Online Etymology Dictionary

beak: early 13c., "bird's bill," from O.Fr. bec (Fr. bec) "beak," figuratively "mouth," also "tip or point of a nose, a lance, a ship, a shoe," from L. beccus, said by Suetonius ("De vita Caesarum" 18) to be of Gaulish origin, perhaps from Gaulish beccus, possibly related to Celt. stem bacc- "hook." Or there may be a link in O.E. becca "pickax, sharp end." Jocular sense of "human nose" is from 1854.
beaker: mid-14c., from O.N. bikarr or M.Du. beker "goblet," probably from M.L. bicarium, which itself is probably a dim. of Gk. bikos "earthenware jug, wine jar" (said to be an oriental word, perhaps a borrowing from Syrian buqa "a two-handed vase or jug"). Form assimilated to beak.
snaffle: "simple bridle-bit," 1533, perhaps from Du. snavel "beak, bill;" cf. Ger. Schnabel "beak, face," O.E. nebb, O.N. neff "beak, nose," from PIE base *snab- "beak" (see neb).
neb: "beak or bill of a bird," O.E. nebb "beak, nose, face," common Gmc. (cf. O.N. nef "beak, nose," Ger. Schnabel "beak," O.Fris. snavel "mouth"), perhaps somehow connected with the source of nave (2).
pico-: 1915, adopted c.1952 as a scientific prefix meaning "one trillionth," from Sp. pico "a little over, a small balance," lit. "sharp point, beak," of Celtic origin (cf. Gaul. beccus "beak"). Picosecond first recorded 1966.
bill (2): "bird's beak," O.E., related to bil, a poetic word for "a kind of sword" (especially one with a hooked blade), common Gmc. word for cutting weapons (cf. O.H.G. bihal, O.N. bilda "hatchet," O.S. bil "sword"), from PIE base *bhei- "to cut." Used also in M.E. of beak-like projections of land.
coccyx: 1615, from Gk. kokkyx "cuckoo" (from kokku, like the bird's Eng. name echoic of its cry), so called by ancient Gk. physician Galen because the bone in humans supposedly resembles a cuckoo's beak.
nib: 1585, "beak or bill of a bird," Scot. variant of O.E. neb, from P.Gmc. *nabjan (see neb). Meaning "point" (of a pen or quill) first recorded 1611.
nipple: 1538, nyppell, alt. of neble, probably dim. of O.E. neb "bill, beak, snout" (see neb), hence, lit. "a small projection."
crowbar: 1748, with bar (1), earlier simply crow (c.1400); so called from its "beak," or from resemblance to a crow's foot, or possibly from crows, from O.Fr. cros, pl. of croc "hook."
gouge (n.): 1350, from O.Fr. gouge, from L.L. gubia, alteration of gulbia "hollow beveled chisel," probably from Gaulish (cf. O.Ir. gulban "prick, prickle," Welsh gylfin "beak"). The verb is 1570, from the noun. Meaning "swindle" is Amer.Eng. colloquial from 1826 (implied in plural n. gougers).
rebec: "medieval stringed musical instrument," 1509, from Fr. rebec, an unexplained alteration of O.Fr. ribabe (perhaps somehow infl. by bec "beak"), ultimately from Arabic rebab (cf. O.Prov. rebec, It. ribeca). It has three strings and is played with a bow.
mien: "facial expression," 1513, shortening of M.E. demean "bearing, demeanor" (see demeanor); infl. by M.Fr. mine "appearance, facial expression," possibly of Celtic origin (cf. Bret. min "beak, muzzle, nose," Ir. men "mouth").
falcon: c.1250, from O.Fr. faucon, from L.L. falconem (nom. falco), probably from L. falx (gen. falcis) "sickle," usually said to be so called for the shape of its talons or beak, but possibly from the shape of its spread wings. The other theory is that falx is of Gmc. origin, which is supported by the antiquity of the word in Gmc. but opposed by those who point out that falconry by all evidences was imported from the East, and the Germans got it from the Romans, not the other way around.
gob: "a mouthful, lump," c.1382, from O.Fr. gobe "mouthful, lump," from gober "gulp, swallow down," probably from Gaul. *gobbo- (cf. Ir. gob "mouth," Gael. gob "beak"). This Celtic source also seems to be root of gob "mouth" (c.1550), which is the first element in gob-stopper "a kind of large hard candy" (1928).
jowl: 1577, from M.E. cholle "fold of flesh hanging from the jaw" (c.1320), perhaps related to O.E. ceole "throat" (cognate of O.Ir. gop, Ir. gob "beak, mouth"). A slightly different jowl, meaning "jaw," evolved from O.E. ceafl, from P.Gmc. *kaflaz (cf. Ger. kiefer, O.N. kjaptr "jaw," Flem. kavel, Du. kevel "gum"), and the two words influenced one another in form and sense. The change from ch- to j- has not been explained.
prune (v.): 1426, prouyne, from O.Fr. proignier "cut back (vines), prune," of unknown origin, perhaps from Gallo-Romance *pro-retundiare "cut in a rounded shape in front," from pro- "forth" + *retundiare "round off," from L. rotundus (see round). The M.E. word may be via falconry term proinen "trim the feather with the beak" (1390), Related to preen (q.v.).
snap (n.): 1495, "quick, sudden bite or cut," from Du. or Low Ger. snappen "to snap," probably related to M.L.G. or M.Du. snavel "bill, beak" (see nib). Sense of "quick movement" is first recorded 1631; that of "something easily done" is 1877. Common in compounds to indicate instantaneous action (cf. cold snap, 1829). The card game is attested from 1882. Phrase snap out of it first recorded 1928. Snap judgment is attested from 1841. Snappy "quick, energetic" is from 1831.
rostrum: 1542, from L. rostrum, name of the platform stand for public speakers in the Forum in ancient Rome. It was decorated with the beaks of ships taken in the first naval victory of the Roman republic, over Antium, in 338 B.C.E., and the word's older sense is "end of a ship's prow," lit. "beak, muzzle, snout," originally "means of gnawing," instrument noun form of rodere "to gnaw" (see rodent). Cf. claustrum "lock, bar," from claudere "to shut." Extended sense of any platform for public speaking is first recorded 1766. Plural form is rostra.
griffin: c.1200, from O.Fr. grifon "a bird of prey," also "fabulous bird of Gk. mythology" (with head and wings of an eagle, body and hind quarters of a lion, believed to inhabit Scythia and guard its gold), from L.L. gryphus, misspelling of grypus, variant of gryps (gen. grypos), from Gk. gryps (gen. grypos) "curved, hook-nosed," in reference to its beak. But Klein suggests a Sem. source, "through the medium of the Hittites," and cites Heb. kerubh "a winged angel," Akkad. karibu, epithet of the bull-colossus (see cherub).
peck (v.): c.1300, possibly a variant of picken (see pick (v.)), or in part from M.L.G. pekken "to peck with the beak." Pecker "one who pecks" is from 1697; slang sense of "penis" is from 1902. Peckerwood (1859) is U.S. Southern black dialectal inversion of woodpecker (q.v.); in folklore, taken as the type of white folks (1929) and symbolically contrasted with blackbird. As a behavior among hens, pecking order (1928) translates Ger. hackliste (T.J. Schjelderuo-Ebbe, 1922); transf. sense of "human hierarchy based on rank or status" is from 1955.
magpie: 1605, common European bird, known for its chattering, earlier simply pie; first element from Mag, nickname for Margaret, long used in Eng. proverbial and slang senses for qualities associated generally with women, especially in this case "idle chattering" (cf. Magge tales "tall tales, nonsense," c.1410; also Fr. margot "magpie," from Margot, pet form of Marguerite). Second element, pie, is the earlier name of the bird, from O.Fr. pie, from L. pica "magpie," fem. of picus "woodpecker," possibly from PIE base *pi-, denoting pointedness, of the beak, perhaps, but the magpie also has a long, pointed tail. The birds are proverbial for pilfering and hoarding, can be taught to speak, and have been regarded since the Middle Ages as a bird of ill omen.
"Whan pyes chatter vpon a house it is a sygne of ryghte euyll tydynges." [1507]
Divination by number of magpies is attested from c.1780 in Lincolnshire; the rhyme varies from place to place, the only consistency being that one is bad, two are good.
goose: "a large waterfowl proverbially noted, I know not why, for foolishness" [Johnson], O.E. gos, from P.Gmc. *gans- "goose" (cf. O.Fris. gos, O.N. gas, O.H.G. gans, Ger. Gans "goose"), from PIE *ghans- (cf. Skt. hamsah, masc., hansi, fem., "goose swan;" Gk. khen; L. anser; Pol. ges "goose;" Lith. zasis "goose;" O.Ir. geiss "swan"), probably imitative of its honking. Sp. ganso "goose" is from a Gmc. source. Loss of "n" sound is normal before "s." Plural form geese is an example of i-mutation. Meaning "simpleton" is from 1547. The verbal meaning "jab in the rear" (c.1880) is possibly from resemblance of the upturned thumb to a goose's beak. To cook one's goose first attested 1845, of unknown origin; attempts to connect it to Swedish history and Gk. fables have been unconvincing. Goose egg "zero" first attested 1866 in baseball slang. Goose bumps (1933) was earlier goose flesh (c.1810) and goose skin (1785). The goose that laid the golden egg is from Aesop. Goose step (1806) originally was a military drill to teach balance; "to stand on each leg alternately and swing the other back and forth" (which, presumably, reminded someone of a goose's way of walking); in reference to "marching without bending the knees" (as in Nazi military reviews) it apparently is first recorded 1916.