- ask
- O.E. ascian "ask," from earlier ahsian, from P.Gmc. *aiskojan (cf. O.S. escon, O.Fris. askia, M.Du. eiscen, O.H.G. eiscon, Ger. heischen "to ask, demand"), from PIE *ais- "to wish, desire" (cf. Skt. icchati "seeks, desires," Arm. aic "investigation," O.C.S. iskati "to seek," Lith. ieškau "to seek"). Form in Eng. infl. by a Scand. form of the word (cf. Dan. æske; the O.E. would have evolved by normal sound changes into ash, esh, which was a Midlands and s.w. England dialect form). The variant in modern dialect ax is as old as O.E. acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c.1600. O.E. also had fregnan, frignan which carried more directly the sense of "question, inquire," and is from PIE root *prek-, the common source of words for "ask" in most I.E. languages. If you ask me "in my opinion" is attested from 1910.
- askance
- 1520s, "sideways, asquint," of obscure origin; perhaps a variant of askew. Other theories that have been put forth include an origin from M.E. ase "as" + O.Fr. quanses "how if," from L. quam "how" + si "if." Or from O.Fr. a escone, from pp. of a word for "hidden." Or from It. a scancio "obliquely, slantingly."
- askew
- 1570s, probably lit. "on skew" (see skew), perhaps from O.N. form of it, a ska. Earlier askoye is attested in the same sense (early 15c.).
- Alaska
- name first applied 18c. by Russian explorers, from Aleut alaxsxaq, lit. "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed." [Bright]
- bask
- late 14c., basken "to wallow (in blood)," from O.N. bağask, reflexive of bağa "bathe" (see bathe). Modern meaning "soak up a flood of warmth" is apparently due to Shakespeare's use of the word in reference to sunshine in "As You Like It" (1600).
- Baskerville
- typeface style, 1802, named for John Baskerville (1706-1775), type-founder and printer.
- basket
- early 13c., from Anglo-Fr. bascat, from L. bascauda "kettle, table-vessel," origin obscure despite much speculation. Said by the Roman poet Martial to be from Celtic British and perhaps cognate with L. fascis "bundle, faggot," in which case it probably originally meant "wicker basket." But there is no evidence of such a word in Celtic unless later words in Irish and Welsh, counted as borrowings from English, are original.
- basket case
- 1919, Amer.Eng., originally a reference to quadriplegics as a result of catastrophic wounds suffered in World War I (the military vehemently denied there were any such in its hospitals), from basket + case. Probably literal, i.e., stuck in a basket, but basket had colloquial connotations of poverty (begging) and helplessness long before this. Figurative sense of "person emotionally unable to cope" is from 1967.
- basketball
- 1892, Amer.Eng., from basket + ball (1). The game was invented 1891 by James A. Naismith (1861–1939), physical education instructor in Springfield, Mass.
- basking
- 1742, prp. adj. from bask (q.v.). Basking shark is recorded from 1769.
- bread-basket
- 1550s, "basket for holding bread," from bread + basket. Slang meaning "stomach" is attested from 1753, especially in pugilism.
- cask
- 1458, from M.Fr. casque "cask, helmet," from Sp. casco "skull, cask, helmet," orig. "potsherd," from cascar "to break up," from V.L. *quassicare, freq. of L. quassare "to shake, shatter" (see quash). The sense evolution is unclear.
- casket
- 1461, "small box for jewels, etc.," possibly formed as a dim. of Eng. cask, or from Norm.-Fr. cassette, from M.Fr. casset (see cassette). Meaning of "coffin" is Amer.Eng., probably euphemistic, first attested 1849.
"Caskets! a vile modern phrase, which compels a person ... to shrink ... from the idea of being buried at all." [Hawthorne, 1863]
- damask
- mid-13c., Damaske "cloth from Damascus," the Syrian city, famous in medieval times for steel and silk.
- flask
- mid-14c., from M.L. flasco "container, bottle," from L.L. flasconem "bottle," probably from a Gmc. source (cf. O.E. flasce, O.H.G. flaska, M.Du. flasce, Ger. Flasche "bottle"), probably originally meaning "a bottle plaited round, case bottle" (cf. O.H.G. flechtan "to weave," O.E. fleohtan "to braid, plait"), from P.Gmc. base *fleh- (see flax). Another theory traces it to a metathesis of L. vasculum.
- gasket
- 1622, caskette "small rope or plaited coil used to secure a furled sail," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Fr. garcette "little girl," dim. of garce "wench," fem. of garçon (q.v.). Sense of "packing (originally of braided hemp) to seal metal joints" first recorded 1829.
- mask (n.)
- 1530s, from M.Fr. masque "covering to hide or guard the face," from It. maschera, from M.L. masca "mask, specter, nightmare," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Arabic maskhara "buffoon," from sakhira "to ridicule." Or via Prov. mascarar, Catalan mascarar, O.Fr. mascurer "to black (the face)," perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English mesh (q.v.). But cf. Occitan mascara "to blacken, darken," derived from mask- "black," which is held to be from a pre-I.E. language, and Old Occitan masco "witch," surviving in dialects; in Beziers it means "dark cloud before the rain comes." [See Walther von Wartburg, "Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung galloromanischen sprachschatzes"] The verb meaning "to wear a mask" is from 1580s; in the extended sense of "disguise," is attested from 1847. Related: Masking. Masking tape first recorded 1936; so called because it is used to block out certain surfaces before painting.
- multitasking
- also multi-tasking, 1966, originally in computing, from multi- + tasking (see task). Of humans, by 1998. Related: Multitask (v.)
- Nebraska
- from a native Siouan name for the Platte River, either Omaha ni braska or Oto ni brathge, both lit. "water flat." The modern river name is from Fr. rivière platte, which means "flat river."
- Raskolnik
- "dissenter from the Russian Church, an Old Believer," 1723, from Rus. Raskolnik "separatise," from raskol "schism, separation." The schism was a result of reforms by Patriarch Nikon in 1667.
- task
- c.1300, "piece of work imposed as a duty," from O.N.Fr. tasque (13c., O.Fr. tasche, Fr. tâche) "duty, tax," from V.L. *tasca "a duty, assessment," metathesis of M.L. taxa, a back-formation of L. taxare "to evaluate, estimate, assess" (see tax). General sense of "any piece of work that has to be done" is first recorded 1590s. Verb "to put a strain upon" is from 1590s. Phrase take one to task (1680s) preserves the sense that is closer to tax. Ger. tasche "pocket" is from the same V.L. source (via O.H.G. tasca), with presumable sense evolution from "amount of work imposed by some authority," to "payment for that work," to "wages," to "pocket into which money is put," to "any pocket."
- task force
- 1941, originally military; see task.
- taskmaster
- 1520s, from task (n.) + master (n.).
- unasked
- c.1255, "uninvited," from un- (1) "not" + pp. of ask.
- unmask
- 1580s in figurative sense, c.1600 in literal sense, from un- (2) + mask (v.).