MarcusBennevall/EtymologyTaggerDataset huggingface dataset:
many
From Middle English many, mani, moni, from Old English maniġ, moniġ, maneġ (“many”), from Proto-West Germanic *manag, from Proto-Germanic *managaz (“many; much”), from Proto-Indo-European *menegʰ-, *mengʰ- (“many, sufficient”) or Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂- (“big, great”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots mony (“many”), Yola many (“many”), North Frisian manag, manig, mäning (“many”), Alemannic German meng (“many”), Central Franconian mannich, männich (“many”), Dutch menig (“many”), German manch (“many, some”), Low German männich, männig (“many”), Luxembourgish muench, munch, munnech (“many”), Danish mangen (“many”), Faroese mangur (“many”), Icelandic margur (“many”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk mang, mange (“many”), Swedish mången (“many”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌲𐍃 (manags, “many; much”), French maint (“many”); also Cornish menowgh (“frequent, often”), Irish minic (“frequently, often”), Manx mennick (“frequent, often”), Scottish Gaelic minig (“frequent”), Welsh mynych (“frequent, often”), Belarusian мно́га (mnóha, “many; much”), Bulgarian and Russian мно́го (mnógo, “many; much”), Czech mnohý (“many, numerous”), Macedonian мно́гу (mnógu, “very; many; much”), Polish mnogi (“numerous; plural”), Serbo-Croatian мно̏гӣ, mnȍgī (“many; much, long; large, numerous”), Ukrainian мно́гий (mnóhyj, “many, multiple”).
The noun is from Middle English manye, *menye, from Old English manigeo, menigu (“company, multitude, host”), from Proto-West Germanic *managu, *managī, from Proto-Germanic *managō, *managį̄ (“multitude”), from the same root as the determiner. Cognate with Middle Low German menige, menie, menje (“multitude”), Russian много (mnogo), Serbo-Croatian mnogo.
Borrowed from French Many or a variant of Maney. The town in Louisiana is named after a Colonel Many.
rotten
From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). See rot. By surface analysis, rot + -en (past participle).
correct
Borrowed from French correct, from Latin correctus (“improved, amended, correct”), past participle of corrigere, conrigere (“to make straight, make right, make better, improve, correct”), from con- (“together”) + combining form of regō, regere (“I rule, make straight”).
From Middle English correcten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman correcter, from Latin correctus.
snow
The noun is derived from Middle English snaw, snou, snow (“snow; accumulation of snow; snowfall; snowstorm; whiteness”), from Old English snāw (“snow”), from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw (“snow”), from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (“snow”), from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos (“snow”), from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”).
The verb is derived from Middle English snouen (“to snow; (figurative) to shower”), from snou, snow (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Displaced Old English snīwan, whence English snew (obsolete).
Verb etymology 1, verb sense 2.3.2 (“to convince or hoodwink (someone)”) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm.
The adjective comes from the phrase a snowball's chance in hell, also see snowball clause at Wikipedia.
Cognates
* Scots snaw (“snow”)
* Yola sneew, sneow, snow, snowe (“snow”)
* North Frisian Sne, sni, snii, snii'e, snä, snäi (“snow”)
* Saterland Frisian Snee (“snow”)
* West Frisian snie (“snow”)
* Alemannic German schnee, schnei, schnia, schné, schnìj (“snow”)
* Bavarian schnea, sghneab (“snow”)
* Cimbrian snea, snèa (“snow”)
* Dutch snee, sneeuw (“snow”)
* German Schnee (“snow”)
* Limburgish Schnië, snieë (“snow”)
* Luxembourgish Schnéi (“snow”)
* Mòcheno schnea (“snow”)
* Vilamovian śnej, šnej, śnyi (“snow”)
* Yiddish שניי (shney, “snow”)
* Danish sne (“snow”)
* Elfdalian sniųo (“snow”)
* Faroese snjógvur (“snow”)
* Icelandic snjár, snjór, snær (“snow”)
* Norwegian Bokmål sne, snø (“snow”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk snjo, snø (“snow”)
* Swedish snö (“snow”)
* Gothic 𐍃𐌽𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (snaiws, “snow”)
* Irish sneachta (“snow”)
* Manx sniaghtey (“snow”)
* Scottish Gaelic sneachd, sneachda (“snow”)
* Welsh nyf (“snow”)
* Latin nix (“snow”)
* Ancient Greek νίψ (níps, “snow”)
* Latvian snìegs (“snow”)
* Lithuanian sniẽgas (“snow”)
* Belarusian, Russian, and Macedonian снег (sneg, “snow”)
* Bulgarian сняг (snjag, “snow”)
* Czech sníh (“snow”)
* Polish śnieg, śmiég (“snow”)
* Serbo-Croatian сне̑г, сније̑г, snȇg, snig, snijȇg (“snow”)
* Slovak sneh (“snow”)
* Slovene sneg (“snow”)
* Ukrainian сніг (snih, “snow”)
* Shughni жиниҷ (žiniǰ, “snow”)
* Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬀𐬉𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (snaēžaⁱti, “to snow”)
* Sanskrit स्नेह (snéha, “grease, oil”)
Borrowed from Dutch snauw, snaauw, or Low German snau; further etymology uncertain, possibly from Low German snau (“beak”), related to Middle Low German snute (“snout”) (whence English snout), from Proto-West Germanic *snūt (“snout”), from Proto-Germanic *snūtaz (“snout”), possibly imitative.
meter
From Middle English metere (“one who measures, measurer”), perhaps (with change in suffix) from Old English metend (“one who measures or metes”), equivalent to mete (“to measure”) + -er. The transference from "person who measures" to "device that measures" was probably assisted by association with -meter, as in barometer, etc.
Cognate with Scots mettar, metter (“meter, measurer”), Saterland Frisian Meter, Meeter (“measurer, measuring device, gauge”), West Frisian mjitter (“measurer”), Dutch meter (“measurer, gauge”), German Low German Meter (“measuring device, gauge”), German Messer (“measurer, measuring device, gauge”), Swedish mätare (“measurer”).
Borrowed from French mètre, itself borrowed from Latin metrum, borrowed from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron).
From Middle English meter, metre, from Old English meter and Old French metre; both from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron).
lig
From Middle English liggen, from Old English liċġan (“to lie, be situated, be at rest, remain”) and Old Norse liggja (“to lie”). More at lie.
Probably from Middle English *ligge, from Old Norse lygi (“a lie”), from Proto-Germanic *lugį̄ (“lie, falsehood”). Cognate with Old English lyġe and lyġen.
lift
From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".
(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)). But perhaps simply from the idea of removing an item from a surface.
From Middle English lifte, luft, lefte (“air, sky, heaven”), from Old English lyft (“atmosphere, air”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”).
Cognate with Old High German luft (“air”) (German Luft), Dutch lucht (“air”), Old Norse lopt, loft (“upper room, sky, air”). Doublet of loft and luft.
sog
Of uncertain origin. Possibly of North Germanic origin (compare Icelandic söggur (“moist”), dialectal Norwegian søgg (“moist”), dialectal Swedish sögg, sygg (“something moist”)), from Old Norse söggr (“dank, wet”), from Proto-Germanic *sawwijaz, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *sawwą (“moisture, sap, juice”), related to Old English ġesēaw (“full of moisture, soaked”), Old English sēaw (“moisture, juice, humour”). The verb is possibly related to soak.
sal
From Middle English sal, from Latin sal. Doublet of salt.
From Hindi साल (sāl), from Sanskrit शाल (śāla).
scabbard
From Middle English scabard, scauberde, scauberk, scauberke, from Anglo-Norman eschaubert, escalberc, of Germanic origin, perhaps from Frankish *skarberg (“sheath”, literally “blade-protection”), from Proto-Germanic *skēriz (“blade, scissors”) + *bergaz (“shelter, protection, refuge”). See also hauberk.
ether
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ-der.
Proto-Hellenic *áitʰō
Ancient Greek αἴθω (aíthō)
▲
Ancient Greek ᾱ̓ήρ (āḗr)influ.?
Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr)der.
Latin aethērder.
English ether
From Middle English ēther (“the caelum aetherum of ancient cosmology in which the planets orbit; a shining, fluid substance described as a form of air or fire; air”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman ether and Middle French ether, ethere, aether, from Old French aether (“highest and purest part of the atmosphere; medium supposedly filling the upper regions of space”) (modern French éther), or directly from its etymon Latin aethēr (“highest and purest part of the atmosphere; air; heavens, sky; light of day; ethereal matter surrounding a deity”) (note also New Latin aethēr (“chemical compound analogous to diethyl ether”)), from Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “purer upper air of the atmosphere; heaven, sky; theoretical medium supposed to fill unoccupied space and transmit heat and light”), from αἴθω (aíthō, “to burn, ignite; to blaze, shine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ- (“to burn; fire”).
The English word is cognate with Italian ether, ethera (both obsolete), etere, Middle Dutch ether (modern Dutch aether (obsolete), ether), German Äther, Ether, Portuguese éter, Spanish éter.
From Old French ether, from Latin aether (“the upper pure, bright air”), from Ancient Greek αἰθήρ (aithḗr, “upper air”), from αἴθω (aíthō, “to burn, shine”). Doublet of Aether.
roebuck
From Middle English roobukke; equivalent to roe + buck (“male deer”). Doublet of rhebok.
European Union
Formed as European + Union, in the sense of the resistance group, after the German Europäische Union.
fil
Clipping of filmjölk via Swedish fil. Also related to Finnish viili.
linchpin
From Middle English lynspin, compound of lins (“axletree”) and pin, from Old English lynis (“lynchpin”), from Proto-West Germanic *lunis, from Proto-Germanic *lunaz – compare German Lünse and Dutch luns – from Proto-Indo-European. Possible further cognates are Welsh olwyn (“wheel”), Old Armenian ողն (ołn, “back; spine, backbone”) and Sanskrit आणि (āṇí, “lynchpin”). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century.
augment
From Middle English augmenten, from Middle French augmenter, from Old French augmenter, from Late Latin augmentare (“to increase”), from Latin augmentum (“an increase, growth”), from augere (“to increase”).
key
From Middle English keye, kaye, keiȝe, from Old English cǣġ (“key, solution, experiment”) (whence also Scots key and kay (“key”)), from Anglo-Frisian Proto-West Germanic *kaiju, of uncertain origin. The only sure cognates are Saterland Frisian Koai (“key”), West Frisian kaai (“key”), and North Frisian kai, koie (“key”). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *kēgaz, *kēguz (“stake, post, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵogʰ-, *ǵegʰ-, *ǵegʰn- (“branch, stake, bush”), which would make it cognate with Middle Low German kāk (“whipping post, pillory”), and perhaps to Middle Dutch keige (“javelin, spear”) and Middle Low German keie, keige (“spear”).
For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door. Liberman has noted, however, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages."
Variant of cay, from Spanish cayo, from Taíno cayo (“small island”)
engine
From Middle English engyn, from Anglo-Norman engine, Old French engin (“skill, cleverness, war machine”), from Latin ingenium (“innate or natural quality, nature, genius, a genius, an invention, (in Late Latin) a war-engine, battering-ram”), related to ingignō (“to instil by birth, implant, produce in”). Compare gin, ingenious, engineer.
field
From Middle English feeld, feld (“field”), from Old English feld (“field”), from Proto-West Germanic *felþu (“field”), from Proto-Germanic *felþuz (“field”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“field, plain”) or *pleth₂- (“flat”) (with schwebeablaut).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots feld, feild (“field”), North Frisian fial, fälj (“field”), Saterland Frisian Fäild (“field”), West Frisian fjild (“field”), Dutch veld (“field”), German and Luxembourgish Feld (“field”), Vilamovian fald (“field”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk felt (“field”), Swedish fält (“field”), Finnish pelto (“field”), Asturian and Leonese platu (“plate”), Aragonese and Spanish plato (“plate”), Catalan plat (“plate”), French plat (“dish”), Galician, Mirandese, and Portuguese prato (“plate”), Italian piatto (“plate”), Latin *plattus (“flattened”), Greek πλατύς (platýs, “wide, broad”). Doublet of plate. Related also to Middle English flat (“flat”), Old English folde (“earth, land, territory”), Old English folm (“palm of the hand”). More at flat, fold.
Not related to English felt.
e
The letter name is ultimately from Latin ē. Use of the Latin letter in (Old) English displaced, in whole or in part, five futhorc letters in the 7th century: ᛖ (e), ᚫ (æ), ᛠ (ea), ᛇ (eo), and ᛟ (œ).
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 鄂 (È).
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 誒 /诶 (ê̄), from E ɛ⁵⁵.
heaven
From a wide variety of Middle English forms including hevene, heven, hevin, and hewin (“heaven, sky”), from Old English heofon, heofone (“heaven, sky”), from Proto-West Germanic *hebn (“heaven, sky”), of uncertain origin.
Cognate with Scots heiven, hewin (“heaven, sky”), Middle Dutch heven (“sky, heaven”), Low German Heven (“heaven, sky”), and possibly the rare Icelandic and Old Norse hifinn (“heaven, sky”), which are all probably dissimilated forms of the Germanic root which appears in Old Norse himinn (“heaven, sky”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins, “heaven, sky”), Old Swedish himin, Old Danish himæn and probably also (in another variant form) Old Saxon himil, Old Dutch himil (modern Dutch hemel), and Old High German himil (German Himmel).
Accepting these as cognates, some scholars propose a further derivation from Proto-Germanic *himinaz (“cover, cloud cover, firmament, sky, heaven”).
mana
Borrowed from Māori mana, ultimately from Proto-Polynesian *mana, from Proto-Oceanic *mana.
The use of "mana" for "magical energy" in role-playing games originated from Larry Niven, when he wrote the short story, "Not Long Before the End", in 1969. It was later popularised by his The Magic Goes Away setting.
apostrophe
From French apostrophe, or Latin apostrophus, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστροφος (apóstrophos, “accent of elision”), a noun use of an adjective from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
From Latin apostrophe, from Ancient Greek ἀποστροφή (apostrophḗ), from ἀποστρέφω (apostréphō, “to turn away”), from ἀπό (apó) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
bible
From Middle English bible, from Middle Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material).
Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (> English writs) for "the Scriptures".
From Middle English bible, from Medieval Latin biblia (“book”) (misinterpreted as a feminine from earlier Latin neuter plural biblia (“books”)), from Ancient Greek βιβλία (biblía, “books”), plural of βιβλίον (biblíon, “small book”), originally a diminutive of βίβλος (bíblos, “book”), from βύβλος (búblos, “papyrus”) (from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material).
Old English used biblioþēce (from βιβλιοθήκη) and ġewritu (whence English writs) for "the Scriptures".
From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.
crown
From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English kinehelm, kynehelm, from Old English cynehelm (“crown”).
* (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.
covenant
From Middle English covenaunt, borrowed from Old French covenant (“agreement”), from Latin conveniēns, convenientem (“agreeing, agreeable, suitable, convenient”), present participle of conveniō (“to agree”). Cognate with convenient and convene.
courage
From Middle English corage, from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Displaced Middle English elne, ellen, from Old English ellen (“courage, valor”).
energy
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én
Ancient Greek ἐν (en)
Ancient Greek ἐν- (en-)
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom
Proto-Hellenic *wérgon
Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon)
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Hellenic *-os
Ancient Greek -ος (-os)
Ancient Greek ἐνεργός (energós)
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Indo-European *-ēs
Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs)
Ancient Greek -ής (-ḗs)
Ancient Greek ἐνεργής (energḗs)
Proto-Indo-European *-is
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂der.
Ancient Greek -ιᾰ (-iă)
Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia)bor.
Late Latin energīader.
Middle French énergieder.
English energy
From Middle French énergie, from Late Latin energia, from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “activity”), from ἐνεργός (energós, “active”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”). The sense in physics was coined by English polymath Thomas Young in 1802 in his lectures on Natural Philosophy.
feminine
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)-der.
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-éh₂
Proto-Italic *θēmanā
Proto-Italic *fēmanā
Latin fēmina
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos
Proto-Italic *-īnos
Latin -īnus
Latin fēminīnusder.
Old French femininbor.
Middle English femynyne
English feminine
From Middle English feminine, femynyne, femynyn, from Old French feminin, feminine, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”). Related to fetus, feminism, filial, fellatio.
horizontal
Borrowed from Middle French horizontal, from horizon, horizonte, from Latin horizōn (stem horizont-).
Jew
From Middle English Jew, Giu, Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus (“Judean (i.e. Jew)”), from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá), Ἰούδας (Ioúdas, “Judah, Judas, Jude”) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives), from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה (iăhudáh, “male given name, Yehuda; Judah, Judea”). Doublet of Yid. Displaced Old English Iūdēisċ.
malleable
From Middle French malléable, borrowed from Late Latin malleābilis, derived from Latin malleāre (“to hammer”), from malleus (“hammer”), from Proto-Indo-European *mal-ni- (“crushing”), an extended variant of *melh₂- (“crush, grind”).
orbit
Inherited from Middle English orbite, orbita, from Latin orbita (“course, track, impression, mark”).
artery
Late Middle English arterie, borrowing from Old French artaire and Latin artēria (“a windpipe; an artery”), from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ρτηρῐ́ᾱ (ărtērĭ́ā, “windpipe; artery”).
vein
From Middle English veyne, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (“a blood-vessel; vein; artery”) of uncertain origin. See vēna for more. Doublet of vena. Displaced native edre, from ǣdre (whence edder).
sorry
From Middle English sory, from Old English sāriġ (“feeling or expressing grief, sorry, grieved, sorrowful, sad, mournful, bitter”), from Proto-West Germanic *sairag, from Proto-Germanic *sairagaz (“sad”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂yro (“hard, rough, painful”). Cognate with Scots sairie (“sad, grieved”), Saterland Frisian seerich (“sore, inflamed”), West Frisian searich (“sad, sorry”), Low German serig (“sick, scabby”), German dialectal sehrig (“sore, sad, painful”), Swedish sårig. By surface analysis, sor(e) + -y. Unrelated to sorrow despite the similarity in form and meaning.
prince
From Middle English prince, from Anglo-Norman prince, from Latin prīnceps (“first head”), from prīmus (“first”) + capiō (“seize, take”). Cognate with Old English fruma (“prince, ruler”). Doublet of princeps and principe.
Displaced native Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling; Middle English kinebarn, from Old English cynebearn; Middle English alder, from Old English ealdor; and Middle English drighten, from Old English dryhten.
princess
From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess.
emperor
From Middle English emperour, from Anglo-Norman emperour, from Latin imperātorem, derived from imperō (“to command”). Doublet of imperator. Displaced earlier Old English casere, from Latin Caesar.
empress
From Middle English emperice, emperesse, from Anglo-Norman and Old French empereriz, from Latin imperatrix, equivalent to emperor + -ess. Doublet of imperatrix. Compare modern French impératrice.
From Middle English empresse, from Anglo-Norman enpresser (“to press, to imprint”), from Old French empresser. Attested from the 15th or late 14th century.
principality
From Middle English principalte, principalite, from Anglo-Norman principalté, Middle French principalté, from Late Latin prīncipālitās, from Latin prīncipālis (“principal”) + -tās. Equivalent to principal + -ity.
empire
From Middle English empire, from Old French empire, empere, from Latin imperium, inperium (“command, control, dominion, sovereignty, a dominion, empire”), from imperare, inperare (“to command, order”), from in (“in, on”) + parare (“to make ready, order”). Doublet of empery and imperium.
baron
From Middle English baroun, from Old French baron, from Latin barōnem, from Proto-West Germanic *barō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear”). Cognate with Old High German *baro (“human being, man, freeman”), Old English bora (“a man who bears responsibility, one who is in charge, a ruler”), and perhaps to Old English beorn (“man, warrior”). Used in early Germanic law in the sense of "man, human being".
A Celtic origin has also been suggested; see the quote under sense 3 of Latin barō. However, the OED takes the hypothetical Proto-Celtic *bar- (“hero”) to be a figment.
* As a French, English, Jewish, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Czech, German, Spanish (Barón), Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, and Breton surname, all from the noun baron. Compare Barron, Lebaron.
* Also as a French surname, from several places in France Le Baron.
* As an Italian (Veneto) surname, variant of Barone.
* Also as a Czech surname (Baroň), from a pet form of Bartoloměj.
* As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Bearáin; see Barnes.
* General Slavic surname: Anglicization of Polish Baran (“Aries”), Ukrainian Баран (Baran), etc.
barony
From Middle English baronie, baronye, from Old French baronie, equivalent to baron + -y.
duke
From Old French duc, through Middle English duk, duke, from Latin dux, ducis. Displaced native Old English heretoga. Was present as duc in late Old English, from the same Latin source. Doublet of doge, duc, duce, and dux. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-, which is also the source of the second component in German Herzog.
The “fist” sense is thought to be Cockney rhyming slang where “Duke(s) of York” = fork. Fork is itself Cockney slang for hand, and thus fist.
duchess
From Middle English duchesse, from Old French duchesse. Doublet of duchesse.
duchy
From Middle English duche, from Anglo-Norman duché, from Old French duc, or from Medieval Latin ducātus, from Latin dux. Doublet of ducat.
countess
From Anglo-Norman cuntesse, Old French contesse, from Latin comitissa; equivalent to count + -ess. Doublet of contessa.