Online Etymology Dictionary

congress: 1520s, from L. congressus "a meeting, hostile encounter," pp. of congredi "meet with, fight with," from com- "together" + gradi "to walk," from gradus "a step" (see grade). Sense of "meeting of delegates" is first recorded 1670s. Meaning "sexual union" is from 1580s. Used in ref. to the national legislative body of the American states since 1775 (though since 1765 in America as a name for proposed bodies). Congress of Vienna met Nov. 1, 1814, to June 8, 1815, and redrew the map of Europe with an eye to creating a balance of powers after the disruptions of Napoleon. Related: Congressional (1690s).
congressman: 1780, in ref. to U.S. Congress, and it first appears in a piece of abuse (written by a Loyalist):
"Ye coxcomb Congressmen, declaimers keen, Brisk puppets of the Philadelphia scene ..."
Monroe Doctrine: 1848, in reference to principles of policy contained in the message of U.S. President James Monroe to Congress on Dec. 2, 1823.
perestroika: 1981, from Rus., lit. "rebuilding, reconstruction, reform" (of Soviet society, etc.), from pere- "re-" + stroika "building, construction." First proposed at the 26th Party Congress (1979); popularized in Eng. 1985 during Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership of the U.S.S.R.
Teflon: 1945, proprietary name registered in U.S. by du Pont, from chemical name (poly)te(tra)fl(uoroethylene) + arbitrary ending -on; popularized as a coating of non-stick pans in 1960s; metaphoric extension, especially in reference to U.S. President Ronald Reagan, is attested from an Aug. 2, 1983, speech on the floor of Congress by Pat Schroeder.
sejm: congress of the Polish republic, 1698, from Pol. sejm "assembly," from *syn-imu, lit. "a taking together."
Capitol: "building where U.S. Congress meets," 1793 (in writings of Thomas Jefferson), from L. Capitolium, temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill in ancient Rome. Used earlier of Virginia state houses (1699). Its use in American public architecture deliberately evokes Roman republican imagery. With reference to the Roman citadel, it is recorded from late 14c. Relationship to capital is likely but not certain.
flag (n.): "cloth ensign," late 15c., now in all modern Germanic languages, but apparently first recorded in English, origin unknown, but likely connected with flag (v.) or else, like it, onomatopoeic. A less likely guess is that it is from the flag in flagstone on notion of being square and flat. U.S. Flag Day (1894) is in reference to the adopting of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.
cent: c.1400, from L. centum "hundred" (see hundred). M.E. meaning was "one hundred," but shifted to "hundredth part" under infl. of percent. Chosen in this sense in 1786 as name for U.S. currency unit by Continental Congress. The name was first suggested by Robert Morris in 1782 under a different currency plan. Before the cent, colonial dollars were reckoned in ninetieths, based on the exchange rate of Pennsylvania money and Spanish coin.
president: late 14c., "appointed governor of a province, chosen leader of a body of persons," from L. præsidentum (nom. præsidens) "president, governor," noun use of prp. of præsidere "to act as head or chief" (see preside). First use for "chief executive officer of a republic" is in U.S. Constitution (1787), from earlier use for "officer in charge of the Continental Congress" (1774); it had been used of chief officers of banks from 1781, of individual colonies since 1608 (originally Virginia) and heads of colleges since mid-15c. Slang shortening prez is recorded from 1892.
continental: 1818 as a purely geographical term, from continent + -al (1). In reference to the European mainland (as opposed to Great Britain), recorded from 1760. Continental breakfast (the kind eaten on the continent as opposed to the kind eaten in Britain) is from 1911. The Continental Congress of the British American colonies is attested from 1775; continental divide is from 1869; continental rise in geology from 1959; continental slope from 1907.
grade (n.): 1511, from Fr. grade "grade, degree," from L. gradus "step, degree," replacing M.E. gree "step, degree in a series," from O.Fr. grei "step," from L. gradus, related to gradi "to walk, step, go," from PIE *ghredh- (cf. Lith. gridiju "to go, wander," O.C.S. gredo "to come," O.Ir. in-greinn "he pursues," and second element in congress, progress, etc.). The verb is 1659, from the noun. Railway sense is from 1835. Meaning "division of a school curriculum equivalent to one year" is from 1835; that of "letter-mark indicating assessment of a student's work" is from 1886.
prohibition: late 14c., from O.Fr. prohibition (early 13c.), from L. prohibitionem (nom. prohibitio) "a hindering, forbidding," from prohibitus, pp. of prohibere "hold back," from pro- "away, forth" + habere "to hold" (see habit). Meaning "forced alcohol abstinence" is 1851, Amer.Eng.; in effect in U.S. as law 1920-1933 under the Volstead Act.
"People whose youth did not coincide with the twenties never had our reverence for strong drink. Older men knew liquor before it became the symbol of a sacred cause. Kids who began drinking after 1933 take it as a matter of course. ... Drinking, we proved to ourselves our freedom as individuals and flouted Congress. We conformed to a popular type of dissent -- dissent from a minority. It was the only period during which a fellow could be smug and slopped concurrently." [A.J. Liebling, "Between Meals," 1959]
idiot: c.1300, "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning," from O.Fr. idiote "uneducated or ignorant person," from L. idiota "ordinary person, layman," in L.L. "uneducated or ignorant person," from Gk. idiotes "layman, person lacking professional skill," lit. "private person," used patronizingly for "ignorant person," from idios "one's own" (see idiom).
"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." [Mark Twain, c.1882]
Idiot box "television set" is from 1959; idiot light "dashboard warning signal" is attested from 1968. Idiocy (1487) is perhaps modeled on prophet/prophecy.
state (n.1): early 13c., "circumstances, temporary attributes of a person or thing, conditions," from L. status "manner of standing, position, condition," noun of action from pp. stem of stare "to stand" from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Some M.E. senses are via O.Fr. estat (Fr. état; see estate). The L. word was adopted into other modern Gmc. languages (e.g. Ger., Du. staat) but chiefly in the political senses only. Meaning "physical condition as regards form or structure" is attested from late 13c. Meaning "mental or emotional condition" is attested from 1530s (phrase state of mind first attested 1749); colloquial sense of "agitated or perturbed state" is from 1837.
"He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." [U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section iii]
dollar: 1553, from Low Ger. daler, from Ger. taler (1540, later thaler), abbrev. of Joachimstaler, lit. "(gulden) of Joachimstal," coin minted 1519 from silver from mine opened 1516 near Joachimstal, town in Erzgebirge Mountains in northwest Bohemia. Ger. Tal is cognate with Eng. dale. Ger. thaler was a large silver coin of varying value in the Ger. states (and a unit of the Ger. monetary union of 1857-73 equal to three marks); it was also a currency unit in Denmark and Sweden. Eng. colonists in America used the word in ref. to Spanish pieces of eight. Continental Congress July 6, 1785, adopted dollar when it set up U.S. currency, on suggestion of Gouverneur Morris and Thomas Jefferson, because the term was widely known but not British. But none were actually used until 1794. The dollar sign ($) is said to derive from the image of the Pillars of Hercules, stamped with a scroll, on the Spanish piece of eight. Phrase dollars to doughnuts attested from 1890; dollar diplomacy is from 1910.