Online Etymology Dictionary

cabin: mid-14c., from O.Fr. cabane "hut, cabin," from O.Prov. cabana, from L.L. capanna "hut" (cf. Sp. cabana), of doubtful origin. Fr. cabine (18c.), It. cabino are English loan-words. Meaning "room or partition of a vessel" is from late 14c. Cabin fever first recorded by 1918 in the "need to get out and about" sense; earlier (1820s) it was a term for typhus.
antipyretic: "reducing fever; that which reduces fever," 1680s, from anti- + Gk. pyretos "fever."
febrile: 1650s, from M.L. febrilis "pertaining to fever," from L. febris "a fever" (see fever).
fever: late O.E. fefor, from L. febris "fever," related to fovere "to warm, heat," probably from PIE base *dhegh- "burn" (cf. Goth. dags, O.E. dæg "day," originally "the heat"); but some suggest a reduplication of a root represented by Skt. *bhur- "to be restless." Adopted into most Gmc. languages (cf. Ger. fieber, Sw. feber, Da. fever), but not in Du. Eng. spelling infl. by O.Fr. fievre. Replaced O.E. hriðing. Extended sense of "intense nervous excitement" is from 1586.
ague: "malarial fever," late 14c., from O.Fr. ague "an acute fever," from M.L. (febris) acuta "sharp (fever)," fem. of acutus "sharp" (see acute).
caboose: 1747, "ship's cookhouse," from M.Du. kambuis "ship's galley," from Low Ger. kabhuse "wooden cabin on ship's deck;" probably a compound whose elements correspond to English cabin and house. Railroading sense is by 1859.
feverish: “excited,” 1630s; “having symptoms of fever,” 1640s, from fever + -ish. Earlier in same sense was feverous (late 14c.). Related: Feverishly.
typhus: acute infectious fever, 1785, from Mod.L. (De Sauvages, 1759), from Gk. typhos "stupor caused by fever," lit. "smoke," from typhein "to smoke," related to typhos "blind," typhon "whirlwind," ult. origin unknown. The disease so called from the prostration that it causes.
cabinet: 1540s, from M.Fr. cabinet "small room" (16c.), dim. of O.Fr. cabane "cabin" (see cabin); perhaps influenced by (or rather, from) It. gabbinetto, dim. of gabbia, from L. cavea "stall, stoop, cage, den for animals." Sense of "private room where advisors meet" (c.1600) led to modern political meaning (1640s); cf. board in its evolution from place where some group meets to the word for the group that meets there.
lodge (n.): early 13c., from O.Fr. loge "arbor, covered walk" (Mod.Fr. "hut, cabin, lodge box at a theater"), from Frankish *laubja "shelter" (cognate with O.H.G. louba "porch, gallery," Ger. Laube "bower, arbor"), likely originally "shelter of foliage," from the root of leaf. "Hunter's cabin" sense is first recorded mid-15c. Sense of "local branch of a society" is first recorded 1680s, from 14c. logge "workshop of masons." The verb is early 13c., "to stay in a lodge, to put someone up in a lodge," from O.Fr. logier, from loge. Sense of "to get a thing in the intended place, to make something stick" is from 1610s.
cabana: 1898, western U.S., from Amer.Sp. cognate of cabin (q.v.).
hovel: 1358, "roofed passage, vent for smoke," later "shed for animals" (1435), of unknown origin. Meaning "shed for human habitation; rude or miserable cabin" is from 1625. It also sometimes meant "canopied niche for a statue or image" (1463).
shebeen: "cabin where unlicensed liquor is sold and drunk," c.1787, chiefly in Ireland and Scotland, from Ir. seibin "small mug," also "bad ale," dim. of seibe "mug, bottle, liquid measure."
cahoots: 1829, Amer.Eng., said to be perhaps from Fr. cahute "cabin, hut" (12c.), but U.S. sources credit it to Fr. cohorte (see cohort), a word said to be in use in the South and West with a sense of "companions, confederates."
barrack: 1680s, "temporary hut for soldiers during a siege," from Fr. barraque, from Sp. barraca (1249) "soldier's tent," lit. "cabin, hut," perhaps from barro "clay, mud," which is probably of Celt-Iberian origin. Meaning "permanent building for housing troops" (usually in plural) is attested from 1690s.
acute: 1560s, from L. acutus "sharp, pointed," pp. of acuere "sharpen" (see acuity). Medical sense of "coming and going quickly" (of a fever or disease, as opposed to a chronic one) first recorded 1660s.
rickettsia: parasitic organism, 1919, named 1916 in Mod.L. by H. da Rocha-Lima in honor of U.S. pathologist H.T. Ricketts (1871-1910), who first identified it in 1909 and died of typhus as a result of his contact with it. The bacteria causes typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but is unrelated by pathology or etymology to rickets (q.v.), which is the result of vitamin D deficiency.
stately: "noble, splendid," late 14c., from state (n.1) in a sense of "costly and imposing display" (such as benefits a person of rank and wealth), early 14c.; a sense also preserved in the phrase to lie in state "to be ceremoniously exposed to view before interment" (1705). Hence also stateroom (1703), reserved for ceremonial occasions; earlier (1650s) it meant "a captain's cabin."
feverfew: O.E. feferfuge, from L.L. febrifugia, from L. febris "fever" + fugare "put to flight;" so called for its medical usage.
cubbyhole: 1825, the first element possibly from a dim. of cub "stall, pen, cattle shed, coop, hutch" (1540s), a dial. word apparently with cognates in Low Ger. (cf. E.Fris. kubbing, Du. kub). Or related to cuddy "small room, cupboard" (1793), originally "small cabin in a boat" (1650s). Or perhaps simply a children's made-up word.
Conestoga: 1699, name of an Indian tribe in southcentral Pennsylvania, probably from some Iroquoian language and sometimes said to mean "people of the cabin pole;" later a place in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where a characteristic type of covered wagon was built. Conestoga wagon is from 1750 (about three years before the last of the Conestoga Indians were massacred), but it was already an established term as the first reference is to the name of a Philadelphia tavern. Also a breed of horses (1824) and a type of boot and cigar (see stogie).
gondola: 1549, from It. (Venetian) gondola, earlier goundel, from O.It. gondula, perhaps from Rhaeto-Romanic dial. gondola "roll, rock." Meaning "cabin of an airship" is 1896, though it was used hypothetically in 1881 in a prediction piece titled "300 Years Hence":
"You step into an aërial gondola ... and are at once borne upwards."
tabernacle: mid-13c., "portable sanctuary carried by the Israelites in the wilderness," from O.Fr. tabernacle (12c.), from L. tabernaculum "tent," especially "a tent of an augur" (for taking observations), dim. of taberna "hut, cabin, booth" (see tavern). Transferred late 14c. to the Temple in Jerusalem (which continued its function). Sense of "house of worship" first recorded 1690s. The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (mid-October) was observed as a thanksgiving for harvest.
hectic: late 14c., etik, from O.Fr. etique, from L.L. hecticus, from Gk. hektikos "continuous, habitual, consumptive" (of a disease, because of the constant fever), from hexis "habit," from ekhein "have, hold, continue." The Latin -h- was restored in Eng. 1500s. Sense of "feverishly exciting, full of disorganized activity" first recorded 1904.
bordello: M.E. bordel "house of prostitution," c.1300, from O.Fr. bordel "small hut, cabin; brothel" (12c.), dim. of borde "hut made of planks," from Frankish *bord "wooden board" or some other Germanic source related to board (1). The modern form is a result of the word being borrowed from French by Italian, then passed back with a suffix and re-borrowed into English by 1590s.
shanty (1): "rough cabin," 1820, from Fr. Canadian chantier "lumberjack's headquarters," in Fr., "timberyard, dock," from O.Fr. chantier "gantry," from L. cantherius "rafter, frame" (see gantry). Shanty-town is first recorded 1876; Shanty Irish is from 1928 (title of a book by Jim Tully).
access: early 14c., "an attack of fever," from O.Fr. acces "onslaught" (14c.), from L. accessus "a coming to, an approach," pp. of accedere "approach" (see accede). Meaning "habit or power of getting into the presence of (someone or something)" is from late 14c. As a verb, first recorded 1962. Accession "act of coming to a position," especially of a throne, is 1769 (first recorded in Burke).
feverously: late 14c., from fever + -ous. Related: Feverously.
temperature: 1533, "fact of being tempered," also "character or nature of a substance," from L. temperatura "a tempering, moderation," from temperatus, pp. of temperare "to moderate" (see temper). Sense of "degree of heat or cold" first recorded 1670 (Boyle), from L. temperatura, used in this sense by Galileo. Meaning "fever, high temperature" is attested from 1898.
log (n.): late 14c., of unknown origin. O.N. had lag "felled tree" (from stem of liggja "to lie"), but on phonological grounds etymologists deny that this is the root of English log. Instead, they suggest an independent formation meant to "express the notion of something massive by a word of appropriate sound." Logging "act of cutting timber" is from 1706. Logjam "congestion of logs on a river" is from 1885; in the figurative sense it is from 1890. Log cabin in Amer.Eng. has been a figure of the honest pioneer since the 1840 presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison.
scarlatina: 1803, from Mod.L. scarlatina (Sydenham, 1676), from It. scarlattina (Lancelotti, 1527), fem. of scarlattino (adj.), dim. of scarlatto "scarlet" (see scarlet). It is a synonym for scarlet fever, not a milder form of it.
influenza: 1743, borrowed during an outbreak of the disease in Europe, from It. influenza "influenza, epidemic," originally "visitation, influence (of the stars)," from M.L. influentia (see influence). Used in It. for diseases since at least 1504 (cf. influenza di febbre scarlattina "scarlet fever") on notion of astral or occult influence. The 1743 outbreak began in Italy. Often applied since mid-19c. to severe colds.
Uncle Tom: "servile black man," 1922, somewhat inaccurately in ref. to the humble, pious, but strong-willed main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852). The image implied in the insult perhaps is more traceable to the late 19c. minstel show versions of the story, which reached a far wider audience than the book.
"I don't recall anyone in the 1920s using the term 'Uncle Tom' as an epithet. But what's amazing is how fast it caught on (in the 1930s). Black scholars picked up (the term) and just started throwing it at each other." [Ernest Allen, quoted in Hamilton, Kendra, "The Strange Career of Uncle Tom," Black Issues in Higher Education, June 2002]
As a verb, attested from 1937.
ephemera: late 14c., originally a medical term, from M.L. ephemera (febris) "(fever) lasting a day," from fem. of ephemerus, from Gk. ephemeros "lasting only one day," from epi "on" + hemerai, dat. of hemera "day," from PIE *amer- "day." Sense extended to short-lived insects and flowers; general sense of "transitory" is first attested 1630s.
putrid: c.1412, from L. putridus, from putrere "to rot," from putris "rotten, crumbling," related to putere "to stink," from PIE base *pu- "to rot, stink" (see pus). First in ref. to putrid fever, an old name for typhus.
tepid: c.1400, from L. tepidus "lukewarm," from tepere "be warm," from PIE base *tep- "warm" (cf. Skt. tapati "makes warm, heats, burns," tapah "heat;" Avestan tafnush "fever;" O.C.S. topiti "to warm," teplu "warm;" O.Ir. tene "fire;" Welsh tes "heat").
typhoid (adj.): 1800, lit. "resembling typhus," from typhus + suffix from Gk. -oeides "like," from eidos "form, shape" (see -oid). The noun is from 1861, a shortened form of typhoid fever (1845), so called because it was originally thought to be a variety of typhus. Typhoid Mary (1909) was Mary Mallon (d.1938), a typhoid carrier who worked as a cook and became notorious after it was learned she had unwittingly infected hundreds in U.S.
roof: O.E. hrof "roof, ceiling, top," from P.Gmc. *khrofaz (cf. O.Fris. rhoof "roof," M.Du. roof "cover, roof," Du. roef "deckhouse, cabin, coffin-lid," M.H.G. rof "penthouse," O.N. hrof "boat shed"). No apparent connections outside Gmc. "English alone has retained the word in a general sense, for which the other languages use forms corresponding to OE. þæc thatch" [OED]. The verb is from c.1475. Roof of the mouth is from late O.E. Raise the roof "create an uproar" is attested from 1860, originally in Southern Amer.Eng. Roofer "one who makes or repairs roofs" is from 1855.
pussy (2): slang for "cunt," 1879, but probably older; perhaps from O.N. puss "pocket, pouch" (cf. Low Ger. puse "vulva"), but perhaps instead from the cat word (see pussy (1)) on notion of "soft, warm, furry thing;" cf. Fr. le chat, which also has a double meaning, feline and genital. Earlier uses are difficult to distinguish from pussy (1), e.g.:
"The word pussie is now used of a woman" [Philip Stubbes, "The Anatomie of Abuses," 1583]
But the use of pussy as a term of endearment argues against the vaginal sense being generally known before late 19c., e.g.:
" 'What do you think, pussy?' said her father to Eva." [Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 1852]
Pussy-whipped first attested 1956.
swelter: c.1403, frequentative of swelten "be faint (especially with heat)," c.1386, from O.E. sweltan "to die," from P.Gmc. *swel- (cf. O.S. sweltan "to die," O.N. svelta "to put to death, starve," Goth. sviltan "to die"), originally "to burn slowly," hence "to be overcome with heat or fever;" also the source of O.E. swelan "to burn," from PIE base *swel- "to shine, burn" (see Selene). For specialization of words meaning "to die," cf. starve.
ail: O.E. eglian "to trouble, plague, afflict," from P.Gmc. *azljaz (cf. O.E. egle "hideous, loathsome, troublesome, painful;" Goth. agls "shameful, disgraceful," agliþa "distress, affliction, hardship," us-agljan "to oppress, afflict"), from PIE *agh-lo-, suffixed form of base *agh- "to be depressed, be afraid." Related: Ailing (c.1600); ailment formed in Eng. 1706.
"It is remarkable, that this word is never used but with some indefinite term, or the word no thing; as What ails him? ... Thus we never say, a fever ails him." [Johnson]
grow: O.E. growan (of plants) "to flourish, develop, get bigger" (class VII strong verb; past tense greow, pp. growen), from P.Gmc. *gro- (cf. O.N. groa, O.Fris. groia, Du. groeien, O.H.G. gruoen), from root of grass (q.v.). Applied in M.E. to human beings (c.1300) and animals (1435) and their parts, supplanting O.E. weaxan (see wax (v.)).
"Have you ever heard anything about God, Topsy? ... Do you know who made you?" "Nobody, as I knows on," said the child. ... "I spect I grow'd. Don't think nobody never made me." [Harriet B. Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 1851]
Grown-up (adj.) "mature" is from 1633; the noun meaning "adult person" is from 1813. Growth is first attested 1557, on model of health, stealth, etc.
heat: O.E. hætu, hæto, from P.Gmc. *khaitin- "heat," from *khaitaz "hot" (cf. O.S. hittia, O.N. hiti, O.Fris. hete, Ger. hitze "heat," Goth. heito "fever"). The same root is the source of O.E. hat "hot" and hæða "hot weather." The verb is from O.E. hætan, from P.Gmc. *khaitijanam. Meaning "a single course in a race" is from 1663, perhaps from earlier fig. sense of "a single intense effort" (c.1380), or meaning "run given to a horse to prepare for a race" (1577). Meaning "sexual excitement in animals" is from 1768. Meaning "trouble with the police" attested by 1920. Heat wave "period of excessive hot weather" first attested 1893.
hay: "grass mown," O.E. heg (Anglian), hieg, hig (W.Saxon) "grass cut or mown for fodder," from P.Gmc. *khaujan (cf. O.N. hey, O.Fris. ha, M.Du. hoy, Ger. Heu, Goth. hawi "hay"), lit. "that which is cut," or "that which can be mowed," from PIE *kau- "to hew, strike" (cf. O.E. heawan "to cut"). Hay-fever is from 1829; earlier it was called summer catarrh. Hayseed is from 1577 in the literal sense of "grass seed shaken out of hay;" in U.S. slang sense of "comical rustic" it dates from 1851. Haymaker in the sense of "very strong blow with the fist" is from 1912, probably in imitation of the wide swinging stroke of a scythe. Slang phrase hit the hay (pre-1880) was originally "to sleep in a barn;" hay in the general fig. sense of "bedding" (e.g. roll in the hay) is from 1903.
scarlet: mid-13c., "rich cloth" (often, but not necessarily, bright red in color), from an aphetic form of O.Fr. escarlate (12c., Mod.Fr. écarlate), from M.L. scarlatum "scarlet, cloth of scarlet" (cf. It. scarlatto, Sp. escarlate), from Pers. saqirlat "a kind of rich cloth," variant of siqillat "scarlet cloth, rich cloth," of unknown origin (Arabic siqillat "fine cloth" probably is ult. from Pers.). In reference to color, attested from late 14c. Scarlet lady, etc. (Isa. i:18, Rev. xvii:1-5) is from notion of "red with shame or indignation." Scarlet fever is from 1670s.
room: O.E. rum "space," from P.Gmc. *ruman (cf. O.N., O.S., O.H.G., Goth. rum, Ger. Raum "space," Du. ruim "hold of a ship, nave"), nouns formed from Gmc. adj. *ruma- "roomy, spacious," perhaps from a PIE base *rew- "wide, open" (cf. Avestan ravah- "space," L. rus "open country," O.Ir. roi, roe "plain field"). Original sense preserved in make room "clear space for oneself" (1375); meaning "chamber, cabin" first recorded 1312 as a nautical term, and first applied 1457 to chambers within houses. The O.E. word for this was cofa, ancestor of cove. The verb meaning "to occupy rooms" (especially with another) as a lodger" is first recorded 1828. Room-service is attested from 1930; room-temperature from 1924. Adj. roomy is attested from 1627. Roommate is first attested 1789, Amer.Eng. (short form roomie is from 1918). Roomth "sufficient space" (1540) now is obsolete.
hot: O.E. hat "hot, opposite of cold," also "fervent, fierce," from P.Gmc. *haitoz (cf. O.Fris. het, O.N. heitr, Du. heet, Ger. heiß "hot," Goth. heito "heat of a fever"), from PIE base *qai- (cf. Lith. kaistu "to grow hot"), the same root as that of heat. Taste sense of "pungent, acrid, biting" is from 1548. Sense of "exciting, remarkable, very good" is 1895; that of "stolen" is first recorded 1925 (originally with overtones of "easily identified and difficult to dispose of"); that of "radioactive" is from 1942. Hot air "unsubstantiated statements, boastful talk" is from 1900. Hot potato in figurative sense is from 1846. Hot-blooded "passionate" (1598) is a relic of medieval physiology theory. The association of hot with sexuality dates back to 1500. Hot rod first recorded 1945 in Amer.Eng.; hot water "trouble" is from 1537. The hot and cold in hide-and-seek or guessing games are from hunting (1648), with notion of tracking a scent. Hot spot "night club" first recorded 1931. Hotshot "important person" is from 1933; it earlier meant "fast train" (1925).
spring (n.1): "season following winter," 1540s, earlier springing time (late 14c.), spring-time (late 15c.), spring of the year (1520s), which had replaced O.E. Lent by late 14c. From spring (v.); the notion is of the "spring of the year," when plants "spring up" (cf. spring of the leaf, 1530s). Other Gmc. languages tend to take words for "fore" or "early" as their roots for the season name, cf. Dan. voraar, Du. voorjaar, lit. "fore-year;" Ger. Frühling, from M.H.G. vrueje "early." In 15c., the season also was prime-temps, after O.Fr. prin tans, tamps prim (Fr. printemps, which replaced primevère 16c. as the common word for spring), from L. tempus primum, lit. "first time, first season." Spring fever was O.E. lenctenadle; first record of spring cleaning is in 1857 (in ancient Persia, the first month, corresponding to March-April, was Adukanaiša, which apparently means "Irrigation-Canal-Cleaning Month;" Kent, p.167). Spring chicken "small roasting chicken" (usually 11 to 14 weeks) is recorded from 1780; transf. sense of "young person" first recorded 1906. Spring training first attested 1897.