Online Etymology Dictionary

doctor: c.1300, "Church father," from O.Fr. doctour, from M.L. doctor "religious teacher, adviser, scholar," from L. doctor "teacher," from doct- stem of docere "to show, teach," originally "make to appear right," causative of decere "be seemly, fitting" (see decent). Meaning of "holder of highest degree in university" is first found late 14c.; as is that of "medical professional," though this was not common till late 16c. Verb sense of "alter, disguise, falsify" is first recorded 1774. Related: Doctored; doctoring.
doctorate: "degree of a doctor," 1670s, from doctor + -ate (1).
Doctor Martens: type of heavy walking boots, 1977 (use claimed from 1965), trademark name taken out by Herbert Funck and Klaus Martens.
M.D.: 1755, abbreviation of L. Medicinæ Doctor "doctor of medicine."
D.D.: 1630, abbreviation of L. Divinitatis Doctor "Doctor of Divinity."
L.L.: contraction of L. legum "of laws, in degrees;" e.g. L.L.D., which stands for Legum Doctor "Doctor of Laws." Plural abbreviations in L. formed by doubling the letter.
intern (n.): 1879, Amer.Eng. "one working under supervision as part of professional training," esp. "doctor in training in a hospital," from Fr. interne "assistant doctor," lit. "resident within a school," from M.Fr. interne "internal" (see intern (v.)). The verb in this sense is attested from 1933; internship is from 1904.
doctrine: late 14c., from O.Fr. doctrine (12c.), from L. doctrina "teaching, body of teachings, learning," from doctor "teacher" (see doctor).
veterinarian: animal doctor, 1646, from L. veterinarius "of or having to do with beasts of burden," also "cattle doctor," from veterinum "beast of burden," perhaps from vetus (gen. veteris) "old" (see veteran), possibly from the notion of "experienced," or of "one year old" (hence strong enough to draw burdens). Another theory connects it to L. vehere "to draw," on notion of "used as a draft animal." Replaced native dog-leech (1529).
doc: familiar form of doctor, first recorded c.1850.
docent: 1639, from L. docentem, from docere "to teach" (see doctor).
empiric: c.1600, from L. empiricus, from Gk. empeirikos, from empeiria "experience" (see empirical). From 16c.-19c. often as a noun with sense "quack doctor."
alienist: "one who treats mental illness, 'mad doctor,' " 1864, from Fr. aliéniste, from alienation in the sense of "insanity, loss of mental faculty," a sense attested in Eng. from late 15c. (see alienate).
oculist: 1610s, "eye doctor," from Fr. oculiste (16c.), from L. oculus "eye" (see eye).
docile: late 15c., from It. or Fr. docile, from L. docilis "easily taught," from docere "teach" (see doctor). Sense of "obedient, submissive" first recorded 1774.
psychiatry: 1846, from Fr. psychiatrie, from M.L. psychiatria, lit. "a healing of the soul," from Gk. psykhe- "mind" (see psyche) + iatreia "healing, care." Psychiatrist first recorded 1890; the older name was mad-doctor (1703).
"A psychiatrist is a man who goes to the Folies Bergère and looks at the audience." [Anglican Bishop Mervyn Stockwood, 1961]
Goldilocks: name for a person with bright yellow hair, 1550, from adj. form of gold + lock in the hair sense. The story of the Three Bears first was printed in Robert Southey's miscellany "The Doctor" (1837), but the central figure there was a bad-tempered old woman. Southey did not claim to have invented the story, and older versions have been traced, either involving an old woman or a "silver-haired" girl (though in at least one version it is a fox who enters the house). The naming of the girl as Goldilocks is only attested from c.1904.
syphilis: 1718, Mod.L., originally from the title of a poem, "Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus" "Syphilis, or the French Disease," 1530, by Veronese doctor Girolamo Fracastoro (1483-1553), which tells the tale of the shepherd Syphilus, supposed to be the first sufferer from the disease. Fracastoro first used the word as a generic term for the disease in 1546 treatise "De Contagione." Why he chose the name is unknown; it may be intended as L. for "Pig-lover," though there was also a Sipylus, a son of Niobe, in Ovid.
mountebank: "a doctor that mounts a bench in the market, and boasts his infallible remedies and cures" [Johnson], 1577, from It. montambanco, contraction of monta in banco "quack, juggler," lit. "mount on bench" (to be seen by crowd), from monta, imperative of montare "to mount" + banco, var. of banca "bench."
prescription: c.1380, "the right to something through long use," from O.Fr. prescription (13c.), from L. præscriptionem (nom. præscriptio) "a writing before, order, direction," from præscriptus, pp. of præscribere "write before," from præ- "before" + scribere "to write" (see script). Medical sense of "written directions from a doctor" first recorded 1579. Prescribe "to write down as a direction" is from 1535.
document: mid-15c., "teaching, instruction," from M.Fr. document "lesson, written evidence," from L. documentum "example, proof, lesson," in M.L. "official written instrument," from docere "to show, teach" (see doctor). Meaning "something written that provides proof or evidence" is from 1727; the verb meaning "to support by documentary evidence" is from 1711. Related: Documented; documents.
nymphomania: 1775, in Eng. translation of "Nymphomania, or a Dissertation Concerning the Furor Uterinus," by Fr. doctor M.D.T. Bienville, coined from Gk. nymphe "bride" + mania "madness," perhaps influenced by earlier Fr. nymphomanie. Defined as "a female disease characterized by morbid and uncontrollable sexual desire." Also coined in 1775 (by Richard Chandler, in "Travels in Greece") was nympholepsy, on model of epilepsy, with second element from stem of Gk. lambanein "to take;" defined as "a state of rapture supposed to be inspired in men by nymphs; esp. an ecstasy or frenzy caused by desire for the unattainable." Nympho "nymphomaniac" is from 1935.
do-gooder: "a person who seeks to correct social ills in an idealistic, but usually impractical or superficial, way," 1654 (as do-good), in "Zootomia, or Observations on the Present Manners of the English: Briefly Anatomizing the Living by the Dead. With An Usefull Detection of the Mountebanks of Both Sexes," written by Richard Whitlock, a medical doctor. Probably used even then with a taint of impractical idealism. Modern pejorative use seems to have begun on the socialist left, mocking those who were unwilling to take a hard line. OED has this citation, from "The Nation" in 1923:
"There is nothing the matter with the United States except ... the parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods."
The form do-gooder appears in Amer.Eng. from 1927, presumably because do-good was no longer felt as sufficiently noun-like. A slightly older word for this was goo-goo.
first: O.E. fyrst "foremost," superlative of fore; from P.Gmc. *furisto (cf. O.H.G. furist, O.N. fyrstr, Dan. første, O.Fris. fersta, M.Du. vorste "first," Ger. Fürst "prince"), superlative of *fur-/*for-, from PIE *pro- (cf. Skt. pura "before, formerly;" see pro-). First-class (1858) "is from the universities via the railways" [Weekley]; first-rate (1660s) is from classes of warships in the British navy. First aid is that given at the scene, pending the arrival of a doctor; firsthand (also first-hand, first hand) is attested from 1690s. First Lady as an informal title for the wife of a U.S. president was in use by 1908, short for First lady of the land.
rabbi: "Jewish doctor of religious law," 1484, (in O.E. in biblical context only; in M.E. also as a title prefixed to personal names), from L.L. rabbi, from Gk. rhabbi, from Mishnaic Heb. rabbi "my master," from rabh "master, great one," title of respect for Jewish doctors of law + -i, first person sing. pronominal suffix. From Sem. root r-b-b "to be great or numerous" (cf. robh "multitude;" Arabic rabba "was great," rabb "master"). The -n- in rabbinical (1622) is via Fr. form rabbin, from M.L. rabbinus (cf. It. rabbino, Sp., Port. rabino), perhaps from a presumed plural of the Heb. word.
cook (n.): O.E. coc, from V.L. cocus "cook," from L. coquus, from coquere "to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest, turn over in the mind" from PIE base *pekw- "to cook" (cf. Oscan popina "kitchen," Skt. pakvah "cooked," Gk. peptein, Lith. kepti "to bake, roast," O.C.S. pecenu "roasted"). The noun was first; Gmc. languages had no one native term for all types of cooking. The verb is first attested late 14c.; the figurative sense of "to manipulate, falsify, doctor" is from 1630s. To cook with gas is 1930s jive talk.
"There is the proverb, the more cooks the worse potage." [Gascoigne, 1575]
Related: Cooker (a type of stove, 1884); cookery (1390s); cooking (1640s).
bloviate (v.): 1857, Amer.Eng., a Midwestern word for "to talk aimlessly and boastingly; to indulge in 'high falutin'," according to Farmer (1890), who seems to have been the only British lexicographer to notice it. He says it was based on blow (v.) on the model of deviate, etc. It seems to have been felt as outdated slang already by late 19c. ("It was a leasure for him to hear the Doctor talk, or, as it was inelegantly expressed in the phrase of the period, 'bloviate....' " ["Overland Monthly," San Francisco, 1872, describing a scene from 1860]), but it enjoyed a revival early 1920s during the presidency of Warren G. Harding, who wrote a notoriously ornate and incomprehensible prose (e.e. cummings eulogized him as "The only man, woman or child who wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors") at which time the word took on its connection with political speech; it faded again thereafter, but, with its derivative, bloviation, it enjoyed a revival in the 2000 U.S. election season that continued through the era of blogging.
medicine: early 13c., from L. medicina, originally ars medicina "the medical art," from fem. of medicinus (adj.) "of a doctor," from medicus "a physician" (see medical). To take (one's) medicine "submit to something disagreeable" is first recorded 1865. N.Amer. Indian medicine-man "shaman" is first attested 1801, from Amer. Indian adoption of the word in sense of "magical influence." The U.S.-Canadian boundary they called Medicine Line (first attested 1910), because it conferred a kind of magic protection: punishment for crimes committed on one side of it could be avoided by crossing over to the other. Medicine show "traveling show meant to attract a crowd so patent medicine can be sold to them" is Amer.Eng., 1938. Medicine ball "stuffed leather ball used for exercise" is from 1895.
root (n.): "underground part of a plant," late O.E. rot, from O.N. rot "root," from P.Gmc. *wrot, *vrot (with characteristic loss of -w- before -r-), from PIE *wrd-. The O.E. cognate was wyrt "root, herb, plant" (see wort); also cognate with L. radix. The usual O.E. words for "root" were wyrttruma and wyrtwala. Figurative use is from c.1200. Of teeth, hair, etc., from early 13c. Mathematical sense is from 1550s. Slang meaning "penis" is recorded from 1846. The verb meaning "fixed or firmly attached by roots" (often figurative) is attested from late 14c.; sense of "to pull up by the root" (now usually uproot) also is from late 14c. Root beer first recorded 1843, Amer.Eng.; root doctor is from 1821.
spin: O.E. spinnan "draw out and twist fibers into thread," from P.Gmc. *spenwanan (cf. O.N., O.Fris. spinna, Dan. spinde, Du. spinnen, O.H.G. spinnan, Ger. spinnen, Goth. spinnan), from PIE *(s)pen- "stretch" (cf. Armenian henum "I weave," Gk. patos "garment, lit. "that which is spun," Lith. pinu "I plait, braid," spandau "I spin," M.Welsh cy-ffiniden "spider;" see span (v.)). Sense of "to cause to turn rapidly" is from 1612; meaning "revolve, turn around rapidly" first recorded 1667. The noun meaning "fairly rapid ride" is from 1856. Meaning "attempt to influence reporters' minds after an event has taken place but before they have written about it" seems to have risen to popularity in the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign; e.g. spin doctor, first attested 1984. Spinning wheel is attested from 1404; spinning-jenny is from 1783 (see jenny); invented by James Hargreaves c.1764-7, patented 1770. Slang spin off (v.) is from 1957, from the noun phrase, which is first attested 1951, in a corporate sense.
witch: O.E. wicce "female magician, sorceress," in later use esp. "a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts," fem. of O.E. wicca "sorcerer, wizard, man who practices witchcraft or magic," from verb wiccian "to practice witchcraft" (cf. Low Ger. wikken, wicken "to use witchcraft," wikker, wicker "soothsayer"). OED says of uncertain origin. Klein suggests connection with O.E. wigle "divination," and wig, wih "idol." Watkins says the nouns represent a P.Gmc. *wikkjaz "necromancer" (one who wakes the dead), from PIE *weg-yo-, from *weg- "to be strong, be lively." That wicce once had a more specific sense than the later general one of "female magician, sorceress" perhaps is suggested by the presence of other words in O.E. describing more specific kinds of magical craft. In the Laws of Ælfred (c.890), witchcraft was specifically singled out as a woman's craft, whose practitioners were not to be suffered to live among the W. Saxons:
"Ða fæmnan þe gewuniað onfon gealdorcræftigan & scinlæcan & wiccan, ne læt þu ða libban."
The other two words combined with it here are gealdricge, a woman who practices "incantations," and scinlæce "female wizard, woman magician," from a root meaning "phantom, evil spirit." Another word that appears in the Anglo-Saxon laws is lyblæca "wizard, sorcerer," but with suggestions of skill in the use of drugs, since the root of the word is lybb "drug, poison, charm." Lybbestre was a fem. word meaning "sorceress," and lybcorn was the name of a certain medicinal seed (perhaps wild saffron). Weekly notes possible connection to Gothic weihs "holy" and Ger. weihan "consecrate," and writes, "the priests of a suppressed religion naturally become magicians to its successors or opponents." In Anglo-Saxon glossaries, wicca renders L. augur (c.1100), and wicce stands for "pythoness, divinatricem." In the "Three Kings of Cologne" (c.1400) wicca translates Magi:
"Þe paynyms ... cleped þe iij kyngis Magos, þat is to seye wicchis."
The glossary translates L. necromantia ("demonum invocatio") with galdre, wiccecræft. The Anglo-Saxon poem called "Men's Crafts" has wiccræft, which appears to be the same word, and by its context means "skill with horses." In a c.1250 translation of "Exodus," witches is used of the Egyptian midwives who save the newborn sons of the Hebrews: "Ðe wicches hidden hem for-ðan, Biforen pharaun nolden he ben." Witch in ref. to a man survived in dialect into 20c., but the fem. form was so dominant by 1601 that men-witches or he-witch began to be used. Extended sense of "young woman or girl of bewitching aspect or manners" is first recorded 1740. Witch doctor is from 1718; applied to African magicians from 1836.
"At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch,' or 'she is a wise woman.' " [Reginald Scot, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft," 1584]