Online Etymology Dictionary

idea: 1430, "figure, image, symbol," from L. idea "idea," and in Platonic philosophy "archetype," from Gk. idea "ideal prototype," lit. "look, form," from idein "to see," from PIE *wid-es-ya-, suffixed form of base *weid- "to see" (see vision). Sense of "result of thinking" first recorded 1645.
"Men of one idea, like a hen with one chicken, and that a duckling." [Thoreau, "Walden"]
ideal: 1410, from L.L. idealis "existing in idea," from L. idea in the Platonic sense (see idea). Sense of "perfect" first recorded 1613. The noun meaning "perfect person or thing" is first recorded 1796 in a translation of Kant. The abstract idealism, also from 1796, originally meant "belief that reality is made up only of ideas." Idealist "one who represents things in an ideal form" is from 1829, as is idealistic. Ideally "in the best conceivable situation" is from 1840. Idée fixe (1836) is from Fr., lit. "fixed idea."
Earth Day: as an ecological awareness event on April 22, dates to 1970; the idea and the name formed in 1969.
ideology: 1796, "science of ideas," originally "philosophy of the mind which derives knowledge from the senses" (as opposed to metaphysics), from Fr. idéologie "study or science of ideas," coined by Fr. philosopher Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836) from idéo- "of ideas," from Gk. idea (see idea) + -logy. Meaning "systematic set of ideas, doctrines" first recorded 1909. Ideologue first recorded 1815, in ref. to the Fr. Revolutionaries.
"Ideology ... is usually taken to mean, a prescriptive doctrine that is not supported by rational argument." [D.D. Raphael, "Problems of Political Philosophy," 1970]
big bang: hypothetical explosive beginning of the universe, developed from the work of Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître and George Gamow, the name first attested 1950 (said to have been used orally 1949) by British astronomer Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) in an attempt to explain the idea in laymen's terms.
concentration camp: 1901, "compound for noncombatants in a war zone" (see concentration); a controversial idea from the second Boer War (1899-1902), and the term emerged with a bad odor. In ref. to prisons for dissidents and minorities in Nazi Germany from 1934, in Soviet Russia from 1935.
lectio difficilior: 1901, from L., lit. "harder reading," from phrase maxim difficilior lectio potior. In textual reconstruction (of the Bible, etc.) the idea that, of two alternative manuscript readings, the one whose meaning is less obvious is less likely to be a copyist's alteration, and therefore should be given precedence.
motif: 1848, from Fr. motif "dominant idea, theme" (see motive).
whim: 1641, "pun or play on words," shortened from whimwham "fanciful object" (q.v.). Meaning "sudden notion, fancy, or idea" first recorded 1697, probably a shortened form of whimsy.
pictograph: "picture or symbol representing an idea," 1851, from L. pictus "painted" (see paint) + -graph. First used in ref. to Amer.Indian writing.
brainstorm (n.): "brilliant idea, mental excitement, fit of mental application," 1849, from brain + figurative use of storm. As a verb, recorded from 1920s. Related: Brainstorming.
indoctrinate: 1626, "to teach," from in- "in" + L. doctrina "teaching" (see doctrine). Meaning "to imbue with an idea or opinion" first recorded 1832. Indoctrination in ref. to communist activities is from 1950.
inspire: mid-14c., from O.Fr. enspirer (12c.), from L. inspirare (see inspiration), a loan-translation of Gk. pnein in the Bible. General sense of "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" is from late 14c.
absolute zero: the idea dates back to 1702 and its general value was guessed to within a few degrees soon thereafter, but not precisely discovered until Lord Kelvin's work in 1848. It was known by many names, e.g. infinite cold, absolute cold, natural zero of temperature; the term absolute zero was among them by 1806.
skald: 1763, "Scandinavian poet and singer of medieval times," from O.N. skald "skald, poet" (9c.), of unknown origin, perhaps from PIE base *sekw- "to say, utter." The modern word is an antiquarian revival. "Usually applied to Norwegian and Icelandic poets of the Viking period and down to c 1250, but often without any clear idea as to their function and the character of their work." [OED]
-ae: occasional plural suffix of words ending in -a, most of which, in Eng., are from L. nom. fem. sing. nouns, which in L. form their plurals in -ae. But plurals in -s were established early in Eng. for many of them (e.g. idea, arena) and many have crossed over since. It is now impossible to insist on purity one way or the other without creating monstrosities.
marzipan: 1901 (in modern use; earlier march payne, 1494, from Fr. or Du.), from Ger. Marzipan, from It. marzapane, "candy box," in M.L. "small box," earlier, "coin bearing image of seated Christ." One suggestion is that this is from Arabic mawthaban "king who sits still." Nobody seems to quite accept this, but nobody has a better idea.
pap (1): "soft food for infants," c.1430, from O.Fr. papa "watered gruel," from L. pappa, a widespread word in children's language for "food" (e.g. M.H.G., Du. pap, Ger. Pappe), imitative of an infant's noise when hungry; possibly associated with pap (2) (q.v.). Meaning "over-simplified idea" first recorded 1548.
gung ho: 1942, slang motto of Carlson's Raiders, (2nd Marine Raider Battalion, under Lt. Col. Evans Carlson, 1896-1947), U.S. guerrilla unit operating in the Pacific in World War II, from Chinese kung ho "work together, cooperate." Widely adopted in Amer.Eng. c.1959.
"Borrowing an idea from China, Carlson frequently has what he calls 'kung-hou' meetings .... Problems are threshed out and orders explained." ["New York Times Magazine," Nov. 8, 1942]
casket: 1461, "small box for jewels, etc.," possibly formed as a dim. of Eng. cask, or from Norm.-Fr. cassette, from M.Fr. casset (see cassette). Meaning of "coffin" is Amer.Eng., probably euphemistic, first attested 1849.
"Caskets! a vile modern phrase, which compels a person ... to shrink ... from the idea of being buried at all." [Hawthorne, 1863]
leave (n.): "permission," O.E. leafe, dat./acc. of leaf "permission," from W.Gmc. *lauba, cognate with O.E. lief "dear," the original idea being "approval resulting from pleasure." See also love, believe. In military sense, it is attested from 1771.
contempt: 1390s, from L. contemptus "scorn," pp. of contemnere, from com- intens. prefix + temnere "to slight, scorn," of uncertain origin. Phrase contempt of court is attested from 19c., though the idea is several centuries older.
binary: mid-15c., from L.L. binarius "consisting of two," from bini "twofold, two apiece, two-by-two," from bis "double" (see bis-). Binary code in computer terminology was in use by 1952, though the idea itself is ancient. Binary star in astronomy is from 1802.
logic: mid-14c., "branch of philosophy that treats of forms of thinking," from O.Fr. logique, from L. (ars) logica, from Gk. logike (techne) "reasoning (art)," from fem. of logikos "pertaining to speaking or reasoning," from logos "reason, idea, word" (see logos). Meaning "logical argumentation" is from c.1600.
wrinkle (n.): late 14c. (in wrinkling), probably from stem of O.E. gewrinclod "wrinkled, crooked, winding," pp. of gewrinclian "to wind, crease," from perfective prefix ge- + -wrinclian "to wind," from P.Gmc. *wrankjan (see wrench (v.)). Meaning "defect, problem" first recorded 1640s; that of "idea, device, notion" (especially a new one) is from 1817. The verb is attested from 1520s.
brain child: also brainchild, "idea, creation of one's own," 1881, from brain + child. Earlier was the more alliterative brain-brat (1630).
singe: O.E. sengan "to burn lightly, burn the edges" (of hair, wings, etc.), from P.Gmc. *sangjanan (cf. O.Fris. of-sendza, M.Du. singhen, Du. zengen, Ger. sengen "to singe"). The root often is said to be related to that of sing, on the idea of some sort of sound produced by singeing.
archetype: "original pattern from which copies are made," 1540s, from L. archetypum, from Gk. arkhetypon "pattern, model," neut. of adj. arkhetypos "first-moulded," from arkhe- "first" (see archon) + typos "model, type, blow, mark of a blow." Jungian psychology sense of "pervasive idea or image from the collective unconscious" is from 1919.
keynote: "lowest note of a musical scale, basis of a scale," 1776, from key (1) in sense of "musical scale" + note. Fig. sense of "leading idea" is from 1783; keynote address is 1905, Amer.Eng.
convex: 1570s, from M.Fr. convexe, from L. convexus "vaulted, arched," pp. of convehere "to bring together," from com- "together" + vehere "to bring" (see vehicle). Possibly from the idea of vaults carried together to meet at the point of a roof. Related: Convexity (c.1600). Convex lens is from 1822.
excise (n.): "tax on goods," late 15c., from M.Du. excijs, apparently altered from accijs "tax" (by influence of L. excisus "cut out or removed," see excise (v.)), traditionally from O.Fr. acceis "tax, assessment," from V.L. *accensum, ultimately from L. ad- "to" + census "tax, census." English got the word, and the idea for the tax, from Holland.
moon (v.): c.1600, "to expose to moonlight;" later "idle about" (1836), "move listlessly" (1848), probably on notion of being moon struck, which is attested from 1670s; cf. Gk. selenobletos. The meaning "to flash the buttocks" is first recorded 1968, U.S. student slang, from moon (n.) "buttocks" (1756), "probably from the idea of pale circularity" [Ayto]. See moon (n.). Related: Mooned; mooning.
macadam: 1824, named for inventor, Scot. civil engineer John L. McAdam (1756-1836), who developed a method of leveling roads and paving them with gravel and outlined the process in his pamphlet "Remarks on the Present System of Road-Making" (1822). Originally, road material consisting of a solid mass of stones of nearly uniform size laid down in layers; he did not approve of the use of binding materials or rollers. The idea of mixing tar with the gravel began 1880s. Verb macadamize is first recorded 1826.
assess: early 15c., "to fix the amount (of a tax, fine, etc.)," from Anglo-Fr. assesser, from M.L. assessare "fix a tax upon," originally frequentative of L. assessus, pp. of assidere "to sit beside" (and thus to assist in the office of a judge), from ad- "to" + sedere "to sit." One of the judge's assistant's jobs was to fix the amount of a fine or tax. Meaning "to estimate the value of property for the purpose of taxing it" is from 1809; transf. sense of "to judge the value of a person, idea, etc." is from 1934.
gloss (2): "word inserted as an explanation," 1548, gloze, from L. glossa "obsolete or foreign word," from Gk. glossa (Ionic), glotta (Attic) "obscure word, language," lit. "tongue." Extended sense of "explain away" is 1638, from idea of a note inserted in the margin of a text to explain a difficult word.
burden (2): "leading idea," 1640s, from earlier sense "refrain or chorus of a song," 1590s, originally "bass accompaniment to music" (late 14c.), from O.Fr. bordon "bumble-bee, drone," or directly from M.L. burdonom "drone, drone bass" (cf. Fr. bourdon, Sp. bordon, Port. bordão, It. bordone), of echoic origin.
solitude: late 14c., from O.Fr. solitude "loneliness," from L. solitudinem (nom. solitudo) "loneliness," from solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)). "Not in common use in English until the 17th c." [OED]
"A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; ... if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free." [Schopenhauer, "The World as Will and Idea," 1818]
germ (n.): 1644, "rudiment of a new organism in an existing one," from M.Fr. germe, from L. germen (gen. germinis) "sprout, bud," from PIE base *gen- "to beget, bear" (cf. Skt. janman "birth, origin;" see genus). The original sense is preserved in wheat germ and germ of an idea; sense of "seed of a disease" first recorded 1803; that of "harmful microorganism" dates from 1871.
cyber: as a prefix, ultimately from cybernetics (q.v.). It enjoyed explosive use with the rise of the Internet early 1990s. One researcher (Nagel) counted 104 words formed from it by 1994. Cyberpunk (by 1986) and cyberspace were among the earliest.
Cyber is such a perfect prefix. Because nobody has any idea what it means, it can be grafted onto any old word to make it seem new, cool -- and therefore strange, spooky. ["New York" magazine, Dec. 23, 1996]
As a stand-alone, it is attested by 1998 as short for cybersex (which is attested by 1995).
willy-nilly: 1608, contraction of will I, nill I, or will he, nill he, or will ye, nill ye, lit. "with or without the will of the person concerned." The nill is from O.E. nyllan, from ne "no" (see no) + *willan "will" (v.). Latin expressed a similar idea in nolens volens.
information: late 14c., "act of informing," from O.Fr. informacion, from L. informationem (nom. informatio) "outline, concept, idea," noun of action from informare (see inform). Meaning "knowledge communicated" is from c.1450. Short form info is attested from 1906. Infomercial (with commercial) and infotainment (with entertainment) are from 1983. Before infomercial was the print form, advertorial (1961).
notion: 1533 (implied in notional), from L. notionem (nom. notio) "concept," from notus, pp. of noscere "come to know" (see know). Coined by Cicero as a loan-translation of Gk. ennoia "act of thinking, notion, conception," or prolepsis "previous notion, previous conception." Notions "miscellaneous articles" (1805, Amer.Eng.) springs from the idea of "clever invention."
revenge: late 14c., from O.Fr. revengier, from re-, intensive prefix, + vengier "take revenge," from L. vindicare "to lay claim to, avenge, punish" (see vindicate).
To avenge is “to get revenge” or “to take vengeance”; it suggests the administration of just punishment for a criminal or immoral act. Revenge seems to stress the idea of retaliation a bit more strongly and implies real hatred as its motivation. ["The Columbia Guide to Standard American English," 1993]
The noun is first recorded 1540s.
cast (v.): c.1230, from O.N. kasta "to throw." The noun sense of "a throw" (c.1300) carried an idea of the form the thing takes after it has been thrown, which led to varied meanings, such as "group of actors in a play" (1631). OED finds 42 distinct noun meaning and 83 verbal ones, with many sub-definitions. A cast in the eye preserves the older sense of "warp, turn," in which it replaced O.E. weorpan (see warp), and is itself largely superseded now by throw. Still used of fishing line and glances.
image: early 13c., "artificial representation that looks like a person or thing," from O.Fr. image, earlier imagene (11c.), from L. imaginem (nom. imago) "copy, statue, picture, idea, appearance," from stem of imitari "to copy, imitate" (see imitate). Meaning "reflection in a mirror" is early 14c. The mental sense was in Latin, and appears in English late 14c. Sense of "public impression" is attested in isolated cases from 1908 but not in common use until its rise in the jargon of advertising and public relations, c.1958.
helicopter: 1861, from Fr. hélicoptère "device for enabling airplanes to rise perpendicularly," thus "flying machine propelled by screws." The idea was to gain lift from spiral aerofoils, and it didn't work. Used by Jules Verne and the Wright Brothers, the word transferred to helicopters in the modern sense when those were developed, 1920s. From Gk. helix (gen. helikos) "spiral" (see helix) + pteron "wing" (see petition). Nativized in Flemish as wentelwiek "with rotary vanes." Heliport is attested from 1948, with second element abstracted from airport.
suggestion: c.1340, "a prompting to evil," from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. suggestioun, from L. suggestionem (nom. suggestio) "an addition, intimation, suggestion," from suggestus, pp. of suggestere "suggest, supply, bring up," from sub "up" + gerere "bring, carry." Sense evolution in L. is from "heap up, build" to "bring forward an idea." Meaning "proposal" appeared by 1382, but original Eng. notion of "evil prompting" is preserved in suggestive (1631, though the indecent aspect did not emerge until 1888). Hypnotism sense is from 1887.
romantic: 1659, "of the nature of a literary romance," from Fr. romantique, from M.Fr. romant "a romance," oblique case of O.Fr. romanz "verse narrative" (see romance). As a literary style, opposed to classical since before 1812. Meaning "characteristic of an ideal love affair" (such as usually formed the subject of literary romances) is from 1666. The noun meaning "an adherent of romantic virtues in literature" is from 1827. Romanticism first recorded 1803 as "a romantic idea;" generalized sense of "a tendency toward romantic ideas" is first recorded 1840.
Moses: masc. proper name, name of Hebrew prophet and lawgiver, from L., from Gk. Mouses, from Heb. Mosheh, of unknown origin.
"Most scholars see in it the Hebraization of Egyptian mes, mesu 'child, son,' which is often used in theophorous names. According to this derivation the words of Pharaoh's daughter in Ex. 2:10, 'For out of the water I drew him' are not the explanation of the Hebrew name Mosheh, but express the idea that the Egyptian name given by Pharaoh's daughter resembles in sound, and therefore, reminds us of, the Hebrew verb mashah 'he drew out,' which is suggestive of the words spoken by Pharaoh's daughter." [Dr. Ernest Klein, "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language"]
a- (1): in native (derived from O.E.) words, it most commonly represents O.E. an "on" (see a (2)), as in alive, asleep, abroad, ashore, etc., forming adjectives and adverbs from nouns; but it also can be M.E. of, as in anew, abreast (1590s); or a reduced form of O.E. pp. prefix ge-, as in aware; or the O.E. intens. a-, as in arise, awake, ashame, marking a verb as momentary, a single event. In words from Romanic languages, often it represents L. ad- "to, at."
"[I]t naturally happened that all these a- prefixes were at length confusedly lumped together in idea, and the resultant a- looked upon as vaguely intensive, rhetorical, euphonic, or even archaic, and wholly otiose." [OED]