Online Etymology Dictionary

thing: O.E. þing "meeting, assembly," later "entity, being, matter" (subject of deliberation in an assembly), also "act, deed, event, material object, body, being," from P.Gmc. *thengan "appointed time" (cf. O.Fris. thing "assembly, council, suit, matter, thing," M.Du. dinc "court-day, suit, plea, concern, affair, thing," Du. ding "thing," O.H.G. ding "public assembly for judgment and business, lawsuit," Ger. ding "affair, matter, thing," O.N. þing "public assembly"). Some suggest an ultimate connection to PIE root *ten- "stretch," perhaps on notion of "stretch of time for a meeting or assembly." For sense evolution, cf. Fr. chose, Sp. cosa "thing," from L. causa "judicial process, lawsuit, case;" L. res "affair, thing," also "case at law, cause." Old sense is preserved in second element of hustings and in Icelandic Althing, the nation's general assembly. Southern U.S. pronunciation thang attested from 1937. The thing "what's stylish or fashionable" is recorded from 1762. Phrase do your thing "follow your particular predilection," though associated with hippie-speak of 1960s is attested from 1841. Used colloquially since 1602 to indicate things the speaker can't name at the moment, often with various meaningless suffixes, e.g. thingumbob (1751), thingamajig (1824).
anathema: 1520s, from L. anathema "an excommunicated person, the curse of excommunication," from Gk. anathema "a thing accursed," originally "a thing devoted," lit. "a thing set up (to the gods)," from ana- "up" + tithenai "to place," from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious). Originally simply a votive offering, by the time it reached L. the meaning had progressed through "thing devoted to evil," to "thing accursed or damned." Later applied to persons and the Divine Curse. Anathema maranatha, taken as an intensified form, is a misreading of the Syriac maran etha "the Lord hath come," which follows anathema in I Cor. xvi.22, but is not connected with it.
nada: slang, "nothing," 1933, introduced by Hemingway, from Sp., "nothing," from L. (res) nata "small, insignificant thing," lit. "(thing) born."
object (n.): late 14c., "tangible thing, something perceived or presented to the senses," from M.L. objectum "thing put before" (the mind or sight), neut. of L. objectus, pp. of obicere "to present, oppose, cast in the way of," from ob "against" + jacere "to throw" (see jet). Sense of "thing aimed at" is late 14c. No object "not a thing regarded as important" is from 1782. Object lesson "instruction conveyed by examination of a material object" is from 1831.
dud: c.1825, "person in ragged clothing," from duds (q.v.). Sense extended by 1897 to "counterfeit thing," and 1908 to "useless, inefficient person or thing." This led naturally in WWI to "shell which fails to explode," and thence to "expensive failure."
wight: O.E. wiht "living being, creature," from P.Gmc. *wekhtiz (cf. O.S. wiht "thing, demon," Du. wicht "a little child," O.H.G. wiht "thing, creature, demon," Ger. Wicht "creature, infant," O.N. vettr "thing, creature," Swed. vätte "spirit of the earth, gnome," Goth. waihts "something"). The only apparent cognate outside Gmc. is O.C.S. vešti "a thing." Not related to the Isle of Wight, which is from L. Vectis (c.150), originally Celtic, possibly meaning "place of the division."
dingus: "any unspecified or unspecifiable object; something one does not know the name of or does not wish to name," 1876, U.S. slang, from Du. dinges, lit. "thing" (see thing).
wee (adj.): "extremely small," c.1450, from earlier noun use in sense of "quantity, amount" (cf. a littel wei "a little thing or amount," c.1300), from O.E. wæge "weight" (see weigh). Adj. use wee bit apparently developed as parallel to such forms as a bit thing "a little thing." Wee hours is attested by 1891, from Scot. wee sma' hours (1787, Burns). Wee folk "faeries" is recorded from 1819. Weeny "tiny, small" is from 1790.
sake: "purpose," O.E. sacu "a cause at law, crime, dispute, guilt," from P.Gmc. *sako "affair, thing, charge, accusation" (cf. O.N. sök "charge, lawsuit, effect, cause," O.Fris. seke "strife, dispute, matter, thing," Du. zaak, Ger. sache "thing, matter, affair, cause"), from PIE base *sag- "to investigate" (cf. O.E. secan, Goth. sokjan "to seek;" see seek). Much of the word's original meaning has been taken over by case, cause, and it survives largely in phrases for the sake of (early 13c.) and for _______'s sake (c.1300, originally for God's sake), both probably are from O.N., as these forms have not been found in O.E.
fact: 1530s, "action," especially "evil deed," from L. factum "event, occurrence," lit. "thing done," from neut. pp. of facere "to do" (see factitious). Usual modern sense of "thing known to be true" appeared 1630s, from notion of "something that has actually occurred." Facts of life "harsh realities" is from 1854; specific sense of "human sexual functions" first recorded 1913.
cheesy: "cheap, inferior," 1896, from Urdu chiz "a thing," picked up by British in India by 1818 and used in the sense of "a big thing." By 1858, cheesy had evolved a slang meaning of "showy," which led to the modern, ironic sense. Cheesed "disgruntled, exasperated," is from 1941, British slang, but the connection is uncertain.
thaumaturge: 1621 (implied in thaumaturgical), from Mod.L., from Gk. thaumatourgos "wonder-working, conjurer," from thauma (gen. thaumatos) "wonder, wonderous thing," prop. "a thing to look at" (from root of theater, q.v.) + ergon "work" (see urge (v.)).
leitmotif: 1876, "a musical figure to which some definite meaning is attached," from Ger. Leitmotiv, lit. "lead motive," from leiten "to lead" + Motiv "motive." A term associated with Wagnerian musical drama, though the thing itself is at least as old as Mozart. "The leitmotif must be characteristic of the person or thing it is intended to represent." ["Elson's Music Dictionary"]
perquisite: mid-15c., "property acquired other than by inheritance," from M.L. perquisitum "thing gained, profit," in L., "thing sought after," from neut. pp. of perquirere "to seek, ask for," from per- "thoroughly" + quærere "to seek" (see query). For L. vowel change, see acquisition. General meaning "fee or profit on top of regular wages" first recorded 1560s.
quid pro quo: 1565, from L., lit. "something for something, one thing for another."
kimono: 1637, from Japanese kimono, lit. "a thing put on," from ki "wear" + mono "thing."
memorial: late 14c. (adj.) "preserving the memory of a person or thing," also "something by which the memory of a person, thing, or event is preserved, monument," from L.L. memoriale, noun use of neut. of L. memorialis (adj.) "of or belonging to memory," from memoria "memory" (see memory). Noun sense of "memorial act, commemoration" is from mid-15c.
cosa nostra: 1963, "the Mafia in America," from It., lit. "this thing of ours."
deadwood: 1887 in fig. sense of "useless person or thing," orig. Amer.Eng.
blank verse: 1580s; the thing itself is attested in English poetry from mid-16c. and is classical in origin.
toy (n.): c.1300, "amorous playing, sport," later "piece of fun or entertainment" (c.1500), "thing of little value, trifle" (1530), and "thing for a child to play with" (1586). Of uncertain origin, and there may be more than one word here. Cf. M.Du. toy, Du. tuig "tools, apparatus, stuff, trash," in speeltuig "play-toy, plaything;" Ger. Zeug "stuff, matter, tools," Spielzeug "plaything, toy;" Dan. tøi, Swed. tyg "stuff, gear." The verb is first attested 1529, from the noun.
"If he be merie and toy with any,
His wife will frowne, and words geve manye."
["Song of the Bachelor's Life," 16c.]
schadenfreude: "malicious joy in the misfortunes of others," 1922, from Ger., lit. "damage-joy," from schaden "damage, harm, injury" (see scathe) + freude, from O.H.G. frewida "joy," from fro "happy," lit. "hopping for joy," from P.Gmc. *frawa- (see frolic).
"What a fearful thing is it that any language should have a word expressive of the pleasure which men feel at the calamities of others; for the existence of the word bears testimony to the existence of the thing. And yet in more than one such a word is found. ... In the Greek epikhairekakia, in the German, 'Schadenfreude.' " [Richard C. Trench, "On the Study of Words," 1852]
chimichanga: "deep-fried burrito," by 1964; the thing and the name for it seem to have originated somewhere along the western U.S.-Mexico border (Arizona, Sonora), but beyond that all is obscure.
jim-dandy: "remarkable person or thing," 1844, perhaps from an old song, "Dandy Jim of Caroline" (1840s).
doodad: "unnamed thing," 1905, chiefly U.S., a made-up word; as is doohickey (1914).
beaut: 1866, abbreviated form of beauty in the noun sense of "a beautiful thing or person."
lollapalooza: "remarkable or wonderful person or thing," 1904 (lallapalootza), Amer.Eng., fanciful formation.
loaner: 1884, "one who lends," from from loan. Meaning "a thing loaned" especially in place of one being repaired, is from 1926.
waif: 1376, "unclaimed property, flotsam, stray animal," from Anglo-Norm. waif, gwaif (1223) "ownerless property," probably from a Scand. source akin to O.N. veif "waving thing, flag," from P.Gmc. *waif-, from PIE *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically" (see vibrate). Cf. M.L. waivium "thing thrown away by a thief in flight." A Scot./northern Eng. parallel form was wavenger (1493). Meaning "person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1624). Neglected children being uncommonly thin, the word tended toward this sense. Connotations of "fashionable, small, slender woman" began 1991 with application to childishly slim supermodels such as Kate Moss.
luggage: 1590s, from lug (v.) "to drag;" so, lit. "what has to be lugged about" (or, in Johnson's definition, "any thing of more bulk than value"). In 20c., the usual word for "baggage belonging to passengers."
blighter: 1822, "thing which blights," from blight. British colloquial sense of "contemptible person" (often jocular) is recorded from 1896.
lulu: "remarkable person or thing," 1886 (first attested in a baseball article from New Orleans, U.S.), perhaps from earlier looly "beautiful girl," of unknown origin.
subject (n.): early 14c., "person under control or dominion of another," from O.Fr. suget, subget "a subject person or thing" (12c.), from L. subjectus, noun use of pp. of subicere "to place under," from sub "under" + combining form of jacere "to throw." In 14c., sugges, sogetis, subgit, sugette; form re-Latinized in Eng. 16c. Meaning "person or thing that may be acted upon" is recorded from 1590s. Meaning "subject matter of an art or science" is attested from 1540s, probably short for subject matter (late 14c.), which is from M.L. subjecta materia, a loan translation of Gk. hypokeimene hyle (Aristotle), lit. "that which lies beneath." Likewise some specific uses in logic and philosophy are borrowed directly from L. subjectum "foundation or subject of a proposition," a loan-translation of Aristotle's to hypokeimenon. Grammatical sense is recorded from 1630s. The adj. is attested from early 14c.
eraser: "thing that erases writing," 1790, Amer.Eng., agent noun from erase. Originally a knife for scraping off the ink. As a rubber product for removing pencil marks, from 1858.
zest: 1670s, from Fr. zeste "piece of orange or lemon peel used as a flavoring," of unknown origin. Sense of "thing that adds flavor" is 1709; that of "keen enjoyment" first attested 1791.
binding: mid-13c., action of bind (q.v.). Meaning "thing that binds" is from c.1300; "state of being bound" is from late 14c. Meaning "covering of a book" is recorded from 1640s.
dobro: 1952, Amer.Eng., contracted from the name of its Slovakia-born inventors, the Dopera Brothers (John, Rudy, Emil). The word also happens to mean "good thing" in Slovak. Patent filed 1947, claims use from 1929.
nonentity: c.1600, "something which does not exist," from non- + entity. Meaning "a person or thing of no importance" is attested from 1710.
interpretative: 1560s, properly formed from the L. pp. stem of interpret. Interpretive, which means the same thing but is less correct, is from 1670s.
accomplishment: mid 15c., "completion," from Fr. accomplissement "action of accomplishing" (see accomplish). Meaning "thing completed" and that of "something that completes" someone and fits him or her for society are from c.1600.
appliance: 1560s, "action of putting into use," from apply + -ance. Meaning "instrument, thing applied for a purpose" is from 1590s.
biplane: 1874, as a theoretical notion; first attested 1908 in reference to the real thing; from bi- + plane. So called from the two "planes" of the double wings.
rip (n2.): "thing of little value," 1815, earlier "inferior or worn-out horse" (1778), perhaps altered from slang rep (1747) "man of loose character," which is itself perhaps short for reprobate (q.v.).
pippin: "excellent person or thing," 1897, from coveted varieties of apple that were raised from seed (so called since early 15c.), from M.E. pipin "seed" (see pip (1)).
bewilderment: 1820, "condition of being bewildered," from bewilder + -ment; meaning "thing or situation which bewilders" is from 1844.
duffer: "old man," also "bad golfer," 1842, probably from Scot. duffar "dull or stupid person." But perhaps rather from 18c. thieves' slang duff (v.) "to dress or manipulate an old thing and make it look new."
bippy: by late 1960s, "buttocks, ass," U.S. slang, the kind of thing that once sounded naughty on "Laugh-In." As it often was used with you bet your ... it may be nonsense chosen for alliteration, but there may be some whiff of bipedal in it.
embarrassment: 1670s, “impeded, obstructed, entangled” (of affairs, etc.), from embarrass + -ment. As a mental state, from 1774. Meaning “thing which embarrasses” is from 1729.
furore: 1790, It. form of furor, borrowed originally in the sense “enthusiastic, popular admiration;” it later descended to mean the same thing as furor and lost its usefulness.
flavoring: 1845 as a noun meaning "thing that gives flavor," from flavor. M.E. flauryng meant "perfume."