Online Etymology Dictionary

object (n.): late 14c., "tangible thing, something perceived or presented to the senses," from M.L. objectum "thing put before" (the mind or sight), neut. of L. objectus, pp. of obicere "to present, oppose, cast in the way of," from ob "against" + jacere "to throw" (see jet). Sense of "thing aimed at" is late 14c. No object "not a thing regarded as important" is from 1782. Object lesson "instruction conveyed by examination of a material object" is from 1831.
objective: 1610s, originally in the philosophical sense of "considered in relation to its object" (opposite of subjective), formed on pattern of M.L. objectivus, from objectum "object" (see object (n.)). Meaning "impersonal, unbiased" is first found 1855, influenced by Ger. objektiv. The noun is 1738, with sense of "something objective to the mind;" meaning "goal, aim" is first as a military term from the U.S. War Between the States, 1864 (in objective point), from Fr.; general use of it is first attested 1881.
object (v.): c.1400, "to bring forward in opposition," from L. objectus, pp. of objectare "to cite as grounds for disapproval," freq. of obicere, or else lit. "to put or throw before or against" (see object (n.)).
objectivity: 1803, from M.L. objectivus, from L. objectus (see object (n.)).
objection: late 14c., from O.Fr. objection (12c.), from M.L. obiectionem (nom. obiectio), "a throwing or putting before," noun of action from L. obicere "to oppose" (see object (n.)).
objectify: 1830s, from M.L. objectum (see object (n.)) + -fy. Related: Objectified.
exhibit (n.): 1620s, "document or object produced as evidence in court," from L. exhibitum, neut. pp. of exhibere (see exhibition). Meaning "object displayed in a fair, museum, etc." is from 1862. Transfered use of exhibit A "important piece of evidence" is by 1906.
yoni: 1799, from Skt., "female sexual principle as an object of veneration," lit. "vulva, womb."
parsec: 1913, from par(allax) sec(ond). It is the distance at which an object has parallax (viewed from Earth) of one second of arc, or about 3.26 light years.
Alaska: name first applied 18c. by Russian explorers, from Aleut alaxsxaq, lit. "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed." [Bright]
lot: O.E. hlot "object (anything from dice to straw, but often a chip of wood with a name inscribed on it) used to determine someone's share," also "what falls to a person by lot," from P.Gmc. *khlutom (cf. O.N. hlutr "lot, share," O.H.G. hluz "share of land," O.E. hleotan "to cast lots, to foretell"), of unknown origin. The object was placed with others in a receptacle, which was shaken, the winner being the one that fell out first. Hence, to cast lots. In some cases the lots were drawn by hand. The word was adopted from Gmc. into the Romanic languages (cf. lottery, lotto). Meaning "choice resulting from the lasting of lots" first attested c.1200. Sense of "plot of land" is first recorded 1630s (distribution of the best property in new settlements often determined by casting lot), that of "group, collection" is 1725, from notion of auction lots. The generalized sense of "great many" is first attested in 1812. To cast (one's) lot with another is to agree to share winnings.
objet: "an object on display, an ornament," 1857, from Fr., especially in objet d'art (1865).
hickie: "mark on skin made by biting or sucking during foreplay or sex," 1956; earlier "pimple, skin lesion" (c.1915) or "any unspecified object" (1909, cf. doohickey, still used in this sense).
mind (v.): mid-14c., "to remember," also "to remind," from the noun; sense of "object to, dislike" is from c.1600. Meaning "to take care of, look after" is from 1690s. Related: Minded; minding.
plop (v.): 1821, imitative of the sound of a smooth object dropping into water. Related: Plopped; plopping.
Della Crusca: 1796, from It. Accademia della Crusca, lit. "Academy of the Chaff," "the name of an Academy established at Florence in 1582, mainly with the object of sifting and purifying the Italian language; whence its name, and its emblem, a sieve" [OED].
dingus: "any unspecified or unspecifiable object; something one does not know the name of or does not wish to name," 1876, U.S. slang, from Du. dinges, lit. "thing" (see thing).
yuan: Chinese unit of currency introduced 1914, from Chinese yuan "round, round object, circle."
flapjack: pre-1600, from flap + jack, using the personal name in its generic object sense.
trim (n.): "state of being prepared," 1590, nautical jargon, from trim (v.). The meaning "visible woodwork of a house" is recorded from 1884; sense of "ornamental additions to an automobile" is from 1922. Slang meaning "a woman regarded as a sex object" is attested from 1955, Amer.Eng.
omg: Internet chat abbreviation of oh my God, by 1994. (Earlier in computerese it meant Object Management Group, 1989, a consortium which helped pave the way for the modern Internet.)
whim: 1641, "pun or play on words," shortened from whimwham "fanciful object" (q.v.). Meaning "sudden notion, fancy, or idea" first recorded 1697, probably a shortened form of whimsy.
bugbear: 1580s, a sort of demon in the form of a bear that eats small children, also "object of dread" (whether real or not), from bug (n.) + bear (n.).
solipsism: 1874, coined from L. solus "alone" + ipse "self." The view or theory that self is the only object of real knowledge or the only thing that is real.
flirt (v.): 1550s, originally "to turn up one's nose, sneer at," then "to rap or flick, as with the fingers" (1560s). The noun is first attested 1540s, with the meaning "stroke of wit." It's possible that the original word was imitative, along the lines of flip (v.), but there seems to be some influence from flit, such as in the flirt sense of "to move in short, quick flights," attested from 1580s. Meanwhile flirt had come to mean "a pert young hussey" [Johnson] by 1560s, and Shakespeare has flirt-gill (i.e. Jill) "a woman of light or loose behavior," while flirtgig was a 17c. Yorkshire dialect word for "a giddy, flighty girl." All or any of these could have fed into the main modern verbal sense of "play at courtship" (1777), which also could have grown naturally from the earlier meaning "to flit inconstantly from object to object" (1570s), perhaps influenced by O.Fr. fleureter "talk sweet nonsense," also "to touch a thing in passing," dim. of fleur "flower" and metaphoric of bees skimming from flower to flower. The noun meaning "person who flirts" is from 1732. The English word also is possibly related to E.Fris. flirt "a flick or light blow," and flirtje "a giddy girl." Related: Flirted; flirting.
UFO: 1953, abbreviation of Unidentified Flying Object, which is attested from 1950. Ufology is first attested 1959.
laughing-stock: also laughingstock; 1510s, formed by analogy with whipping-stock "whipping post," later also "object of frequent whipping" (but that word is not attested in writing in this sense until 1670s).
thump (v.): c.1537, "to strike hard," probably imitative of the sound made by hitting with a heavy object (cf. E.Fris. dump "a knock," Swed. dial. dumpa "to make a noise"). The noun is first recorded 1552. Thumping (adj.) "exceptionally large" is colloquial from 1576.
yen (1): "Japanese monetary unit," 1875, from Japanese yen, from Chinese yuan "round, round object, circle, dollar."
provenience: 1882, from L. provenientem, prp. of provenire (see provenance). “Preferred to PROVENANCE by those who object to the French form of the latter” [OED].
hiatus: 1560s, "break or opening in a material object," from L. hiatus "opening, rupture, gap," from hiare "to gape, stand open" (see yawn). Sense of "gap or interruption in events, etc." is first recorded 1610s.
modification: c.1500, in philosophy, from Fr. modification (14c.) or directly from L. modificationem, noun of action from modificare (see modify). Meaning “to alter an object to bring it up to date” is from 1774. Biological sense is attested by 1896.
transitive: "taking a direct object" (of verbs), 1571 (implied in transitively), from L.L. transitivus (Priscian) "transitive," lit. "that may pass over (to another person)," from transire "go or cross over" (see transient).
pan (v.): "follow with a camera," 1913 shortening of panoramic, from panoramic camera (1878). Meaning "to swing from one object to another in a scene" is from 1931. Panavision (1955) is a proprietary name of a type of wide-screen lens.
caber: pole used in housebuilding, especially as an object tossed in the Highland games, 1510s, from Gael. cabar "pole, spar," cognate with Irish cabar "lath," Welsh ceibr "beam, rafter."
bogus: "counterfeit money," 1839, Amer.Eng., apparently from a slang word applied in Ohio in 1827 to a counterfeiter's apparatus. Some trace this to tantrabobus, a late 18c. colloquial Vermont word for any odd-looking object, which may be connected to tantarabobs, recorded as a Devonshire name for the devil. Others trace it to the same source as bogey (1).
prop (n.2): "object used in a play," 1911, from props (1841), shortened form of properties (in theatrical use from early 15c.). Props as slang shortening for proper respects (or something similar) appeared c.1999.
landmark: O.E. landmearc, from land (n.) + mearc (see mark). Originally "object set up to mark the boundaries of a kingdom, estate, etc." Modern figurative sense of "event, etc., considered a high point in history" is from 1859.
moraine: "ridge of rock deposited by a glacier," 1789, from Fr. moraine, from Savoy dialect morena "mound of earth," from Prov. morre "snout, muzzle," from V.L. *murrum "round object," of unknown origin, perhaps from a pre-L. Alpine language.
misplace: 1550s, "to assign a wrong position to;" see mis- (1) + place (v.). Of affections, confidence, etc., "to give to a wrong object," it is recorded from 1630s. Related: Misplaced; misplacing.
foreshadow: 1570s, from fore + shadow; the notion is of a shadow thrown before an advancing material object as an image of something suggestive of what is to come. Related: Foreshadowed; foreshadowing.
girth: c.1300, "belt around a horse's body," from O.N. gjorð "girdle, belt, hoop," from P.Gmc. *gertu- (cf Goth. gairda "girdle"), from the same source as gird (q.v.). Sense of "measurement around an object" first recorded 1644.
direction: c.1400, "orderly arrangement;" c.1500 as "action of directing," from L. directionem (nom. directio), noun of action from pp. stem of dirigere (see direct (v.)). Meaning "course pursued by a moving object" is from 1660s. Related: Directional.
booty: "plunder, gain, profit," mid-15c., from O.Fr. butin "booty" (14c.), from a Gmc. source akin to M.L.G. bute "exchange." Influenced in form and sense by boot (2) and in form by nouns ending in -y. Meaning "female body considered as a sex object" is 1920s, black slang.
ego: 1714, as a term in metaphysics, from L. ego "I" (cognate with O.E. ic, see I). Psychoanalytic sense is from 1894; sense of "conceit" is 1891. Ego trip first recorded 1969.
In the book of Egoism it is written, Possession without obligation to the object possessed approaches felicity. [George Meredith, "The Egoist," 1879]
fetishism: in the purely psycho-sexual sense first recorded 1897 in writings of Henry Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), from fetish + -ism.
In certain perversions of the sexual instinct, the person, part of the body, or particular object belonging to the person by whom the impulse is excited, is called the fetish of the patient. [E. Morselli in "Baldwin Dictionary of Philosophy," 1901]
conger: c.1300, from L. conger "sea-eel," from Gk. gongros "conger," probably from PIE base *geng-, *gong- "a lump, rounded object."
backfire: 1839, Amer.Eng., originally "a fire deliberately lit ahead of an advancing prairie fire to deprive it of fuel," from back + fire (v.). As a verb in this sense, recorded from 1886. The meaning "premature ignition in an internal-combustion engine" is first recorded 1897. Of schemes, plans, etc., "affect the initiator rather than the intended object" it is attested from 1912, a fig. use from the accidental back-firing of firearms.
toad: O.E. tadige, tadie, of unknown origin and with no known cognates outside Eng. Toadstone "stone or stone-like object, supposedly magical (with healing or protective power) and found in the heads of certain toads," is attested from 1558, transl. Gk. batrakhites, M.L. bufonites; cf. also Fr. crapaudine (13c.), Ger. krötenstein.
dais: mid-13c., from Anglo-Fr. deis, O.Fr. dais "table, platform," from L. discus "disk-shaped object," also, by medieval times, "table," from Gk. diskos "quoit, disk, dish." Died out in English c.1600, preserved in Scotland, revived 19c. by antiquarians.