Online Etymology Dictionary

cherry: 1236, from Anglo-Fr. cherise (taken as a pl.), from O.N.Fr. cherise, from V.L. *ceresia, from late Gk. kerasian "cherry," from Gk. kerasos "cherry tree," possibly from a language of Asia Minor. O.E. had ciris "cherry" from W.Gmc. form of the V.L. word, but it died out after the Norman invasion and was replaced by the French word. Meaning "maidenhead, virginity" is from 1889, U.S. slang, from supposed resemblance to the hymen, but perhaps also from the long-time use of cherries as a symbol of the fleeting quality of life's pleasures. Cherry-pick, in a pejorative sense, first recorded 1972.
Chersonese: from Gk. khersonesos "peninsula," from khersos "dry land" + nesos "island."
chert: "flint-like quartz," 1679, of unknown origin.
cherub: c.1367, as an order of angels, from L.L. cherub, from Gk. cheroub, from Heb. kerubh (pl. kerubhim), perhaps related to Akkadian karubu "gracious, one who blesses," an epithet of the bull-colossus.
Cheryl: fem. proper name, popular in U.S. for girls born 1944-1975.
Chesapeake: from an Algonquian language, perhaps lit. "great shellfish bay." Early spellings include Chesepiooc and Chesupioc.
Cheshire: 1086, Cestre Scire, from Chester + scir "district" (see shire).
Cheshire cat: and its proverbial grin attested from 1770, of unknown origin.
chess: 13c., from O.Fr. esches pl. of eschec (see check), from the key move of the game. The original word for "chess" is Skt. chaturanga "four members of an army" -- elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers. This is preserved in Sp. ajedrez, from Arabic (al) shat-ranj, from Pers. chatrang, from the Skt. word.
"The chess pieces are the block alphabet which shapes thoughts; and these thoughts, although making a visual design on the chessboard, express their beauty abstractly, like a poem." [Marcel Duchamp]
chest: O.E. cest "box, coffer," from P.Gmc. *kista, an early borrowing from L. cista, from Gk. kiste "a box, basket," from PIE *kista "woven container." Meaning extended to "thorax" 1530, replacing breast, on the metaphor of the ribs as a box for the organs. Chest of drawers is from 1599.
Chester: Cestre (1086), from O.E. Legacæstir (735) "City of the Legions," from O.E. ceaster "Roman town or city." It was the base of the Second Legion Adiutrix in the 70s C.E. and later the 20th Legion Valeria Victrix. But the town's name in Roman times was Deoua (c.150 C.E.), from its situation on the River Dee, a Celtic river name meaning "the goddess, the holy one."
Chesterfield: Derbyshire town, O.E. Cesterfelda, lit. "open land near a Roman fort," from ceaster "fort" + feld "open land." The cigarette brand was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S.
chestnut: 1570, from chesten nut (1519), from M.E. chasteine, from O.Fr. chastaigne, from L. castanea, from Gk. kastaneia, which the Greeks thought meant either "nut from Castanea" in Pontus, or "nut from Castana" in Thessaly, but probably both places are named for the trees, not the other way around, and the word is probably borrowed from a language of Asia Minor. Of the dark reddish-brown color, 1656. Applied to the horse-chestnut 1832. Slang sense of "venerable joke or story" is from 1886, probably from a joke (first recorded 1888) based on an oft-repeated story in which a chestnut tree figures. The key part of the 1888 citation is:
"When suddenly from the thick boughs of a cork-tree --"
"A chestnut, Captain; a chestnut."
"Bah! booby, I say a cork-tree!"
"A chestnut," reiterates Pablo. "I should know as well as you, having heard you tell the tale these twenty-seven times."
chetnik: 1909, "member of a Balkan guerrilla force," from Serb. četnik, from četa "band, troop."
cheval de frise: 1688, from Fr., lit. "horse of Frisia," because it was first employed there as a defense against cavalry. Plural chevaux de frise.
chevalier: 1292, Anglo-Fr. chivaler "mounted knight," O.Fr. chevalier, from L. caballarius "horseman" (cf. Prov. cavallier, Sp. caballero, Port. cavalleiro, It. cavaliere), from caballus "horse, pack horse." The word formerly was nativized, but has been given a Fr. pronunciation since 16c. Cf. cavalier.
chevron: 1390s, from O.Fr. chevron "rafter," since it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from V.L. *caprione, from L. caper "goat," the likely connection between goats and rafters being the animal's angular hind legs.
chevy: alt. form of chivvy (q.v.).
chew: O.E. ceowan "to bite, chew," from W.Gmc. *keuwjanan, from PIE base *gjeu- "to chew." To chew (someone) out is military slang from World War II. Chewing gum is 1850, Amer.Eng., originally hardened secretions of the spruce tree.
Cheyenne: 1778, from Fr. Canadian, from Dakota Sahi'yena, a dim. of Sahi'ya, a Dakotan name for the Cree people.
chez: 1740, from Fr. chez, from O.Fr. chiese (12c.), from L. casa "house." Used with Fr. personal names, meaning "house of _____."
chi: 22nd letter of the Gk. alphabet, representing a -kh- sound; shaped like an X, it was used to signify such a shape or arrangement. Some dialects used chi to represent the -ks- sound properly belonging to xi; Latin picked this up and the sound value of chi in Latin-derived alphabets is now that of our X.
chianti: 1833, from Chianti Mountains of Tuscany, where the wine was made.
chiaroscuro: 1680s, "disposition of light and dark in a picture," lit. "bright-dark," from It. chiaro (from L. clarus) + oscuro (from L. obscurus).
chiasm: anglicized form of chiasmus.
chiasmus: 1871, Mod.L., from Gk. khiasmos "crossing, diagonal arrangement," from khiazein "to mark with an 'X'," from chi.
chiastic: from Gk. khiastos, from khiasti "crosswise" (see chi).
chic: 1856, from Fr., originally "subtlety," perhaps related to Ger. schick "tact, skill," from M.L.G. schikken "arrange appropriately;" or from Fr. chicane, from chicanerie (see chicanery).
chica: "young girl," U.S. slang, c.2002, from Amer.Sp. chica "girl," fem. of chico "boy." Often an affectionate term of address. As an adj., "small."
Chicago: town founded in 1833, named from a Canadian Fr. form of an Algonquian word, either Fox /sheka:ko:heki "place of the wild onion," or Ojibwa shika:konk "at the skunk place" (sometimes rendered "place of the bad smell"). The Ojibwa "skunk" word is distantly related to the New England Algonquian word that yielded Mod. Eng. skunk.
chicane: in various senses, "obstacles on a roadway" (20c.), also a term in bridge, apparently all ult. from verb chicane (c.1672), from Fr. chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c., see chicanery).
chicanery: 1609, from Fr. chicanerie "trickery," from M.Fr. chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), perhaps from M.L.G. schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golf-like game once played in Languedoc.
Chicano: 1947 (n.), from Mex.Sp. dialectal pronunciation of Mexicano "Mexican," with loss of initial unaccented syllable. Probably infl. by Sp. chico "boy," also used as a nickname. The adj. is first attested 1967.
chichi: "extremely chic, sophisticated," also "pretentious fussiness," 1908, from Fr.
chick: c.1320, abbreviation of chicken (q.v.), extended to human offspring (often in alliterative pairing chick and child) and used as a term of endearment. As slang for "young woman" it is first recorded 1927 (in "Elmer Gantry"), supposedly from U.S. black slang, in British use by c.1940, popularized by Beatniks late 1950s. Chicken in this sense is from 1711. Sometimes c.1600-1900 chicken was taken as a plural, chick as a singular (cf. child/children) for the domestic fowl.
chick-pea: 1712, false singular back-formation from chich-pease (1548), from Fr. pois chiche, from L. cicer "pea." (for second element, see pease).
chickadee: 1838, Amer.Eng., echoic of its cry.
Chickasaw: 1674, from Chickasaw Chikasha, the people's name for themselves.
chicken: O.E. cycen "young fowl," which in M.E. came to mean "young chicken," then any chicken, from W.Gmc. *kiukinam, from base *keuk- (possibly root of cock, of echoic origin) + dim. suffix. Sense of "cowardly" is at least as old as 14c.; the v. meaning "to back down or fail through cowardice" is from 1943, U.S. slang; as a game of danger to test courage, it is first recorded 1953. Chicken hawk "public person who advocates war but who declined significant opportunity to serve in uniform during wartime" is attested from at least 1988, Amer.Eng. Chicken feed "paltry sum of money" is from 1904. Chickweed (c.1440) was in O.E. cicene mete "chicken food."
chicken lobster: "young lobster," c.1960s, Amer.Eng., from chicken, here apparwently in its sense of "young" + lobster.
chicken pox: c.1730, supposedly so called for its mildness compared to smallpox.
chicory: 1390s, from M.Fr. cichorée, from L. cichoreum, from Gk. kikhorion (pl. kikhoreia) "endive," of unknown origin. Klein suggests a connection with O.Egyptian keksher.
chide: c.1175, "scold, nag, rail," originally intransitive, from O.E. cidan "quarrel." Only in English.
chief: c.1300 (n. and adj.), from O.Fr. chief "leader, ruler, head" (of something), from L.L. capum, from L. caput "head" (see head).
chiefly: "pre-eminently," mid-14c., from chief (q.v.). Meaning "pertaining to a chief" is from 1870.
chieftain: early 14c., from O.Fr. chevetain, from L.L. capitaneus "commander," from L. capitis, gen. of caput "head" (see head). According to "Rob Roy" (1818) a Highland chieftain was the head of a branch of a clan, a chief was the head of the whole name.
chifferobe: "article of furniture having both drawers and space for hanging clothes," c.1917, from merger of chiffonier + wardrobe.
chiffon: 1765, from Fr., dim. of chiffe "a rag, piece of cloth," perhaps a variant of Eng. chip. Extension to pastry is 1929.
chiffonade: food preparation technique, 1877, from Fr., from chiffon (see chiffonier). In ref. to the condition of the leafy stuff after it is so treated.
chiffonier: "piece of furniture with drawers for women to put needlework, cloth, etc.," 1806, from Fr. chiffonnier, a transf. use, lit. "rag gatherer," from chiffon, dim. of chiffe "rag, piece of cloth, scrap, flimsy stuff" (17c.), of uncertain origin.