Online Etymology Dictionary

sicken (v.): c.1200, "to become sick," originally the verb was simply sick (mid-12c.), from sick (adj.) + -en (1). Transf. sense of "to make sick" is recorded from 1690s. Related: Sickened. Sickening "causing revulsion" is first recorded 1789.
sick (adj.): "unwell," O.E. seoc, from P.Gmc. *seukaz, of uncertain origin. The general Gmc. word (cf. O.N. sjukr, Dan. syg, O.S. siok, O.Fris. siak, M.Du. siec, O.H.G. sioh, Goth. siuks "sick, ill"), but in Ger. and Du. displaced by krank "weak, slim," probably originally with a sense of "twisted, bent" (see crank). Meaning "having an inclination to vomit" is from 1610s; sense of "tired or weary (of something)" is from 1590s; phrase sick and tired of is attested from 1783. Meaning "mentally twisted" is from 1550s (though sense of "spiritually or morally corrupt" was in O.E.), revived 1955. Sick joke is from 1959; sicko (n.) is from 1977. The noun meaning "those who are sick" was in O.E.
sick (v.): "set upon" (sick him!), 1845, dialectal variant of seek.
sickness: O.E. seocnesse; see sick and -ness.
sickly: mid-14c., from sick + -ly (1). Related: Sickliness.
nauseate: 1630s, "to feel sick, to become affected with nausea," from pp. stem of L. nauseare; see nausea. Related: Nauseated; nauseating; nauseatingly. In its early life it also had transitive senses of "to reject (food, etc.) with a feeling of nausea" (1640s) and "to create a loathing in" (1650s). Careful writers use nauseated for "sick at the stomach" and reserve nauseous (q.v.) for "sickening to contemplate."
carsick: also car-sick, 1908, on model of seasick, from car + sick. Related: Carsickness.
nurse (n.1): 12c., nurrice "wet nurse, foster-mother to a young child," from O.Fr. norrice (source of proper name Norris), from L.L. *nutricia "nurse, governess, tutoress," from L., fem. of nutricius "that suckles, nourishes," from nutrix (gen. nutricis) "wet nurse," from nutrire "to suckle" (see nourish). Meaning "person who takes care of sick" first recorded in Eng. 1590; the verb is first attested 1535 in sense of "to suckle (an infant)," 1526 in the passive sense, alt. of M.E. nurshen (13c.; see nourish), originally "to bring up or suckle a child," sense of "take care of (a sick person)" is first recorded 1736.
jealous: early 13c., from O.Fr. gelos (12c., Fr. jaloux), from L.L. zelosus, from zelus "zeal," from Gk. zelos, sometimes "jealousy," but more often in a good sense ("emulation, rivalry, zeal"). See zeal. Among the ways to express this in other tongues are Swed. svartsjuka, lit. "black-sick," from phrase bara svarta strumpor "wear black stockings," also "be jealous." Dan. skinsyg "jealous," lit. "skin-sick," is from skind "hide, skin" said to be explained by Swed. dialectal expression fa skinn "receive a refusal in courtship."
Most of the words for 'envy' ... had from the outset a hostile force, based on 'look at' (with malice), 'not love,' etc. Conversely, most of those which became distinctive terms for 'jealousy' were originally used also in a good sense, 'zeal, emulation.' [Buck, pp.1138-9]
Related: Jealously.
je ne sais quoi: "an inexpressible something," from French, lit. "I do not know what."
"[T]hey are troubled with the je-ne-scay-quoy, that faign themselves sick out of niceness but know not where their own grief lies, or what ayls them." [Thomas Blount, "Glossographia," 1656]
crapulous: 1530s, "sick from too much drinking," from L. crapula, from Gk. kraipale "hangover, drunken headache, nausea from debauching." The Romans used it for drunkenness itself. English has used it in both senses.
icky: 1935, Amer.Eng., probably from icky-boo (c.1920) "sickly, nauseated," probably baby talk elaboration of sick. Originally a swing lover's term for more sentimental jazz music.
patient (n.): "suffering or sick person," late 14c., from O.Fr. pacient (n.), from the adj., from L. patientem (see patience).
lovesick: 1520s, from love + sick.
heartsick: late 14c., from heart + sick.
seasick: 1560s, from sea + sick. Related: Seasickness.
laid: pp. of lay (v.). Laid-up "injured, sick," originally was a nautical term (1769) describing a ship moored in harbor. Laid off "temporarily unemployed" is from 1955. Laid-back "relaxed" is first attested 1973, perhaps in reference to the posture of highway motorcyclists.
Lollard: late 14c. (in Chaucer, Loller, c.1386), from M.Du. lollaerd, applied pejoratively to members of reforming sects c.1300 who devoted themselves to the care of the sick and poor, lit. "mumbler, mutterer," so called by critics who regarded them as heretics pretending to humble piety, from lollen "to mumble or doze." Generic late M.E. term for groups suspected of heresy, esp. followers of John Wyclif.
pumpernickel: "dark rye bread," 1756, from Ger. (Westphalian dialect) Pumpernickel (1663), originally an abusive nickname for a stupid person, from pumpern "to break wind" + Nickel "goblin, lout, rascal," from proper name Niklaus. An earlier Ger. name for it was krankbrot, lit. "sick-bread."
bay (2): "opening in a wall," early 14c. (especially bay window, c.1400), from O.Fr. baee "opening, hole, gulf," noun use of fem. pp. of bayer "to gape, yawn," from M.L. batare "gape," perhaps of imitative origin. Sick-bay "forepart of a ship's main deck used as a hospital" is from 1580s, from the notion of a recessed space.
euphoria: 1727, a physician's term for "condition of feeling healthy and comfortable (especially when sick)," medical Latin, from Gk. euphoria "power of enduring easily," from euphoros, lit. "bearing well," from eu "well" (see eu-) + pherein "to carry" (see infer). Non-technical use, now the main one, dates to 1882 and is perhaps a reintroduction.
ill: c.1200, "morally evil" (other 13c. senses were "malevolent, hurtful, unfortunate, difficult"), from O.N. illr "ill, bad," of unknown origin. Not related to evil. Main modern sense of "sick, unhealthy, unwell" is first recorded mid-15c., probably related to O.N. idiom "it is bad to me." Slang sense of "very good, cool" is 1980s. Ill-fated recorded from 1710; ill-informed from 1824; ill-tempered from c.1600.
malady: mid-13c., from O.Fr. maladie "sickness, illness, disease," from malade "ill," from L. male habitus "doing poorly, feeling sick," lit. "ill-conditioned," from male "badly" (see mal-) + habitus, pp. of habere "have, hold" (see habit). Related: Maladies.
sorrow (n.): O.E. sorg "grief, regret, trouble, care," from P.Gmc. *surgo (cf. O.S. sorga, O.N. sorg, M.Du. sorghe, Du. zorg, O.H.G. soraga, Ger. sorge, Goth. saurga), perhaps from PIE *swergh- (cf. Skt. surksati "cares for," Lith. sergu "to be sick," O.C.S. sraga "sickness," O.Ir. serg "sickness"). The verb is O.E. sorgian.
hospital: mid-13c., "shelter for the needy," from O.Fr. hospital "hostel," from L.L. hospitale "guest-house, inn," neut. of L. adj. hospitalis "of a guest or host," from hospes (gen. hospitis); see host (1). Later "charitable institution to house and maintain the needy" (early 15c.); sense of "institution for sick people" is first recorded 1540s.
clinic: 1620s, from Fr. clinique (17c.), from L. clinicus "physician that visits patients in their beds," from Gk. klinike (techne) "(practice) at the sickbed," from klinikos "of the bed," from kline "bed, couch, that on which one lies," from suffixed form of PIE base *kli- "lean, slope" (see lean (v.)). An adj. originally in English, then "sick person;" sense of "hospital" is 1884, from Ger. Klinik, itself from Fr. clinique. The modern sense is thus reversed from the classical, when the "clinic" came to the patient.
malinger: 1785 (implied in malingerer), from Fr. malingrer "to suffer," perhaps also "pretend to be ill," from malingre "ailing, sickly," possibly a blend of mingre "sickly, miserable" and malade "ill." Mingre is itself a blend of maigre "meager" + haingre "sick, haggard," possibly from Gmc. (cf. M.H.G. hager "thin"). The sense evolution may be through notion of beggars with sham sores. Related: Malingerer; malingering.
imperialism: 1826, originally in a Napoleonic context, also of Rome and of British foreign policy, from imperial + -ism. At times in British usage (and briefly in U.S.) with a neutral or positive sense relating to national interests or the spread of the benefits of Western civilization, but from the begining usually more or less a term of reproach. General sense of "one country's rule over another," first recorded 1878. Picked up disparagingly in Communist jargon by 1918.
It is the old story of 1798, when French republicanism sick of its own folly and misdeeds, became metamorphosed into imperialism, and consoled itself for its incapacity to found domestic freedom by putting an iron yoke upon Europe, and covering it with blood and battle-fields. [Francis Lloyd, "St. James's Magazine," January 1842]
lunatic (adj.): late 13c., "affected with periodic insanity, dependent on the changes of the moon," from O.Fr. lunatique "insane," from L. lunaticus "moon-struck," from luna "moon" (see luna). Cf. O.E. monseoc "lunatic," lit. "moon-sick;" M.H.G. lune "humor, temper, mood, whim, fancy" (Ger. Laune), from L. luna. Cf. also N.T. Gk. seleniazomai "be epileptic," from selene "moon." The noun meaning "lunatic person" is first recorded late 14c. Lunatic fringe (1913) was apparently coined by U.S. politician Theodore Roosevelt. Lunatic soup (1933) was Australian slang for "alcoholic drink."
stretch (v.): O.E. streccan, from P.Gmc. *strakjanan (cf. Dan. strække, Swed. sträcka, O.Fris. strekka, O.H.G. strecchan, M.L.G., M.Du., O.H.G., Ger. strecken "to stretch"), perhaps a variant of the root of stark, or else from PIE base *strenk- "tight, narrow; pull tight, twist" (see strain). Meaning "to extend (the limbs or wings)" is from c.1200; that of "to lay out for burial" is from early 13c. To stretch one's legs "take a walk" is from c.1600. Meaning "to lengthen by force" first recorded late 14c.; figurative sense of "to enlarge beyond proper limits, exaggerate," is from 1553. Stretch limo first attested 1973. Stretch marks is attested from 1960. Stretcher "canvas frame for carrying the sick or wounded" is first attested 1845.
crank: O.E. cranc- preserved in crancstæf "a weaver's instrument," crencestre "female weaver, spinster," from P.Gmc. base *krank-, and related to crincan "to bend, yield." English retains the literal sense of the ancient root, while Ger. and Du. krank "sick," formerly "weak, small," is a figurative use. The sense of "an eccentric person," especially one who is irrationally fixated, is first recorded 1833, said to be from the crank of a barrel organ, which makes it play the same tune over and over; but more likely a back formation from cranky, and evolving from earlier senses of crank as "a twist or fanciful turn of speech" (1590s) or "inaccessible hole or crevice" (1560s). Popularized after 1881 when it was applied to Horace Greeley during Guiteau's trial. The verb is attested from 1590s, "to zig-zag;" meaning "to turn a crank" is first attested 1908, with reference to automobile engines.
race (2): "people of common descent," c.1500, from M.Fr. razza "race, breed, lineage," possibly from It. razza, of unknown origin (cf. Sp., Port. raza). Original senses in English included "wines with characteristic flavor" (1520), "group of people with common occupation" (c.1500), and "generation" (c.1560). Meaning "tribe, nation, or people regarded as of common stock" is from c.1600. Modern meaning of "one of the great divisions of mankind based on physical peculiarities" is from 1774 (though even among anthropologists there never has been an accepted classification of these).
Just being a Negro doesn't qualify you to understand the race situation any more than being sick makes you an expert on medicine. [Dick Gregory, 1964]
Klein suggests these derive from Arabic ra's "head, beginning, origin" (cf. Heb. rosh). O.E. þeode meant both "race" and "language;" as a verb, geþeodan, it meant "to unite, to join." Race-riot attested from 1890.
take (v.): late O.E. tacan, from a N.Gmc. source (e.g. O.N. taka "take, grasp, lay hold," past tense tok, pp. tekinn; Swed. ta, pp. tagit), from P.Gmc. *tækanan (cf. M.L.G. tacken, M.Du. taken, Goth. tekan "to touch"), of uncertain origin, perhaps originally meaning "to touch." Gradually replaced M.E. nimen as the verb for "to take," from O.E. niman, from the usual W.Gmc. *nem- root (cf. Ger. nehmen, Du. nemen; see nimble). OED calls it "one of the elemental words of the language;" take up alone has 55 varieties of meaning in that dictionary. Basic sense is "to lay hold of," which evolved to "accept, receive" (as in take my advice) c.1200; "absorb" (she can take a punch) c.1200; "to choose, select" (take the long way home) late 13c.; "to make, obtain" (take a shower) late 14c.; "to become affected by" (take sick) c.1300. Take five is 1929, from the approximate time it takes to smoke a cigarette. Take it easy first recorded 1880; take the plunge "act decisively" is from 1876; take the rap "accept (undeserved) punishment" is from 1930. Phrase take it or leave it is recorded from 1897.
turn (v.): late O.E. turnian "to rotate, revolve," in part also from O.Fr. torner "to turn," both from L. tornare "turn on a lathe," from tornus "lathe," from Gk. tornos "lathe, tool for drawing circles," from PIE base *tere- "to rub, rub by turning, turn, twist" (see throw). Expression to turn (something) into (something else) probably retains the classical sense of "to shape on a lathe" (attested in Eng. from c.1300). To turn up "arrive" is recorded from 1755. Turning-point in the fig. sense is attested from 1836. Turn-off "something that dampens one's spirits" first recorded 1975 (said to have been in use since 1968); to turn (someone) on "excite, stimulate, arouse" is recorded from 1903. Someone should revive turn-sick "dizzy," which is attested from mid-15c. To turn (something) loose "set free" is recorded from 1590s. Turn around (v.) "reverse" is first attested 1880, Amer.Eng. Turn down (v.) "reject" first recorded 1891, Amer.Eng. Turn in "go to bed" is attested from 1690s, originally nautical. To turn the stomach "nauseate" is recorded from 1620s. To turn up one's nose as an expression of contempt is attested from 1779.