Online Etymology Dictionary

-centric: from Gk. kentrikos "pertaining to a center," from kentron (see center).
-cide: "killer," from Fr. -cide, from L. -cida "cutter, killer, slayer," from -cidere, comb. form of caedere "to strike down, chop, beat, hew, fell, slay," from PIE *kae-id-, from base *(s)k(h)ai- "to strike" (Pokorny, not in Watkins; cf. Skt. skhidati "beats, tears," Lith. kaisti "shave.") For L. vowel change, see acquisition. The element also can represent "killing," from Fr. -cide, from L. -cidium "a cutting, a killing."
-cracy: from M.L. -cratia, from Gk. -kratia "power, rule," from kratos "strength," from PIE *kratus "power, strength" (see hard). The connective -o- has come to be viewed as part of it.
-cy: noun suffix, from L. -cia, -tia, from Gk. -kia, -tia, from abstract ending -ia and a formative element.
C: third letter of the alphabet. Alphabetic writing came to Rome via the southern Etruscan "Caeretan" script, in which gamma was written as a crescent. Early Romans made little use of Gk. kappa and used gamma for both the "g" and "k" sounds, the latter more frequently, so that the "k" sound came to be seen as the proper one for gamma. To restore a dedicated symbol for the "g" sound, a modified gamma was introduced c.250 B.C.E. as G. In classical Latin -c- has only the value "k," and thus it passed to Celtic and, via Irish monks, to Anglo-Saxon, where -k- was known but little used. In O.Fr., many "k" sounds drifted to "ts" and by 13c., "s," but still were written with a -c-. Thus the 1066 invasion brought to the Eng. language a more vigorous use of -k- and a flood of Fr. and L. words in which -c- represented "s" (e.g. cease, ceiling, circle). By 15c. native English words with -s- were being respelled with -c- for "s" (e.g. ice, mice, lice). In some words from Italian, meanwhile, the -c- has a "ch" sound (a sound evolution in Italian that parallels the O.Fr. one).
C.E.: as an abbreviation for "Common Era" or "Christian Era," and a non-Christian alternative to A.D., attested from 1838 in works on Jewish history. Companion B.C.E. is attested from 1881.
C.O.D.: abbreviation of cash on delivery, 1859, originally Amer.Eng.
c/o: addressing abbreviation for care of, "common" by 1889.
ca.sa.: abbreviation of capias ad satisfaciendum, a writ issued upon a judgment in a personal action for the recovery of money (see capias).
cab: 1826, shortening of cabriolet (1763) "light, horse-drawn carriage," Fr. dim. of cabrioler "leap, caper," from It. capriolare "jump in the air," from L. capreolus "wild goat." The carriages had springy suspensions. Extended to hansoms and other types of carriages; applied to public horse carriages (of automobiles from 1899), then extended to similar parts of locomotives (1859). Cabby is from 1859 (see taxi).
cabal: 1610s, from Fr. cabal "intrigue, society," originally "mystical interpretation of the Old Testament," from M.L. cabbala (see cabbala). Popularized in English 1673 as an acronym for five intriguing ministers of Charles II (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale).
cabala: 1670s, variant of cabbala.
caballero: 1877, "a Spanish gentleman," from Sp., from L. caballarius, from caballus "a pack-horse." Equivalent of Fr. chevalier, It. cavaliere (see cavalier).
cabana: 1898, western U.S., from Amer.Sp. cognate of cabin (q.v.).
cabaret: 1650s, from Fr., lit. "tavern," probably from M.Du. cambret, from O.Fr. (Picard dialect) camberete, dim. of cambre "chamber" (see chamber). Came to mean "a restaurant/night club" 1912; extension of meaning to "entertainment, floor show" is 1922.
cabbage: mid-15c., from M.Fr. caboche "head" (in the Channel Islands, "cabbage"), from O.Fr. caboce "head," from L. caput "head" (see head). Introduced to Canada 1541 by Jacques Cartier on his third voyage. First written record of it in U.S. is 1660s. The decline of "ch" to "j" in the unaccented final syllable parallels the common pronunciation of spinach, sandwich, Greenwich, etc.
cabbala: 1520s, from M.L. cabbala, from Heb. qabbalah "received lore, tradition," especially "pretended tradition of mystical interpretation of the Old Testament," from qibbel "to receive, admit."
caber: pole used in housebuilding, especially as an object tossed in the Highland games, 1510s, from Gael. cabar "pole, spar," cognate with Irish cabar "lath," Welsh ceibr "beam, rafter."
cabernet: family of grapes, or wine made from them, 1833, from Fr. Supposedly the best of them, cabernet sauvignon attested from 1846.
cabin: mid-14c., from O.Fr. cabane, from O.Prov. cabana, from L.L. capanna "hut," of doubtful origin. Meaning "room or partition of a vessel" is from late 14c. Cabin fever first recorded 1918.
cabinet: 1540s, from M.Fr. cabinet "small room," dim. of O.Fr. cabane "cabin" (see cabin); perhaps infl. by It. gabbinetto, dim. of gabbia, from L. cavea "stall, stoop, cage." Sense of "private room where advisors meet" (c.1600) led to modern political meaning (1640s).
cable: c.1200, from O.N.Fr., from M.L. capulum "lasso, rope, halter," from L. capere "to take, seize" (see capable). Technically, in nautical use, a rope 10 or more inches around (smaller ones being hawsers); in non-nautical use, a rope of wire (not hemp or fiber). Meaning "message received by telegraphic cable" is from 1883. Cablese is from 1895: "Since cablegrams had to be paid for by the word and even press rates were expensive the practice was to affix Latin prefixes and suffixes to make one word do the work of several" [Daniel Schorr]. Cable car is from 1887. Cable television first attested 1963; shortened form cable is from 1972.
cabochon: 1570s, from Fr. cabochon (14c.), augmentative of caboche (12c.), augmentative or pejorative formation, ultimately from L. caput "head." Essentially the same word as cabbage.
caboodle: c.1848, see kit.
caboose: 1747, from M.Du. kambuis "ship's galley," from Low Ger. kabhuse "wooden cabin on ship's deck." Railroading sense is 1861.
cabriolet: "light two-wheeled chaise," 1766, from Fr. cabriolet (18c.), derivative of cabriole (see cab). So called from its light, leaping motion.
caca: "excrement," a nursery word but a very ancient one (PIE *kakka-), forming the base word for "excrement, to void excrement" in many I.E. languages; e.g. Gk. kakke "human excrement," L. cacare, Ir. caccaim, S.Cr. kakati, Armenian k'akor. Etymologists dispute whether the Gmc. words (Du. kakken, Dan. kakke, Ger. kacken) are native cognates or student slang borrowed from L. cacare. The word in this form appears in Eng. slang c.1870, and could have been borrowed from any or several of the languages that used it (Sp., Mod.Gk.).
cacao: seed from which cocoa and chocolate are made, 1550s, from Sp. cacao, from Nahuatl (Aztec) cacahuatl "bean of the cocoa-tree."
cacciatore: by 1973, from It., lit. "hunter," from pp. of cacciare "to hunt, chase," from V.L. *captiare (see catch).
cache: 1797, from Fr. Canadian trappers' slang, "hiding place for stores" (1660s), from Fr. cacher "conceal," from V.L. *coacticare "store up, collect, compress," from L. coactare "constrain," from coactus pp. of cogere "to collect" (see cogent).
cache-sexe: 1926, from Fr., from cacher "to hide" + sexe "genitals" (fem.).
cachectic: 1630s, ult. from Gk. kakhektikos "in a bad habit of body" (see cachexia).
cachet: 1630s, Scottish borrowing of Fr. cachet "seal affixed to a letter or document," from O.Fr. cacher "to press, crowd," from L. coactare "constrain" (see cache). Meaning evolving through "(letter under) personal stamp (of the king)" to "prestige."
cachexia: 1540s, from Mod.L. cachexia, from Gk. kakhexia, from kakos "bad" + -exia, related to exis "habit or state," from exein "to have, be in a condition."
cachexic: see cachectic.
cachinnate: "to laugh loudly or immoderately," 1824, from L. cachinnare (see cachinnation).
cachinnation: 1620s, from L. cachinnationem, noun of action from cachinnare "to laugh immoderately or loudly," of imitative origin.
cack: act of voiding excrement," mid-15c. (O.E. had cac-hus "latrina"), from L. cacare (see caca).
cackle: early 13c., imitative, partly based on M.Du. kake "jaw." Cackleberries, slang for "eggs" is first recorded 1880.
cacoethes: "itch for doing something," 1560s, from L., from Gk. kakoethes "ill-habit," from kakos "bad" + ethe- "disposition, character" (see ethos). Most famously, in Juvenal's insanabile scribendi cacoethes "incurable passion for writing."
cacoon: "large, flat bean from an African shrub," 1854, from some African word.
cacophony: 1650s, from Gk. kakophonia, from kakophonos "harsh sounding," from kakos "bad, evil" + phone "voice" (see fame). Kako- was a common prefix in Gk., and has often crossed over into Eng., e.g. cacography, the opposite of calligraphy (q.v.). Etymologists connect it with PIE *kakka- "to defecate." Related: Cacophonous (1797).
cactus: c.1600, from L. cactus "cardoon," from Gk. kaktos, name of a type of prickly plant of Sicily (the Spanish artichoke). Modern meaning is 18c., because Linnaeus gave the name to a group of plants he thought were related to this but are not.
cad: 1730, shortening of cadet (q.v.); originally used of servants, then (1831) of town boys by students at British universities and public schools (though at Cambridge it meant "snob"). Meaning "person lacking in finer feelings" is from 1838.
"A cad used to be a jumped-up member of the lower classes who was guilty of behaving as if he didn't know that his lowly origin made him unfit for having sexual relationships with well-bred women." [Anthony West, "H.G. Wells: Aspects of a Life," 1984]
cadastral: 1858, from Fr. cadastral, from cadastre (16c.), from L.L. capitastrum "register of the poll tax," from caput "head."
cadaver: c.1500, from L., probably from a perf. part. of cadere "to fall, sink, settle down, decline, perish" (see case (1)).
cadaverous: 1620s, from Fr. cadavéreux, from L. cadaverosus "corpse-like," from cadaver (see cadaver).
caddie: 1630s, Scottish form of Fr. cadet (see cadet). Originally "person who runs errands;" meaning of "golfer's assistant" is 1851. A letter from Edinburgh c.1730 describes the city's extensive and semi-organized "Cawdys, a very useful Black-Guard, who attend ... publick Places to go at Errands; and though they are Wretches, that in Rags lye upon the Stairs and in the Streets at Night, yet are they often considerably trusted .... This Corps has a kind of Captain ... presiding over them, whom they call the Constable of the Cawdys."
caddis: "larva of the May-fly," 1650s, of unknown origin, perhaps a dim. of some sense of cad.
caddy: 1792, from Malay kati a weight equivalent to about a pound and a half, adopted as a standard by British companies. Apparently the word for a measure of tea was transferred to the chest it was carried in.