Online Etymology Dictionary

march (v.): early 15c., from M.Fr. marcher "to march, walk," from O.Fr. marchier "to stride, march," originally "to trample," perhaps from Frankish *markon (from source of obsolete M.E. march (n.) "borderland," (see march (n.)). Or possibly from Gallo-Roman *marcare, from L. marcus "hammer," via notion of "tramping the feet." Noun meaning "act of marching" is from 1580s. The musical sense first attested 1570s, from notion of "rhythmic drumbeat" for marching. Marching band is attested from 1955.
March: c.1200, from Anglo-Fr. marche, from O.Fr. marz, from L. Martius (mensis) "(month) of Mars," from Mars (gen. Martis). Replaced O.E. hreðmonaþ, of uncertain meaning, perhaps from hræd "quick, nimble, ready, active, alert, prompt." For March hare, proverbial type of madness, see mad.
march (n.): (obs.) "boundary," late 13c. (in ref. to the borderlands beside Wales, rendering O.E. Mercia), from O.Fr. marche "boundary, frontier," from Frank. *marka (cf. O.H.G. marchon "to mark out, delimit," Ger. Mark "boundary;" see mark (1)).
frog march: also frog-march, 1871, a term that originated among London police and referred to their method of moving "a drunken or refractory prisoner" by carrying him face-down between four people, each holding a limb; the connection with frog perhaps being the notion of going along belly-down. By the 1930s, the verb was used in reference to the much more efficient (but less frog-like) method of getting someone in an arm-behind-the-back hold and hustling him or her along like that.
defile (n.): "narrow passage," 1640s, especially in a military sense, "a narrow passage down which troops can march only in single file," from Fr. défilé, n. use of pp. of défiler "march by files."
demarche: 1650s, "walk, step," from Fr. démarche (15c.), from démarcher (12c.) "to march," from de- + marcher (see march (v.)). Meaning "a diplomatic step" attested from 1670s. A word never quite anglicized.
New Year's Eve: c.1300; "þer þay dronken & dalten ... on nwe gerez euen." The Julian calendar began on January 1, but the Christian Church frowned on pagan celebrations of this and chose the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) as its New Year's Day. The civic year in England continued to begin January 1 until late 12c., and even though legal documents then shifted to March 25, popular calendars and almanacs continued to begin on January 1. The calendar reform of 1751 restored the Julian New Year. New Year's was the main midwinter festival in Scotland from 17c., when Protestant authorities banned Christmas, and continued so after England reverted to Christmas, hence the Scottish flavor ("Auld Lang Syne," etc.). New Year's gathering in public places began 1878 in London, after new bells were installed in St. Paul's.
legem pone: "payment of money, cash down," 1573, from first two words of the fifth division of Psalm cxix, which begins the psalms at Matins on the 25th of the month; consequently associated with March 25, a quarter day in the old financial calendar, when payments and debts came due.
Florida: U.S. state, formerly a Sp. colony, probably from Sp. Pascua florida, lit. "flowering Easter," a Sp. name for Palm Sunday, because the peninsula was discovered on that day (March 20, 1513) by the expedition of Sp. explorer Ponce de León.
Sammy: British slang for "U.S. soldier in World War I," 1918, a ref. to Uncle Sam.
"A Sammie may be defined as an American soldier as he appears in an English newspaper or a French cinema. It is a name he did not invent, does not like, never uses and will not recognize." ["Stars & Stripes," March 29, 1918]
bissextile: Roman leap year, L.L. (annus) bissextilis "leap year," lit. "the twice sixth-day," because the sixth day before the Calends of March was doubled.
glasnost: 1972 (in reference to a letter of 1969 by Solzhenitsyn), from Rus., lit. "publicity," ult. from O.C.S. glasu "voice" (see call). First used in a socio-political sense by Lenin; popularized in Eng. after Mikhail Gorbachev used it prominently in a speech of March 11, 1985, accepting the post of general secretary of the CPSU.
ides: (pl.) early 14c., "middle day of a Roman month," from Fr. Ides (12c.), from L. idus, a word perhaps of Etruscan origin. The 15th of March, May, July, and October; the 13th of other months.
Mitty: "adventurous daydreamer," 1950, from title character in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," James Thurber short story first published in the "New Yorker," March 18, 1939.
mush (interj.): "command to sled dogs," first recorded 1862, as mouche, perhaps altered from Fr. marchons! "advance!" (imperative of marcher "to march").
Carmen: Fr. opera by Georges Bizet, premiered in Paris, March 3, 1875. As a proper name, it can represent (esp. in It. and Sp.) a dim. of Carmel/Carmelo or L. carmen "song, poem, incantation" (see charm).
Mercia: Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the Midlands, Latinized from O.E. Mierce "men of the Marches," from mearc (see march (n.)).
Moravian: 1746, Protestant sect founded in the former Ger. state of Moravia (now in Czech Republic), from M.L., named for River Morva (Ger. March, L. Marus), which runs through it.
mudsill: 1685, "lowest sill of a house," from mud + sill (q.v.). The word entered U.S. political history in a speech by James M. Hammond of South Carolina, March 4, 1858, in U.S. Senate, alluding to the very mudsills of society, and the term subsequently was embraced by Northern workers in the pre-Civil War sectional rivalry.
jeep: 1941, Amer.Eng. military slang, from G.P. "general purpose (car)," but influenced by Eugene the Jeep (who had extraordinary powers but only said "jeep"), from E.C. Segar's comic strip "Thimble Theater" (also home of Popeye the Sailor). Eugene the Jeep first appeared in the strip March 13, 1936.
pizazz: 1937, probably originally college or show-biz slang.
"Pizazz, to quote the editor of the Harvard Lampoon, is an indefinable dynamic quality, the je ne sais quoi of function; as for instance, adding Scotch puts pizazz into a drink. Certain clothes have it, too." ["Harper's Bazaar," March 1937]
canteen: c.1710, from Fr. cantine "sutler's shop," from It. cantina "wine cellar, vault." Perhaps another of the many meanings, now obsolete, that were applied to L. canto "corner;" in this case, perhaps "corner for storage." Extended to "refreshment room at a factory, school, etc." from 1870. Meaning "small tin for water or liquor, carried by solders on the march, campers, etc." is from 1744.
stichic: "made up of lines," 1787 (implied in stichical), from Gk. stikhikos "of lines, of verses," from stikhos "row, line, rank, verse," related to steikhein "to go, to march in order" (see stair).
Boston: U.S. city, 1630, named for town in Lincolnshire, a region from which many settlers came to New England. The name is said to be lit. "Botolph's Stone," probably from the name of some Anglo-Saxon landowner (O.E. Botwulf). Boston Massacre was March 5, 1770; three civilians killed, two mortally wounded. Card game Boston (1800) is based on the siege of Boston during the American Revolution.
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").
marzipan: 1901 (in modern use; earlier march payne, 1494, from Fr. or Du.), from Ger. Marzipan, from It. marzapane, "candy box," in M.L. "small box," earlier, "coin bearing image of seated Christ." One suggestion is that this is from Arabic mawthaban "king who sits still." Nobody seems to quite accept this, but nobody has a better idea.
spam: proprietary name registered by Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in U.S., 1937; probably a conflation of spiced ham. Soon extended to other kinds of canned meat. In the sense of "Internet junk mail" it was coined by Usenet users after March 31, 1993, when Usenet administrator Richard Depew inadvertently posted the same message 200 times to a discussion group. The term had been used in online text games, and it was from the comedy routine in British TV show "Monty Python's Flying Circus" where a restaurant's menu items all devolve into spam.
Iron Curtain: in ref. to the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, famously coined by Churchill March 5, 1946, in speech at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, but it had been used earlier in this context (e.g. by U.S. bureaucrat Allen W. Dulles at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dec. 3, 1945). The fig. sense of "impenetrable barrier" is attested from 1819, and the specific sense of "barrier at the edge of the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union" is recorded from 1920. During World War II, Goebbels used in in Ger. (ein eiserner Vorhang) in the same sense.
annunciation: c.1400, from Fr. annonciation, from L. annuntiationem (nom. annuntiatio), from annuntiatus, pp. of annuntiare (see announce). The Church festival (March 25) commemorating the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, foretelling the incarnation. O.E. for "Annunciation Day" was bodungdæg.
gobbledygook: 1944, Amer.Eng., first used by U.S. Rep. Maury Maverick, D.-Texas, (1895-1954), a grandson of the original maverick (q.v.) and chairman of U.S. Smaller War Plants Corporation during World War II. First used in a memo dated March 30, 1944, banning "gobbledygook language" and mock-threateaning, "anyone using the words activation or implementation will be shot." Maverick said he made up the word in imitation of turkey noise.
border: mid-14c., from O.Fr. bordure "seam, edge of a shield, border," from Frankish *bord (cf. O.E. bord "side;" see board (2)). The geopolitical sense first attested 1530s, in Scottish (replacing earlier march), from The Borders, district adjoining the boundary between England and Scotland.
motel: 1925, coined from motor + hotel. Originally a hotel for automobile travelers.
"The Milestone Interstate Corporation ... proposes to build and operate a chain of motor hotels between San Diego and Seattle, the hotels to have the name 'Motel.' " ["Hotel Monthly," March 1925]
eland: "large S. African antelope," 1786, from Du. eland "elk," from a Baltic source akin to Lith. elnias "deer," from PIE *el- "red, brown" (see elk), cognate with first element in Gk. Elaphebolion, name of the ninth month of the Attic year (corresponding to late March-early April), lit. "deer-hunting (month)."
murk: c.1200, from O.N. myrkr "darkness," from myrkr "dark," cognate with O.E. mierce "dark," from P.Gmc. *merkwjo-, with no known cognates outside Gmc. Murk Monday was long the name in Scotland for the great solar eclipse of March 29, 1652 (April 8, New Style).
photograph (n.): 1839, "picture obtained by photography," coined by Sir John Herschel from photo- + -graph "instrument for recording." It won out over other suggestions, such as photogene and heliograph. Neo-Anglo-Saxonists prefer sunprint. The verb and photography also are first attested 1839, all from a paper read before the Royal Society on March 14, 1839.
procession: 1103, from O.Fr. procession (11c.), from L.L. processionem (nom. processio) "religious procession," in classical L. "a marching onward," from stem of processum, pp. of procedere (see proceed). Processional "book of hymns for use in processions," is first attested 1440. Verb process (accent on second syllable) "to march in procession" is an 1814 back-formation.
July: c.1050, Iulius, from Anglo-Fr. julie, O.Fr. Jule, from L. Julius, renamed after his death and deification in honor of Gaius Julius Caesar, who was born in this month, which was formerly Quintilis "fifth," the fifth month of the Roman republican calendar, which began its year in March. Accented in first syllable in Eng. until 18c. Replaced O.E. liða se æfterra "later mildness," from liðe "mild."
Arab (n.): late 14c. (Arabiens), from O.Fr. Arabe, from L. Arabs (acc. Arabem), from Gk. Araps (gen. Arabos), from Arabic 'arab, indigenous name of the people, perhaps lit. "inhabitant of the desert" (rel. to Heb. arabha "desert"). Meaning "homeless little wanderer, child of the street" is from 1848, in ref. to nomadic ways. Arab League formed in Cairo, March 22, 1945.
November: c.1200, from O.Fr. novembre, from L. November (also Novembris (mensis)), from novem "nine" (see nine). The ninth month of the Roman calendar, which began in March. For -ber see December. In O.E., it was Blotmonað "month of sacrifice," lit. "blood-month," the time when the early Saxons prepared for winter by sacrificing many animals, which they then butchered and stored for food.
September: late O.E., from L. September, from septem "seven" (see seven). So called because it was the seventh month of the old Roman calendar, which began the year in March; Julian calendar reform (46 B.C.E.) shifted the new year back two months. For -ber suffix, see December. Replaced O.E. hærfestmonað, haligmonað. Septembrist (1840) in Fr. history refers to the massacre of the political prisoners in Paris, Sept. 2-5, 1792.
Marcomanni: name of a Teutonic tribe, from L. Marcomanni, from P.Gmc., lit. "men of the border," cf. O.H.G. mark, O.E. mearc "border," see march (n.). For second element, see man.
parade: 1656, "a show of bravado," also "an assembly of troops for inspections," from Fr. parade "display, show, military parade," from M.Fr. parade (15c.), or from It. parate "a warding or defending, a garish setting forth," or Sp. parada "a staying or stopping," all from V.L. *parata, from L. parer "arrange, prepare, adorn" (see pare), which developed widespread senses in Romanic derivatives. Non-military sense of "march, procession" is first recorded 1673. The verb is from 1686.
marquis: c.1300, title of nobility, from O.Fr. marchis, lit. "ruler of a border area," from O.Fr. marche "frontier," from M.L. marca "frontier, frontier territory" (see march (n.)). Originally the ruler of border territories in various European nations (e.g. It. marchese, Sp. marqués); later a mere title of rank, below duke and above count.
trek: 1849 (n.); 1850 (v.), "to travel or migrate by ox wagon," from Afrikaans trek, from Du. trekken "to march, journey," originally "to draw, pull," from M.Du. trecken (cf. M.L.G. trecken, O.H.G. trechan "to draw"). Especially in reference to the Groot Trek (1835 and after) of more than 10,000 Boers, who, discontent with the English colonial authorities, left Cape Colony and went north and north-east. Slang Trekkie "fan of the TV series 'Star Trek' " first recorded 1976.
mare (1): "female horse," O.E. mere (Mercian), myre (W.Saxon), fem. of O.E. mearh "horse," from P.Gmc. *markhjon (cf. O.S. meriha, O.N. merr, O.Fris. merrie, Ger. Mähre "mare"), said to be of Gaulish origin (cf. Ir. and Gael. marc, Welsh march, Bret. marh "horse"). No known cognates beyond Gmc. and Celtic. As the name of a throw in wrestling, it is attested from c.1600. Mare's nest "illusory discovery, excitement over something which does not exist" is from 1610s.
hoe: 1363, from O.Fr. houe (12c.), from Frank. *hauwa (cf. O.H.G. houwa "hoe, mattock, pick-axe"), related to O.E. heawan "to cut" (see hew). The verb is first recorded c.1430. Hoe-cake, 1745, Amer.Eng., was said originally to have been baked on the broad thin blade of a cotton-field hoe. Hoedown "noisy dance" first recorded 1841, probably from perceived parallel of dance motions to those of farm chores.
"As to dancing, no Long-Island negro could shuffle you 'double trouble,' or 'hoe corn and dig potatoes' more scientifically." [Washington Irving, "Salmagundi," March 7, 1807]
signify: mid-13c., from O.Fr. signifier (12c.), from L. significare "to show by signs, mean, signify," from significus (adj.), from signum "sign" (see sign (n.)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Intrans. sense of "to be of importance" is attested from 1660s. Meaning "engage in mock-hostile banter" is Amer.Eng. black slang first recorded 1932.
"...'signifying,' which in Harlemese means making a series of oblique remarks apparently addressed to no one in particular, but unmistakable in intention in such a close-knit circle." ["Down Beat," March 7, 1968]
troop (n.): 1545, "body of soldiers," from M.Fr. troupe, from O.Fr. trope "band of people, company, troop" (13c.), probably from Frank. *throp "assembly, gathering of people" (cf. O.E. ðorp, O.N. thorp "village," see thorp). OED derives the O.Fr. word from L. troppus "flock," which is of unknown origin but may be from the Gmc. source. The verb is attested from 1565, "to assemble;" meaning "to march" is recorded from 1592; that of "to go in great numbers, to flock" is from 1610. Trooper "soldier in the cavalry" is first attested 1640; extended to "mounted policeman" (1858, in Australian) then to "state policeman" (U.S.) by 1911.
nones: c.1420, in ref. to the Roman calendar, "ninth day (by inclusive reckoning) before the ides of each month" (7th of March, May, July, October, 5th of other months), from L. nonæ (acc. nonas), fem. pl. of nonus "ninth." Ecclesiastical sense of "daily office said originally at the ninth hour of the day" is from 1709; originally fixed at ninth hour from sunrise, hence about 3 p.m. (now usually somewhat earlier), from L. nona (hora) "ninth (hour)," from fem. pl. of nonus "ninth," contracted from *novenos, from novem "nine" (see nine). Also used in a sense of "midday" (see noon).
protest: 1340 (implied in protestation) "solemn declaration," from L. protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest," from pro- "forth, before" + testari "testify," from testis "witness" (see testament). Original sense preserved in to protest one's innocence. Meaning "statement of disapproval" first recorded 1751; that of "expressing of dissent from, or rejection of, prevailing mores" is from 1953, in ref. to U.S. black civil rights movement. The verb is attested from 1440, "to declare or state formally or solemnly," from O.Fr. protester. First record of protest march is from 1959. Protester "demonstrator, public opponent of the established order" is from 1960.