- charwoman
- 1590s, from M.E. char, cherre "turn of work" (see chore) + woman.
- chary
- O.E. cearig "sorrowful" (see care). Sense evolved 16c. from "full of care" to "careful." Cognate with O.S. carag, O.H.G. charag "sorrow, trouble, care."
- Charybdis
- whirlpool off the coast of Sicily, now known as Galofalo, 1759, from Gk. Kharybdis, of unknown origin. Cf. Scylla.
- chase (v.)
- c.1300, chacen "to hunt," from O.Fr. chacier "to hunt, ride swiftly, strive for" (Mod.Fr. chasser), from V.L. *captiare (cf. It. cacciare, Catalan casar, Sp. cazar, Port. caçar "to chase, hunt;" see catch). Meaning "run after" developed mid-14c. Related: Chased; chasing. The noun is recorded from mid-13c., "a hunt," from Fr. chace; meaning "A pursuit" (of an enemy, etc.) is early 14c. Older European words for "pursue" often also cover "persecute" (cf. Gk. dioko, O.E. ehtan); modern ones often derive from words used primarily for the hunting of animals.
- chaser
- c.1300, "horse trained for chasing," agent noun from chase, probably in some cases from O.Fr. chaceor "huntsman, hunter." Meaning "water or mild beverage taken after a strong drink" is 1897, U.S. colloquial. French had chasse (from chasser "to chase") "a drink of liquor taken (or said to be taken) to kill the aftertaste of coffee or tobacco," used in English from c.1800.
- chasm
- 1590s, "deep crack in the earth," from L. chasma, from Gk. khasma "yawning hollow, gulf," related to khaskein "to yawn," and thus to chaos. In English in 17c. often spelled chasma.
- chasse
- from Fr. chassé "chase, chasing," pp. of chasser "to chase, hunt" (see chase); borrowed 19c. in a variety of senses and expressions, especially as a dance step.
- Chassepot
- "bolt-action breechloading rifle used by French forces in the Franco-Prussian War," 1870, named for French inventor Antonine-Alphonse Chassepot (1833-1905).
- chasseur
- 1796, French, lit. "huntsman," from O.Fr. chaceor "huntsman, hunter," from chacier "to chase" (see chase).
- chassis
- "base frame of an automobile," 1903, Amer.Eng.; earlier "window frame" (1660s), from Fr. châssis "frame," O.Fr. chassiz (13c.) "frame, framework, setting," from chasse "case, box, eye socket, snail's shell, setting (of a jewel)," from L. capsa "box, case;" see case (2) + Fr. -is, collective suffix for a number of parts taken together.
- chaste
- early 13c., "virtuous, pure from unlawful sexual intercourse," from O.Fr. chaste (12c.) "morally pure," from L. castus "clean, pure, morally pure" (see caste). Transferred sense of "sexually pure" is first attested 1560s, probably by influence of chastity.
- chasten
- 1520s, from obsolete verb chaste "to correct (someone's) behavior" (M.E. chastien, c.1200), from O.Fr. chastiier "to punish" (see chastize).
- chastise
- British spelling of chastize (q.v.); for suffix, see -ize. Related: Chastised; chastisement; chastising.
- chastity
- early 13c., chastete, "virginity, celibacy," from O.Fr. chastete (12c., Mod.Fr. chasteté), from L. castitatem (nom. castitas) "purity, chastity" from castus (see caste).
- chastize
- c.1300, chastisen, from O.Fr. chastiier (12c.) "to warn, advise, instruct; chastize, admonish; punish; dominate, tame" (Mod.Fr. châtier), from L. castigare "to set or keep right, to reprove, chasten, to punish," lit. "to make pure" (see castigate). Or perhaps from M.E. chastien (see chasten) + -ize. Related: Chastized; chastizing.
He alone may chastise who loves. [Rabindranath Tagore, "The Crescent Moon," 1913]
- chasuble
- c.1300, cheisible, from O.Fr. chesible (12c., Mod.Fr. chasuble), from M.L. casubla, from L.L. *casubula, unexplained alteration of L. casula "a little hut," dim. of casa "cottage, house" (see casino), used by c.400 in transferred sense of "outer garment." From the notion that hooded garments resembled or suggested little houses.
- chat (v.)
- mid-15c., short for chatter (q.v.). Related: Chatted; chatting. As a noun, from 1520s. Chat room in the online sense is attested by 1994, from the days when AOL ruled the Internet.
- chateau
- c.1739, from Fr. château, from O.Fr. chastel (12c.), from L. castellum "castle" (see castle).
- chateaubriand
- "grilled beef steak, garnished with herbs," 1877, named, for some reason, for Fr. writer François René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848).
- chatelaine
- 1845, from Fr. châtelaine "a female castellan; wife of a castellan; mistress of a castle or country house;" fem. of châtelain, from O.Fr. chastelain "owner and lord of a castle, castellan, nobleman," from chastel (see chateau).
- chattel
- early 13c., chatel "property, goods," from O.Fr. chatel "chattels, goods, wealth, possessions, property; profit; cattle," from L.L. capitale "property" (see cattle, which is the O.N.Fr. form of the same word). Application to slaves (1640s) is a rhetorical figure of abolitionists, etc.
- chatter (v.)
- early 13c., chateren "to twitter, gossip," earlier cheateren, chiteren, of echoic origin. Cf. Du. koeteren "jabber," Dan. kvidre "twitter, chirp." Related: Chattered; chattering. Phrase chattering class in use by 1893, with a reference perhaps from 1843.
While therefore Mrs. Hamlyn and her daughters were seated in breathless anxiety in the drawing room in Cavendish Square listening every time the slightest movement in the chamber overhead gave indication that the factitious slumbers of the wounded man were broken ... the clubs of the West End were deciding who was to fill the vacant seat for Barsthorpe and whether the Honourable Member for Alverstoke and Alberic Vernon would have to surrender, in order to stand their trial, thus producing the loss of a couple of votes to the opposition. Such was the most interesting side of the fatal event to that idle chattering class of London life to whom the collision of heaven and earth were important only as affording matter for "news!" [Catherine Grace F. Gore ("Mrs. Gore"), "The Banker's Wife," 1843]
- chatterbox
- 1774, from chatter + box.
- chatty
- "fond of chatting," c.1762, from chat + -y (2).
- Chaucer
- family name, from O.Fr. chaucier "maker of chausses," from O.Fr. chauces "clothing for the legs, breeches, pantaloons, hose" (related to case (2)). M.E. chawce was a general term for anything worn on the feet.
- chauffer
- "small portable stove," 1825, variant of chafer "a vessel for heating," agent noun from chafe; form influenced by Fr. chauffoir "a heater," from chauffer "to heat," which also is ultimately from chafe (see chauffeur).
- chauffeur
- 1899, originally "a motorist," from Fr. chauffeur, lit. "stoker," operator of a steam engine, French nickname for early motorists, from chauffer "to heat," from O.Fr. chaufer "to heat, warm up; to become hot" (see chafe). The first motor-cars were steam-driven. Sense of "professional or paid driver of a private motor car" is from 1902. The verb is first attested 1917. Related: Chauffeured; chauffeuring.
- Chautauqua
- "assembly for popular education," 1873, from town in New York, U.S., where an annual Methodist summer colony featured lectures. The name is from ja'dahgweh, a Seneca (Iroquoian) name, possibly "one has taken out fish there," but an alternative suggested meaning is "raised body."
- chauvinism
- 1870, "exaggerated, blind patriotism," from Fr. chauvinisme (1843), from Nicholas Chauvin, soldier, possibly legendary, of Napoleon's Grand Armee, notoriously attached to the Empire long after it was history. Popularized in France 1831 through Cogniard's vaudeville "La Cocarde Tricolore." Meaning extended to "sexism" via male chauvinism (1970). The name is a French form of L. Calvinus and thus Calvinism and chauvinism are, etymologically, twins.
- chauvinist
- 1877, from Fr. chauviniste, from Chauvin (see chauvinism). Related: Chauvinistic.
- chav
- British slang, "antisocial youth," by 2004, of unknown origin.
- chaw
- 1520s, unexplained phonetic variant of chew; the noun meaning "that which is chewed" (especially a quid of tobacco) first recorded 1709.
- Che
- nickname of Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Guevara (1928–1967), acquired when he was working with Cuban exiles in Guatemala in mid-1950s, from his dialectal use of Argentine che, a slang filler word in speech.
- cheap
- O.E. ceap (n.) "traffic, bargain, a purchase," from ceapian (v.) "trade," probably an early Germanic borrowing from L. caupo (gen. cauponis) "petty tradesman, huckster" (cf. O.Fris. kap "trade, purchase," Du. koop "trade, market, bargain," O.H.G. kauf "trader," Ger. Kauf, Dan. kjøb "purchase, bargain," O.N. kaup "bargain, pay." Cf. also O.C.S. kupiti "to buy," a Germanic loan-word). Adjective sense of "low in price, that may be bought at small cost" first attested c.1500, from god chep "favorable bargain" (12c.), translation of Fr. a bon marché; a sense represented in O.E. by undeor, lit. "un-dear" (opposed to deop ceap "high price," lit. "deep cheap"). Sense of "lightly esteemed, common" is from 1590s (cf. similar evolution of L. vilis). The word also was used in O.E. for "market" (cf. ceapdæg "market day"), a sense surviving in place names Cheapside, East Cheap, etc. Related: Cheaply. Expression on the cheap is first attested 1888. German billig "cheap" is from M.L.G. billik, originally "fair, just," with a sense evolution via billiger preis "fair price," etc.
- cheapskate
- "miserly person," 1896, from cheap (q.v.), second element perhaps from Amer.Eng. slang skate "worn-out horse" (1894), of uncertain origin.
- chear
- obsolete spelling of cheer.
- cheat (v.)
- mid-15c., aphetic of O.Fr. escheat, legal term for revision of property to the state when the owner dies without heirs, lit. "that which falls to one," pp. of escheoir "befall by chance, happen, devolve," from V.L. *excadere "to fall away," from L. ex- "out" + cadere "to fall" (see case (1)). Also cf. escheat. The royal officers evidently had a low reputation. Meaning evolved through "confiscate" (mid-15c.) to "deprive unfairly" (1580s). To cheat on (someone) "be sexually unfaithful" first recorded 1934. The noun is recorded from late 14c., "forfeited property;" meaning "a deceptive act" is from 1640s.
- cheater
- early 14c., "royal officer in charge of the king's escheats," agent noun from cheat (q.v.). Meaning "dishonest player" is recorded from 1530s.
- check (n.)
- early 14c., "A call in chess noting one's move has placed his opponent's king in immediate peril," from O.Fr. eschequier "a check at chess" (also "chess board, chess set"), from eschec, from V.L. *scaccus, from Arabic shah, from Pers. shah "king," the principal piece in a chess game (see shah; also cf. checkmate). When the king is in check a player's choices are limited. Meaning widened from chess to general sense of "adverse event" (c.1300), "sudden stoppage" (early 14c.), and by c.1700 to "a token used to check against loss or theft" (surviving in hat check) and "a check against forgery or alteration," which gave the modern financial use of "bank check, money draft" (first recorded 1798 and often spelled cheque), probably influenced by exchequeur. Meaning "pattern of squares" (c.1400) is short for checker. Checking account is attested from 1923, Amer.Eng.
- check (v.)
- late 14c., in chess; see check (n.). All the other senses seem to have developed from this one: "To arrest, stop," late 14c.; "to hold in restraint" (1620s); "to hold up or control" (an assertion, a person, etc.) by comparison with some authority or record, 1690s (as a player in chess limits his opponent's ability to move when he places his opponent's king in check). Hence, to check off (1839); to check up (1889); to check in or out (in a hotel, of a library book, etc.).
- checker
- early 14c., "a chessboard," aphetic of O.Fr. eschequier "chessboard," from M.L. scaccarium (see check (n.)). Meaning "pattern of squares" is late 14c. British prefers chequer, but the U.S. form is more authentic. The word had earlier senses of "a game of chess or checkers" (mid-13c.) and "table covered with checked cloth for counting" (late 12c. in Anglo-Latin); both senses also were in Old French. The verb is recorded from c.1400 (implied in checkered "marked like a chessboard").
- checkers
- Amer.Eng. name for the game known in Britain as draughts, 1712, from plural of checker (q.v.). So called for the board on which the game is played.
- checklist
- 1853, Amer.Eng., from check + list. Two words until c.1880; hyphenated until late 20c.
- checkmate
- mid-14c., from O.Fr. eschec mat, from Arabic shah mat "the king died" (see check (n.)), which according to Barnhart is a misinterpretation of Persian mat "be astonished" as mata "to die," mat "he is dead." Hence Persian shah mat, the ultimate source of the word, would be literally "the king is left helpless, the king is stumped." As a verb, from late 14c. Related: Checkmated.
- checkout
- 1944, from check (v.) + out. Originally "training given to a pilot for using a specific aircraft;" hotel sense is from 1958.
- checkpoint
- 1940, from check (v.) + point (n.). Originally an aviator's term for landforms or structures of known height against which the craft's altitude could be visually checked. The "vehicle stop" sense is recorded from 1950.
- checkup
- "careful examination," 1921, Amer.Eng., from check + up, on notion of a checklist of things to be examined. The verbal phrase check up (on) is attested from 1889.
- cheddar
- 1660s (but the cheese presumably was made long before that), from Cheddar, village in Somerset, England, where it originally was made, from O.E. Ceodre (c.880), probably from ceodor "ravine" (there is a nearby gorge).
- cheek
- O.E. ceace, cece "jaw, jawbone," also "the fleshy wall of the mouth." Perhaps from the root of O.E. ceowan "chew" (see chew), or from P.Gmc. *kaukon (cf. M.L.G. kake "jaw, jawbone," M.Du. kake "jaw," Du. kaak), not found outside West Germanic. Words for "cheek," "jaw," and "chin" tend to run together in IE languages (cf. PIE *genw-, source of Gk. genus "jaw, cheek," geneion "chin," and English chin); Aristotle considered the chin as the front of the "jaws" and the cheeks as the back of them. The other O.E. word for "cheek" was ceafl (see jowl).
A thousand men he [Samson] slow eek with his hond,
Sense of "insolence" is from 1840, perhaps from a notion akin to that which led to jaw "insolent speech," mouth off, etc. To turn the other cheek is an allusion to Matt. v.39 and Luke vi.29.
And had no wepen but an asses cheek.
[Chaucer, "Monk's Tale"] - cheeks
- "the buttocks," c.1600; see cheek.