Online Etymology Dictionary

identical: 1620, as a term in logic, from M.L. identicus "the same," from L.L. identitas "identity," ult. from L. idem "the same" (from id "it, that one") + demonstrative suffix -dem. Replaced M.E. idemptical, from M.L. idemptitas, from L. idem.
hip (adj.): "informed," 1904, apparently originally in black slang, probably a variant of hep (1), with which it is identical in sense, though it is recorded four years earlier.
kibble: the noun use for ground-up meat used as dog food, etc., seems to derive from the verb meaning “to bruise or grind coarsely,” attested from 1790, first in milling, but of unknown origin. The same or an identical word was used in the coal trade in the late 19c. and in mining from the 1670s for “bucket used to haul up ore or waste.”
-ency: suffix denoting quality or state, from L. -entia. Derivatively identical with -ence.
obol: ancient Gk. small coin and weight, 1670, from Gk. obolos, identical with obelos "a spit, needle." From the original shape.
hobnail: 1594, the first element probably identical with hob "rounded peg or pin used as a mark or target in games" (1589), of unknown origin. See hob.
homey: also homie, by 1970s, slang, short for homeboy (q.v.). The identical word is recorded from the 1920s in New Zealand slang in the sense “recently arrived British immigrant.”
selfsame: "identical," early 15c., from self + same. Written as two words until c.1600.
bluff (v.): 1839, Amer.Eng., poker term, perhaps from Du. bluffen "to brag, boast," or verbluffen "to baffle, mislead." An identical word meant "blindfold, hoodwink" in 1670s, but the sense evolution and connection are unclear. OED calls it, "one of the numerous cant terms ... which arose between the Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne."
-sis: suffix in Gk. nouns denoting action, process, state, condition, from Gk. -sis, which is identical in meaning with L. -entia, Eng. -ing.
Homer: name of the supposed author of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," from L. Homerus, from Gk. Homeros. The name first occurs in a fragment of Hesiod. It is identical to Gk. homeros "hostage."
brisket: mid-14c., perhaps from O.Fr. bruschet, with identical sense of the English word, or from O.N. brjosk "gristle" (related to brjost "breast") or Dan. bryske or M.H.G. brusche "lump, swelling."
plaintiff: c.1400, from Anglo-Fr. pleintif (1278), noun use of O.Fr. plaintif "complaining," from pleint (see plaint). Identical with plaintive at first; the form that receded into legal usage retained the older -iff spelling.
gamma: "third letter of the Greek alphabet," c.1400, from Gk. gamma, from Phoenician gimel, lit. "camel." Gamma rays (1903) were originally thought to be a third type of radiation, now known to be identical with very short X-rays.
indenture: "contract for services," c.1300, from Anglo-Fr. endenture, from O.Fr. endenteure "indentation," from endenter (see indent). Such contracts (especially between master craftsmen and apprentices) were written in full identical versions on a sheet of parchment, which was then cut apart in a zigzag, or "notched" line. Each party took one, and the genuineness of a document of indenture could be proved by juxtaposition with its counterpart.
Phoenician: late 14c., from M.Fr. phenicien, from L. Phoenice, from Gk. Phoinike, perhaps lit. "land of the purple" (source of purple dye). Identical with phoenix (q.v.), but the relationship is obscure.
ballast: "heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from M.E. bar "bare" (in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian (cf. O.Dan. barlast, 14c.). Du. balg-last "ballast," lit. "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.
protract: 1530s (implied in protraction), "prolongation, extension of time," from L.L. protractionem "a drawing out or lengthening," from pp. stem of protrahere, from pro- "forward" + trahere "to draw" (see tract (1)). Etymologically identical with portray, which was altered in French.
comical: early 15c., "comic," from comic (or L. comicus) + -al (1). Meaning "funny" is from 1680s. Earlier M.E. had an identical word meaning "epileptic," from L. morbus comitialis "epilepsy."
equal (adj.): late 14c., from L. aequalis "uniform, identical, equal," from aequus "level, even, just," of unknown origin. Parallel formation egal (from O.Fr. egal) was in use late 14c.-17c. The noun is recorded from 1570s. The verb is from 1580s, "compare, liken," also "match, rival."
manslaughter: c.1300, from O.E. mannslæht (Anglian), mannslieht (W.Saxon), from man (q.v.) + slæht, slieht "act of killing." Etymologically identical with homicide, but in legal use usually distinguished from murder and restricted to "simple homicide."
bail (n.2): "horizontal piece of wood in a cricket wicket," c.1742, originally "any cross bar" (1570s), probably identical with M.Fr. bail "horizontal piece of wood affixed on two stakes," and with English bail "palisade wall, outer wall of a castle" (see bailey).
mull (v.1): "ponder," 1873, perhaps ult. from M.E. mullyn "grind to powder, pulverize," from molle "dust, ashes, rubbish," probably from M.Du. mul "grit, loose earth," related to mill. But Webster's (1879) defined it as "to work steadily without accomplishing much," which may connect it to earlier identical word in athletics sense of "to botch, muff" (1862). Related: Mulled; mulling.
chyme: early 15c., "bodily fluid;" c.1600 in specific sense of "mass of semi-liquid food in the stomach," from L. chymus, from Gk. khymos, nearly identical to khylos (see chyle) and meaning essentially the same thing. Differentiated by Galen, who used khymos for "juice in its natural or raw state," and khylos for "juice produced by digestion," hence the modern distinction.
bergamot: kind of citrus fruit, 1690s, from Fr. bergamote (17c.), from It. bergamotta, said to have been named for Bergamo, town in Italy, though the town is on the opposite end of the peninsula from where the fruit grows. Probably this is a folk-etymologization from Turkish beg-armudi "prince's pear." Bergamo is Roman Bergamum, from a Celtic or Ligurian berg "mountain," cognate with the identical Gmc. word.
mackerel: c.1300, from O.Fr. maquerel (Fr. maquereau), of unknown origin but apparently identical with O.Fr. maquerel "pimp, procurer," from a Gmc. source (cf. M.Du. makelaer "broker," from O.Fris. mek "marriage," from maken "to make"). Connection is obscure but medieval people had imaginative notions of the sex lives of animals. The fish approach the shore in shoals in summertime to spawn. Exclamation holy mackerel is attested from 1899.
defer (1): "to delay," late 14c., differren, deferren, from O.Fr. differer (14c.), from L. differre "carry apart, scatter, disperse;" also "be different, differ;" also "defer, put off, postpone," (see differ). Etymologically identical with differ; the spelling and pronunciation differentiated from 15c., perhaps partly by association of this word with delay.
ton: late 14c., tonne, unit for measuring the carrying capacity of a ship, originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun (q.v.). The two words were not differentiated until 1680s. The measure of weight is first recorded late 15c.; the spelling ton is from 1530s, and became firmly established 18c. Tonnage (early 15c.) originally was "tax or duty on wine imported in tuns." Modern tonne (1877) is the Fr. form of the word, adopted for Eng. use to denote a metric ton (1,000 kg.).
Astarte: Phoenician goddess identical with Gk. Aphrodite, from Gk. Astarte, from Phoenician Astoreth.
equivocation: late 14c., "the fallacy of using a word in different senses at different stages of the reasoning" (a loan-transl. of Gk. homonymia, lit. "having the same name"), from O.Fr. equivocation, from L.L. aequivocationem (nom. aequivocatio), from aequivocus "of identical sound," pp. of aequivocare, from aequus "equal" (see equal) + vocare "to call" (see voice).
-ly (1): suffix forming adjectives from nouns, "having qualities of, appropriate to, fitting," irregularly descended from O.E. -lic, from P.Gmc. *-liko- (cf. O.Fris. -lik, Du. -lijk, O.H.G. -lih, Ger. -lich, O.N. -ligr), related to *likom- "appearance, form" (cf. O.E. lich "corpse, body;" see lich, which is a cognate; cf. also like (adj.), with which it is identical).
identity: 1560s, from M.Fr. identité (14c.), from L.L. (5c.) identitatem (nom. identitas) "sameness," from ident-, comb. form of L. idem (neut.) "the same" (see identical); abstracted from identidem "over and over," from phrase idem et idem. Term identity crisis first recorded 1954. Identity theft attested from 1995.
Gondwana: name of a region in north central India, from Skt. gondavana, from vana "forest" + Gonda, name of a Dravidian people, lit. "fleshy navel, outie belly-button." The name was extended by geologists to a series of sedimentary rocks found there (1873), then to identical rocks in other places; the fossils found in this series were used by geologists to reconstruct the ancient southern supercontinent, which was thus called Gondwanaland (1896), from German, where it was coined by German geologist Eduard Suess (1831–1914) in 1885.
simurgh: monstrous bird, rational and ancient, in Pers. mythology, 1786, from Pers. simurgh, from Pahlavi sin "eagle" + murgh "bird." Cf. Avestan saeno merego "eagle," Skt. syenah "eagle," Arm. cin "kite." Probably identical with the roc (q.v.).
shoal (2): "large number" (especially of fish), 1579, apparently identical with O.E. scolu "band, troop, school of fish," but perhaps rather a 16c. adoption of cognate M.Du. schole, both from P.Gmc. *skulo- (cf. O.S. scola "multitude," W.Fris. skoal), perhaps with a lit. sense of "division," from PIE base *skel- "to divide." Related to school "a crowd of fish" (q.v.). For possible sense development, cf. section from L. secare "to cut."
yogh: M.E. letter, c.1300; see Y. The name probably is identical with yoke (M.E. yogh) and so called because yoke began with a yogh.
scarf (1): "strip of cloth," 1555, "a band worn across the body or over the shoulders," probably from O.N.Fr. escarpe "sash, sling," which probably is identical with O.Fr. escherpe "pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck," perhaps from Frank. *skirpja, from a Gmc. source (cf. O.N. skreppa "small bag, wallet, satchel"), or from M.L. scirpa "little bag woven of rushes," from L. scirpus "rush, bulrush," of unknown origin. As a cold-weather covering for the neck, first recorded 1844. Plural form scarfs began to yield to scarves early 18c., on model of half/halves, etc.
ph: consonantal digraph, now usually representing "f," originally the combination used by Romans to represent Gk. letter phi (cognate with Skt. -bh-, Gmc. -b-), which at first was an aspirated "p," later the same sound as Ger. -pf-, but by 2c. B.C.E. had become a simple sound made by blowing through the lips (bilabial spirant). Roman "f," like modern Eng. "f," was dentilabial; by c.400, however, the sounds had become identical and in some Romanic languages (It., Sp.), -ph- regularly was replaced by -f-. This tendency took hold in O.Fr. and M.E., but with the revival of classical learning the words subsequently were altered back to -ph- (except fancy and fantastic), and due to zealousness in this some non-Gk. words in -f- began to appear in -ph-, though these forms generally have not survived.
blossom: O.E. blostm, blostma "blossom, flower," from P.Gmc. *blo-s- (cf. M.L.G. blosom, Du. bloesem, Ger. Blust), from PIE *bhlow-, extended form of *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). This is the native word, now largely superseded by bloom and flower. The verb is O.E. blostmian.
flora: 1777, "the plant life of a region or epoch," from L. Flora Roman goddess of flowers, from flos (gen. floris) "flower," from *flo-s-, Italic suffixed form of PIE *bhle- extended form of *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). Used as the title of descriptive plant catalogues since 1640s, but popularized by Linnaeus in his 1745 study of Swedish plants, "Flora Suecica."
Phyllis: fem. proper name, generic proper name for a comely rustic maiden in pastoral poetry (1630s), from L. Phyllis, a girl's name in Virgil, Horace, etc., from Gk. Phyllis, female name, lit. "foliage of a tree," from phyllon leaf," from PIE *bholyo- "leaf," from base *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). In English, often spelled Phillis, probably from influence of phil- "loving." Her sweetheart usually was Philander.
mull (n.): "promontory" (in Scottish place names), late 14c., perhaps from O.N. muli "a jutting crag, projecting ridge (between two valleys)," which probably is identical with muli "snout, muzzle." The O.N. word is related to O.Fris. mula, M.Du. mule, muul, O.H.G. mula, Ger. Maul "muzzle, mouth." Alternative etymology traces it to Gael. maol "brow of a hill or rock," also "bald," from O.Celt. *mailo-s (cf. Ir. maol, O.Ir. máel, máil, Welsh moel).
mate (n.): "companion, associate, fellow, comrade," late 14c., from M.L.G. mate, gemate "one eating at the same table, messmate," from P.Gmc. *ga-maton "having food (*matiz) together (*ga-)," which is etymologically identical with companion (q.v.). Meaning "one of a wedded pair" is attested from 1540s. Used as a form of address by sailors, laborers, etc., since at least mid-15c. Meaning "officer on a merchant vessel is from late 15c. The verb, of animals, "to pair for the purpose of breeding" is first recorded c.1600. The verb in chess (early 14c.) is short for checkmate (q.v.) and is not related.
pawn (1): "something left as security," late 15c. (mid-12c. as Anglo-L. pandum), from O.Fr. pan, pant "pledge, security," also "booty, plunder," perhaps from Frank. (cf. O.H.G. pfant, Ger. Pfand, M.Du. pant, O.Fris. pand "pledge"), from W.Gmc. *panda, of unknown origin. The O.Fr. word is identical to pan "cloth, piece of cloth," from L. pannem (nom. pannus) "piece of cloth," and some feel this is the source of both the O.Fr. and W.Gmc. words (perhaps on the notion of cloth used as a medium of exchange). The verb is first attested 1560s, from the noun. Pawnbroker is from 1680s.
-ly (2): adv. ending, from O.E. -lice, from P.Gmc. *-liko- (cf. O.Fris. -like, O.S. -liko, Du. -lijk, O.H.G. -licho, Ger. -lich, O.N. -liga, Goth. -leiko); see -ly (1). Cognate with lich, and identical with like (adj.).
It is curious that Teut[onic] uses 'body' for the adv. formation, while Rom[anic] uses 'mind,' e.g. F. constamment = L. constanti mente. [Weekley]
The modern English form emerged in late M.E., probably from influence of O.N. -liga.
Druid: 1560s, from Fr. druide, from L. druidae (pl.), from Gaulish Druides, from O.Celt. *derwijes, probably representing O.Celt. derwos "true" and *dru- "tree" (especially oak) + *wid- "to know" (cf. vision). Hence, lit., perhaps, "they who know the oak" (perhaps in allusion to divination from mistletoe). Anglo-Saxon, too, used identical words to mean "tree" and "truth" (treow). The English form comes via Latin, not immediately from Celtic. The O.Ir. form was drui (dat. and acc. druid; pl. druad); Mod.Ir. and Gael. draoi, gen. druadh "magician, sorcerer." Not to be confused with United Ancient Order of Druids, secret benefit society founded in London 1781.
matriculate (v.): 1570s, "to admit a student to a college by enrolling his name on the register," from M.L. *matriculare "to register," from L.L. matricula "public register," dim. of L. matrix (gen. matricis) "list, roll," also "sources, womb" (see matrix). The connection of senses in the Latin word seems to be via confusion of Gk. metra "womb" (from meter "mother") and an identical Gk. word meaning "register, lot." Evidently Latin matrix was used to translate both, though it originally shared meaning with only one. Related: Matriculated; matriculating; matriculation.
pantheist: "belief that God and the universe are identical," 1705, coined by Irish deist John Toland (1670-1722), from Gk. pan- "all" + theos "god" (see Thea). Toland's word was borrowed into French, which from it formed panthéisme (1712) which returned to English as pantheism "the doctrine that all is god" in 1732 (no evidence that Toland used pantheism). Gk. pantheios meant "common to all gods" (see pantheon). Other words used at various times for similar notions include panentheism, "philosophy founded on the notion that all things are in God" (1874), from German (1828), coined by Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (1781-1832).
Barbary: c.1300, "foreign lands" (especially non-Christian lands), from L. barbaria (see barbarian). Meaning "Saracens living in coastal North Africa" is attested from 1590s, via Fr. (O.Fr. barbarie), from Arabic Barbar, Berber, ancient Arabic name for the inhabitants of N.Africa beyond Egypt. Perhaps a native name, perhaps an Arabic word, from barbara "to babble confusedly," but this might be ultimately from Gk. barbaria. "The actual relations (if any) of the Arabic and Gr[eek] words cannot be settled; but in European langs. barbaria, Barbarie, Barbary, have from the first been treated as identical with L. barbaria, Byzantine Gr[eek] barbaria land of barbarians" [OED].
era: 1716, earlier aera (1610s), from L.L. aera, era "an era or epoch from which time is reckoned," probably identical with L. aera "counters used for calculation," pl. of aes (gen. aeris) "brass, copper, money" (see ore, also cf. copper). The Latin word's use in chronology said to have begun in 5c. Spain (where, for some reason unknown to historians, the local era, aera Hispanica, began 38 B.C.E.; some say it was because of a tax levied that year). Like epoch, in English it originally meant "the starting point of an age;" meaning "system of chronological notation" is c.1640s; that of "historical period" is from 1741, e.g. the U.S. Era of Good Feeling (which was anything but) in ref. to the Monroe Administration (1817-24), attested from 1817.