Online Etymology Dictionary

era: 1615, from L.L. æra, era "an era or epoch from which time is reckoned," probably identical with L. æra "counters used for calculation," pl. of æs (gen. æris) "brass, money" (see ore). The L. word's use in chronology said to have begun in 5c. Spain (where, for some reason unknown to historians, the local era began 38 B.C.E.; some say it was because of a tax levied that year). Like epoch, in Eng. it originally meant "the starting point of an age;" meaning "system of chronological notation" is c.1646; that of "historical period" is 1741.
eradicate: mid-16c., from L. eradicat-, pp. stem of eradicare (see eradication). Related: Eradicated; eradicating.
eradication: 1540s, from L. eradicationem, noun of action from eradicare "root out," from ex- "out" radix (gen. radicis) "root" (see radish).
erase: c.1600, from L. erasus, pp. of eradere "scrape out," from ex- "out" + radere "to scrape" (see raze). Of magnetic tape, from 1945.
eraser: "thing that erases writing," 1790, Amer.Eng., agent noun from erase. Originally a knife for scraping off the ink. As a rubber product for removing pencil marks, from 1858.
erasure: 1734, from erase + -ure.
Erato: muse who presided over lyric poetry, from Gk. erastos, verbal adj. of eran "to love." The verb is also the source of male proper names Erasmus (from Gk. erasmios "lovely, pleasant") and Erastus.
accelerate: 1520s, from L. acceleratus, pp. of accelerare "to hasten, to quicken," from ad- "to" + celerare "hasten," from celer "swift" (see celerity).
acceleration: 1530s, from L. accelerationem (nom. acceleratio) "a hastening," from accelerare (see accelerate).
accelerator: 1610s, from L. agent noun use of accelerare (see accelerate). Motor vehicle sense is from 1900.
adulterate (v.): 1590s, from L. adulterat-, pp. stem of adulterare "to falsify, corrupt" (see adulteration). Earlier verb was adulter (late 14c.).
adulteration: c.1500, from L. adulterationem (nom. adulteratio), from adulteratus, pp. of adulterare "corrupt, debauch," from ad- "to" + L.L. alterare "to alter" (see alter).
aerate: 1794, from L. ær (gen. æris) "air," from Gk. aer (see air (1)) + verbal suffix -ate (2).
agglomerate: 1680s, from L. agglomeratus, pp. of agglomerare "to wind or add onto a ball," from ad- "to" + glomerare "wind up in a ball," from glomus (gen. glomeris) "ball of yarn," from PIE root *glem-.
agglomeration: 1774, "action of collecting in a mass," from L. agglomerationem (nom. agglomeratio), noun of action from pp. stem of agglomerare (see agglomerate). Meaning a mass so formed is recorded from 1833.
alliterate (v.): "to use alliteration," by 1816, back-formation from alliteration, on analogy of obliterate. Related: Alliterative (1764).
alliteration: 1650s, "to begin with the same letter," from Mod.L. alliterationem (nom. alliteratio) from alliteratus, pp. of alliterare "to begin with the same letter," from L. ad- "to" + littera (also litera) "letter, script" (see letter). Formed on model of obliteration, etc.
alteration: late 15c., "action of altering," from Fr. altération (14c.), from M.L. alterationem, from alterare (see alter). Meaning "change in character or appearance" is from 1530s; that of "change in ready-made clothes to suit a customer's specifications" is from 1901.
Amerasian: 1966, from American + Asian, coined in ref. to children fathered by U.S. servicemen stationed in Asia.
amperage: strength of an electric current, 1894, from ampere on model of voltage.
aromatherapy: by 1992, from Fr. aromathérapie, attested from 1930s (see aroma, therapy).
asherah: 1863, wooden pillar used as symbol of Canaanite goddess Ashera, of unknown origin.
asperate (v.): 1650s, "make rough," from pp. adj. asperate (1620s), from L. asperatus, pp. of asperare "to roughen, make rough, exasperate," from asper "rough" (see asperity).
asperation: 1721, noun of action from asperate (q.v.).
asseverate: 1791, from L. asseveratus, pp. of asseverare "to assert seriously," from ad- "to" + severus "serious, severe" (see severe).
asseveration: 1550s, from L. asseverationem (nom. asseveratio) "vehement assertion," from asseveratus, pp. of asseverare "to swear solemnly, act with earnestness, assert strongly," from ad- "to" + severus "strict, severe" (see severe).
average (n.): late 15c., "financial loss incurred through damage to goods in transit," from O.Fr. avarie "damage to ship," from It. avaria, a word from 12c. Mediterranean maritime trade. Sometimes traced to Arabic 'arwariya "damaged merchandise," but this might as easily be a borrowing of the word from the Franks. OED suggests It. avere, O.Fr. aveir "property, goods," from L. habere "to have." Meaning shifted to "equal sharing of such loss by the interested parties." Transferred sense of "statement of a medial estimate" is first recorded 1735. The adjective is first recorded 1770; the verb is from 1769. The mathematical extension is from 1755.
berate: 1540s, from be- "thoroughly" + M.E. rate "to scold," from O.Fr. reter "accuse, blame," from L. reputare (see reputation). "Obsolete except in U.S." [OED 1st ed.], but it seems to have revived in Britain 20c.
beverage: mid-13c., from Anglo-Fr. beverage, from O.Fr. boivre "to drink" (Mod.Fr. boire; from L. bibere "to imbibe;" see imbibe) + -age, suffix forming mass or abstract nouns.
bicameral: "having two chambers," 1832, from bi- "two" + L.L. camera "chamber" (see camera) + -al (1).
bilateral: "having two sides," 1775, from bi- + lateral (q.v.).
boomerang: 1827, adapted from an extinct Aboriginal languages of New South Wales, Australia. Another variant, perhaps, was wo-mur-rang (1798). The verb is from 1880.
brokerage: mid-15c., "a broker's trade," from broker. Also, in 17c., "a pimp's trade."
caldera: 1865, "cavity on the summit of a volcano," from Sp. caldera "cauldron, kettle," from L. caldarium, caldarius "pertaining to warming," from calidus "warm, hot" (see calorie).
camera: 1708, "vaulted building," from L. camera "vaulted room" (cf. It. camera, Sp. camara, Fr. chambre), from Gk. kamara "vaulted chamber," from PIE base *kam- "to arch." The word also was used early 18c. as a short form of Mod.L. camera obscura "dark chamber" (a black box with a lens that could project images of external objects), contrasted with camera lucida (Latin for "light chamber"), which uses prisms to produce an image on paper beneath the instrument, which can be traced. It became the word for "picture-taking device" when modern photography began, c.1840 (extended to television filming devices 1928). Camera-shy is from 1922. O.C.S. komora, Lith. kamara, O.Ir. camra all are borrowings from Latin.
camera obscura: 1725, "a darkened room;" c.1730, "a device for project pictures;" see camera.
caravanserai: 1599, "Eastern inn (with a large central court) catering to caravans," from Pers. karwan-sarai, from karwan (see caravan) + sara "palace, mansion, inn."
carceral: "pertaining to prisons or a prison," 1570s, from L. carceralis, from carcer "prison," of unknown origin.
ceramic: 1850, from Gk. keramikos, from keramos "potter's clay, pottery."
chelicerae: pl. of Mod.L. chelicera, from Gk. khele "claw" (see chelate). Earlier chelicer (1835), from Fr. chélicère.
chemotherapy: 1907, from Ger. Chemotherapie, coined by Ger. biochemist Paul Ehrlich, from chemo- + therapie (see therapy).
chimera: late 14c., from L. Chimaera, from Gk. chimaira, a fabulous monster (with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail), supposedly personification of snow or winter, orig. "year-old she-goat," from cheima "winter season." Meaning "wild fantasy" first recorded 1587.
"Beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun." [Wyclif, "Prologue"]
Related: Chimeric (1650s); chimerical (1630s).
cholera: late 14c., "choler, bile, melancholy," from L. cholera, from Gk. kholera "a type of disease characterized by diarrhea, supposedly caused by choler" (Celsus), from khole "gall, bile," from khloazein "to be green," from khloros (see Chloe). But another sense of khole was "drainpipe, gutter." Revived 1565 as a name for a severe digestive disorder (rarely fatal to adults); and 1704 (especially as cholera morbus), for a highly lethal disease endemic in India, periodically breaking out in global epidemics.
co-operate: variant of cooperate.
co-operative: variant of cooperative.
coleoptera: 1763, from Mod.L., from Gk. koleopteros, lit. "sheath-wing," used by Aristotle to describe beetles, from koleos "sheath" + pteron "wing" (see petition).
collateral: late 14c., "accompanying," also "descended from the same stock," from O.Fr. collateral, from M.L. collateralis "accompanying," lit. "side by side," from L. com- "together" + lateralis "of the side," from latus "a side" (see oblate (n.)). Lit. sense of "parallel, along the side of" attested in Eng. from c.1450.
collateral damage: by 1873 in legal cases; in modern use, generally a euphemism for "the coincidental killing of civilians," U.S. coinage, c.1968, at first generally with ref. to nuclear weapons.
commiserate: c.1600, from L. commiseratus, pp. of commiserari (see commiseration). Related: Commiserating (1630s).
commiseration: 1580s, from L. commiserationem "act or fact of pitying," from commiserari "to pity," from com- intens. prefix + miserari "bewail, lament," from miser "wretched."