Context: WORD ORIGINS: The French for to throw gives us this word for a pier


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Older baling equipment would malfunction & tangle, a possible origin of this word for crazy or disordered


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for those not Roman or Greek derives from the fact their languages sounded unintelligible


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this branch of mathematics comes from the Arabic for reuniting


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Rose O Neill invented this doll & gave it its name, combining Cupid & baby


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Bread spread whose name comes from the Portuguese for quince jam, though its often made with oranges


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This cab was named for an English architect, not for its good looks


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this fabric made from Angora goat hair comes from the Arabic, meaning choice or select


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Its believed that these jugs were named for a character in an 18th century ballad


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for desirable places like the Garden of Eden is from the Persian for walled around


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this type of singing group that performs without instrumental accompaniment is from the Italian


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This dangerous river reptiles name is from the Greek for pebble & worm


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This adjective that means behaving disobediently or mischievously comes from the Old English for nothing


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin, it once meant one living on the opposite bank of a stream from another; now it means opponent


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This skilled army job may have been named for a bird because soldiers tested their rifle accuracy by shooting them


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The X in this holiday spelling comes from the Greek letter chi & also represents the cross


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Norwegian for to pull by hair, this 3-letter word means to carry with effort, or a blockhead


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Aka hump day, it was named for a Norse god


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The Persian shaghal gave us the name of this dog-like African carnivore & scavenger


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The word drama comes from the Greek for this verb, which as a noun also means one section of a drama


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Peevish or unreasonably irritable, its from the Latin petere, meaning to assail


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this gum tree comes from the Greek kaluptein, or cover, & it covers more than 500 species


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This 4-letter term for a religious group that holds distinctive beliefs comes from the Latin for follow


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this skirt isnt Scottish in origin; it may come from the Danish for to tuck up


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a broad street is French, but it goes back to bolwerc, a Middle Dutch word for bulwark


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The adjective vespertilian means resembling this winged mammal, whose Latin name is vespertilio


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This fruity condiments name comes from the Hindi meaning to be licked


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this small magnifying glass used by jewelers comes from the French for an imperfect gem


Context: WORD ORIGINS: It used to mean sweetheart, but now refers to that big fifth grader who picked on you


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The word manage goes back to the Latin manus, the word for this part of the body


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for pal is said to be Oxford University slang for chamberfellow; a roommate


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for boss or head is from a Japanese word meaning squad leader


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Old English nay, no, and whit, thing, this word means zero


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Like the name of a minor Roman god, this word for a caretaker comes from the Latin for door


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word meaning an expert commentator is derived from the Sanskrit for learned man


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This nickname for a potato comes from the sharp spade used to dig it up


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Meaning light bringer, it refers to Venus when appearing as the morning star, or to Satan


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Latin for cuttlefish, its the brown color of the cuttlefish ink once used to make a brown dye


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Today it simply means a sailing race; in the Venetian dialect, it meant a gondola race


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Chiefly used in Louisiana, its Creole for a gift given a customer by a shopkeeper at the time of purchase


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Slang for remarkable or gutsy, it may be a blend of bold & audacious


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for all the letters in a language comes from the names of two Greek letters


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Our word blanket is derived in part from Old French for this color


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Humorist Gillette Burgess coined this 5-letter term for a brief laudatory phrase on a book jacket


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The Middle English phrase for this position with hands-on-hips & elbows bent out was Ankinibo


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Type of moustache named for its resemblance to a bicycle part


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a shopping center comes from a London site where a ball & mallet game was played in narrow alleys


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Sanskrit for great queen, shes the wife of a maharajah


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This white gypsum cement that hardens quickly is named for the French city where it was originally made


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Dervied from Old French for cranes foot, its a genealogical chart or family tree


Context: WORD ORIGINS: In Homer, Athena takes the form of this old friend of Odysseus to advise Odysseus young son


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The word toxic comes from the ancient Greek for this weapon


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Local or general, this medical term comes from Greek meaning insensibility


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this type of popular music combines hillbilly & rock & roll


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word is derived from self-contained underwater breathing apparatus


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a chance spectator innocently came into our language by 1620


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for any of the 10 Arabic number symbols comes from the Latin word for finger


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Some things named after this scientist are a unit of force, a fluid, some rings & the laws of motion


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Old French for young hen, its the term for domestic fowl in general


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a passenger vehicle comes from the word for the meter that calculates payment


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The word for this public place comes from the Roman word for tree bark, which was used as writing material


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word came from a European people who were often conquered & in servitude during the Middle Ages


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word entered the English language in the 13th century as sucre


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Jeans were named for this Italian city where a strong twilled cotton cloth was made


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Greek nostos, A return home, & algos, pain, its the pain you experience when remembering


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Greek for wood sound, this instruments name refers to its tuned wooden bars


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Originally, it referred to a boisterous, rude lad, not a young girl who behaves like a lad as it does now


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word that has come to mean sudden prosperity means good weather in Spanish


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This kind of dummy often displays womens clothes, though its name comes from the Dutch for little man


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This musical instruments name may be influenced by hurly-burly, a Scots word meaning uproar.


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This type of tower is usually seen in Asia, but its name comes from a Portuguese word for temple


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this almond paste confection is derived in part from an Italian word for candy box


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This highest natural singing voice for women is Italian for what is above


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This wood-eating insect gets its name from the Latin for wood-eating worm


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This ground-meat sandwich gets its name from a German port city


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a kind of land mass comes from a word meaning to contain


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a leading character of a literary work comes from the Greek for first combatant


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This somewhat negative term arose because twisting fibers into thread was mainly a womans job


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a close friend or an old chum comes from the Greek word for time


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of these bones that form the spinal column comes partly from a word meaning to turn


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This, a personal view or belief, comes from the Old French for to think


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this class of cold-blooded creatures comes from a word for to creep


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This dog breeds name comes from a German word for to splash about


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Appropriately, this adjective that means the giving of ones name to something comes from the Greek for giving name


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this wild horse is from the Spanish word for a stray animal, mesteno


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Greek for treasure, this type of book contains a trove of synonyms


Context: WORD ORIGINS: These photographers take their name from a character in Fellinis La Dolce Vita


Context: WORD ORIGINS: In the late 1880s Americans borrowed this title for powerful businessmen from Japanese shoguns


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The word for this legal defense comes from the Latin for elsewhere


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin render, to yield, its something you have to yield up to your landlord


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From middle English for lazy lout, someone who doesnt sail is a land one


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for a place of cleansing, its a place to cleanse your soul before entering heaven


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Chinook hayo makamak, meaning plenty to eat, its an important, overbearing person


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Greek dendron, something dendroid is shaped like one of these


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Saloon came from this French word, which sounds more elegant


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Shade of purple whose name comes from a word for mallow because its the color of mallow petals


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Derived from the Greek for to sell alone; if you have one, you alone sell a product


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The chop in chopsticks means this in Pidgin English, as in chop-chop


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This synonym for gloomy comes from a Medieval Latin term for evil days


Context: WORD ORIGINS: These were 1st made during WWII at Quonset Point, Rhode Island


Context: WORD ORIGINS: A turnpike is called that because originally a pike or turnstile was turned after you did this


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Old French manoeuvrer meaning to work by hand, which was how this item was put into soil


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Weapon said to have been the size of a pomegranate & filled with seeds of gunpowder


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Though he wasnt part of the Lincoln conspiracy, his names been blackened in many a town


Context: WORD ORIGINS: A chatty person has the gift of this, a word derived from Middle English for to scoff


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a ceremonial procession is from old Italian cavalcare, to ride on horseback


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The Ismaili sect of this religion is named for Ismail, a son of the sixth imam, Jafar


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for shaggy or bristly, its a synonym for hairy


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Anatomists know the islets of this are named for the German physician who first described them


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This relative term for sorority members is derived from middle English & old Norse


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Its the part of a saddle whose name comes from a Latin word for fruit


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This type of tripe is named for its resemblance to a certain bee structure


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This insects name is derived from the superstition that it enters a sleeping persons aural organs


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of these strips of cloth wound around soldiers lower legs comes from Hindi & Sanskrit for bandage


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word regarding infidelity came from a certain bird leaving its eggs in other nests to be raised


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Before its use in journalism, it meant a boundary beyond which straying prisoners would be shot


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of these seeds probably goes all the way back to samassammu, Akkadian for oil plant


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This fox-hunting cry may be an alteration of taiaut, a French cry used in deer hunting


Context: WORD ORIGINS: A Middle English variant of plait became the name of these folds found on skirts


Context: WORD ORIGINS: A Greek word for sailor gave us the name of this chambered sea creature


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a minor engagement in war traces its origins back to the old Italian word scaramuccia


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This part of an egg gets its name from the Old English for yellow


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This season gets its name from the Sanskrit for half year


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The opposite of nadir, its from the Arabic for road above


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this element is from the Latin word for lime, the chemical kind


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this musical instrument comes from Greek words for wood and voice


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for year & turn, its literally The turn of a year


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Imitation diamonds, they were originally gems obtained from a certain German river


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Its the pace at which Pilgrims rode to Canterbury


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this game is Chinese for house sparrow a picture on one of the tiles


Context: WORD ORIGINS: An Irishman with this accent might be putting his foot in his mouth, because this word means shoe


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this part of a camera was derived from its resemblance to a lentil seed


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Named for a Mediterranean country, this style of typography is based on a Renaissance script


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word is from the Old English for The farmer who lives near you


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this vehicle dates back to the time of Napoleon when it meant walking hospital


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This nickname for potatoes comes from the spade used to dig them up


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Greek for small sound, its a device used to intensify the voice


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Derived from the Spanish word for lets go, it means to leave hurriedly


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of these fishy bacteria that cause food poisoning comes from the pathologist who identified them


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Whether its a problem in the eye or a waterfall, its from the Greek for to dash down


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Italian for bench, its a sumptuous feast given in someones honor


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This large, triangular sail used on some racing yachts is said to derive its name from a yacht called the Sphinx


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This Protestant group was named for its founders strict & orderly approach to life & the Scriptures


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin word lampreda we get lamprey, as well as the name of this mollusk


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Old French for a soldier sent ahead to clear the way, today it refers to the first settlers of a region


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This residential district of Dublin held an annual fair from 1204 to 1855, when it was closed due to frequent fights


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This lawn weeds name comes from the old French for tooth of the lion, referring to its sharply indented leaves


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a self-service restaurant evolved from the Spanish for coffee shop


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Latin for within the walls, it refers to athletic contests among students within a school


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Originally one who kept legal records for the crown, now its a public officer who investigates deaths


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this foamy volcanic rock is an alteration of the Latin word meaning foam


Context: WORD ORIGINS: These 2 words, for a political plan of attack & a drink used to celebrate a win, come from the same root


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the name of a committee created by Gregory XV to spread the faith, it means info used to spread a belief


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this colorless Russian spirit is a diminutive of the Russian word for water, itself a colorless liquid


Context: WORD ORIGINS: It was derived from 3 German words that meant secret state police, & that certainly describes it


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Old French for crack, this V-shaped crack in a glacier may be up to 150 feet deep


Context: WORD ORIGINS: First launched on October 4, 1957, its name is Russian for fellow traveler


Context: WORD ORIGINS: People who cultivated this fruit often used to make wine were said to live to a ripe old age; hence its name


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Though an insect larva, its name comes from French for “hairy cat”


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Word “slavery” comes from these eastern Europeans who were often enslaved by conquerors


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Term for noisy dance or party which originally meant a kick in the shins


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From same root as “senile”, to Romans this bodys name meant a council of old men


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Though John Duns Scotus was considered a great philosopher, his followers were later called this


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The English borrowed this Tongan word for forbidden & made it a noun referring to the prohibition itself


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name for this type of worker comes from the Latin for lead worker


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word used in Roman Catholic theology comes from the Latin for edge or border not dance


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a prolonged state of sadness comes from the Greek for black bile


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Mark Twain should have known the name of this fruit may be an alternation of “hurtleberry”


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this “tuxedoed” bird may come from the Welsh for “white head”


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Evangelical Protestant sect named for its founder, Menno Simons


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Almond paste confection whose name comes from a Medieval Italian coin


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Sorority is derived from the Latin “soror”, which means this


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a flower worn in a buttonhole is literally French for buttonhole


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Judo is Japanese for soft way & this self-defense form is Japanese for soft art


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The word chime comes from the name of this other percussion instrument


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From a Greek word meaning to speak ill of, its irreverent talk of God


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this Russian urn used to heat water for tea is Russian for self-boiler


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Hindi word jagannath, its an advancing force crushing all in its path


Context: WORD ORIGINS: French for stroke of mercy, in reality its a death blow


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Literally god from a machine, this term refers to a god introduced to resolve a plot


Context: WORD ORIGINS: French for famous case, its any celebrated controversy that attracts great public attention


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This noun from the Italian for skilled is often applied to top musicians


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Arabic for sign of god, its a high-ranking Muslim cleric regarded as the most learned of the time period


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This small scented pouch takes its name from the French for little bag


Context: WORD ORIGINS: My gardener told me we dont need to plant; all my flowers are this type, from the Latin for through the year


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a type of airship is from the Latin for to direct


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Italian for of a cave, this adjective today refers to anything strange or ugly


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a distinguishing mark of office or honor comes from the Latin for badge


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this small metal fingercap is derived from an Old English word for thumb


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this military horn comes from the Latin for young ox since the first ones were ox horns


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Arabic for old man, its the leader of an Arab family, tribe, or village


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This mammals name comes from the corruption of a French phrase which meant phony pig


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for a person who bowls is derived from the German word for bowling pin


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This nations name is an acronym partly standing for Punjab, Afghan, Kashmir, Sind & Tan from Baluchistan


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The hero of a Robert Burns poem lends his name to this woolen cap with a pompom or a tassel


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Perhaps from the Italian for imperfect pearl, it can be a style of music, art or architecture


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this large island in the Gulf of Alaska is derived from an Inuit word for island


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for to raise, it refers to the altitude of a city or mountain above sea level


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The Keebler Elves could probably tell you that the name of this snack comes from a Dutch word for small cake


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Maple or otherwise, this thick, sweet liquid is from the Arabic for to drink


Context: WORD ORIGINS: 1st used in a novel about 90 years ago, it refers to a bright person, not someone who resembles Humpty Dumpty


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this type of aircraft is from 2 Greek words meaning spiral wing


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The term funny bone is actually a pun on the name of this upper arm bone


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Ironically, this synonym for a stupid person is based on the name of 1 of the most brilliant scholars of the 14th c.


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Derived from Middle English words for goose & summer, its a gauzy summer fabric


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Ones lineage, named because the lines on a genealogical chart look like a cranes foot or pie de grue


Context: WORD ORIGINS: These full-hipped riding breeches were named for a town in India


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From a French phrase meaning of good nature, this adjective is synonymous with suave & urbane


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This slang term for ridiculous may derive from a word for the art of making decals, decalcomania


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Not to skirt the issue, but the name of this Scottish garment goes back to Middle English


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Dutch for a twisted cake, its a twisted doughnut


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Lettuce tell you the term salad comes from the French salade meaning with this seasoning


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Greek for generalship, its a plan of action, like those employed by the military


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This emotion you feel at a grave seems to come from the same root as grave


Context: WORD ORIGINS: No surprise here--the name of this birthstone is from the Latin for red


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this leader of a Jewish congregation is from the Hebrew for my master


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for to come to mind, its a memento that you might buy as a reminder of a place you visited


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a large piece of artillery comes from the Italian for great tube


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Meaning tearful & foolishly sentimental, it comes from Magdalene, as in Mary Magdalene


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This adjective that can mean disrespectful or lively is an alteration of saucy


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This, from Middle French for small ball, is stronger than the bullet, which is from modern French for small ball


Context: WORD ORIGINS: First appearing more than a century ago, it means gutsy & is probably a blend of bold & audacious


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This 19th century 2-wheeled cab was named for a Brit, not for its good looks


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This nickname for paper measuring 13 by 16 inches gets its name from an old watermark of a court jesters hat


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This name for an earthenware beer mug is German for stone


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Italian for first lady, it can refer to a temperamental woman or man


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for worm, its defined simply as animals obnoxious to man


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for hunger, its a period when food is extremely scarce


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This Scottish cap was named for the hero of a Robert Burns poem


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Lettuce tell you the term salad comes from the French salade, meaning with this seasoning


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Dutch for a twisted cake, its a twisted doughnut


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Derived from the Latin word for body, its used to describe a large or bulky person


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Greek for generalship, its a plan of action, like those employed by the military


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Old French for man, its a special honor expressed publicly for a person


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This common term for a weak, ineffectual person may be derived from whimper


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word said to sled dogs may be an alteration of the French marchons, meaning lets go


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Billingsgate, a term for foul language, comes from the name of an old fish market in this world capital


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for mother, its a female prison worker who may be less than maternal


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Take a whirl on the dance floor under these lights whose name comes from the Greek for the act of whirling


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This food that tastes similar to a sweet potato derives its name from the Portuguese word inhame


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This synonym for wonderful is a blend of fantastic & fabulous


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this vulture found in the Andes is derived from the Quechua language


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this tiny, 1-celled organism is from the Greek for oblong, because of its shape


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a street urchin who wears raggedy clothes was the name of a demon in the poem Piers Plowman


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The Middle French word for this freshwater crustacean was crevice, which evolved into our English word


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This primroses name comes from the Old English for cow slime & sounds pretty similar


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This game in which players pick up sticks or straws is named for a leader of Wat Tylers Rebellion


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Whether its English or not, the name of this nut comes from Old English for foreign nut


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This light wood gets its name from the Spanish for raft because people in the tropics have used its logs for rafts


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The gigantic statue at Rhodes, one of the 7 ancient wonders, gave us this adjective meaning gigantic


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Originally used to designate an errand boy, it was introduced into Scotland by golfer Mary, Queen of Scots


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The Greek word iota gave us this 3-letter word that means to write down hastily


Context: WORD ORIGINS: They got their name from the wooden sandals worn by the French court to protect shoes on rainy days


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The adjective ruddy comes from the old English rudig, meaning this color


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Its a French word meaning Dutch, and in English it usually refers to a sauce


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for shield, scutum, its a shield bearing a coat of arms


Context: WORD ORIGINS: An Arabic word for poor gave us this term for a Muslim or Hindu beggar said to have mystical powers


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Named for a town in France, this sheer net fabric is used to make bridal veils and tutus


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for earth, its any of several types of small dogs bred to hunt animals underground in burrows


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Perhaps from the Caribbean taino for pipe for smoking, its the dried leaves of a plant of the nightshade family


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Old French for catch or entangle, its to accuse a serving government official with an offense


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From the Latin for uplifted, its to divert energy associated with an unacceptable activity into more acceptable areas


Context: WORD ORIGINS: An old French word for thicket gave us this word for something tossed by a bride


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From a Provencal word for witch, its a sports teams good-luck symbol


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a swinging cot is derived from Spanish & from the Taino language of the West Indies


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From middle English & Latin for toward & to climb, one does it to a staircase or the throne


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From old English for a male servant or a boy, its a synonym for a jack in a deck of cards


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Appropriately, this word comes from Greek words meaning sharp & dull


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for an action that could cause you to fail a class comes from the Latin for kidnap


Context: WORD ORIGINS: In this poem, Lewis Carroll invented such words as mimsy, a combination of flimsy & miserable


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This French word originally meant a place where one docks a boat, not a car


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Used to fortell the future, this games name is derived from the French & German words for yes


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This term for one who explores caves comes from a Greek word for cave


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Over 800 years old, this 6-letter Middle English word meaning track was first used for a detective in 1872


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of the alb, a vestment worn by priests, is derived from a Latin word for this color


Context: WORD ORIGINS: From Yiddish, for a wooden beam, it describes a person so clumsy he might bump into one


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this tent fabric comes from a Dutch word for cloth, not from a web-footed bird


Context: WORD ORIGINS: When they begin this dance, they should know its name is from the French for a flirtation


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this xylophone that originated in Africa may be from the Kimbundu language


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This other term for a pastor is derived from the Middle Latin word persona


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this fine, soft leather is the French word for Sweden; Sweden was famous for gloves made of it


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word for a blob or lump, perhaps of whipped cream, may come from dolpur, Icelandic for fat man


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Esteban knows this term for someone who loads a ships cargo comes from the Spanish word estibador


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Derived from the Greek for throw, you can throw a floppy one into a computer & store a file


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This attractive word is from 2 Greek words for stone of magnesia


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Although its not red, this potatos name is derived from a Latin word for red


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of this prehistoric reptile, the largest known flying animal, means wing finger


Context: WORD ORIGINS: These salts used as a soaking aid for swelling are named for the British town of their discovery


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This word that begins with the Greek word for all was coined by John Milton & means tumultuous disorder


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Hey, Lassie, the name of this dog breed may come from a Scottish word meaning sooty with coal dust


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The lutz, a type of jump in this sport, is probably named for Swiss athlete Gustave Lussi


Context: WORD ORIGINS: This hyphenated adverb is an alteration of will ye, nill ye, meaning Be you willing, be you unwilling


Context: WORD ORIGINS: Vegan is a contraction of this word, & means a strict one


Context: WORD ORIGINS: The name of these beauty devices comes from etuis -- small decorative cases that once held them