Online Etymology Dictionary

pontifex: member of the supreme college of priests in ancient Rome, 1579, from L. pontifex, probably from pont-, stem of pons "bridge" + -fex, -ficis, root of facere "make." If so, the word originally meant "bridge-maker," or "path-maker." Weekley points out that, "bridge-building has always been regarded as a pious work of divine inspiration." Or the term may be metaphoric of bridging the earthly world and the realm of the gods. Other suggestions trace it to Oscan-Umbrian puntis "propitiary offering," or to a lost Etruscan word, in either case altered by folk-etymology to resemble the L. for "bridge-maker."
pontiff: c.1600, "high priest," from Fr. pontif (early 16c.), from L. pontifex, title of a Roman high priest (see pontifex). Used for "bishop" in Church Latin, but not recorded in that sense in English until 1670s, specifically "the bishop of Rome," the pope. Pontifical, however, is used with this sense from mid-15c.
pontificate (v.): 1818, "to act as a pontiff," from pp. stem of M.L. pontificare, from L. pontifex (see pontiff). Meaning "to assume pompous and dignified airs, issue dogmatic decrees" is from 1825.
pontoon: 1676, from Fr. pontoon, from M.Fr. ponton, from L. pontonem (nom. ponto) "flat-bottomed boat," from pons "bridge." Pontoon bridge is first recorded 1778.
pony (n.): 1659, powny, from Scottish, apparently from Fr. poulenet "little foal" (1444), dim. of O.Fr. poulain "foal," from L.L. pullanus "young of an animal," from L. pullus "young of a horse, fowl, etc." German, sensibly, indicates this animal by attaching a dim. suffix to its word for "horse," which might yield Mod.Eng. *horslet. Meaning "crib of a text as a cheating aid" (1827) and "small liquor glass" (1849) both are from notion of "smallness" (the former also "something one rides"). As the name of a popular dance, it dates from 1963. Pony Express began 1847. Ponytail, girls' hairstyle, first recorded 1952.
pony (v.): 1824, in pony up "to pay," said to be from slang use of L. legem pone to mean "money" (first recorded 16c.), because this was the title of the Psalm for March 25, a Quarter Day and the first payday of the year (the Psalm's first line is Legem pone michi domine viam iustificacionum "Teach me, O Lord, the ways of thy statutes").
Ponzi scheme: investment scam by which early investors are paid off from the contributions of later ones, 1957, in ref. to Charles Ponzi, who perpetrated such a scam in U.S., 1919-20.
pooch: 1924, "dog," Amer.Eng., of unknown origin.
poodle: 1825, from Ger. Pudel, shortened form of Pudelhund "water dog," from Low Ger. Pudel "puddle" (cf. pudeln "to splash") + Ger. Hund "hound." Probably so called because the dog was used to hunt water fowl. Fig. sense of "lackey" (chiefly British) is attested from 1907. Poodle-faker, British army slang for "ingratiating male," is from 1902.
poof: "effeminate man, male homosexual," c.1850, perhaps a corruption of puff. The Australian extended form poofter is attested from 1910.
pooh: 1593, "a 'vocal gesture' expressing the action of puffing anything away" [OED], first attested in Hamlet Act I, Scene III, where Polonius addresses Ophelia with, "Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?" But the "vocal gesture" is perhaps ancient. Among the many 19th century theories of the origin of language was the Pooh-pooh theory (1860), which held that language grew from natural expressions of surprise, joy, pain, or grief. The slang reduplicated verb pooh-pooh "to dismiss lightly and contemptuously" is attested from 1827. Pooh as baby-talk for "excrement" is from 1950s (cf. poop (n.2)).
Pooh-Bah: 1888, name of the "Lord High Everything Else" in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" (1885).
pool (1): "small body of water," O.E. pol, from W.Gmc. *pol- (cf. O.Fris., M.L.G. pol, Du. poel, O.H.G. pfuol, Ger. Pfuhl). As a short form of swimming pool it is recorded from 1921.
pool (2): "game similar to billiards," 1848, originally (1693) a card game played for collective stakes (a "pool"), from Fr. poule "stakes, booty, plunder," lit. "hen," from O.Fr. poule "hen, young fowl." Perhaps the original notion is from jeu de la poule, supposedly a game in which people threw things at a hen and the player who hit it, won it, which speaks volumes about life in the Middle Ages. The connection of "hen" and "stakes" is also present in Sp. polla and Walloon paie. Meaning "collective stakes" first recorded 1869; sense of "common reservoir of resources" is from 1917. Meaning "group of persons who share duties or skills" is from 1928. The verb meaning "to make a common interest, put things into a pool" is 1872, from the noun.
poontang: c.1910, probably via New Orleans Creole, from Fr. putain "prostitute," from O.Fr. pute "whore," probably from fem. of V.L. *puttus (cf. O.It. putta "girl"), from L. putus, with derogatory sense. But also possibly from O.Fr. put, from L. putidus "stinking" on notion of the "foulness" of harlotry, or for more literal reasons (among the 16c.-17c. slang terms for "whore" in Eng. were polecat and fling-stink). Shortened form poon is recorded from 1969.
poop (n.1): "stern deck of a ship," c.1405, from M.Fr. poupe "stern of a ship," from It. poppa, from L. puppis "poop, stern," of uncertain origin.
poop (n.2): "excrement," 1744, a children's euphemism, probably of imitative origin; cf. the same word in the sense "to break wind softly," attested from 1721, earlier "to make a short blast on a horn" (late 14c.).
poop (n.3): "up to date information," 1941, in poop sheet, Army slang, of unknown origin, perhaps from poop (n.2).
poop (v.): "tire out," 1931, of unknown origin, perhaps imitative of the sound of heavy breathing from exhaustion (cf. poop (n.2)).
poor: c.1200, from O.Fr. poure (Fr. pauvre), from L. pauper "poor," perhaps a compound of paucus "little" and parare "to get." Replaced O.E. earm. Poorhouse is from 1781. The poor boy sandwich, made of simple but filling ingredients, was invented and named in New Orleans in 1921. To poor mouth "deny one's advantages" is from 1965 (to make a poor mouth "whine" is Scot. dial. from 1822). Slang poor man's ________ "the cheaper alternative to _______," is from 1854.
pop (n.1): "a hit with an explosive sound," c.1400, of imitative origin. Verb sense of "to cause to make a sudden explosive sound" is attested from 1595; sense of "to appear or put suddenly" (often with up, off, in, etc.) is recorded from 1443, from the noun. Meaning "flavored carbonated beverage" is from 1812.
"A new manufactory of a nectar, between soda-water and ginger-beer, and called pop, because ‘pop goes the cork’ when it is drawn." [Southey, letter, 1812]
Baseball sense of "to hit a ball high in the air" is from 1867. Sense of "ice cream on a stick" is from 1923 (see popsicle). To pop the question is from 1725, specific sense of "propose marriage" is from 1826. Popcorn is first attested 1819. Pop-eyed "having bulging eyes" is recorded from 1820. Pop-gun as a type of child's toy is from 1622. Pop-over "light cake" is from 1876. Pop goes the weasel, a country dance, was popular 1850s at court balls, etc.
pop (adj., n.): "having popular appeal," 1926, of individual songs from many genres; 1954 as a genre of its own; abbreviation of popular (q.v.), earlier as a shortened form of popular concert (1862), often in the plural form pops. Pop art first recorded 1957, said to have been in use conversationally among Independent group of artists from late 1954.
pop (n.2): "father," 1838, chiefly Amer.Eng., shortened from papa (1681), from Fr. papa, from O.Fr., a children's word, similar to L. pappa. Form poppa is recorded from 1897.
Pope: O.E. papa, from M.L. papa "bishop, pope" (in classical L., "tutor"), from Gk. papas "patriarch, bishop," originally "father." Applied to bishops of Asia Minor and taken as a title by the Bishop of Alexandria c.250. In Western Church, applied especially to the Bishop of Rome since the time of Leo the Great (440-461) and claimed exclusively by them from 1073. Popemobile, his car, is from 1979. Papal, papacy, later acquisitions in Eng., preserve the original vowel. Popery (1534) was a hostile coinage of the Reformation.
popinjay: 1270, "a parrot," from O.Fr. papegai (12c.), from Sp. papagayo, from Arabic babagha', from Pers. babgha "parrot," possibly imitative of its cry. Used of people in a complimentary sense (in allusion to beauty and rarity) from c.1310; meaning "vain, talkative person" is first recorded 1528. Obsolete fig. sense of "a target to shoot at" is explained by Cotgrave's 2nd sense definition: "also a woodden parrot (set up on the top of a steeple, high tree, or pole) whereat there is, in many parts of France, a generall shooting once euerie yeare; and an exemption, for all that yeare, from La Taille, obtained by him that strikes downe" all or part of the bird.
poplar: 1356, from Anglo-Norm. popler, from O.Fr. poplier (13c., Fr. peulplier), from L. populus "poplar" (with a long "o;" not the same word that produced popular). Perhaps related to Gk. pelea "elm." It. pioppo, Sp. chopo, Ger. pappel, O.C.S. topoli all are from L.
poplin: 1710, from Fr. papeline "cloth of fine silk and worsted" (1667), probably from Prov. papalino, fem. of papalin "of or belonging to the pope," from M.L. papalis "papal." The reference is to Avignon, papal residence during the schism 1309-1408 (and regarded as a papal town until 1791), which also was a center of silk manufacture. Influenced in Eng. by Poperinghe, town in Flanders where the fabric was made (but from 18c. the primary source was Ireland).
poppet: "small human figure used in witchcraft and sorcery," c.1300, early form of puppet (q.v.). Meaning "small or dainty person" is recorded from late 14c.; later a term of endearment.
poppy: O.E. popæg, from W.Gmc. *papua-, probably from V.L. *papavum, from L. papaver "poppy," perhaps a reduplicated form of imitative base *pap- "to swell." Associated with battlefields and war dead at least since Waterloo (1815).
poppycock: 1865, probably from Du. dialect pappekak, from M.Du. pappe "soft dung" (see pap) + kak "dung," from L. cacare "to excrete."
popsicle: 1923, trademark name registered by Frank Epperson of Oakland, Calif., presumably from (lolly)pop + (ic)icle.
populace: 1572, from M.Fr. populace, from It. popolaccio "riffraff, rabble," from popolo "people" (from L. populus "people") + pejorative suffix -accio.
popular: 1490, "public," from L. popularis "belonging to the people," from populus "people." Meaning "well-liked, admired by the people" is attested from 1608. Popularity "fact or condition of being beloved by the people" is first recorded 1601; popularity contest is from 1941. Popular Front "coalition of Communists, Socialists, and radicals" is from 1936. Popularize "to make a complex topic intelligible to the people" is from 1833.
populate: 1570s, from M.L. populatus, pp. of populare "inhabit," from L. populus "inhabitants."
population: 1570s, from L.L. populationem (c.470, nom. populatio) "a people, multitude," as if a noun of action from L. populus "people." Population explosion is first attested 1953.
populist: 1892, Amer.Eng., from L. populus "people." Originally in reference to the Populist Party, organized Feb. 1892 to promote certain issues important to farmers and workers. The term outlasted the party, and by 1920s came to mean "representing the views of the masses" in a general way.
populous: c.1449, from L. populosus (c.160) "full of people, populous," from populus "people."
porcelain: c.1530, from M.Fr. porcelaine, from It. porcellana "porcelain" (13c.), lit. "cowrie shell," the chinaware so called from resemblance to the shiny surface of the shells. The shell's name in It. is from porcella "young sow," fem. of L. porcellus "young pig," dim. of porculus "piglet," dim. of porcus "pig." Supposedly the shells were so called because the shape of the orifice reminded someone of the vaginas of pigs.
porch: late 13c., from O.Fr. porche, from L. porticus "covered gallery, arcade," from porta "gate." The L. word was borrowed directly into O.E. as portic.
porcine: 1656, from Fr. porcin, from L. porcinus "of a hog," from porcus "hog, pig" (see pork).
porcupine: c.1400, porke despyne, from O.Fr. porc-espin (c.1220), lit. "spiny pig," from L. porcus "hog" + spina "thorn, spine." The word had many forms in M.E. and early Mod.E., including portepyn, porkpen, porkenpick, porpoynt, and Shakespeare's porpentine (in "Hamlet").
pore (v.): c.1300, perhaps from O.E. *purian, suggested by spyrian "to investigate, examine," and spor "a trace, vestige."
pore (n.): late 14c., from L. porus "a pore," from Gk. poros "a pore," lit. "passage, way," from PIE *por- "going, passage," from base *per- "to lead, pass over" (see port (1)).
porgy: name given to various sea fishes, 1725, probably from pargo (1557) "sea bream," from Sp. or Port. pargo, from L. phagrum, acc. of phager, from Gk. phagros "sea bream."
pork (n.): 1215, "flesh of a pig as food," from L. porcus "pig, tame swine," from PIE *porko- "young swine" (cf. Umbrian purka; O.C.S. prase "young pig;" Lith. parsas "pig;" O.E. fearh, M.Du. varken, both from P.Gmc. *farhaz). Porker young hog fattened for food" is recorded from 1657; meaning "fat person" is from 1892. Pork chop is attested from 1858. Pork barrel "state's financial resources" is 1909, on notion of food supply kept in a barrel (lit. sense from 1801); the shortened form pork in this sense is attested from 1862. Pork-pie hat originally described a woman's style popular c.1855-65, so called for its shape.
porn (n.): 1962, abbreviation of pornography (q.v.). Porno (adj.) is attested from 1952.
pornography: 1857, "description of prostitutes," from Fr. pornographie, from Gk. pornographos "(one) writing of prostitutes," from porne "prostitute," originally "bought, purchased" (with an original notion, probably of "female slave sold for prostitution;" related to pernanai "to sell," from PIE root per- "to traffic in, to sell," cf. L. pretium "price") + graphein "to write." Originally used of classical art and writing; application to modern examples began 1880s. Main modern meaning "salacious writing or pictures" represents a slight shift from the etymology, though classical depictions of prostitution usually had this quality.
"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion, "Jacobellis v. Ohio," 1964]
Pornographer is earliest form of the word, attested from 1850. Pornocracy (1860) is "the dominating influence of harlots," used specifically of the government of Rome during the first half of the 10th century by Theodora and her daughters.
porous: late 14c., "full of pores," from M.Fr. poreux (14c.), M.L. porosus, from L. porus "opening" (see pore (n.)).
porphyry: "beautiful and valuable stone," 1395, from O.Fr. porfire, from L. porphyrites, a purple semi-precious stone quarried near Red Sea in Egypt, from Gk. porphyrites "like purple" (the stone's name in Gk.), from porphyra (n.) "purple."
porpoise: 1309, from O.Fr. porpais (12c.), lit. "pork fish," from porc "pork" (see pork) + peis "fish," from L. piscis "fish." The O.Fr. word is probably a loan-translation of a Gmc. word, cf. M.Du. mereswijn "porpoise" (cf. Mod.Fr. marsouin). Classical L. had a similar name, porculus marinus (in Pliny), and the notion behind the name likely is a fancied resemblance of the snout to that of a pig.