yogurt (n.) Look up yogurt at Dictionary.com
1620s, a mispronunciation of Turk. yogurt, in which the -g- is a "soft" sound, in many dialects closer to an English "w." The root yog means roughly "to condense" and is related to yogun "intense," yogush "liquify" (of water vapor), yogur "knead."
yok (n.) Look up yok at Dictionary.com
slang, "gentile, non-Jew," pejorative, 1920, from Yiddish, a reversed and altered form of goy.
yoke (n.) Look up yoke at Dictionary.com
Old English geoc "yoke," earlier geoht "pair of draft animals," from Proto-Germanic *yukam (cf. Old Saxon juk, Old Norse ok, Danish aag, Middle Dutch joc, Dutch juk, Old High German joh, German joch, Gothic juk "yoke"), from PIE *jugom "joining" (see jugular). Figurative sense of "heavy burden, oppression, servitude" was in Old English.
yoke (v.) Look up yoke at Dictionary.com
Old English geocian, from yoke (n.). Related: Yoked; yoking.
yokel (n.) Look up yokel at Dictionary.com
1812, perhaps from dialectal German Jokel, disparaging name for a farmer, originally diminutive of Jakob. Or perhaps from English yokel, dialectal name for "woodpecker."
yolk Look up yolk at Dictionary.com
Old English geolca, geoloca "yolk," literally "the yellow part," from geolu "yellow" (see yellow). Formerly also spelled yelk.
Yom Kippur Look up Yom Kippur at Dictionary.com
Jewish holiday, 1854, from Mishnaic Hebrew yom kippur (in Biblical Hebrew, yom kippurim), literally "day of atonement," from yom "day" + kippur "atonement, expiation."
yon Look up yon at Dictionary.com
Old English geon (adj.) "that (over there)," from Proto-Germanic *jaino- (cf. Old Frisian jen, Old Norse enn, Old High German ener, Middle Dutch ghens, German jener, Gothic jains "that, you"), from PIE pronomial stem *i- (cf. Sanskrit ena-, third person pronoun, anena "that;" Latin idem "the same," id "it, that one;" Old Church Slavonic onu "he;" Lithuanian ans "he").
yond Look up yond at Dictionary.com
Old English geond (adv., prep.) "beyond, yonder," related to geon (see yon).
yonder Look up yonder at Dictionary.com
c.1300, from Old English geond (see yond) + comp. suffix -er (2). Now replaced except in poetic usage by ungrammatical that.
yoni (n.) Look up yoni at Dictionary.com
1799, from Sanskrit, "female sexual principle as an object of veneration," literally "vulva, womb."
yoo-hoo Look up yoo-hoo at Dictionary.com
exclamation to call attention, 1924.
yore Look up yore at Dictionary.com
Old English geara (adv.) "of yore," originally genitive plural of gear (see year), and used without of.
York Look up York at Dictionary.com
city in northern England, Old English Eoforwic, earlier Eborakon (c.150), an ancient Celtic name, probably meaning "Yew-Tree Estate," but Eburos may also be a personal name. Yorkshire pudding is recorded from 1747; Yorkshire terrier first attested 1872; short form Yorkie is from 1950.
Yosemite Look up Yosemite at Dictionary.com
from Southern Sierra Miwok /yohhe'meti/ "they are killers." "[E]vidently a name given to the Indians of the valley by those outside it." [Bright]
you Look up you at Dictionary.com
Old English eow, dative and accusative plural of þu (see thou), objective case of ge, "ye" (see ye), from West Germanic *iuwiz (cf. Old Norse yor, Old Saxon iu, Old Frisian iuwe, Middle Dutch, Dutch u, Old High German iu, iuwih, German euch), from PIE *ju.

Pronunciation of you and the nominative form ye gradually merged from 14c.; the distinction between them passed out of general usage by 1600. Widespread use of French in England after 12c. gave English you the same association as French vous, and it began to drive out singular nominative thou, originally as a sign of respect (similar to the "royal we") when addressing superiors, then equals and strangers, and ultimately (by c.1575) becoming the general form of address. For a more thorough discussion of this, go here. Through 13c. English also retained a dual pronoun ink "you two; your two selves; each other."

Words for "you" in Japanese include anata (formal, used by a wife when addressing her husband), kimi (intimate, used among friends) or the rougher omae (oh-MAI-aye), used when talking down to someone or among male friend showing their manliness. Dial. you-uns, for you-ones, first noted 1810 in Ohio.
young (n.) Look up young at Dictionary.com
"young animals collectively, offspring," late 15c., from young (adj.).
young (adj.) Look up young at Dictionary.com
Old English geong "youthful, young," from Proto-Germanic *jungas (cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian jung, Old Norse ungr, Middle Dutch jonc, Dutch jong, Old High German and German jung, Gothic juggs), from PIE *juwngkos, from PIE root *yeu- "vital force, youthful vigor" (cf. Sanskrit yuva "young," Latin juvenis "young," Lithuanian jaunas, Old Church Slavonic junu, Russian junyj "young," Old Irish oac, Welsh ieuanc "young").

From c.1830-1850, Young France, Young Italy, etc., were loosely applied to "republican agitators" in various monarchies; also, especially in Young England, Young America, used generally for "typical young person of the nation." For Young Turk, see Turk.
youngster (n.) Look up youngster at Dictionary.com
1580s, from young + -ster. Earlier was youngling, from Old English geongling.
younker Look up younker at Dictionary.com
c.1500, “young nobleman,” from Middle Dutch jonckher (Dutch jonker), from jonc “young” + here “lord, master.” Cf. junker.
your Look up your at Dictionary.com
Old English eower, genitive of ge "ye" (see ye), from Proto-Germanic base of you. Cf. Old Saxon iuwar, Old Frisian iuwer, Old Norse yðvarr, Old High German iuwer, German euer, Gothic izwar "your."

Used in titles of honor by mid-14c. Absolutive form yours is attested from c.1300. For dialectal yourn, see her. Yours truly "myself" is from 1833, from the common subscription of letters.
yourn Look up yourn at Dictionary.com
dialectal possessive pronoun from your, attested from late 14c. See her.
yourself Look up yourself at Dictionary.com
by early 14c., from your + self. Plural yourselves first recorded 1520s.
youse Look up youse at Dictionary.com
dialectal inflection of you, 1893, not always used in plural senses.
youth (n.) Look up youth at Dictionary.com
Old English geoguð "youth," related to geong "young," from West Germanic *jugunthiz, altered from Proto-Germanic *juwunthiz (cf. Old Saxon juguth, Old Frisian jogethe, Middle Dutch joghet, Dutch jeugd, Old High German jugund, German Jugend, Gothic junda "youth;" see young) by influence of its contrast, *dugunthiz "ability" (source of Old English duguð). In Middle English, the medial -g- became a yogh, which then disappeared.
They said that age was truth, and that the young
Marred with wild hopes the peace of slavery
[Shelley]
youthful (adj.) Look up youthful at Dictionary.com
1560s, from youth + -ful. Related: Youthfulness.
yow Look up yow at Dictionary.com
exclamation, with various meanings, mid-15c.
yowl (v.) Look up yowl at Dictionary.com
early 13c., yuhelen, probably of imitative origin. The noun is recorded from mid-15c. Related: Yowled; yowling.
yowza Look up yowza at Dictionary.com
colloquial form of yes, sir, 1934, popularized by U.S. bandleader and radio personality Ben "The Old Maestro" Bernie (1891-1943).
ytterbium Look up ytterbium at Dictionary.com
metallic rare-earth element, 1879, coined in Modern Latin by Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander (1797-1858) from Ytterby, name of a town in Sweden where mineral containing it was found.
yttrium Look up yttrium at Dictionary.com
metallic rare-earth element, 1866, coined in Modern Latin by Swedish chemist Carl Gustaf Mosander (1797-1858) from Ytterby, name of a town in Sweden where mineral containing it was found.
yuan Look up yuan at Dictionary.com
Chinese unit of currency introduced 1914, from Chinese yuan "round, round object, circle."
Yucatan Look up Yucatan at Dictionary.com
said to be from a local word meaning “massacre.”
yucca (n.) Look up yucca at Dictionary.com
Central and South American name for the cassava plant, 1550s, from Spanish yuca, juca (late 15c.), probably from Taino, native language of Haiti.
yuck (1) Look up yuck at Dictionary.com
exclamation of disgust, 1966, origin perhaps echoic (cf. Newfoundland slang yuck "to vomit," 1963).
yuck (2) Look up yuck at Dictionary.com
"laugh," 1938, yock, probably imitative.
yucky (adj.) Look up yucky at Dictionary.com
1970, from yuck (1) + -y (2). Related: Yuckiness.
Yugoslav Look up Yugoslav at Dictionary.com
1853, from Slav (q.v.) + Serbo-Cr. jugo- "south,"comb. form of jug "south, south wind, noon," from Old Church Slavonic jugu.
Yugoslavia Look up Yugoslavia at Dictionary.com
1929 (earlier the country was Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes); from Yugoslav + -ia. The name vanished from the map in 2003.
yuk Look up yuk at Dictionary.com
“laughter, something evoking laughs,” 1964, imitative; see yuck (2).
yule (n.) Look up yule at Dictionary.com
Old English geol, geola "Christmas Day, Christmastide," from Old Norse jol (plural), a heathen feast, later taken over by Christianity, of unknown origin.

The Old English (Anglian) cognate giuli was the Anglo-Saxons' name for a two-month midwinter season corresponding to Roman December and January, a time of important feasts but not itself a festival. After conversion to Christianity it narrowed to mean "the 12-day feast of the Nativity" (which began Dec. 25), but was replaced by Christmas by 11c., except in the northeast (areas of Danish settlement), where it remained the usual word.

Revived 19c. by writers to mean "the Christmas of 'Merrie England.' " First direct reference to the Yule log is 17c. Old Norse jol seems to have been borrowed in Old French as jolif, hence Modern French joli "pretty, nice," originally "festive" (see jolly).
yuletide (n.) Look up yuletide at Dictionary.com
late 15c., from yule + tide.
yum Look up yum at Dictionary.com
exclamation of pleasure, attested from 1878.
yummy Look up yummy at Dictionary.com
"delicious," 1899, from baby talk. Yum-yum as an exclamation of pleasure is recorded from 1878.
yup Look up yup at Dictionary.com
1906, variant of yes.
yuppie Look up yuppie at Dictionary.com
1982, acronym from "young urban professional," ousting competition from yumpie (1984), from "young upward-mobile professional," and yap (1984), from "young aspiring professional." The word was felt as an insult by 1985.
yurt Look up yurt at Dictionary.com
1784, ultimately from Russian yurta, from a Turkic language and originally meaning “home, dwelling.”