recorded 1526.
abode - O.E. abad, pp. of abiden "to abide" (see abide). The present-to-preterite vowel change is consistent with an O.E. class I strong verb (ride/rode, etc.).
about - O.E. onbutan, from on "on" + be "by" + utan "outside," so "around the outside of." It gradually forced out O.E. ymbe for other meanings, such as "in the neighborhood of." Abouts, with adverbial genitive, still found in hereabouts, etc., is probably a northern dialectal form.
above - O.E. abufan, from on "on" + bufan "over," compound of be "by" + ufan "over/high," from P.Gmc. *ufan-, *uban-. Meaning "in addition" first recorded 1596. Aboveboard (1616) was originally a gambling term.
abroad - O.E. on brede, meaning something like "at wide." The original sense was not "overseas" but simply "out of doors."
ache (v.) - O.E. acan "to ache, suffer pain," from P.Gmc. *akanan, perhaps from PIE base *ag-es- "fault, guilt," perhaps immitative of groaning. The noun is M.E. æche, from O.E. æce, from P.Gmc. *akiz. The verb was pronounced "ake," the noun "ache" (by i-mutation, as in speak-speech) but while the noun changed pronunciation to conform to the verb, the spelling of both was changed to ache c.1700 on a false assumption of a Gk. origin.
acknowledge - O.E. oncnawan "understand," from on + cnawan "recognize" (see know), blended with M.E. knowlechen "admit." Somehow, in the merger, a parasitic -c- slipped in.
acorn - O.E. æcern "nut" originally of any forest tree, later limited to the most important for feeding swine, that of the oak. Possibly related (as "fruit of the field") to æcer "open land." O.Fr. had aigrun, from a Gmc. base, as a collective name for fruits and vegetables, which may have been how æcern began. Spelling changed by folk etymology from oak (O.E. ac) + corn.
acre - O.E. æcer "tilled field, open land," from P.Gmc. *akraz "field, pasture," from PIE *Hegros "field" (cf. L. ager). Originally without reference to dimension, later the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day, afterward the measure was defined by statute.
adder - O.E. næddre "a snake," faulty separation 14c.-17c. into an adder, from W.Gmc. *nædro "a snake," from PIE base *netr-. Folklore connection with deafness is via Psalm 58. Adder-bolt was a former name for "dragonfly."
addle (v.) - 1712, from addle (n.), from O.E. adela "mud, mire, liquid manure."
adze - O.E. adesa "adze, hatchet," of unknown origin.
afar - O.E. feor "far," the a- representing both "of" and "on" compounds in O.E. Spelled afer in 14c.
afford - O.E. geforðian "to advance," from ge- completive prefix + forðian "to further," from forð "forward, onward." Change of -th- to -d- was 16c. (and also transformed burthen and murther into their modern forms). Prefix shift to af- under L. influence. Notion of "accomplishment" gradually became "having enough money to do something." Older sense is preserved in afford (one) an opportunity.
afore - O.E. on foran, once the literary equivalent of before, surviving in combinations aforesaid (1418); and aforethought (1581), apparently a loan-translation of O.Fr. legal word prepense, in malice aforethought (Coke).
aft - O.E. æftan "behind, farthest back," from PIE root *af- "off, away."
after - O.E. æfter "after, next, following in time," possibly from O.E. of "off" + -ter a comparative suffix. Afterbirth is from 1587; afterglow first attested 1873; afterthought is from 1661. A combination that ought to have survived is after-wit "wisdom that comes too late" (1579).
aftermath - 1523, originally a second crop of grass grown after the first had been harvested. The -math is dialectal, from O.E. mæð "mowing," from P.Gmc. *mæthan. Figurative sense is from mid-17c.
afterward - O.E. æftanweard, from æftan "after" + -weard suffix indicating direction ("-ward"), nautical use as aftward, then expanded by infl. of after; 14c. variant afterwards shows adverbial genitive.
again - O.E. ongean "toward, opposite, against," from on "on" + -gegn "against, toward," for a sense of "lined up facing, opposite," and "in the opposite direction, returning." Norse influence is responsible for the hard -g-. Differentiated from against 16c., again becoming an adverb only, and against took over as prep. and conjunction.
against - M.E. agenes "in oppositon to," from agen "again," with adverbial genetive and a parasitic -t that turned up c.1300.
aghast - 12c., agasten "terrified," pp. of a- intensitive prefix + O.E. gæstan "to terrify," from gæst "spirit, ghost," The -gh- spelling is 16c., possibly a Flemish influence, or after ghost.
ago - pp. of O.E. agan "to depart, to pass away," from a- "away" + gan "go."
ah - an expression of surprise, delight, disgust or pain in nearly all I.E. languages.
ail - O.E. eglian "to trouble, plague, afflict," from P.Gmc. *azljaz, from PIE *agh-lo-, from base *agh- "to be depressed, be afraid." Ailment formed in Eng. 1706.
ajar - 1718, perhaps from Scottish dialectal a char "slightly open," earlier on char (early 16c.), from O.E. cier "a turn."
alack - 1480, from ah, lack.
alb - O.E. albe, from M.L. alba "white vestment," fem. of albus "white."
Albert - from Ger. (the Fr. form is Aubert), from O.H.G. Adalbert, cognate of O.E. Æþelbeorht "Noble-bright," sometimes metathesized as Æþelbriht, hence the surname Albright.
alder - O.E. alor, with -d- added 14c. An ancient I.E. tree name.
alderman - O.E. aldormonn (Mercian), ealdormann (W.Saxon), from aldor, ealder "patriarch" (comparative of ald "old") + monn, mann "man." A relic of the days when the elders were automatically in charge. The word yielded in O.E. to eorl, and after the Norman Conquest to count (n.).
ale - O.E. ealu "ale, beer," from P.Gmc. *aluth-, perhaps from PIE root meaning "bitter," or from PIE *alu-t "ale," from base *alu-, a word with connotations of "sorcery, magic, possession, intoxication." Ale and beer were synonymous until growing of hops began in England early 15c. An alehouse "is distinguished from a tavern, where they sell wine" [Johnson].
alight (v.) - "dismount," O.E. alihtan, from lihtan "get off, make light," from a- "down, aside" + liht "light in weight."
alight (adj.) - "on fire," apparently from pp. of O.E. on-lihtan "to light up."
alike - O.E. gelic and/or onlice "similar," from PGmc. *galikam "associated form" (see like).
alive - O.E. on life "in living." Alive and kicking "alert, vigorous," attested from 1859.
all - O.E. eall "all, every, entire," from P.Gmc. *alnaz, from PIE *al- "all." All-fired (1837) is U.S. slang euphemism for hell-fired. First record of all out "to one's full powers" is 1880.
allay - O.E. alecgan, from a- "down, aside" + lecgan "to lay," influenced by O.Fr. alegier "lighten" (see alleviate). Double -l- is 17c., a mistaken Latinism.
almighty - O.E. ælmihtig, compound of æl "all" + mihtig "mighty," perhaps from a P.Gmc. loan-translation of L. omnipotens (see omnipotent).
almost - O.E. eallmæst, compound of eal, al "all" + mæst "most."
alms - O.E. ælmesse, from a P.Gmc. borrowing of V.L. *alemosyna, ult. origin Gk. eleemosyne "pity, mercy."
aloft - c.1200, from O.N. a lopti "up above," from a "in, on" + lopt "sky, loft."
alone - O.E. all ana "all by oneself."
along - O.E. andlang "alongside of," from and- "opposite, against" (from P.Gmc. *andi-, *anda- from PIE *anti "against," locative singular of *ant- "front, forehead") + lang "long."
Alsace - from O.H.G. *Ali-sazzo "inhabitant of the other (bank of the Rhine)," from P.Gmc. *alja "other" + O.H.G. -sazzo "inhabitant," lit. "one who sits."
also - O.E. eallswa "exactly so," compound of "all" + "so." The demonstrative sense of "similarly" weakened to "in addition to" in 12c., replacing eke.
although - c.1325, althagh, compound of O.E. eall "all" + þeah "though," showing once-common emphatic use of all.
altogether - M.E., a strengthened form of all, used in the sense of "a whole" from 1667. In the altogether "nude" is from 1894.
always - c.1350, compound of O.E. phrase ealne weg "always, quite, perpetually," lit. "all the way." With adverbial genitive, though the variant alway survived into 1800s.
am - O.E. eom "to remain," (Mercian eam, Northumbrian am), in O.E. it existed only in present tense, all other forms being expressed in the W-BASE (see were, was). The cooperative verb is sometimes refered to by linguists as *es-*wes-. Until the distinction broke down 13c., *es-*wes- tended to express "existence," with beon meaning something closer to "come to be" (see be). O.E. am had two plural forms: sind/sindon, sie and earon/aron The s- form (also used in the subjunctive) fell from use in the early 13c. (though it continues in Ger. as the 3rd person plural of "to be") and was replaced by forms of be, but aron (aren, arn, are) continued and encroached on some uses that had previously belonged to be as the two verbs merged. By the early 1500s it had established its place in standard Eng. Art became archaic in the 1800s. From P.Gmc. *ar-, which is probably a variant of the PIE base *es-, *s-, the S-ROOT, which also yielded Gk. esti-, L. est, Skt. as-, and Ger. ist.
amaze - O.E. amasian "stupefy," related to maze. Amazing in the sense of "great beyond expectation" is first recorded 1704.
amid/amidst - 1391, from amidde (12c.), from O.E. on middan "in the middle" (dative singular). M.E. amidde became amyddes with adverbial genitive and acquired a parasitic -t. Amidships is attested from 1692, though the adverbial genitive suggests a much earlier origin.
among - O.E. on gemang "in a crowd." Collective prefix ge- dropped 12c. leaving onmong. amongst (early 13c.) is same word + adverbial genitive and parasitic -t. It is well established in the south of England, but not much heard in the north. By similar evolutions, alongst also existed in M.E.
an - O.E., older and fuller form of a, to which it was reduced before most consonants by 1340, but lingered (especially in southern England dialect) before -w- and -y- through 15c. and before -h- through 17c. (see a). In Shakespeare, etc., sometimes a contraction of as if.
anchor - O.E. ancor, borrowed 9c. from L. ancora, from Gk. agkyra "anchor, hook" (see ankle). A very early borrowing and said to be the only L. nautical term used in the Gmc. languages. The -ch- spelling emerged late 16c.
and - O.E. and, ond, orig. meaning "thereupon, next," from P.Gmc. *unda. Related to L. ante, Gk. anti. Phrase and how as an exclamation of emphatic agreement dates from early 1900s.
anent - M.E., "in the company of," also "fronting against," from O.E. on efn "on even (ground) with;" the parasitic -t added 12c. A northern form (in Midlands, anenst, with adverbial genitive), affected by English writers in Scottish sense of "in respect or reference to."
angel - fusion of O.E. engel and O.Fr. angele, both from L. angelus, from Gk. angelos "messenger," possibly related to angaros "mounted courier," both from an unknown Oriental source, perhaps related to Skt. ajira- "swift." Used in Scriptural translations for Heb. mal'akh "messenger (of Jehovah)."
anger - c.1250, from O.N. angr "distress, grief," from P.Gmc. *angus, from PIE base *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, painful." In M.E., also of physical pain.
angle (v.) - "to fish," 1496, from O.E. angel (n.), related to anga "hook," from PIE *ank- "to bend." Figurative sense is recorded from 1589.
angry - 1375 (see anger). "There are three words in the English language that end in -gry. Two of them are angry and hungry. What is the third?" There is no third (except some extremely obscure ones). Richard Lederer calls this "one of the most outrageous and time-wasting linguistic hoaxes in our nation's history" and traces it to a New York TV quiz show from early 1975.
angst - 1956, from Ger. Angst "fear," from O.H.G. angust. Recorded in George Eliot's letters, 1849, but popularized in Eng. by translation of Freud's work. O.E. had a cognate word, angsumnes "anxiety," but it died out.
ankle - O.E. oncleow "ankle," from PIE base *ank- "to bend." The second element may suggest claw. Apparently infl. by Scand. or Fris. words of the same meaning and root. Anklet is from 1832.
anneal - O.E. onælan "to set on fire, kindle," from on- "on" + ælan "to burn, bake," from P.Gmc. *ailan, related to O.E. æled "fire."
anon - O.E., on an "into one, straightway, at once," by misuse, "soon, in a little while" (1526).
another - "an other," O.E. simply had oþer. Originally "a second of two."
answer - O.E. andswaru, from and- "against" + -swaru "affirmation," from swerian "to swear," reflecting the original sense of "make a sworn statement rebutting a charge."
ant - O.E. æmette, from Gmc. bases *ai- "off, away" + *mait- "cut," thus "the biter." Emmet survived into 20c. as alternate. White ant "termite" is from 1729.
anvil - O.E. anfilte, from W.Gmc. *ana- "on" + *filtan "hit." Anvil Chorus is based on the "Gypsy Song" that opens Act II of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore," first performed in Teatro Apollo, Rome, Jan. 19, 1853.
any - O.E. ænig "any, anyone," lit. "one-y," from P.Gmc. *ainagas. Combinations anyone, anything date back to O.E.; anywhere is M.E.; anybody 1490; anyway 1570 (but anyways, with adverbial genitive, is from 1560); anyhow 1740.
ape - O.E. apa, from P.Gmc. *apan, similar to words in languages from Russia to Ireland, origin uncertain, perhaps borrowed from Celtic, ult. from a non-I.E. language. The verb "to imitate" is implied from 1579.
apiece - M.E., originally two words, a pece (see piece).
apple - O.E. æppel "apple," from P.Gmc. *ap(a)laz, from PIE *ab(e)l "apple." A generic term for all fruit, other than berries but including nuts, as late as 17c. (cf. Fr. pomme de terre "potato," lit. "earth-apple;" see also melon). Most I.E. languages use a version of this word (cf. Lith. obuolys, Ir. ubull, O.C.S. jabloko, O.H.G. apful), but Gk. melon and L. malum are probably from a pre-I.E. Mediterranean language. Fr. pomme is from L. pomum "fruit." Apple of Discord was thrown into the wedding of Thetis and Peleus by Eris (goddess of chaos and discord), who had not been invited, and inscribed kallisti "To the Prettiest One." Paris, elected to choose which goddess should have it, gave it to Aphrodite, offending Hera and Athene, with consequences of the Trojan War, etc. Apple of one's eye, symbol of what is most cherished, was the pupil, supposed to be a globular solid body. Big Apple "New York" attested from 1909 (but popularized 1970s), apparently from jazz musicians' use of apple for any city, especially a Northern one.
are - O.E. earun (Mercian), aron (Northumbrian), see be. Also from O.N. cognates. In 17c., began to replace be, ben as first person plural present indicative in standard English. The only non-dialectal survival of be in this sense is the powers that be. But in southwest England, we be (in Devonshire us be) remains non-standard idiom as a contradictory positive ("You people aren't speaking correct English." "Oh, yes we be!")
arise - O.E., mostly replaced by rise.
arm (1) - "body part," O.E. earm "arm," from P.Gmc. *armaz, from PIE base *ar- "fit, join." Armchair is from 1633.
arouse - 1593, from rise (q.v.). Arousal is attested from 1854.
arrow - O.E. arwan, earlier earh "arrow," possibly borrowed from O.N., from P.Gmc. *arkhwo, from PIE base *arku- "bow and/or arrow," source of Latin arcus. The ground sense would be "the thing belonging to the bow," perhaps a superstitious avoidance of the actual name. A rare word in O.E., where more common words for "arrow" were stræl (cognate with the word still common in Slavic, once prevalent in Gmc., too; meaning related to "flash, streak") and fla, flan, a N.Gmc. word, perhaps with the sense of "splinter." Arrowhead is from 1483; arrowroot is from 1696, used to absorb poisons from poison-dart wounds.
arse - O.E. ærs "tail, rump," common Gmc. word. Arsy-versy "backside foremost" first attested 1539. Amer.Eng. euphemism ass is apparently no older than 1930s.
as - worn-down form of O.E. alswa "quite so" (see also). Equivalent to so; any distinction in use is purely idiomatic.
ash (1) - "remains of fire," O.E. æsce "ash," from P.Gmc. *askon, from PIE base *as- "to burn." Symbol of grief or repentence; hence Ash Wednesday, from custom introduced by Pope Gregory the Great of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents on the first day of Lent.
ash (2) - "tree," O.E. æsc "spear made of ash wood," from P.Gmc. *askaz, askiz, from PIE base *as- "to burn, glow."
ashen - M.E. "made of ash wood;" meaning "ash-colored, deadly pale" is 1808, from ash in the sense of "color of the ash" (M.E.).
ask - O.E. ascian "ask," from earlier ahsian, from P.Gmc. *aiskon, from PIE *ais- "to wish, desire." Infl. by Scand., therefore present pronunciation in Mod.E., not ash or esh, which the usual sound changes would have produced. The variant in modern dialect ax is as old as O.E. acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c.1600. O.E. also had fregnan, frignan which carried more directly the sense of "question, inquire," and is from PIE root *prek-, the common source of words for "ask" in most I.E. languages.
aspen - adj. form of O.E. æspe "aspen tree, white poplar," from P.Gmc. *aspo, from PIE *apsa "aspen."
ass - O.E. assa (Old Northumbrian assal, assald), prob. from O.Celt. *as(s)in "donkey," ult. from L. asinus, probably of Sem. origin (cf. Sumerian ansu). In fables and parables, the animal typifies clumsiness and stupidity (hence asshead, 1550, etc.). Asses' Bridge, from L. Pons Asinorum, is fifth proposition of first book of Euclid's "Elements." For slang sense of "backside," see arse.
asunder - O.E. on sundran (see sunder).
at - O.E. æt, from P.Gmc., from PIE *ad- "to, near, at." Akin to L. ad- "to."
auger - M.E. faulty separation of a nauger, from O.E. nafogar "nave drill," from nafu "nave" + gar "a spear, borer."
aught - O.E. awiht "aught, anything, something," lit. "e'er a whit," from P.Gmc. *aiwi "ever" (from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity.") + *wihti "thing, anything whatever" (see wight). In Shakespeare, Milton and Pope, aught and ought occur indiscriminately. Meaning of "zero" is faulty sep. of a naught (see naught).
auk - 1674, from O.N. alka originally imitative of a water-bird cry.
awake - a merger of O.E. awæcnan (awoc, awacen) "awake" (adj.), earlier on-wæcnan; and O.E. awacian (v.) (awacode). The tendency to restrict the strong past tense and pp. to the original intransitive sense and the weak inflection to the transitive has never been fully carried out (see wake).
aware - O.E. gewær, from ge- intens. prefix + wær "wary, cautious," from P.Gmc. *ga-waraz. (see wary).
away - O.E. aweg, earlier on weg "on from this (that) place." Colloquial use for "without delay" (fire away, also right away) is from earlier sense of "onward in time" (16c.).
awe - c.1200, from O.N. agi "fright," from P.Gmc. *agiz-, from PIE *agh-es-, from base *agh- "to be depressed, be afraid." Current sense is due to biblical use. Awestruck is from 1634. Awesome first recorded 1598.
awful - M.E. agheful, from aghe, an earlier form of awe. Replaced O.E. egefull. Slang intensive use of awful and awesome is from 1830s.
awhile - O.E. ane hwile, usually written together since 13c.
awkward - 14c., from awk "back-handed" (obsolete since 1600s), from O.N. afugr "turned backwards" + adverbial suffix -weard. Originally "in the wrong direction," meaning "clumsy" first recorded 1530.
awl - O.E. æl "awl, piercer," from P.Gmc. *ælo, from PIE base *ela- "cautious."
ax/axe - O.E. æces, later æx, from P.Gmc. *akusjo, from PIE *agw(e)si-. Figurative sense of "discharge from office" is from 1922, probably from the notion of the headman's axe.
axle - M.E. axel-, from some combination of O.E. eax and O.N. öxull "axis," both from P.Gmc. *akhsulaz, from PIE *aks- "axis." Found only in compound axle-tree before 14c.
aye (1) - "assent," 1576, perhaps a variant of I, meaning "I assent," or an alt. of M.E. yai "yes."
aye (2) - "always, ever," c.1200, from O.N. ei "ever" (cognate with O.E. a "always, ever"), from PIE *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity."