Online Etymology Dictionary

sketch: "rough drawing intended to serve as the bases for a finished picture," 1668, from Du. schets, from It. schizzo "sketch, drawing," lit. "a splash, squirt," from schizzare "to splash or squirt," of uncertain origin, perhaps from L. schedium "an extemporaneous poem," from Gk. skedios "temporary, extemporaneous," related to skhein, aor. inf. of ekhein "to have" (see scheme). Ger. Skizze, Fr. esquisse, Sp. esquicio are from Italian. The verb is attested from 1694. Extended sense of "brief account" is from 1668; meaning "short play or performance, usually comic" is from 1789. Sketchy first recorded 1805.
adumbration: 1530s, from L. adumbrationem (nom. adumbratio) "a sketch in shadow, sketch, outline," from adumbratus, pp. of adumbrare "to cast a shadow, overshadow, represent (a thing) in outline," from ad- "to" + umbrare "to cast in shadow," from PIE *andho- "blind, dark" (see umbrage).
Rip Van Winkle: "person out of touch with current conditions," 1829, from name of character in Washington Irving's "Sketch Book" (1819-20).
adumbrate: "to outline, to sketch," 1580s, from L. adumbrat-, pp. stem of adumbrare "to cast a shadow," also "to represent (a thing) in outline" (see adumbration).
scenario: 1878, "sketch of the plot of a play," from It. scenario, from L.L. scenarius "of stage scenes," from L. scena "scene" (see scene). Meaning "imagined situation" is first recorded 1962.
itinerary: mid-15c., "route of travel," from L.L. itinerarium "account of a journey," from noun use of neut. of itinerarius "of a journey," from L. itineris (see itinerant). By late 15c. it meant "record of a journey;" extended sense "sketch of a proposed route" is from 1856.
description: mid-14c., from L. descriptionem, from stem of describere "write down, transcribe, copy, sketch," from de- "down" + scribere "write" (see script).
draft: c.1500, spelling variant of draught (q.v.) to reflect change in pronunciation. Meaning "rough copy of a writing" (something "drawn") is attested from 14c.; that of "preliminary sketch from which a final copy is made" is from 1520s. The meaning "to draw off a group for special duty" is from 1703, in U.S. especially of military service; the v. in this sense first recorded 1714. Draftee is from 1866. Sense in bank draft is from 1745.
cameo: 16c., camuse, camfeo, etc. (from early 13c. in Anglo-L.), "carved precious stone with two layers of colors," from It. cammeo (13c.), from M.L. cammæus, of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately from Arabic qamaa'il "flower buds," or Pers. chumahan "agate." Transferred sense of "small character or part that stands out from other minor parts" in a play, etc., is from 1928, from earlier meaning "short literary sketch or portrait" (1851).
apercu: "quick impression, sketch, brief survey," 1820s, from Fr. aperçu, noun use of pp. of apercevoir "to perceive" (11c.), from Gallo-Romance *adpercipere, from L. ad "to" + percipere "to perceive" (see perceive).
vignette: 1751, "decorative design," originally a design in the form of vine tendrils around the borders of a book page, especially a picture page, from Fr. vignette, from O.Fr., dim. of vigne "vineyard" (see vine). Sense transferred from the border to the picture itself, then (1853) to a type of small photographic portrait with blurred edges very popular mid-19c. Meaning "literary sketch" is first recorded 1880, probably from the photographic sense.
monogram: 1690s, from Fr. monogramme, from L.L. monogramma (5c.), from Late Gk. monogrammon, "a character formed of several letters in one design," especially in ref. to the signature of the Byzantine emperors, from neut. of monogrammos (adj.) "consisting of a single letter," lit. "drawn with single lines," from Gk. monos "single, alone" + gramma "letter, line." Earlier it meant "sketch or picture drawn in lines only, without shading or color," a sense also found in Latin and probably in Greek. Related: Monogrammed.
scarification: c.1400, "act of covering with scratches or slight cuts," from O.Fr. scarification (1314), from L.L. scarificationem, noun of action from scarificare, from L. scarifare "scratch open," from Gk. skariphasthai "to scratch an outline, sketch," from skariphos "pencil, stylus," from PIE base *skribh- "to cut, separate, sift" (see script). Scarify in the sense "cover with scars" (1687) is a sense-shift from infl. of scar.
obituary: 1706, "register of deaths," from M.L. obituarius "a record of the death of a person," lit. "pertaining to death," from L. obitus "departure, a going to meet, encounter" (a euphemism for "death"), from stem of obire "go to meet" (as in mortem obire "meet death"), from ob "to, toward" + ire "go." Meaning "record or announcement of a death, esp. in a newspaper, and including a brief biographical sketch" is from 1738. A similar euphemism is in O.E. cognate forðfaran "to die," lit. "to go forth."
profile (n.): 1656, "a drawing of the outline of anything," from It. profilo "a drawing in outline," from profilare "to draw in outline," from pro- "forth" + filare "draw out, spin," from L.L. filare "to spin, draw out a line," from filum "thread." Meaning "biographical sketch, character study" is from 1734. The verb is 1715, "to represent in profile," from the noun. Meaning "to summarize a person in writing" is from 1948. Profiling in the racial/ethnic stereotyping sense is recorded from c.1991.
plan (n.): 1678, "drawing, sketch, or diagram of any object," from Fr. plan "ground plan, map," lit. "plane surface" (1553), from L. planum "level or flat surface," n. use of adj. planus "level, flat" (see plane (1)). The notion is of "a drawing on a flat surface." Meaning "scheme of action, design" is first recorded 1706, possibly infl. by Fr. planter "to plant," from It. planta "ground plan." The verb is first recorded 1728. Planned economy is attested from 1931. Planned Parenthood (1942) formerly was Birth Control Federation of America. Phrase planned obsolescence is attested from 1966. Planner "book or device that enables one to plan" is attested from 1971.
write: O.E. writan "to score, outline, draw the figure of," later "to set down in writing" (class I strong verb; past tense wrat, pp. writen), from P.Gmc. *writanan "tear, scratch" (cf. O.Fris. writa "to write," O.S. writan "to tear, scratch, write," O.N. rita "write, scratch, outline," O.H.G. rizan "to write, scratch, tear," Ger. reißen "to tear, pull, tug, sketch, draw, design"), outside connections doubtful. Words for "write" in most I.E languages originally mean "carve, scratch, cut" (cf. L. scribere, Gk. grapho, Skt. rikh-); a few originally meant "paint" (cf. Goth. meljan, O.C.S. pisati, and most of the modern Slavic cognates).
"For men use to write an evill turne in marble stone, but a good turne in the dust." [More, 1513]
To write (something) off (1682) originally was from accounting; fig. sense is recorded from 1889. Write-in "unlisted candidate" is recorded from 1932.
script: late 14c., "something written," from O.Fr. escrit (Fr. écrit) "a writing, written paper," from L. scriptum "a writing, book, law, line, mark," noun use of neut. pp. of scribere "to write," from PIE *skreibh- (cf. Gk. skariphasthai "to scratch an outline, sketch," Lett. skripat "scratch, write," O.N. hrifa "scratch"), from base *sker- "cut, incise" (cf. O.E. sceran "cut off, shear;" see shear) on the notion of carving marks in stone, wood, etc. Meaning "handwriting" is recorded from 1860. Theatrical use, short for manuscript, is attested from 1897. The importance of Rome to the spread of civilization in Europe is attested by the fact that the word for "write" in Romance, Celtic and Gmc. languages derives from scribere (e.g. Fr. écrire, Ir. scriobhaim, Welsh ysgrifennu, Ger. schreiben), but the cognate O.E. scrifan means "to allot, assign, decree" (see shrive; also cf. O.N. skript "penance") and Mod.Eng. uses write (q.v.) to express this action.
thumb: O.E. þuma, from W.Gmc. *thumon- (cf. O.Fris. thuma, O.S., O.H.G. thumo, Ger. Daumen, Du. duim "thumb," O.N. þumall "thumb of a glove"), lit. "the stout or thick (finger)," from PIE *tum- "swell" (cf. L. tumere "to swell," tumidus "swollen;" Avestan tuma "fat;" see thigh). For spelling with -b (attested from c.1290), see limb. The verb meaning "to go through" (especially of printed material) is first found 1930, though the related sense of "soil or wear by handling" dates from 1644. Verb meaning "to hitchhike" is 1939, originally the thumb pointed in the direction one wished to travel. Thumbnail sketch (1852) so called for its smallness. To be under (someone's) thumb "be totally controlled by that person" is recorded from 1586. Thumbs up (1887) and thumbs down (1906) were said to be from expressions of approval or the opposite in ancient amphitheaters, especially gladiator shows, where the gesture decided whether a defeated combatant was spared or slain. But the Roman gesture was merely one of hiding the thumb in the hand or extending it. Perhaps the modern gesture is from the usual coachmen's way of greeting while the hands are occupied with the reins.