comfortable Look up comfortable at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "affording mental comfort," from Anglo-Fr. confortable, from conforter "to comfort" (see comfort). Meaning "offering physical comfort" is attested from 1769; that of "in a state of tranquil enjoyment" is from 1770.
comfort (v.) Look up comfort at Dictionary.com
late 13c., from O.Fr. conforter "to comfort, help, strengthen," from L.L. confortare "to strengthen much" (used in Vulgate), from L. com- intens. prefix + fortis "strong." The n. (early 13c.) replaced O.E. frofor. The noun comforts (as opposed to necessities and luxuries) is from 1650s.
comfortably Look up comfortably at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "pleasant," from comfortable. Meaning "in a state of comfort" is 1630s.
comforter Look up comforter at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "one who consoles or comforts," from Anglo-Fr. confortour, from V.L. *confortatorem, agent n. from L.L. confortare (see comfort). As a kind of scarf, from 1823; as a kind of coverlet, from 1832.
trust (n.) Look up trust at Dictionary.com
c.1200, from O.N. traust "help, confidence," from P.Gmc. *traust- (cf. O.Fris. trast, Du. troost "comfort, consolation," O.H.G. trost "trust, fidelity," Ger. Trost "comfort, consolation," Goth. trausti "agreement, alliance"). Related to O.E. treowian "to believe, trust," and treowe "faithful, trusty" (see true). Meaning "businesses organized to reduce competition" is recorded from 1877. The verb (early 13c.) is from O.N. treysta "to trust." Trust-buster is recorded from 1903. Trustee in the sense of "person who is responsible for the property of another" is attested from 1650s. Trustworthy is first attested 1808.
conveniences Look up conveniences at Dictionary.com
"material appliaces conducive to personal comfort," 1670s, from pl. of convenience.
snug Look up snug at Dictionary.com
c.1595, "compact, trim" (of a ship), perhaps from a Scand. source, cf. O.N. snoggr "short-haired," Swed. snygg, Dan. snøg "neat, tidy." Sense of "in a state of ease or comfort" first recorded 1630. Meaning "fit closely" is first found 1838.
soothe Look up soothe at Dictionary.com
O.E. soðian "show to be true," from soð "true" (see sooth). Sense of "quiet, comfort, mollify" is first recorded 1697, on notion of "to assuage one by asserting that what he says is true" (i.e. to be a yes-man), a sense attested from 1568.
solace (n.) Look up solace at Dictionary.com
"comfort, consolation," late 13c., from O.Fr. solas, from L. solacium, from solatus, pp. of solari "to console, soothe," from PIE base *sel- "of good mood, to favor" (cf. Gk. hilaros "merry," O.E. gesælig "happy;" see silly). The verb is recorded from c.1300.
console (v.) Look up console at Dictionary.com
1690s, from Fr. consoler, from L. consolari "offer solace," from com- intensive prefix + solari "to comfort" (see solace). The Latin word is glossed in O.E. by frefran.
hug Look up hug at Dictionary.com
1567, hugge "to embrace," perhaps from O.N. hugga "to comfort," from hugr "courage, mood," from P.Gmc. *hugjan, related to O.E. hycgan "to think, consider," Goth. hugs "mind, soul, thought." Other have noted the similarity in some senses to Ger. hegen "to foster, cherish," originally "to enclose with a hedge." The noun was originally (1617) a hold in wrestling.
visit (v.) Look up visit at Dictionary.com
early 13c., "come to (a person) to comfort or benefit," from O.Fr. visiter, from L. visitare "to go to see, come to inspect," frequentative of visere "behold, visit" (a person or place), from pp. stem of videre "to see, notice, observe" (see vision). Originally of the deity, later of pastors and doctors (c.1300), general sense of "pay a call" is from 1620s. Meaning "come upon, afflict" (in ref. to sickness, punishment, etc.) is recorded from mid-14c. The noun is 1620s, from the verb.
match (2) Look up match at Dictionary.com
"one of a pair," O.E. mæcca, from gemæcca "companion, mate, wife, one suited to another," from P.Gmc. *gamakon "fitting well together" (cf. O.H.G. gimah "comfort, ease," M.H.G. gemach "comfortable, quiet"), from PIE base *mak-/*mag- "to fit" (see make (v.)). M.E. sense of "matching adversary, person able to contend with another" (c.1300) led to sporting meaning "contest," first attested 1545. Match-maker "marriage-broker" is attested from c.1639.
margin Look up margin at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "space between a block of text and the edge of a page," from L. margo (gen. marginis) "edge," from PIE *mereg- "edge, boundary" (see mark (1)). General sense of "boundary space" is from late 14c. Meaning "comfort allowance, cushion" is from 1851; margin of safety first recorded 1888. Stock market sense of "sum deposited with a broker to cover risk of loss" is from 1848. Related: Margins.
respect (n.) Look up respect at Dictionary.com
c.1300, from L. respectus "regard," lit. "act of looking back at one," pp. of respicere "look back at, regard, consider," from re- "back" + specere "look at" (see scope (1)). The verb is 1542, from the noun. Meaning "treat with deferential regard or esteem" is from 1560; respectable "worthy of respect" is from 1586 (implied in respected).
"I have certainly known more men destroyed by the desire to have wife and child and to keep them in comfort than I have seen destroyed by drink and harlots." [William Butler Yeats, "Autobiography"]
Mesopotamia Look up Mesopotamia at Dictionary.com
ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Gk. mesopotamia (khora), lit. "the country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" + potamos "river" (see petition). In 19c. the word was used in the sense of "anything which gives irrational or inexplicable comfort to the hearer," based on the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she "found great support in that comfortable word Mesopotamia" ["Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable," 1870]. The place was called Mespot (1917) by British soldiers serving there in World War I.
ease Look up ease at Dictionary.com
early 13c., from O.Fr. aise "comfort, pleasure," of unknown origin, despite attempts to link it to various L. verbs. The earliest senses in French appear to be 1. "elbow-room" (from an 11th century Hebrew-French glossary) and 2. "opportunity." This led Sophus Bugge to suggest an origin in V.L. asa, a shortened form of L. ansa "handle," which could be used in the figurative sense of "opportunity, occasion," as well as being a possible synonym for "elbow," since L. ansatus "furnished with handles" also was used to mean "having the arms akimbo." OED editors report this theory, and write, "This is not very satisfactory, but it does not appear that any equally plausible alternative has yet been proposed." The verb meaning "to give ease" is from mid-14c.; the sense of "to relax one's efforts" is from 1863. Farmer reports ease in a slang sense of “to content a woman” sexually, with an 1861 date. Related: Eased; easing.
silly Look up silly at Dictionary.com
O.E. gesælig "happy" (related to sæl "happiness"), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (cf. O.N. sæll "happy," Goth. sels "good, kindhearted," O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig "blessed, happy, blissful"), from PIE base *sel- "happy" (cf. Gk. hilaros "gay, cheerful," L. solari "to comfort," salvus "whole, safe"). The word's considerable sense development moved from "blessed" to "pious," to "innocent" (1200), to "harmless," to "pitiable" (c.1280), to "weak" (c.1300), to "feeble in mind, lacking in reason, foolish" (1576). Further tendency toward "stunned, dazed as by a blow" (1886) in knocked silly, etc. Silly season in journalism slang is from 1861 (August and September, when newspapers compensate for a lack of hard news by filling up with trivial stories). Silly Putty trademark claims use from July 1949.