Online Etymology Dictionary

shoe: O.E. scoh "shoe," from P.Gmc. *skokhaz (cf. O.N. skor, Dan., Swed. sko, O.Fris. skoch, O.S. skoh, M.Du. scoe, Du. schoen, O.H.G. scuoh, Ger. Schuh, Goth. skoh). No known cognates outside Gmc., unless it somehow is connected with PIE base *skeu- "cover" (cf. second element in L. ob-scurus). Old plural form shoon lasted until 16c. Meaning "metal plate to protect a horse's hoof" is attested from late 14c. The verb is from O.E. scogan. Distinction between shoe and boot is attested from c.1400. Shoeshine is from 1911. Shoelace is attested from 1640s. Shoestring is from 1610s; as figurative for "a small amount" it is recorded from 1882; as a type of necktie, from 1903. Shoebox is attested from 1860; as a type of building, from 1968. To stand in someone's shoes "see things from his or her point of view" is attested from 1767. Old shoe as a type of something worthless is attested from late 14c. Shoes tied to the fender of a newlywed couple's car preserves the old custom (mentioned from 1540s) of throwing an old shoe at or after someone to wish them luck. Perhaps the association is with dirtiness, on the "muck is luck" theory.
shoehorn (n.): 1589, from shoe + horn; earlier shoeing-horn (1440). The verb in the fig. sense of "to put or thrust (something somewhere) by means of a 'tool' " is recorded from 1859. Earlier it meant "to cuckold" (c.1650), with a play on horn.
brogue: type of Celtic accent, 1705, perhaps from the meaning "rough, stout shoe" worn by rural Irish and Scottish highlanders (1580s), via Gaelic or Irish, from O.Ir. broce "shoe," thus originally meaning something like "speech of those who call a shoe a brogue." Or perhaps it is from O.Ir. barrog "a hold" (on the tongue).
rough-shod: 1688, from rough (adj.) + shod, past tense of shoe (v.) "to shoe a horse." originally from horses shod with the nails projecting from the shoe, to prevent slipping.
sneaker: 1598, "one who sneaks," from sneak (v.). Meaning "rubber-soled shoe" is attested from 1895, Amer.Eng.; earlier sneak (1862), so called because the shoe was noiseless. See also plimsoll.
"The night-officer is generally accustomed to wear a species of India-rubber shoes or goloshes on her feet. These are termed 'sneaks' by the women [of Brixton Prison]." ["Female Life in Prison," 1862]
sock (n.): O.E. socc "light slipper," a W.Gmc. borrowing from L. soccus "light low-heeled shoe," variant of Gk. sykchos "a kind of shoe," perhaps from Phrygian or another Asiatic language. The verb meaning "to stash (money) away as savings" is attested from 1942, Amer.Eng., from the notion of hiding one's money in a sock. To knock the socks off (someone) "beat thoroughly" is recorded from 1845, Amer.Eng. colloquial. Teen slang sock hop is c.1950, from notion of dancing without shoes.
sabotage (n.): 1910, from Fr. sabotage, from saboter "to sabotage, bungle," lit. "walk noisily," from sabot "wooden shoe" (13c.), altered (by association with O.Fr. bot "boot") from M.Fr. savate "old shoe," from an unidentified source that also produced similar words in O.Prov., Port., Sp., It., Arabic and Basque. In Fr., the sense of "deliberately and maliciously destroying property" originally was in ref. to labor disputes, but the oft-repeated story that the modern meaning derives from strikers' supposed tactic of throwing old shoes into machinery is not supported by the etymology. Likely it was not meant as a literal image; the word was used in Fr. in a variety of "bungling" senses, such as "to play a piece of music badly." The verb is first attested 1918 in Eng., from the noun. Saboteur is 1921, a borrowing from Fr.
savate: Fr. method of fighting with the feet, 1862, from Fr., lit. "a kind of shoe" (see sabotage).
clunky: "blocky, ungraceful," by 1968 (when it was the name of a style of women's shoe), from clunk.
slipper: type of footwear, 1478, from slip (v.), the notion being of a shoe that is "slipped" onto the foot.
top-sider: kind of casual shoe, 1937, from topside in nautical sense of "upper deck of a ship," where the rubber soles would provide good traction.
shod: "wearing shoes," 1382, from M.E. pp. of shoe (v.), surviving chiefly in compounds, e.g. roughshod, slipshod, etc.
loafer: type of shoe, 1939, originally a brand name (Fortnum and Mason Ltd., London), from loaf (v.). Related: Loafers.
pump (2): "low shoe without fasteners," 1555, perhaps echoic of the sound made when walking in them, or perhaps from Du. pampoesje, from Javanese pampoes, of Arabic origin.
brogans: type of coarse shoes, 1846, from Ir. and Gael. brogan, dim. of brog "shoe" (cf. brogue).
lunette: 1580, from M.Fr., lit. "little moon," dim. of lune "moon," from L. luna. Originally a type of horse shoe, later applied to a wide range of objects and ornamentations resembling a crescent moon.
stogie: 1847, "rough, heavy kind of shoe," later "long, cheap cigar" (1873), both shortened from Conestoga, rural region near Lancaster, Pennsylvania; both items so-called because favored by drivers of the Conestoga style of covered wagons first made there.
mule (2): "loose slipper," 1560s, from M.Fr., from L. mulleus calceus "red high-soled shoe," worn by Roman patricians, from mullus "red" (see mullet). Related: Mules.
revamp: 1850, from re- "again" + vamp "patch up, replace the upper front part of a shoe" (see vamp (v.)).
moccasin: 1612, from an Algonquian language of Virginia, probably Powhatan makasin "shoe" (cognate with Ojibwa makizin, Narragansett mokussin, Micmac m'kusun). The venomous snake of southern U.S. is perhaps a different word.
clog: early 14c., clogge "a lump of wood," origin unknown. The sense of "wooden-soled shoe" is first recorded early 15c., probably originally meaning the wooden sole itself. The sense of "hinder" is from late 14c., originally by fastening a block of wood to something; meaning "choke up" is 17c.
Caligula: cognomen of the third Roman emperor (12 C.E.-41 C.E.), born Gaius Caesar. The nickname is lit. "little boot," given when he joined his father on military campaigns when still a toddler, in full, child-sized military gear; dim. of caliga "heavy military shoe," which some related to calx "heel, tread," and others to a root meaning "to wrap, bind."
schuhplattler: "lively Alpine folk dance," 1874, from Ger., from schuh "shoe" + south Ger. dial. plattler, from platteln "to dance."
espadrille: shoe with soles of hemp-rope (originally worn in the Pyrenees), 1865, from Fr., from Prov. espardillo, from L. spartum, from Gk. sparton "a rope made of spartos," an imported fiber known as "Spanish grass."
goody: "something tasty," 1745, from good; adj. use for "sentimentally proper" is 1830. Goody also used since 1559 as a shortened form of goodwife, a term of civility applied to a married woman in humble life; hence Goody Two-shoes, name of heroine in 1760s children's story who exulted upon acquiring a second shoe.
sole (n.1): "bottom of the foot," early 14c., from O.Fr. sole, from L. solea "sandal, bottom of a shoe," from solum "bottom, ground, soil," of unknown origin. The verb meaning "to provide with a sole" is recorded from 1560s.
tap (v.): "strike lightly," early 13c., from O.Fr. taper "tap, rap, strike," from a Gallo-Romance or Germanic source ultimately imitative of the sound of rapping. Meaning "to designate for some duty or for membership" is recorded from 1952, from notion of a tap on the shoulder. The noun is attested from c.1300. Tap dancer first recorded 1927, from tap (n.) in the sense of "metal plate over the heel of a shoe" (1680s).
black widow: type of poisonous spider in U.S. South (Latrodectus mactans), 1904, so called from its color and from the female's supposed habit of eating the male after mating (they are cannibalistic, but this particular behavior is rare in the wild). Sometimes also known as shoe-button spider. The name black widow is attested earlier (1830s) as a translation of a name of the "scorpion spider" of Central Asia.
Oxford: university town in England, M.E. Oxforde, from O.E. Oxnaforda (10c.) lit. "where the oxen ford." As the name for a type of shoe laced over the instep, it is attested from 1721. Oxbridge (1849), a conflation of Oxford and Cambridge, is used in ref. to the characteristics common to the two universities. Oxfam (1963) is short for Oxford Committee for Famine Relief.
talon: c.1400, talounz "claws of a bird or beast," probably originally from O.Fr. talon "heel or hinder part of the foot of a beast, or of a man, or of a shoe," from M.L. talonem "heel," from L. talus "ankle" (see talus (1)). "The extension to birds of prey, and subsequent stages, are peculiar to English" [OED].
hush: 1546, variant of M.E. huisht (c.1380), probably of imitative origin, with terminal -t lost probably by being mistaken for a pt. suffix. Hush-hush (adj.) is 1916 reduplication. Hush-money is attested from 1709. Hush-puppy "deep-fried ball of cornmeal batter" first attested 1918; as a type of lightweight soft shoe, it is a proprietary name, registered 1961.
Plimsoll: "mark on the hull of a British ship showing how deeply she may be loaded," 1881, from Samuel Plimsoll (1824-98), M.P. for Derby and advocate of shipping reform (which were embodied in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876). Sense extended 1907 to "rubber-soled canvas shoe" (equivalent of Amer.Eng. sneakers) because the band around the shoes that holds the two parts together reminded people of a ship's Plimsoll line; sense perhaps reinforced by sound assoc. with sole.
tout: 1700, thieves' cant, "to act as a lookout, spy on," from M.E. tuten "to peep, peer," probably from a variant of O.E. totian "to stick out, peep, peer," from P.Gmc. *tut- "project" (cf. Du. tuit "sprout, snout," M.Du. tute "nipple, pap," M.L.G. tute "horn, funnel," O.N. tota "teat, toe of a shoe"). The sense developed to "look out for jobs, votes, etc., to try to get them" (1731), then "praise highly" (1920).
buskin: "half boot," c.1500, origin unknown, perhaps from O.Fr. brousequin (14c., Mod.Fr. brodequin, by influence of broder "to embroider") or M.Du. brosekin "small leather boot." Figurative senses relating to tragedy are from the word being used (since mid-16c.) to translate Gk. kothurnus, the high, thick-soled boot worn in Athenian tragedy; contrasted with sock, the low shoe worn by comedians.
leprechaun: 1604, from Ir. lupracan, metathesis from O.Ir. luchorpan lit. "a very small body," from lu "little" + corpan, dim. of corp "body," from L. corpus "body" (see corporeal). Commonly spelled lubrican in 17c. Eng. Leithbragan is Ir. folk etymology, from leith "half" + brog "brogue," because the spirit was "supposed to be always employed in making or mending a single shoe."
scruple (n.): 1520s, from O.Fr. scrupule (14c.), from L. scrupulus "uneasiness, anxiety, pricking of conscience," lit. "small sharp stone," dim. of scrupus "sharp stone or pebble," used figuratively by Cicero for a cause of uneasiness or anxiety, probably from the notion of having a pebble in one's shoe. The verb meaning "to have or make scruples" is attested from 1620s. A more literal L. sense of "small unit of weight or measurement" is attested in English from late 14c.
beak: early 13c., "bird's bill," from O.Fr. bec (Fr. bec) "beak," figuratively "mouth," also "tip or point of a nose, a lance, a ship, a shoe," from L. beccus, said by Suetonius ("De vita Caesarum" 18) to be of Gaulish origin, perhaps from Gaulish beccus, possibly related to Celt. stem bacc- "hook." Or there may be a link in O.E. becca "pickax, sharp end." Jocular sense of "human nose" is from 1854.
size (n.): c.1300, "an ordinance to fix the amount of a payment or tax," from O.Fr. sise, shortened form of assise "session, assessment, regulation, manner" (see assize), probably a misdivision of l'assise as la sise. The sense of "extent, amount, magnitude" (c.1400) is from the notion of regulating something by fixing the amount of it (weights, food portions, etc.). Specific sense of "set of dimensions of an article of clothing or shoe" is attested from 1591. Sizeable "fairly large" is recorded from 1613.
not: negative particle, mid-13c., unstressed variant of noht, naht "in no way" (see naught). As an interjection to negate what was said before or reveal it as sarcasm, it is first attested 1900; popularized 1989 by "Wayne's World" sketches on "Saturday Night Live" TV show. To not know X from Y (one's ass from one's elbow, shit from Shinola, etc.) was a construction first attested c.1930. Shinola was a brand of shoe polish. Double negative construction not un- was derided by Orwell, but is persistent and ancient in English, popular with Milton and the Anglo-Saxon poets.
Mary: fem. proper name, O.E. Maria, Marie, "mother of Jesus," from L. Maria, from Gk. Mariam, Maria, from Aram. Maryam, from Heb. Miryam, sister of Moses (Ex. xv.), of unknown origin, said to mean lit. "rebellion." Nursery rhyme "Mary had a Little Lamb" written early 1830 by Sarah Josepha Hale of Boston; published Sept. 1830 in "Juvenile Miscellany," a popular magazine for children. Mary Jane is 1921 as the proprietary name of a kind of low-heeled shoe worn chiefly by young girls, 1928 as slang for marijuana.
glove: O.E. glof "covering for the hand," also "palm of the hand," from P.Gmc. *galofo (cf. O.N. glofi), probably from *ga- collective prefix + *lofi "hand" (cf. O.N. lofi, M.E. love, Goth. lofa "flat of the hand"). Ger. Handschuh, the usual word for "glove," lit. "hand-shoe" (O.H.G. hantscuoh; also Dan., Swed. hantsche) is represented by O.E. Handscio, but this is only attested as a proper name. To fit like a glove is first recorded 1771.
upper (adj.): c.1300, originally comparative of up. Cf. M.Du. upper, Du. opper, Low Ger. upper, Norw. yppare. Noun meaning "part of a shoe above the sole" is recorded from 1789; sense of "stimulant drug" is from 1968. Upper crust is attested from 1460 in ref. to the top crust of a loaf of bread, 1836 in ref. to society. The pugilistic uppercut is first recorded 1842. Upper hand "advantage" is 1481, probably from wrestling. Upperclassman is recorded from 1871. Upper middle class (adj.) is first recorded 1872.
Denver: city in Colo., founded 1858 as Auraria ("golden"), renamed 1859 for Gen. James W. Denver (1817-92), governor of the territory. The family name is from the place of that name in Norfolk, lit. "ford or passage used by the Danes," from O.E. Dena (gen. pl.) + fær. The Denver boot or shoe as the name for a wheel clamp for illegally parked vehicles, supposedly was invented 1953 by Frank Marugg, pattern-maker and violinist with the Denver (U.S.A.) Symphony Orchestra. He was a friend of politicians and police department officials, and the city sheriff's department came to him for help in making a device to immobilize vehicles whose owners didn’t pay parking tickets.
soft: O.E. softe "gentle, easy, comfortable," from W.Gmc. *samfti, from P.Gmc. *samftijaz "level, even, smooth, gentle, soft" (cf. O.S. safti, O.H.G. semfti, Ger. sanft, M.Du. sachte, Du. zacht), from base *som- "fitting, agreeable." Sense of "causing little hardship or suffering" attested from c.1200. Of sounds, from mid-13c. Meaning "foolish, simple, silly" is attested from 1620s. Adjective soft core (in ref. to pornography) is from 1966. Soft rock as a music style is attested from 1969. Soft sell is from 1955. Soft-shoe as a dancing style is attested from 1927. Soft-hearted first recorded 1590s.
rope: O.E. rap, from P.Gmc. *raipaz (cf. O.N. reip, M.Du., Du. reep "rope," Goth. skauda-raip "shoe-lace," O.H.G., Ger. reif "ring, hoop"). Technically, only cordage above one inch in circumference and below 10 (bigger-around than that is a cable). Nautical use varies. Finnish raippa "hoop, rope, twig" is a Gmc. loan-word. The verb is attested from c.1300. To know the ropes (1840) is originally a seaman's term. Phrase on the ropes "defeated" is attested from 1924, a fig. extension from boxing. To be at the end of (one's) rope "out of resources and options" is first attested 1686. Formerly also in many slang and extended uses related to hanging, e.g. John Roper's window "a noose," rope-ripe "deserving to be hanged," both 16c.
heel (n.): O.E. hela, from P.Gmc. *khangkh- (cf. O.N. hæll, O.Fris. hel, Du. hiel), related to O.E. hoh "hock." Heeled "provided with money" is 1880 in Amer.Eng., from earlier sense "furnished with a gun, armed" (1866), from still earlier sense "furnish (a gamecock) with a heel-like spur" (1562). To heel (of a dog) is from 1810. Heeler "unscrupulous political lackey" is U.S. slang, 1877, from the notion of one who follows at the heels of a political boss, no doubt coined with the image of a dog in mind. Achilles' heel "only vulnerable spot" is from 1810. Heel-tap was originally (1688) one of the bits of leather that are stacked up to make a shoe heel; meaning "bit of liquor left in a glass or bottle" first recorded 1688; the exact connection is uncertain. Down at heels (1732) refers to heels of boots or shoes worn down and the owner too poor to replace them.