Online Etymology Dictionary

'em: M.E., now taken as an abbreviation of them, but originally a form of hem, dative and accusative of the third person plural pronoun.
-ectomy: "surgical removal," from Gk. -ektomia "a cutting out of," from ektemnein "to cut out," from ek "out" + temnein "to cut" (see tome).
-ed: pp. suffix of weak verbs, from O.E. -ed, -ad, -od (leveled to -ed in M.E.), from P.Gmc. *-do-, from PIE *-to- (cf. Gk. -tos, L. -tus). Originally fully pronounced, as still in beloved (which, with blessed, accursed, and a few others retains the full pronunciation through liturgical readings). In 16c.-18c. often written -t when so pronounced (usually after a consonant or short vowel), and still so where a long vowel in the stem is short in the pp. (crept, slept, etc.). In some older words both forms exist, with different shades of meaning, cf. gilded/gilt, burned/burnt.
-emia: medical suffix, "condition of the blood," from comb. form of Gk. haima (gen. haimatos) "blood," possibly from PIE base *sai- "thick liquid."
-ence: see -ance.
-ent: suffix forming adjectives from nouns or verbs, from Fr. -ent, from L. -entem, pp. ending of verbs in -ere/-ire. O.Fr. changed many to -ant but after c.1500 some in Eng. were changed back to what was supposed to be correct L.
-er (1): English agent noun ending, corresponding to L. -or. In native words it represents O.E. -ere (O.Northumbrian also -are) "man who has to do with," from W.Gmc. *-ari (cf. Ger. -er, Swed. -are, Dan. -ere), from P.Gmc. *-arjoz. Some believe this root is identical with, and perhaps a borrowing of, Latin -arius. In words of Latin origin, verbs derived from pp. stems of Latin ones (including most verbs in -ate) usually take the Latin ending -or, as do Latin verbs that passed through French (e.g. governor), but there are many exceptions (eraser, laborer, promoter, deserter, sailor, bachelor), some of which were conformed from L. to Eng. in late M.E. The use of -or and -ee in legal language (e.g. lessor/lessee) to distinguish actors and recipients of action has given the -or ending a tinge of professionalism, and this makes it useful in doubling words that have both a professional and non-professional sense (e.g. advisor/adviser, conductor/conducter, incubator/incubater, elevator/elevater).
-er (2): comparative suffix, from O.E. -ra, -re, from P.Gmc. *-izon, *-ozon (cf. Goth. -iza, O.S. -iro, O.N. -ri), originally also with umlaut change in stem, but this was mostly lost in O.E. by historical times and has now vanished (except better and elder).
-er (3): suffix used to make jocular or familiar formations from common or proper names, first attested 1860s, English schoolboy slang, "Introduced from Rugby School into Oxford University slang, orig. at University College, in Michaelmas Term, 1875" [OED, with unusual precision].
-ese: suffix from O.Fr. -eis (modern Fr. -ois, -ais), from V.L., from L. -ensem "belonging to" or "originating in."
-ess: fem. suffix, from Fr. -esse, from L.L. -issa, from Gk. -issa (cognate with O.E. fem. agent suffix -icge); rare in classical Gk., but more common later, in diakonissa "deaconess" and other Church terms picked up by Latin.
-etic: suffix meaning "pertaining to," from Gk. -etikos, adj. suffix for nouns ending in -esis.
-ette: dim. formation, from O.Fr. -ette (fem.), used indiscriminately in O.Fr. with masc. form -et. As a general rule, older words borrowed from Fr. have -et in Eng., while ones taken in since 17c. have -ette. In use with native words since 20c., especially among persons who coin new product names, who tend to give it a sense of "imitation." Also in words like sermonette, which, OED remarks, "can scarcely be said to be in good use, though often met with in newspapers."
e-mail: 1982, short for electronic mail.
E. coli: "bacteria inhabiting the gut of man and animals," short for Escherichia coli, from Ger. physician Theodor Escherich (1857-1911) + L. gen. of colon "colon."
E.T.A.: abbreviation of estimated time (of) arrival, first attested 1939.
ea: the usual O.E. word for "river, running water;" still in use in Lancashire.
each: O.E. ælc "ever alike," from a "ever" + gelic "alike." Similar compounds are found in other Gmc. languages (cf. Du. elk, O.Fris. ellik). Originally used as we now use every (which is a compound of each) or all; modern use is by infl. of L. quisque. Modern spelling appeared late 1500s.
eager: c.1300, from O.Fr. aigre, from V.L. *acrus, from L. acer (gen. acris) "keen, sharp" (see acrid). The Eng. word kept an alternative meaning of "pungent, sharp-edged" till 19c. (e.g. Shakespeare's "The bitter clamour of two eager tongues," in "Richard II").
eagle: mid-14c., from O.Fr. egle, from O.Prov. aigla, from L. aquila "black eagle," fem. of aquilus "dark colored" (bird). The native term was erne. Golf score sense is first recorded 1922. The figurative eagle-eyed is attested from c.1600.
Eames: 1946, type of modern office chair, named for U.S. architect and designer Charles Eames (1907-1978).
ear (1): "organ of hearing," O.E. eare, from P.Gmc. *auzon (cf. Dan. øre, Ger. Ohr, Goth. auso), from PIE *aus- with a sense of "perception" (cf. Gk. aus, L. auris, Lith. ausis, O.C.S. ucho, O.Ir. au "ear," Avestan usi "the two ears"). The belief that itching or burning ears means someone is talking about you is mentioned in Pliny's "Natural History" (77 C.E.). Until at least the 1880s, even some medical men still believed piercing the ear lobes improved one's eyesight. Meaning "handle of a pitcher" is mid-15c. To be wet behind the ears "naive" is implied from 1914. Phrase walls have ears attested from 1620. Ear-bash (v.) is Australian slang (1944) for "to talk inordinately" (to someone).
ear (2): "grain part of corn," from O.E. ear (W.Saxon), æher (Northumbrian) "spike, ear of grain," from P.Gmc. *akhaz (gen. *akhizaz), from PIE base *ak- "sharp, pointed" (cf. L. acus "husk of corn;" see acrid).
earful: "a piece of one's mind," 1917, from ear (1) + full.
earl: O.E. eorl "nobleman, warrior" (contrasted with ceorl "churl"), from P.Gmc. *erlo-z, of uncertain origin. In Anglo-Saxon poetry, "a warrior, a brave man;" in later O.E., a Danish under-king (equivalent of O.N. jarl), then one of the viceroys under the Danish dynasty in England. After 1066 adopted as the equivalent of L. comes (see count (n.)).
earldom: early 12c., from earl + -dom.
early: O.E. ærlice, from ær "soon, ere" (from P.Gmc. *airiz, from PIE *ayer- "day, morning") + -lice "-ly," adverbial suffix. The early bird of the proverb is from 1670s.
earmark: 1520s, from ear (1) + mark (1). Originally a cut or mark in the ear of sheep and cattle, serving as a sign of ownership; first recorded 1570s in figurative sense.
earn: O.E. earnian "get a reward for labor," from W.Gmc. *aznojanan, from *aznu "work, labor" (cf. O.H.G. aran, Ger. Ernte "harvest," Goth. asans "harvest, summer," O.N. önn "work in the field"). Related to O.E. esne "serf."
earnest: O.E. eornoste (adj.) from a noun eornost "passion, zeal" (surviving only in the phrase in earnest), from P.Gmc. *ern "vigor, briskness" (cf. O.H.G. arnust "struggle," Goth. arniba "safely," O.N. jarna "fight, combat") The proper name Ernest (lit. "resolute") is from the same root.
earring: O.E. earhring, from ear + hring (see ring (n.)). Now including any sort of ornament in the ear; the pendants were originally ear-drops (1720).
"The two groups which had formerly a near monopoly on male earrings were Gypsies and sailors. Both has the usual traditions about eyesight [see ear (1)], but it was also said that sailors' earrings would save them from drowning, while others argued that should a sailor be drowned and washed up on some foreign shore, his gold earrings would pay for a proper Christian burial." ["Dictionary of English Folklore"]
earshot: c.1600, from ear (1) + shot.
earth: O.E. eorðe "ground, soil, dry land," also used (along with middangeard) for "the (material) world" (as opposed to the heavens or the underworld), from P.Gmc. *ertho (cf. O.N. jörð, M.Du. eerde, O.H.G. erda, Goth. airþa), from PIE base *er-. The earth considered as a planet was so called from c.1400.
earth-mother: 1904, folkloric spirit of the earth, conceived as sensual, maternal; a transl. of Ger. erdmutter.
earthlight: 1833, from earth + light (n.). Apparently coined by British astronomer John Herschel.
earthling: O.E. eyrþling "plowman" (see earth); the sense of "inhabitant of the earth" is from 1590s. Earthman was originally (1860) "a demon who lives in the earth;" science fiction sense of "inhabitant of the planet Earth" first attested 1949 in writing of Robert Heinlein.
earthquake: late 13c., as eorthequakynge, from earth + quake. O.E. had eorðdin in this sense.
earthwork: 1630s, from earth + work.
earthworm: 1590s, from earth + worm.
earthy: in the fig. sense of "coarse, unrefined," 1590s, from earth.
earwax: late 14c., from ear (1) + wax (n.).
earwig: (Forficula auricularia), O.E. earwicga, from eare (see ear (1)) + wicga "beetle, worm," probably related to wiggle. So called from the ancient and widespread (but false) belief that the garden pest went into people's ears.
ease: early 13c., from O.Fr. aise "comfort, pleasure," of unknown origin, despite attempts to link it to various L. verbs. The earliest senses in French appear to be 1. "elbow-room" (from an 11th century Hebrew-French glossary) and 2. "opportunity." This led Sophus Bugge to suggest an origin in V.L. asa, a shortened form of L. ansa "handle," which could be used in the figurative sense of "opportunity, occasion," as well as being a possible synonym for "elbow," since L. ansatus "furnished with handles" also was used to mean "having the arms akimbo." OED editors report this theory, and write, "This is not very satisfactory, but it does not appear that any equally plausible alternative has yet been proposed." The verb meaning "to give ease" is from mid-14c.; the sense of "to relax one's efforts" is from 1863.
easel: 1590s, from Du. ezel "easel," originally "ass," from M.Du. esel, from L. asinus "ass" (see ass (1)); the comparison being of loading a burden on a donkey and propping up a painting or canvas on a wooden stand.
easement: late 14c., from O.Fr. aisement "ease," from aisier "to ease," from aise (see ease). The meaning "legal right or privilege of using something not one's own" is from mid-15c.
east: O.E. east, from P.Gmc. *aus-to-, *austra- "east, toward the sunrise" (cf. Du. oost, Ger. Ost, O.N. austr "from the east"), from PIE *aus- "dawn" (cf. Skt. ushas "dawn," Gk. aurion "morning," O.Ir. usah, Lith. auszra "dawn," L. aurora "dawn," auster "south"), lit. "to shine." The east is the direction in which dawn breaks. For shift in sense in L., see Australia. Meaning "the eastern part of the world" (from Europe) is from c.1300. Cold War use of East for "communist states" first recorded 1951. Natives of eastern Germany and the Baltics were known as easterlings 16c.-18c. The east wind in Biblical Palestine was scorching and destructive (cf. Ezek. xvii.10); in New England it is bleak, wet, unhealthful. East End of London so called from 1846; East Side of Manhattan so called from 1882; Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia so called from 1624. East Indies (India and Southeast Asia) so called 1598 to distinguish them from the West Indies.
Easter: O.E. Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn). Bede says Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of Latin Pasche to name this holiday.
Easter Island: so called because it was discovered by Du. navigator Jakob Roggeveen on April 2, 1722, which was Easter Monday. It had been earlier visited by English pirate Edward Davis (1695), but he neglected to name it. The native Polynesian name is Mata-kite-ran "Eyes that Watch the Stars."
Eastlake: style of furniture, 1878, often a mere debased Gothic, but at its best inspired by Eng. designer Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906) and his book "Hints on Household Taste."
"I find American tradesmen continually advertising what they are pleased to call 'Eastlake' furniture, with the production of which I have had nothing whatever to do, and for the taste of which I should be very sorry to be considered responsible" [C.L. Eastlake, 1878]
easy: c.1200, "at ease," from O.Fr. aisie, pp. of aisier "to put at ease," from aise (see ease). Sense of "not difficult to deal with" is mid-14c.; of conditions, "comfortable," late 14c. The concept of "not difficult" was expressed in O.E. and early M.E. by eaþe (adv.), ieþe (adj.), apparently common W.Gmc., but of disputed origin. Easy Street first printed 1901 in "Peck's Red-Headed Boy." Easy rider (1912) was U.S. black slang for "sexually satisfying lover." The easy listening radio format is from 1965, defined by William Safire (in 1986) as, "the music of the 60's played in the 80's with the style of the 40's."