Online Etymology Dictionary

modern: "of or pertaining to present or recent times," c.1500, from M.Fr. moderne, from L.L. modernus "modern," from L. modo "just now, in a (certain) manner," from modo "to the measure," abl. of modus "manner, measure" (see mode (1)). In Shakespeare, often with a sense of "every-day, ordinary, commonplace." Slang abbreviation mod first attested 1960. Modern art is from 1807 (by contrast to ancient); modern dance first attested 1912; first record of modern jazz is from 1955. Modern conveniences first recorded 1926.
modernist: 1580s, “a modern person,” from modern + -ist. Later, “a supporter of the modern” (as opposed to the classical), c.1700. As a follower of a movement in the arts (modernism) attested from 1927.
modernism: as a movement in the arts, 1929, from modern (q.v.). The word dates to 1737 in the sense of "deviation from the ancient and classical manner" [Johnson, who calls it "a word invented by Swift"]. It has been used in theology since 1901.
modernity: 1620s, from M.L. modernitatem, noun of quality from modernus (see modern).
modernize: 1748, from modern + -ize.
Lusitania: 1607, the Latin name of a region roughly corresponding to modern Portugal; in modern use, allusive or poetic for "Portugal."
back (n.): O.E. bæc "back, backwards, behind," from P.Gmc. *bakam (cf. O.S., M.Du. bak, O.Fris. bek), with no known connections outside Germanic. The cognates mostly have been ousted in this sense in other modern Gmc. languages by words akin to Modern English ridge (cf. Dan. ryg, Ger. Rücken). Many I.E. languages show signs of once having distinguished the horizontal back of an animal (or a mountain range) from the upright back of a human. In other cases, a modern word for "back" may come from a word related to "spine" (It. schiena, Rus. spina) or "shoulder, shoulder blade" (Sp. espalda, Pol. plecy).
dominatrix: "dominant female entity," attested since 1560s, though not in quite the usual modern sense ("Rome ... dominatrix of nations" [1561]). See see domination + -trix. Modern BDSM sense attested by 1976.
post-modern: 1949, from post- + modern. Originally in architecture writing; specific sense in the arts emerged 1960s. Postmodernism defined by Terry Eagleton as "the contemporary movement of thought which rejects ... the possibility of objective knowledge" and is therefore "skeptical of truth, unity, and progress."
Farsi: 1878, modern Persian language, the usual Iranian word for it, from Fars, Arabic name for region of Pars (no "p" in Arabic) in Iran, where the modern language evolved from I.E.-based Persian with many Arabic elements.
pita: "thick, flat bread," 1951, from Modern Heb. pita or Modern Gk. petta "bread," perhaps from Gk. peptos "cooked," or somehow connected to pizza (q.v.).
extra: 1650s as a stand-alone; modern usages -- including sense of "minor performer in a play" (1777) and "special edition of a newspaper" (1793) -- all probably are from shortenings of extraordinary, which was used extensively in 18c. as noun and adverb in places we would use extra today. The prefix extra- was only recorded in classical L. in extraordinarius, but has been much used in modern formations such as extraterrestrial, and represents the old fem. abl. of exterus "outward, outside."
enthusiastic: c.1600, "pertaining to possession by a deity," from Gk. enthousiastikos, from enthousiazein (see enthusiasm). Meaning "pertaining to irrational delusion in religion" is from 1690s. The main modern sense, in reference to feelings or persons, "intensely eager, rapturous," is from late 18c. Earlier derogatory sense especially seems to have colored modern sense of enthusiast. Related: Enthusiastically.
lazy: 1540s, laysy, of unknown origin. Replaced native slack, slothful, and idle as the main word expressing the notion of "averse to work." In 19c. thought to be from lay (v.) as tipsy from tip. Skeat is responsible for the prevailing modern view that it probably comes from Low Ger., cf. M.L.G. laisch "weak, feeble, tired," modern Low Ger. läösig, early modern Du. leuzig, all of which may go back to the PIE root *(s)leg- "slack." According to Weekley, the -z- sound disqualifies a connection with Fr. lassé "tired" or Ger. lassig "lazy, weary, tired." A supposed dialectal meaning "naught, bad," if it is the original sense, may tie the word to O.N. lasenn "dilapidated," lasmøyrr "decrepit, fragile," root of Icelandic las-furða "ailing," las-leiki "ailment." Lazybones is first attested 1590s. Lazy Susan is from 1917.
each: O.E. ælc "ever alike," from a "ever" + gelic "alike." Similar compounds are found in other Gmc. languages (cf. Du. elk, O.Fris. ellik). Originally used as we now use every (which is a compound of each) or all; modern use is by infl. of L. quisque. Modern spelling appeared late 1500s.
neo-conservative: also neoconservative; used in the modern sense by 1979:
"My Republican vote [in the 1972 presidential election] produced little shock waves in the New York intellectual community. It didn't take long - a year or two - for the socialist writer Michael Harrington to come up with the term "neoconservative" to describe a renegade liberal like myself. To the chagrin of some of my friends, I decided to accept that term; there was no point calling myself a liberal when no one else did." [Irving Kristol, "Forty Good Years," "The Public Interest," Spring 2005]
The term is attested from 1960, but it originally often was applied to Russell Kirk and his followers, who would be philosophically opposed to the modern neocons.
fowl: O.E. fugel "bird," general Gmc. word (cf. Gothic fugls), from P.Gmc. *foglaz (cf. O.N. fugl, M.Du. voghel, Ger. vogel, Goth. fugls), probably by dissimilation from *flug-la-, lit. "flyer," from the same root as O.E. fleogan, modern fly (v.1). Originally "bird;" narrower sense of "domestic hen or rooster" (the main modern meaning) is first recorded 1580; in U.S. also extended to ducks and geese.
irk: mid-15c., irken "be weary of, be disgusted with;" earlier intrans., "to feel weary" (early 14c.). Of uncertain origin, perhaps related to O.N. yrkja "work" (from PIE base *werg- "to work;" see urge (v.)), or M.H.G. erken "to disgust." Modern sense of "annoy" is from late 15c. An adjective, irk "weary, tired" is attested from c.1300 in northern and midlands writing. Modern adjective irksome "bothersome, burdensome" is recorded from 1510s.
mussel: O.E. muscle, musscel, from L.L. muscula (cf. O.Fr. musle, modern Fr. moule), from L. musculus "mussel," lit. "little mouse," also "muscle;" like muscle, derived from mus "mouse" on the perceived similarity of size and shape. The modern spelling, distinguishing the word from muscle, first recorded 1610, not fully established until 1870s.
tu quoque: 1671, from L., lit. "thou also" (or, in modern slang, "so are you!"); an argument which consists in retorting accusations.
credit card: 1952 in the modern sense; the phrase was used late 19c. to mean "traveler's check."
addict: 1520s, adj., "delivered, devoted," from L. addictus, pp. of addicere "to deliver, award, yield, devote," from ad- "to" + dicere "say, declare" (see diction), but also "adjudge, allot." Modern sense is really self-addicted "to give over or award (oneself) to someone or some practice" (c.1600); specialization to narcotics dependency is from c.1910. The noun is first recorded 1909, in reference to morphine. Related: Addicted (1530s, "delivered over" by judicial sentence; modern meaning "dependent on a drug" from 1913); adj. addictive (1939 in the narcotics sense).
apo koinu: 1892, from Gk., lit. "in common." Applied to sentences with one subject and two predicates; a formation rare in modern Eng., though it occurs in O.E.
momzer: "contemptible person, moocher," 1562, from Hebrew, lit. "bastard" (used in Vulgate), but modern usage is a recent borrowing from Yiddish.
awaken: O.E. awæcnan (intrans.), "to spring into being," also, less often, "to wake up;" earlier onwæcnan, from a- (1) "on" + wæcnan (see waken). Transitive meaning "to rouse from sleep" is recorded from 1510s; figurative sense of "to stir up, rouse to activity" is from c.1600. Originally strong declension (p.t. awoc, pp. awacen), already in O.E. it was confused with awake (v.) and a weak p.t. awæcnede (modern awakened) emerged and has since become the accepted p.t. form, with awoke and awoken transferred to awake. Subtle shades of distinction determine the use of awake or awaken in modern English. Related: Awakening.
schedule: 1397, sedule, cedule "ticket, label, slip of paper with writing on it," from O.Fr. cedule, from L.L. schedula "strip of paper," dim. of L. schida "one of the strips forming a papyrus sheet," from Gk. skhida "splinter," From stem of skhizein "to cleave, split" (see shed (v.) and cf. schism). The notion is of slips of paper attached to a document as an appendix (a sense maintained in U.S. tax forms). The specific meaning "printed timetable" is first recorded 1863 in railway use (the verb in this sense is from 1862). Modern spelling is 15c., in imitation of L.; the modern British pronunciation ("shed-yul") is from Fr. influence, while the U.S. pronunciation ("sked-yul") is from the practice of Webster, and is based on the Greek original.
Occitian: "Old Provençal, langue d'Oc," 1940, also "the northern variant of modern Provençal."
connivance: the main modern form of connivence (q.v.).
certainly: c.1300, in all main modern senses, from certain (q.v.).
cuboid: "cube-like," 1829, a modern coinage as if from Gk. kuboeides.
wore: modern p.t. of wear (q.v.).
Olympian: "of or belonging to Olympus" (c.1600); the noun meaning "a great god of ancient Greece" is attested from 1843; sense of "one who competes in the (modern) Olympic Games" is from 1976.
Dreadnought: "battleship," lit. "fearing nothing," the name of a ship in the Royal Navy c.1596, but modern sense is from the name of the first of a new class of British battleships mainly armed with big guns of one caliber, launched Feb. 18, 1906.
bury: O.E. byrgan "to raise a mound, hide, bury, inter," akin to beorgan "to shelter," from P.Gmc. *burzjanan "protection, shelter" (cf. O.N. bjarga, Sw. berga, Ger. bergen, Goth. bairgan "to save, preserve"), from PIE base *bhergh- "protect, preserve" (cf. O.C.S. brego "I preserve, guard"). The O.E. -y- was a short "oo" sound, like modern Fr. -u-. It normally transformed into Mod.Eng. -i- (cf. bridge, kiss, listen, sister), but in bury and a few other words (merry, knell) it retains a Kentish change to "e" that took place in the late O.E. period. In the West Midlands, meanwhile, the O.E. -y- sound persisted, slightly modified over time, giving the standard modern pronunciation of blush, much, church.
Eames: 1946, type of modern office chair, named for U.S. architect and designer Charles Eames (1907-1978).
truncated: late 15c., pp. adj. of truncate. Originally in heraldry; modern senses are post-1700.
jaunt: 1678 in modern sense, earlier meaning "tiresome journey" (1592), originally "to ride a horse in such a way as to tire him" (1572), of unknown origin, probably from some obscure O.Fr. word.
yo: as a greeting, 1859, but the word is attested as a sailor's or huntsman's utterance since c.1420. Modern popularity dates from World War II (when, it is said, it was a common response at roll calls) and seems to have been most intense in Philadelphia.
dabble: 1550s, frequentative of dab. Original meaning was "wet by splashing;" modern fig. sense first recorded 1625.
Oregon: 1765 as the name of a large river in the west of North America, probably the modern Columbia; of uncertain and disputed origin. It seems to be of Algonquian origin.
ATM: 1976, acronym for automated teller machine (1974), which was first developed in modern form c.1968.
thegn: "military tenant of an Anglo-Saxon king," a modern revival first attested 1848; see thane.
broody: 1510s, "apt to breed," from brood (q.v.). Figuratively, of persons, from 1851. Also, in modern use, sometimes "full of maternal yearning."
Tyburn: place of public execution for Middlesex from c.1200 to 1783; it stood at the junction of modern Oxford Street, Bayswater Road and Edgware Road.
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.
claque: 1864, from Fr. claquer "to clap," echoic. Modern sense of "political followers" is transferred from that of organized applause at theater.
flute: late 14c., from O.Fr. flaute, from O.Prov. flaut, of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative or from L. flare "to blow;" perhaps influenced by Prov. laut "lute." The other Germanic words (cf. Ger. flöte) are likewise borrowings from French. Ancient flutes were blown through a mouthpiece, like a recorder; the modern transverse or German flute developed 18c. The modern design and key system of the concert flute were perfected 1834 by Theobald Boehm. The architectural sense of "furrow in a pillar" (1650s) is from fancied resemblance to the inside of a flute split down the middle. Meaning "tall, slender wine glass" is from 1640s. The verb is recorded from late 14c. in sense "to play upon the flute;" meaning "to make (architectural) flutes" is from 1570s. Related: Fluted; fluting.
globalization: 1961, from globalize, which is attested at least from 1953 in various senses; the main modern one, with reference to global economic systems, emerged 1959.
Athens: city of ancient Attica, capital of modern Greece, traditionally derived from Athena, but probably assimilated from a lost name in a pre-Hellenic language.
unfortunately: 1540s, from unfortunate. Originally "not successfully, to a regrettable extent." The proper meaning is now rare; the main modern sense of "sad to say," in parenthetical use, recorded from 1770s.