Online Etymology Dictionary

aflame: 1550s, from a- "on" (see a- (1)) + flame (q.v.).
afloat: O.E. aflote, from a- "on" (see a- (1)) + float (q.v.).
afoot: c.1200, afote, from a- "on" (see a- (1)) + foot (q.v.). Fig. sense of "in active operation" is c.1600 (first recorded in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar").
afore: O.E. onforan, from phrase on foran, from on (prep) + foran (adv.) "in front," dative of for (q.v.). In some cases probably it represents O.E. ætforan "at-fore." Once the literary equivalent of before, now it has mostly been replaced by that word except in nautical use and in combinations such as aforesaid and aforethought.
aforementioned: 1580s, from afore + p.p. of mention.
aforesaid: early 15c., from afore + p.p. of say.
aforethought: 1580s, from afore + p.p. of think. Apparently an English loan-translation of O.Fr. legalese prepense in malice prepense "malice aforethought" (Coke).
afoul: "entangled," 1809, originally nautical, now mainly in phrase to run afoul of; from a- (1) + foul.
afraid: early 14c., originally pp. of afray "frighten," from Anglo-Fr. afrayer, from O.Fr. esfreer (see affray (n.)). A rare case of an English adjective that never stands before a noun. Because it was used in A.V. Bible, it acquired independent standing and thrived while affray faded, chasing out the once more common afeard (q.v.). Sense in I'm afraid "I regret to say, I suspect" (without implication of fear) is first recorded 1590s.
"Her blue affrayed eyes wide open shone" [Keats, "The Eve of St. Agnes," 1820]
afresh: c.1500, perhaps on analogy of anew, from a- (1) + fresh.
Africa: L. Africa (terra) "African land," fem. of Africus, from Afer "an African." Originally only in ref. to the region around Tunesia, it gradually was extended to the whole continent. Derivation from Arabic afar "dust, earth" is tempting, but the early date seems to argue against it. Africanas "Africans" was in O.E.
African-American: isolated instances from at least 1863 (Afro-American is attested in 1853, in freemen's publications in Canada), but the modern use is a re-invention first attested 1969 (in reference to the African-American Teachers Association) which became the preferred term in some circles for "U.S. black" (n. or adj.) by the late 1980s. Mencken, 1921, reports Aframerican "is now very commonly used in the Negro press."
Afrikaans: "the Du. language as spoken in S.Africa," 1900, from Du. Afrikaansch "Africanish" (see Afrikander).
Afrikander: 1822, "South African native of Du. descent," from Du. Afrikaner "African," with intrusive -d- on analogy of Hollander, Englander, etc. (Afrikaner is attested from 1824).
Afro: "full, bushy hairstyle as worn by some blacks," 1938, from Afro-, comb. form of African. As a general adj. for black styles of clothing, music, etc., it is attested from 1966.
aft: O.E. æftan "behind, farthest back," from superl. of O.E. æf, af, of "off," from P.Gmc. *af-, from PIE root *apo- "off, away" (cf. Goth. aftana "from behind;" see apo-). Now purely nautical.
after: O.E. æfter "after, next, following in time," from O.E. of "off" (see apo-) + -ter a comparative suffix; thus originally meaning "more away, farther off." After hours "after regular working hours" is from 1861. Afterwit "wisdom that comes too late" is attested from c.1500 but seems to have fallen from use, despite being more needed now than ever.
afterbirth: 1580s, from after + birth.
afterglow: 1873, from after + glow.
afterlife: 1590s, "a future life" (esp. after resurrection), from after + life.
aftermath: 1520s, originally a second crop of grass grown after the first had been harvested, from after + -math, a dialectal word, from O.E. mæð "mowing," from P.Gmc. *mæthan. Figurative sense is from mid-17c.
afternoon: c.1300, from after + noon (q.v.). In 15c.-16c., the form was at afternoon; from c.1600 till now it has been in the afternoon.
aftershock: 1804, from after + shock.
afterthought: c.1660, from after + thought.
afterward: O.E. æftanweard, from æftan "after" + -weard suffix indicating direction (see -ward); nautical use as aftward, then expanded by infl. of after; variant afterwards (c.1300) shows adverbial genitive.
afterwards: c.1300, afterward (q.v.) + adv. gen. -s; originally a Northern form.
afterword: 1890, a Saxonist subsitute for epilogue; from after + word.
ag: abbreviation of agriculture, attested from 1918, Amer.Eng.
aga: title of rank, especially in Turkey, c.1600, from Turk. agha "chief, master, lord," related to E.Turk. agha "elder brother."
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." For -gegn, cf. O.N. gegn "straight, direct," Dan. igen "against," O.Fris. jen, O.H.G. gegin, Ger. gegen "against, toward," Ger. entgegen "against, in opposition to." In O.E., eft was the main word for "again," but this often was strengthened by ongean, which became the principal word by 13c. Norse influence is responsible for the hard -g-. Differentiated from against 16c. in southern writers, again becoming an adverb only, and against took over as prep. and conjunction, but again clung to all senses in northern and Scottish dialect.
against: early 12c., agenes "in opposition to," a southern variant of agen "again" (see again), with adverbial genitive and a parasitic -t that turned up mid-14c.
Agamemnon: king of Mycenae, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, his name perhaps represents Gk. Aga-medmon, lit. "ruling mightily," from agan "very much" + medon "ruler."
agape: c.1600, from Gk. agapan "greet with affection, love" (used by early Christians for their "love feast" held in connection with the Lord's Supper), from agapan "to love," of unknown origin. In modern use, often in simpler sense of "Christian love" (1856, frequently opposed to eros as "carnal or sensual love").
agate: 1560s, from M.Fr. agathe, from O.Fr. acate, from L. achates, from Gk. achates, the name of a river in Sicily where the stones were found. But the river could as easily be named for the stone. The earlier Eng. form of the word, achate (early 13c.), was directly from Latin. Figurative sense of "a diminutive person" (c.1600) is from the now-obsolete meaning "small figures cut in agates for seals," preserved in typographer's agate (1838), the U.S. name of the 5.5-point font called in Great Britain ruby. Meaning "toy marble made of glass resembling agate" is from 1843 (colloquially called an aggie).
Agatha: fem. proper name, from L., from Gk. Agathe, fem. of agathos "good," of unknown origin. Never a popular name in U.S., and all but unused there since 1940. Agathism is the doctrine that all things tend toward the good.
agave: "American aloe plant," 1797, from L. Agave, from Gk. Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at," from gaiein "to rejoice, exult," with intensive prefix a-. The name seems to have been taken generically by botanists, the plant perhaps so called for its "stately" flower stem.
age: c.1300, "long but indefinite period in human history," from O.Fr. aage, from V.L. *aetaticum (cf. Sp. edad, It. eta, Port. idade "age"), from L. aetatem (nom. aetas), "period of life," from aevum "lifetime, eternity, age," from PIE base *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity" (see eon). Meaning "time something has lived, particular length or stage of life" is from early 14c. Used especially for "old age" since mid-14c. Expelled native eld. The verb meaning "to grow old" is from late 14c. Age-group attested from 1904, originally a term in the science of demographics.
ageism: "discrimination against people based on age," coined 1969 by U.S. gerontologist Dr. Robert N. Butler, from age + -ism, on pattern of racism, sexism.
agency: 1650s, "acting of an agent," from M.L. agentia, noun of state from L. agentem (nom. agens, gen. agentis), prp. of agere (see act). Meaning "establishment where business is done for another" first recorded 1861.
agenda: 1650s, from L., lit. "things to be done," from neut. pl. of agendum, gerundive of agere (see act). Originally theological (opposed to matters of belief), sense of "items of business to be done at a meeting" first attested 1882.
agent: late 15c., "one who acts," from L. agentem (nom. agens, gen. agentis), prp. of agere "to set in motion, drive, lead, conduct" (see act). Meaning "any natural force or substance which produces a phenomenon" is first recorded 1570s.
Agent Orange: powerful defoliant used by U.S. military in the Vietnam War, c.1970, so called from the color strip on the side of the container, which distinguished it from Agent Blue, Agent Purple, Agent White, etc., other herbicides used by the U.S. military. Banned from April 1970.
agglomerate: 1680s, from L. agglomeratus, pp. of agglomerare "to wind or add onto a ball," from ad- "to" + glomerare "wind up in a ball," from glomus (gen. glomeris) "ball of yarn," from PIE root *glem-.
agglomeration: 1774, "action of collecting in a mass," from L. agglomerationem (nom. agglomeratio), noun of action from pp. stem of agglomerare (see agglomerate). Meaning a mass so formed is recorded from 1833.
agglutination: 1540s, from L. agglutinationem, noun of action from agglutinare (pp. agglutinatus) "fasten with glue," from ad- "to" + glutinare "to glue," from gluten "glue," from PIE *glei- (see glue). Philological sense first recorded 1650s, in agglutinative.
aggrandisement: Brit. spelling of aggrandizement. See -ize.
aggrandize: 1630s, "to make larger, increase," from Fr. agrandiss-, prp. stem of agrandir "to augment," from O.Fr. à "to" + grandir "to increase," from L. grandire "to make great," from grandis (see great). The double -g- spelling is by false analogy with Latin words in ad-.
aggrandizement: 1650s, from Fr. agrandissement, noun of action from agrandir (see aggrandize).
aggravate (v.): 1520s, from pp. adj. aggravate (late 15c.), from L. aggravatus, pp. of aggravare "to render troublesome, to make heavy" (see aggravation). Earlier in this sense was aggrave.
"To aggravate has properly only one meaning -- to make (an evil) worse or more serious." [Fowler]
Phrase aggravating circumstances is recorded from 1790.
aggravated: 1540s, "increased, magnified," pp. adj. from aggravate. Meaning "irritated" is from 1610s; that of "made worse" is from 1630s.