Online Etymology Dictionary

double-cross: 1834, from double + cross in the sense of "pre-arranged swindle or fix." Originally to win a race after promising to lose it.
Red Cross: c.1430, "national emblem of England" (St. George's Cross); in 17c., a red cross was the mark placed on the doors of London houses inflected with the plague. Red cross (in Muslim lands, red crescent) adopted as a symbol of ambulance service 1864 by the Geneva Conference.
double: early 13c., from O.Fr. duble, from L. duplus "twofold," from duo "two" + -plus "fold." Verb meaning "to work as, in addition to one's regular job" is c.1920, circus slang, from performers who also played in the band. Double-header is first recorded 1869, Amer.Eng., originally a kind of fireworks or a railway train pulled by two engines; baseball sense is c.1890. Double Dutch "gibberish" is attested from 1864 (High Dutch for "incomprehensible language" is recorded from 1789). Double agent is first attested 1935; double date is from 1931. Double-take and double talk both first attested 1938. Military double time (1833) was originally 130 steps per minute; in modern U.S. Army 180 steps of 36 inches in a minute. To double park a motor vehicle is recorded from 1931.
cross-examination: also cross examination; 1827, "an examination of a witness by the other side, to 'check' the effects of previous questioning," from cross (adj.) + examination. Related: Cross-examine (1660s).
cross (adj.): "ill-tempered," 1630s, probably from 16c. sense of "contrary, athwart," especially with reference to winds and sailing ships, from cross (n.).
saltire: c.1400, an ordinary on a shield or flag like a St. Andrew's Cross, from M.Fr. saultoir, lit. "stirrup," from M.L. saltatorium, prop. neut. of L. saltatorius "pertaining to leaping," from salire "to leap" (see salient). The connection between a stirrup and the diagonal cross is perhaps the two deltoid shapes that comprise the cross.
crozier: late 13c., from O.Fr. crocier, from M.L. crociarius "bearer of a cross," from crocia "cross;" also from O.Fr. croisier "one who bears or has to do with a cross." The two words merged in M.E. Technically, "the bearer of a bishop's pastoral staff;" erroneously applied to the staff itself since 1733.
crucial: 1706, from Fr. crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from L. crux (gen. crucis) "cross." The meaning "decisive, critical" is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.
diploma: 1640s, from L. diploma, from Gk. diploma "license, chart," originally "paper folded double," from diploun "to double, fold over," from diplos "double" + -oma. Specific academic sense is 1680s in English.
cross-section: also cross section, 1835, from cross (adj.) + section. Fig. sense of "representative sample" is from 1903.
cross-country: also cross country; 1767, of roads, from cross (adj.) + country. Of flights, from 1909.
double entendre: also double-entendre, 1670s, from Fr. (where it was rare and is now obsolete), lit. "a twofold meaning," from entendre (now entente) "to hear, to understand, to mean." The proper Modern French phrase would be double entente, but the phrase has become established in English in its old form.
Union Jack: 1674, from union + jack (n.); properly a small British union flag flown as the jack of a ship, but it has long been in use as a general name for the union flag. The Union flag (1634) was introduced to symbolize the union of the crowns of England and Scotland (in 1603) and was formed of a combination of the cross saltire of St. Andrew and the cross of St. George. The cross saltire of St. Patrick was added 1801 upon the union of parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland.
twin (adj.): O.E. twinn "consisting of two, twofold, double," probably ultimately from P.Gmc. *twinjaz (cf. O.N. tvinnr, O.Dan. tvinling, Du. tweeling, Ger. zwillung), from PIE *dwisno- (cf. L. bini "two each," Lith. dvynu "twins"), from *dwi- "double," from base *dwo- "two" (see two). The verb meaning "to combine two things closely" is recorded from c.1394. The noun developed from O.E. getwinn "double."
crux: 1814, "cross," from L. crux "cross." Figurative use for "a central difficulty," is older, from 1718; perhaps from L. crux interpretum "a point in a text that is impossible to interpret," in which the literal sense is something like "crossroads of interpreters."
cruciferous: 1650s, from L.L. crucifer "cross-bearing," from L. crux (gen. crucis) "stake, cross." Originally in literal senses; botanical use (in ref. to a symmetrical arrangement of four petals) is from 1851.
cross-dressing: also crossdressing, cross dressing, 1911, from cross (adj.) + dressing; a translation of Ger. Transvestismus.
motocross: also moto-cross, by 1956, from motorcycle + cross-country.
cruise: 1650s, from Du. kruisen "to cross, sail to and fro," from kruis "cross," from L. crux.
cross (n.): O.E. cros, from O.Ir. cros, probably via Scandinavian, from L. crux (gen. crucis) "stake, cross," originally a tall, round pole; possibly of Phoenician origin. Replaced O.E. rood.
crossword puzzle: January 1914, from cross (adj.) + word + puzzle. The first one ran in the "New York World" newspaper Dec. 21, 1913, but was called word-cross.
crucify: c.1300, from O.Fr. crucifer, from V.L. *crucificare, from L.L. crucifigere "to fasten to a cross," from cruci, dat. of L. crux "cross" + figere "fasten" (see fix). An ancient mode of capital punishment considered especially ignominious by the Romans.
crusade: 1706, respelling of croisade (1577), from M.Fr. croisade, Sp. cruzada, both from M.L. cruciata, pp. of cruciare "to mark with a cross," from L. crux (gen. crucis) "cross." Figurative sense of "campaign against a public evil" is from 1786.
traverse (v.): early 14c., "pass across, over, or through," from O.Fr. traverser "to cross, thwart" (11c.), from V.L. *traversare, from L. transversare "to cross, throw across," from L. transversus "turn across" (see transverse). The noun meaning "act of passing through a gate, crossing a bridge, etc." is recorded from 1347; meaning "a passage by which one may traverse" is recorded from 1670s. Military foritifcation sense of "barrier, barricade" is recorded from 1590s.
doubloon: 1622, from Sp. doblon a gold coin, augmentive of doble "double" (coin so called because it was worth twice as much as the Sp. gold pistole), from L. duplus "double."
cross-eye: also crosseye, 1826, from cross (adj.) + eye.
twill: "cloth woven in parallel diagonal lines," 1329, Scottish and northern English variant of M.E. twile, from O.E. twili "woven with double thread, twilled," formed on model of L. bilix "with a double thread" (with O.E. twi- substituted for cognate L. bi-), from L. licium "thread," of uncertain origin.
cross-fire: also crossfire, 1860, from cross (adj.) + fire.
invention: mid-14c., from L. inventionem (nom. inventio) "a finding, discovery," from inventus, pp. of invenire "devise, discover, find," from in- "in, on" + venire "to come" (see venue). Meaning of "thing invented" is first recorded 1510s. Invent is from late 15c. Etymological sense preserved in Invention of the Cross, Church festival (May 3) celebrating the reputed finding of the Cross of the Crucifixion by Helena, mother of Constantine, in 326 C.E.
crossreference: also cross-reference, cross reference, 1834 (n.), from cross (adj.) + reference.
rood: O.E. rod "pole," varying from 6 to 8 yards, also "cross," especially that upon which Christ suffered, also "measure of land," prop. 40 square poles or perches, from P.Gmc. *rodo (cf. O.S. ruoda "stake, pile, cross," O.Fris. rode, M.Du. roede, O.H.G. ruota, Ger. Rute "rod"), probably connected with the root of rod. Klein suggests a connection between this group and L. ratis "raft," retae "trees standing on the bank of a stream;" O.C.S. ratiste "spear, staff," Lith. rekles "scaffolding."
cross pollination: 1882, from cross (adj.) + pollination.
cross-stitch: 1710, from cross (adj.) + stitch (v.).
labyrinth: late 14c., from L. labyrinthus, from Gk. labyrinthos "maze, large building with intricate passages," especially the structure built to hold the Minotaur, from a pre-Gk. language; perhaps related to Lydian labrys "double-edged axe," symbol of royal power, which fits with the theory that the labyrinth was originally the royal Minoan palace on Crete and meant "palace of the double-axe." Used in English for "maze" early 15c., and in figurative sense of "confusing state of affairs" (1540s). Related: Labyrinthine.
cancel: late 14c., "cross out with lines," from Anglo-Fr. canceler, from L. cancellare "to make resemble a lattice," which in L.L. took on a sense "cross out something written" by marking it with crossed lines, from cancelli, pl. of cancellus "lattice, grating," dim. of cancer "crossed bars, lattice," a var. of carcer "prison." Figurative use, "to nullify an obligation" is from mid-15c. Related: Canceled (also cancelled); cancelling.
gallows: early 13c., pl. of M.E. galwe "gallows," from O.N. galgi, or from O.E. galga (Mercian), gealga (W. Saxon); all from P.Gmc. *galg- "pole" (cf. O.Fris. galga, M.H.G. galge "gallows, cross"), perhaps cognate with Lith. zalga "pole, perch," Armenian dzalk "pole." Originally also used of the cross of the crucifixion. Plural because made of two poles.
swastika: Greek cross with arms bent at right angles, 1871 (later specifically as emblem of the Nazi party, 1932), from Skt. svastika-s, lit. "being fortunate," from svasti-s "well-being, luck," from su- "well" + as-, root of asti "(he) is," from root of L. esse "to be" (see essence). Also known as gammadion and fylfot. Originally an ancient cosmic or religious symbol thought to bring good luck. Use in reference to the Nazi emblem first recorded in Eng. in 1932. The Ger. word was Hakenkreuz, lit. "hook-cross."
Maltese: from Malta (q.v.) + -ese. Maltese cat is attested from 1857; Maltese cross is from 1877 (earlier Malta cross, 1650s).
twi-: prefix meaning "two," O.E. twi-, prefix meaning "two, in two ways, twice, double," from P.Gmc. *twi- (cf. O.Fris. twi-, O.N. tvi-, Du. twee-, O.H.G. zwi-, Ger. zwei-), from PIE *dwis (cf. Skt. dvi-, Gk. di-, Old L. dvi-, L. bi-, Lith. dvi-), from *dwo "two" (see two). Cognate with bi-. Older instances of it include M.E. twinter "two years old" (1404, of cattle, sheep, etc.), reduced from O.E. twi-wintre, and O.E. twispræc "double or deceitful speech."
thwart (adv.): c.1200, from O.N. þvert "across," originally neut. of thverr (adj.) "transverse, across," cognate with O.E. þweorh "transverse, perverse, angry, cross," from P.Gmc. *thwerkhaz (cf. M.Du. dwers, Du. dwars "cross-grained, contrary," O.H.G. twerh, Ger. quer, Goth. þwairhs "angry"), altered (by influence of *thwer- "to turn") from *therkh-, from PIE *twork-/*twerk- "twist" (cf. L. torquere "to twist," Skt. tarkuh "spindle," O.C.S. traku "band, girdle," O.H.G. drahsil "turner," Ger. drechseln "to turn on a lathe"). The verb meaning "oppose, hinder" is mid-13c., from the adv. and prep.
DINK: acronym for double income, no kids, popular from 1987.
crisscross: 1818, from M.E. crist(s)-crosse "Christ's cross." Used today without awareness of origin.
doppelganger: 1830, from Ger., lit. "double-goer," originally with a ghostly sense. Sometimes half-Anglicized as doubleganger.
Iron Cross: from Ger. das eiserne kreuz, instituted by Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia, originally for distinguished military service in the wars against Napoleon.
whammy: often double whammy, "hex, evil eye," 1932, of unknown origin, popularized 1941 in Al Capp's comic strip "Li'l Abner."
frump: "cross, unstylish person" 1817, perhaps from frumple (v.) "to wrinkle" (late 14c.). Cf. also frumpy.
Veronica: fem. proper name, a variant of Gk. Berenike (see Berenice). The popular "Saint Veronica" (not in the Roman Martyrology) traditionally was a pious woman who wiped the face of Christ when he fell carrying the cross to Calvary. The image of his face remained on the cloth, and the "veil of Veronica" has been preserved in Rome from the 8c. Her popularity rose with the propagation of the Stations of the Cross. Some also identified her with the woman with the issue of blood, cured by Christ, as in the East this woman was identified from an early date by the name Berenike.
"In sum, it seems likely that the story of Veronica is a delightful legend without any solid historical basis; that Veronica is a purely fictitious, not a historical character, and that the story was invented to explain the relic. It aroused great interest in the later Middle Ages in the general devotional context of increased concern with the humanity of Christ, especially the Holy Face, and the physical elements of his Passion." [David Hugh Farmer, "The Oxford Dictionary of Saints," 1978]
Hence vernicle (mid-14c.) "picture of the face of Christ," from O.Fr. veronicle, var. of veronique.
deadline: "time limit," 1920, Amer.Eng. newspaper jargon. Perhaps influenced by earlier use (1864) to mean the "do-not-cross" line in Civil War prisons:
"Seventeen feet from the inner stockade was the 'dead-line,' over which no man could pass and live." [Lossing, 1868]
Phillips: proper name of a cross-slot screw and corresponding screwdriver, 1935, named for its inventor, U.S. businessman Henry F. Phillips (1890-1958) of Portland, Ore. It was designed for car makers, hence the handyman's complaint that they are difficult to un-screw. Phillips lost the patent in 1949.
B movie: 1930s, usually said to be so called from being the second, or supporting, film in a double feature. But some film industry sources say it was so-called for being the second of the two films major studios generally made in a year, and the one made with less headline talent and released with less promotion.