Online Etymology Dictionary

communication: late 14c., from O.Fr. communicacion, from L. communicationem (nom. communicatio), from communicare "to share, divide out; impart, inform; join, unite, participate in," lit. "to make common," from communis (see common).
message: c.1300, "communication transmitted via a messenger," from O.Fr. message, from M.L. missaticum, from L. missus, pp. of mittere "to send." The L. word is glossed in O.E. by ærende. Specific religious sense of "divinely inspired communication via a prophet" (1546) let to transf. sense of "the broad meaning (of something)," first attested 1828. To get the message "understand" is from 1964.
infect: late 14c., from L. infectus, pp. of inficere "to spoil, stain," lit. "to put in," from in- "in" + facere "perform" (see factitious). Infection is 1548 in sense of "communication of disease by agency of air or water" (distinguished from contagion, which is body-to-body communication). Infectious "catching, having the quality of spreading from person to person" is 1542 of diseases, 1611 of emotions, actions, etc.
Telex: 1932, "a communication system of teletypewriters," from tel(etype) ex(change).
atmospheric: 1783, from atmosphere. In a sense of "creating a mood or mental environment" it is from 1908. Atmospherics "disturbances in wireless communication" is from 1905.
Morse code: 1867, earlier Morse key (1858), in allusion to Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872), U.S. inventor who produced a system of telegraphic communication 1836. He invented both the recording telegraph and the alphabet of dots and dashes.
lingua franca: 1678, from It., lit. "Frankish tongue." Originally a form of communication used in the Levant, a stripped-down It. peppered with Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish words. The name is probably from the Arabic custom, dating back to the Crusades, of calling all Europeans Franks.
Newspeak: "artificial language of official communication in George Orwell's novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four,' " 1949, from new + speak. Frequently applied to propagandistic warped English.
pipeline: 1873, "continuous line of pipes," from pipe + line. Fig. sense of "channel of communication" is from 1921; surfer slang meaning "hollow part of a large wave" is attested by 1963.
incommunicable: 1568, "not communicative," from in- "not" + communicable (see communication). Sense of "not able to be communicated" first recorded 1577.
ack: British oral code for letter A in wireless and telephone communication, 1898; hence ack-ack "anti-aircraft" (gun, fire, etc.), from abbreviation A.A.
communiqué: 1852, from Fr., originally pp. of communiquer "to communicate," from L. communicare (see communication). Originally the heading of official statements from the Fr. government.
communicative: late 14c., "that communicates," from Fr. communicatif, from L. communicat-, pp. stem of communicare (see communication). Meaning "talkative" is recorded from 1650s.
sciomancy: "divination by communication with shades of the dead," 1623, from Mod.L. sciomantia, from Gk. skio- "shadow" + manteia (see -mancy).
communicate: 1520s, "to impart" (information, etc.), from L. communicat-, pp. stem of communicare (see communication). Meaning "to share, transmit" (diseases, etc.) is from 1530s. Related: communicated (pp. adj., 1680s); communicating (1550s).
channel: c.1300, "bed of running water," from O.Fr. chanel, from L. canalis "groove, channel, waterpipe" (see canal) Given a broader, figurative sense and a verbal meaning 1590s. Meaning "circuit for telegraph communication" (1848) probably led to that of "band of frequency for radio or TV signals" (1928).
communicator: 1660s, from L. communicator, agent noun from communicare (see communication).
navigator: 1590, "one who navigates," from L. navigator "sailor," from navigatus (see navigation). Meaning "laborer employed in excavating a canal" is 1775, from sense in inland navigation "communication by canals and rivers" (1727).
correspondence: early 15c., "harmony, agreement," from M.L. correspondentia, from correspondentem, prp. of correspondere "correspond," from com- "together" + respondere "to answer" (see respond). Sense of "communication by letters" is first attested 1640s.
pidgin: 1876, from pigeon English (1859), the reduced form of the language used in China for communication with Europeans, from pigeon (1826), itself a pidgin word, representing a Chinese pronunciation of business. Meaning extended 1921 to "any simplified language."
correspond: 1520s, "to be in agreement, to be in harmony with," from M.L. correspondere, from cor- (see com-) "together, with each other" + respondere "to answer" (see respond). Originally in M.L. of two things in mutual action, but by later M.L. it could be used of one thing only. In English, sense of "to be similar" (to) is from 1640s; that of "to hold communication with" is from c.1600; specifically "to communicate by means of letters" from 1640s (in mid-18c. it also could mean "have sex").
incommunicado: 1844, Amer.Eng., from Sp. incomunicado, pp. of incomunicar "deprive of communication," from in- "not" + comunicar "communicate," from L. communicare "to share, impart," from communis (see common).
intercourse: 1449, "communication to and fro," from M.Fr. entrecours, from L. intercursus "a running between, intervention," from intercursus, pp. of intercurrere "to run between," from inter- "between" + currere "to run" (see current). Meaning "sexual relations" first recorded 1798.
nexus: 1663, "bond, link, means of communication," from L. nexus, pp. of nectere "to bind," from PIE base *ned- "to bind, tie" (see net (n.)).
telecommunication: 1932, from Fr. télécommunication (see tele- + communication).
afflatus: "miraculous communication of supernatural knowledge," 1660s, from L. afflatus "a breathing upon, blast," from pp. stem of afflare "to blow upon," from ad- "to" + flare "to blow" (see blow (v.1)).
medium (n.): 1584, "a middle ground, quality, or degree," from L. medium, from neut. of adj. medius (see medial). Meaning "intermediate agency, channel of communication" is from 1605. That of "person who conveys spiritual messages" first recorded 1853, from notion of "substance through which something is conveyed." Artistic sense (oil, watercolors, etc.) is from 1854. The adj. is 1670, from the noun; as a designation of cooked meat, it is attested from 1939. Happy medium is the "golden mean," Horace's aurea mediocritas.
telephone: 1835, "apparatus for signaling by musical notes" (devised by Sudré in 1828), from Fr. téléphone (c.1830), from télé- "far" (see tele-) + phone "sound" (see fame). Also used of other apparatus early 19c., including "instrument similar to a foghorn for signaling from ship to ship" (1844). The electrical communication tool was first described in modern form by P.Reis (1861); developed by Bell, and so called by him from 1876. The verb is attested from 1878.
over: O.E. ofer, from P.Gmc. *uberi (cf. O.S. obar, O.Fris. over, O.N. yfir, O.H.G. ubar, Ger. über, Goth. ufar "over, above"), from PIE *uper (see super-). Sense of "finished" is attested from 1399. In radio communication, used to indicate the speaker has finished speaking (1926). Widely used as a prefix in O.E. and other Gmc. langs. Overly "excessively" is from O.E. oferlice. Adjective phrase over-the-counter is attested from 1875, originally of stocks and shares.
globe: 1550s, "sphere," from L. globus "round mass, sphere," related to gleba "clod, soil, land." Sense of "planet earth," or a three-dimensional map of it first attested 1550s. Global village first attested 1960, popularized, if not coined, by Canadian educator Marshall McLuhan (1911-80).
"Postliterate man's electronic media contract the world to a village or tribe where everything happens to everyone at the same time: everyone knows about, and therefore participates in, everything that is happening the minute it happens. Television gives this quality of simultaneity to events in the global village." [Carpenter & McLuhan, "Explorations in Communication," 1960]
necromancy: c.1300, "divination by communication with the dead," from O.Fr. nygromancie, from M.L. nigromantia (1212), from L. necromantia "divination from an exhumed corpse," from Gk. nekromanteia, from nekros "dead body" (see necro-) + manteia "divination, oracle," from manteuesthai "to prophesy," from mantis "prophet" (see mania). Spelling infl. in M.L. by niger "black," on notion of "black arts." Modern spelling is c.1550 from attempts to correct M.E. nygromauncy.
Roger: masc. proper name, from O.Fr. Rogier, from O.H.G. Hrotger, lit. "famous with the spear," from hruod- "fame, glory" + ger "spear." As a generic name for "a person," attested from 1631. Slang meaning "penis" was popular c.1650-c.1870; hence the slang verb sense of "to copulate with (a woman)," attested from 1711. The use of the word in radio communication to mean "yes, I understand" is attested from 1941, from the U.S. military phonetic alphabet word for the letter -R-, in this case an abbreviation for "received." Said to have been used by the R.A.F. since 1938. The Jolly Roger pirate flag is first attested 1723, of unknown origin; jolly here has its otherwise obs. M.E. sense "high-hearted, gallant."
Charlie: 1965, Vietnam War U.S. military slang for "Vietcong, Vietcong soldier," probably suggested by Victor Charlie, military communication code for V.C. (as abbreviation of Viet Cong), perhaps strengthened by World War II slang use of Charlie for Japanese soldiers, probably an extension of the 1930s derogatory application of Charlie to any Asian man, from fictional Chinese detective Charlie Chan. Other applications include "a night watchman" (1812); "a goatee beard" (1834, from portraits of King Charles I and his contemporaries); "a fox" (1857); "a woman's breasts" (1874); "an infantryman's pack" (World War I); and "a white man" (Mr. Charlie), 1960, Amer.Eng., from black slang (his wife was Miss Ann).
straight (adj.1): c.1350, "direct, undeviating, not crooked," prop. "that which is stretched," adj. use of O.E. streht (altered, by analogy with streccan, from earlier streaht), pp. of streccan "to stretch" (see stretch). Meaning "true, direct, honest" is from 1530. Of communication, "clear, unambiguous," from 1862. Sense of "undiluted, uncompromising" (e.g. straight whiskey, 1874) is Amer.Eng., first recorded 1856. Theatrical sense of "serious" (as opposed to popular or comic) is attested from 1895; vaudeville slang straight man first attested 1923. Go straight in the underworld slang sense is from 1919; straighten up "become respectable" is from 1907. Straight arrow "decent, conventional person" is 1969, from archetypal Native American brave name. To keep a straight face first recorded 1897; straight shooter is from 1928; straight-edge as a punk subculture is attested by 1987.
line (n.): from O.E. line "rope, row of letters," and from O.Fr. ligne, both from L. linea "linen thread, string, line," from phrase linea restis "linen cord," from fem. of lineus (adj.) "of linen," from linum "linen" (see linen). Oldest sense is "rope, cord, string;" extended 1382 to "a thread-like mark" (from sense "cord used by builders for making things level," 1340), also "track, course, direction." Sense of "things or people arranged in a straight line" is from 1557. That of "cord bearing hooks used in fishing" is from c.1300. Meaning "one's occupation, branch of business" is from 1638, probably from misunderstood KJV translation of 2 Cor. x.16, "And not to boast in another mans line of things made ready to our hand," where line translates Gk. kanon, lit. "measuring rod." Meaning "class of goods in stock" is from 1834. Meaning "telegraph wire" is from 1847 (later "telephone wire"), hence lineman (1858). Meaning "policy or set of policies of a political faction" is 1892, Amer.Eng., from notion of a procession of followers; this is the sense in party line. In British army, the Line (1802) is the regular, numbered troops, as distinguished from guards and auxiliaries. In the Navy (1704, e.g. ship of the line) it refers to the battle line. Lines "words of an actor's part" is from 1882. Lines of communication were originally transverse trenches in seigeworks. The baseball line-up (1889) is older than the police version (1907).