Online Etymology Dictionary

station: c.1280, "place which one normally occupies," from O.Fr. station, from L. stationem (nom. statio) "a standing, post, job, position," related to stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). The meaning "place for a special purpose" (e.g. polling station) is first recorded 1823; radio station is from 1912. The meaning "regular stopping place" is first recorded 1797, in reference to coach routes; applied to railroads 1830. Meaning "each of a number of holy places visited in succession by pilgrims" is from c.1380, hence Station of the Cross (1553). The verb meaning "to assign a post or position to" is attested from 1748. Station wagon in the automobile sense is first recorded 1929, from earlier use for a horse-drawn conveyance that took passengers to and from railroad stations (1894). Station house "police station" is attested from 1836.
stationary: 1426, in relation to planetary motions, from L. stationarius, in classical L., "of a military station," from statio (see station).
stationery: 1727, from stationery wares (c.1680) "articles sold by a stationer," from stationer "seller of books and paper," 1311, from M.L. stationarius "stationary seller," from L. stationem (nom. statio) "station" (see station). Roving peddlers were more common in the Middle Ages; sellers with a fixed location were often bookshops licensed by universities. The Company of Stationers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, was founded 1556.
stance: 1532, "standing place, station," probably from M.Fr. stance "resting place, harbor," from It. stanza "stopping place, station," from V.L. *stantia "place, abode," from L. stans (gen. stantis), prp. of stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Sense of "position of the feet" (in golf, etc.) is first recorded 1897; fig. sense of "point of view" is recorded from 1956.
post (2): "place when on duty," 1598, from M.Fr. poste "place where one is stationed," also, "station for post horses" (16c.), from It. posto "post, station," from V.L. *postum, from L. postium, neut. pp. of ponere "to place, to put" (see position). Earliest sense in Eng. was military; meaning "job, position" is attested 1695. The figurative sense of "carrying" by post horses is also behind the verb in bookkeeping (1622) meaning "to transfer from a day book to a formal account." To keep (someone) posted "supply with news" is 1847, Amer.Eng.
Quonset hut: 1942, from Quonset Point Naval Air Station, Rhode Island, where this type of structure was first built, 1941. The place name is from a southern New England Algonquian language and perhaps means "small, long place."
redcap: "porter at a railroad station," 1919, Amer.Eng., from red (1) + cap.
substation: 1881, in the policing sense, from sub- + station. Power grid sense is attested from 1901.
tryst: late 14c., from O.Fr. tristre "appointed station in hunting," possibly from a Scand. source (cf. O.N. treysta "to trust;" see trust).
Lincoln: English city, county town of Lincolnshire, O.E. Lindcylene, from L. Lindum Colonia from a Latinized form of British *lindo "pool, lake" (corresponding to Welsh llyn). Originally a station for retired IX Legion veterans.
gasoline: coined 1865 as gasolene, from gas (q.v.) + chemical suffix -ine/-ene. current spelling is 1871; shortened form gas first recorded Amer.Eng. 1905. Gas station first recorded 1932.
Ellis Island: sandy island in mouth of Hudson River, said to have been called "Gull Island" by local Indians and "Oyster Island" by the Du., renamed "Gull Island" after the British took over, then "Gibbet Island" because pirates were hanged there. Sold to Samuel Ellis in 1785, who made it a picnic spot and gave it his name. Sold by his heirs in 1808 to New York State and acquired that year by the U.S. War Department for coastal defenses. Vacant after the American Civil War until the government opened an immigration station there in 1892 to replace Castle Island.
depot: 1795, "warehouse," from Fr. dépôt "a deposit, place of deposit," from O.Fr. depost "a deposit or pledge," from L. depositum "a deposit," neut. pp. of deponere "lay aside" (see deposit). Military sense is from 1798; meaning "railway station" is first recorded 1842, Amer.Eng.
mansion: mid-14c., "the chief residence of a lord," from O.Fr. mansion, from L. mansionem (nom. mansio) "a staying, a remaining, night quarters, station," from manere "to stay, abide," from PIE *men- "to remain, wait for" (cf. Gk. menein "to remain," Pers. mandan "to remain"). Sense of "any large and stately house" is from 1510s.
posture: 1605, from Fr. posture (16c.), from It. postura "position, posture," from L. positura "position, station," from postulus, pp. of ponere "put, place" (see position). The verb, in the fig. sense of "to take up an artificial mental position" is attested from 1877. Posturpedic trademark name (Sealy, Inc., Chicago) for a brand of mattress, filed in 1951.
Mir: space station, from Rus., lit. "peace, world," also "village, community," from O.C.S. miru "peace," from Proto-Slavic *miru "commune, joy, peace" ("possibly borrowed from Iranian" -Watkins), from PIE base *mei- "to bind" (see mitre). O.C.S. miru was "used in Christian terminology as a collective 'community of peace' " [Buck], translating Gk. kosmos. Hence, "the known world, mankind."
wuthering: N. England dial. variant of Scottish and dial. whithering "rushing, whizzing, blustering," from a verb whither (late 14c.), used in ref. to gusts of wind and coughing fits, from O.N. *hviðra (cf. Norw. kvidra "to go quickly to and fro," related to O.E. hwiþa "air, breeze."
"Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. 'Wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed, in stormy weather." [Emily Brontë, "Wuthering Heights," 1847]
ranch: 1808, "country house," from Amer.Sp. rancho "small farm, group of farm huts," from Sp. rancho, originally, "group of people who eat together," from ranchear "to lodge or station," from O.Fr. ranger "install in position," from rang "row, line" (see rank (n.)). Sense of "large cattle-breeding estate" is from 1831. Meaning "single-story split-level house" is from 1960. Ranchero "one employed on a ranch" is from 1826.
position (n.): late 14c., as a term in logic and philosophy, from O.Fr. posicion, from L. positionem (nom. positio) "act or fact of placing, position, affirmation," from posit-, pp. stem of ponere "put, place," from PIE *po-s(i)nere, from *apo- "off, away" (see apo-) + *sinere "to leave, let," of obscure origin. Meaning "manner in which a body is arranged or posed" first recorded 1703; specifically in ref. to dance steps, 1778, sexual intercourse, 1883. Meaning "official station, employment" is from 1890. The verb meaning "to put in a particular position" is recorded from 1817.
decent: 1530s, "proper to one's station or rank," also "tasteful," from M.Fr. decent, from L. decentem (nom. decens, gen. decentis), prp. of decere "to be fitting or suitable," from PIE *deke-, from base *dek- "to take, accept, to receive, greet, be suitable" (cf. Gk. dokein "to appear, seem, think," dekhesthai "to accept;" Skt. dacasyati "shows honor, is gracious," dacati "makes offerings, bestows"). Meaning "kind, pleasant" is from 1902. Are you decent? (1949) was originally backstage theater jargon for "are you dressed."
express (v.): late 14c., from M.L. expressare, freq. of exprimere "represent, describe," lit. "to press out" (perhaps via an intermediary sense of something like "clay that takes form under pressure"), from ex- "out" + pressare "to press, push," from L. primere. The adj. is from L. expressus "clearly presented," pp. of exprimere; and it led to the n. (first attested 1619) meaning "special messenger." Sense of "business or system for sending money or parcels" is 1794. Related: Expressed; expresses; expressing. An express train (1841) originally ran to a certain station.
meridian: c.1380, "noon," from O.Fr. meridien, from L. meridianus "of noon, southern," from meridies "noon, south," from meridie "at noon," altered by dissimilation from pre-L. *mediei die, loc. of medius "mid-" (see medial) + dies "day" (see diurnal). Cartographic sense first recorded 1391. The city in Mississippi, U.S., was settled 1854 (as Sowashee Station) at a railway junction and given its current name in 1860, supposedly by people who thought meridian meant "junction" (they perhaps confused the word with median).
platform: 1550, "plan of action, scheme, design," from M.Fr. plate-forme, lit. "flat form," from O.Fr. plate "flat" (see plat) + forme "form" (see form). The literal sense of "raised, level surface" is first recorded 1560. Political meaning, "statement of party policies," is from 1803, probably originally an image of a lit. platform on which politicians gather, stand, and make their appeals, perhaps influenced by earlier sense of "set of rules governing church doctrine" (first attested 1573). Railroad station sense is from 1838.
whistle (v.): O.E. hwistlian, from P.Gmc. *khwis-, of imitative origin. Used also in M.E. of the hissing of serpents. The noun meaning "tubular musical instrument" is from O.E. hwistle. To wet one's whistle "take a drink" (late 14c.) originally may have referred to pipes, or be an allusion to the throat as a sort of pipe. To whistle for (with small prospect of getting) is probably from nautical whistling for a wind. Figurative use of whistle-blower first attested 1970. To whistle "Dixie" is from 1940. Phrase clean as a whistle is recorded from 1878; railroad whistle stop (at which trains stop only if the engineer hears a signal from the station) is recorded from 1934.
work (n.): O.E. weorc, worc "something done, deed, action, proceeding, business, military fortification," from P.Gmc. *werkan (cf. O.S., O.Fris., Du. werk, O.N. verk, M.Du. warc, O.H.G. werah, Ger. Werk, Goth. gawaurki), from PIE base *werg- "to work" (see urge (v.)).
"Work is less boring than amusing oneself." [Baudelaire, "Mon Coeur mis a nu," 1862]
In O.E., the noun also had the sense of "fornication." Workhouse in the sense of "place where the poor or petty criminals are lodged" first appeared 1652. Works "industrial place" (usually with qualifying adj.) is attested from 1581. Work station is recorded from 1950.
space (n.): c.1300, "an area, extent, expanse, lapse of time," aphetic of O.Fr. espace, from L. spatium "room, area, distance, stretch of time," of unknown origin. Astronomical sense of "stellar depths" is first recorded 1667 in "Paradise Lost."
"Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards." [Sir Fred Hoyle, "London Observer," 1979]
Typographical sense is attested from 1676 (typewriter space bar is from 1888). Space age is attested from 1946; spacewalk is from 1965. Many compounds first appeared in science fiction and speculative writing, e.g. spaceship (1894, "Journey in Other Worlds"); spacesuit (1920); spacecraft (1930, "Scientific American"); space travel (1931); space station (1936, "Rockets Through Space"); spaceman (1942, "Thrilling Wonder Stories;" earlier it meant "journalist paid by the length of his copy," 1892). Spacious is attested from 1382.
stet: direction to printer to disregard correction made to text, 1755, from L. stet "let it stand," third person singular present subjunctive of stare "to stand, stand upright, be stiff," from PIE base *sta- "to stand, set down, make or be firm" (cf. Skt. tisthati "stands;" Avestan histaiti "to stand;" Pers. -stan "country," lit. "where one stands;" Gk. histemi "put, place, weigh," stasis "a standing still," statos "placed," stater "a weight, coin," stylos "pillar;" L. sistere "stand still, stop, make stand, place, produce in court," status "manner, position, condition, attitude," statio "station, post;" Lith. stojus "place myself," statau "place;" O.C.S. staja "place myself," stanu "position," staru "old," lit. "long-standing;" Goth. standan, O.E. standan "to stand," O.N. steði "anvil," O.E. stede "place;" O.Ir. sessam "the act of standing").
boll: O.E. bolla "bowl, cup, pot," merged with M.Du. bolle "round object," borrowed 13c., both from P.Gmc. *bul-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole). Influenced in meaning by L. bulla "bubble, ball," ultimately from the same PIE root. Extended c.1500 to "round seed pod of flax or cotton." Boll weevil is 1895, Amer.Eng.
"In south Texas, among Spanish-speaking people, the insect is generally known as the 'picudo,' a descriptive name which refers to the snout or beak of the insect. English-speaking planters generally referred to the insect at first as 'the sharpshooter,' a term which for many years has been applied to any insect which causes through its punctures the shedding of the squares or the rotting of the bolls. As there are several native insects that are commonly called sharpshooters and which, though injurious, are by no means to be compared with this insect, it becomes necessary to discourage in every way the use of the word sharpshooter as applied to this weevil. The adoption of the term 'Mexican cotton-boll weevil' for the new pest is recommended." [New Mexico College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 19, April 1896]
A case of entomology meddling in etymology.