Online Etymology Dictionary

occasionally: 1620s, from occasional. Originally "happening on some particular occasion" as well as "happening as occasion presents itself, without regularity."
synchronous: 1669, "existing or happening at the same time," from L.L. synchronus "simultaneous," from Gk. synchronos "happening at the same time," from syn- "together" + khronos "time." Meaning "recurring at the same successive instants of time" is attested from 1677.
daily: O.E. dæglic (see day). This form is known from compounds, twadæglic "happening once in two days," þreodæglic "happening once in three days;" the more usual O.E. word was dæghwamlic.
happen: c.1300, happenen "to come to pass, occur," originally "occur by hap" (see hap); replaced O.E. gelimpan, gesceon, and M.E. befall. First record of happenstance is 1897, formed from happening + circumstance. Happening in the sense of "spontaneous event or display" is from 1959.
one-shot: 1907, "achieved in a single attempt" (original ref. is to golf). Meaning "happening or of use only once" is from 1937.
occasional: 1560s, "casual," from occasion. Meaning "happening on or pertaining to a particular occasion" is from 1630s; that of "once in a while" is from 1620s.
contingent: late 14c., from L. contingentem (nom. contingens) "happening, touching," prp. of contingere "to touch" (see contact).
synchronize: c.1624, "to occur at the same time," from Gk. synchronizein "be of the same time," from synchronos "happening at the same time" (see synchronous). The sense of "make synchronous" is first recorded 1806. Synchronized swimming is recorded from 1950.
sporadic: 1650s (implied in sporadical), from M.L. sporadicus "scattered," from Gk. sporadikos "scattered," from sporas (gen. sporados) "scattered," from spora "a sowing" (see spore). Originally a medical term, "occurring in scattered instances;" the meaning "happening at intervals" is first recorded 1847. Related: Sporadically.
symptom: 1540s, earlier sinthoma (late 14c.), from M.L. sinthoma "symptom of a disease," from L.L. symptoma, from Gk. symptoma (gen. symptomatos) "a happening, accident, disease," from stem of sympiptein "to befall," from syn- "together" + piptein "to fall," from PIE base *pet- "to rush, to fly" (see petition). Spelling altered in Eng. by influence of M.Fr. and L.L. forms. Symptomatic in general sense of "indicative (of)" is from 1751.
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]
what: O.E. hwæt, from P.Gmc. *khwat (cf. O.S. hwat, O.N. hvat, Dan. hvad, O.Fris. hwet, Du. wat, O.H.G. hwaz, Ger. was, Goth. hva "what"), from PIE *qwod, neut. sing. of *qwos "who" (see who). Meaning "what did you say?" is recorded from c.1300; as an interrogative expletive at the end of sentences it is first recorded 1785, common early 20c. in affected British speech. Or what as an alternative end to a question is first attested 1766. "To give one what for is to respond to his remonstrant what for? by further assault" [Weekley]. The phrase is attested from 1873. What's-his-name for "unspecified person" is attested from 1697; variant whatsisface is first recorded 1967. What's up? "what is happening?" first recorded 1881.
television: 1907, "the action of seeing by means of Hertzian waves or otherwise, what is existing or happening at a place concealed or distant from the observer's eyes" [OED]; in theoretical discussions about sending images by radio transmission, formed in English or borrowed from Fr. télévision, from tele- + vision. Other proposals for the name of this then-hypothetical technology were telephote (1880) and televista (1904). The technology was developed in the 1920s and '30s. Nativized in Ger. as Fernsehen.
"Television is the first truly democratic culture -- the first culture available to everyone and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want." [Clive Barnes, "New York Times," Dec. 30, 1969]
Meaning "a television set" is from 1955. Shortened form TV is from 1948.
story (1): "account of some happening," early 13c., "narrative of important events or celebrated persons of the past," from O.Fr. estorie, from L.L. storia and L. historia "history, account, tale, story" (see history). Meaning "recital of true events" first recorded late 14c.; sense of "narrative of fictitious events meant to entertain" is from c.1500. Not differentiated from history till 1500s. As a euphemism for "a lie" it dates from 1690s. Meaning "newspaper article" is from 1892. Story-teller is from 1709. Story-line first attested 1941. That's another story "that requires different treatment" is attested from 1818. Story of my life "sad truth" first recorded 1938.
give: O.E. giefan (W. Saxon), class V strong verb (past tense geaf, pp. giefen), from P.Gmc. *gebanan (cf. O.Fris. jeva, M.Du. gheven, Ger. geben, Goth. giban), from PIE *ghab(h)- "to take, hold, have, give" (see habit). It became yiven in M.E., but changed to guttural "g" by infl. of O.N. gefa "to give," O.Dan. givæ. Meaning "to yield to pressure" is from 1577. Given "allotted, predestined" (O.E. giefeðe) also had a n. sense of "fate," reflecting an important concept in pagan Gmc. ideology. The modern sense of "what is given, known facts" is from 1879. To give (someone) a cold seems to reflect the old belief that one could be cured of disease by deliberately infecting others. What gives? "what is happening?" is attested from 1940. Give-and-take (n.) is originally from horse racing (1769) and refers to races in which bigger horses were given more weight to carry, lighter ones less. Give-away (n.) is from 1872.