Online Etymology Dictionary

via (adv.): 1779, from L. via "by way of," ablative form of via "way, road, channel, course," of uncertain origin; not definitely connected with vehere "to carry convey."
viable: 1828, from Fr. viable "capable of life" (1539), from vie "life" (from L. vita "life;" see vital) + -able. Originally of newborn infants; generalized sense is first recorded 1848.
viaduct: 1816, from L. via "road" + -duct as in aqueduct. Fr. viaduc is an Eng. loan-word.
Viagra: 1998, proprietary name of drug manufactured by Pfizer company.
vial: c.1300, variant of fyole (see phial).
viand: "article of food," early 14c., from Anglo-Fr. viaunde, O.Fr. viande "food," dissimilated from V.L. *vivanda, from L.L. vivenda "things for living," in classical L. "be live," neuter plural gerundive of vivere "to live" (see vital).
abbreviate (v.): mid-15c., from L. abbreviatus, pp. of abbreviare "to shorten" (see abbreviation). Also sometimes 15c. abbrevy, from M.Fr. abrevier (14c.), from L. abbreviare. Related: Abbreviated; abbreviating.
abbreviation: mid-15c., from M.Fr. abréviation, from L.L. abbreviationem (nom. abbreviatio), from pp. of abbreviare "make brief," from L. ad "to" + breviare "shorten," from brevis "short, low, little, shallow" (see brief (adj.)).
alleviate: 1520s, from L.L. alleviatus, pp. of alleviare "to lighten," from L. ad- "to" + levis "light" in weight (see lever).
alleviation: noun of action formed in English by 1620s, from alleviate (q.v.) + -tion.
alluvial: 1802, from L. alluvius "alluvial" (see alluvium).
antediluvian: "before Noah's flood," 1646, formed from L. ante- "before" (see ante) + diluvium "a flood" (see deluge). Coined by Eng. physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682).
avian: "pertaining to birds," 1870; see aviary.
aviary: 1570s, from L. aviarium "place in which birds are kept," neut. of aviarius "of birds," from avis "bird," from PIE *awi- "bird" (cf. Skt. vih, Avestan vish "bird," Gk. aietos "eagle").
aviation: 1866, from Fr. aviation, from L. avis "bird" (see aviary). Coined 1863 by Fr. aviation pioneer Guillaume Joseph Gabriel de La Landelle (1812-1886) in "Aviation ou Navigation aérienne."
aviator: 1887, "pilot," from Fr. aviateur, from L. avis (see aviary) + -ateur. Also used c.1891 in a sense of "aircraft." Fem. form aviatrix is from 1927; earlier aviatrice (1910), aviatress (1911).
Batavia: former name of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, when it was the Dutch East Indies, a colony of the Netherlands; from Batavia, an ancient name for a region of Holland, from L. Batavi, a people who dwelt between the Rhine and the Waal on the island of Betawe.
bloviate (v.): 1857, Amer.Eng., a Midwestern word for "to talk aimlessly and boastingly; to indulge in 'high falutin'," according to Farmer (1890), who seems to have been the only British lexicographer to notice it. He says it was based on blow (v.) on the model of deviate, etc. It seems to have been felt as outdated slang already by late 19c. ("It was a leasure for him to hear the Doctor talk, or, as it was inelegantly expressed in the phrase of the period, 'bloviate....' " ["Overland Monthly," San Francisco, 1872, describing a scene from 1860]), but it enjoyed a revival early 1920s during the presidency of Warren G. Harding, who wrote a notoriously ornate and incomprehensible prose (e.e. cummings eulogized him as "The only man, woman or child who wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors") at which time the word took on its connection with political speech; it faded again thereafter, but, with its derivative, bloviation, it enjoyed a revival in the 2000 U.S. election season that continued through the era of blogging.
bloviation: "pompous oratory," c.1890; from bloviate.
Bolivia: South Amer. republic, founded 1825, named for Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), S.Amer. statesman and soldier.
breviary: 1540s, "brief statement;" sense of "short prayer book used by Catholic priests" is from 1610s, from L. breviarium "summary," neut. of adj. breviarius "abridged," from breviare "to shorten, abbreviate," from brevis "short" (see brief).
caviar: c.1560, from Fr. caviar, from It. or Turk., from Pers. khaviyar, from khaya "egg" (from M.Pers. khayak "egg," from Old Iranian *qvyaka-, dim. of *avya-, from PIE *owyo-/*oyyo- "egg") + dar "bearing."
convivial: 1660s, from L.L. convivialis, from L. convivium "a feast," from convivere "to carouse together," from com- "together" + vivere "to live." Related: Conviviality.
deviance: 1944, fromdeviant. A sociologists' word, perhaps coined because statisticians and astronomers already had claimed deviation.
deviant: c.1400 (adj.), from L.L. deviantem, prp. of deviare "turn aside," from L. phrase de via, from de "off" + via "way." The noun, in the sexual sense, is attested from 1952; also deviate (n.), recorded since 1912.
deviate (v.): 1630s, from L. deviat-, pp. stem of deviare "to turn out of the way" (see deviant). The noun meaning "sexual pervert" is attested from 1912.
deviation: 1640s, noun of action from L. deviare (see deviant). Statistical sense is from 1858.
effluvia: Latin plural of effluvium.
enviable: c.1600, from envy + -able. Related: Enviably.
Fauviast: movement in painting associated with Henri Matisse, 1915, from Fr. fauve, lit. "wild beast" (in O.Fr. "dark-colored thing, dull," from Frank. *falw-, from Gmc. root of fallow (adj.)), coined by Fr. art critic Louis Vauxcelles at Autumn Salon of 1905. It was a reaction against impressionism, featuring vivid use of colors. Related: Fauvism.
fluvial: "pertaining to a river," late 14c., from L. fluvialis, from fluvius "river," related to fluere "to flow" (see flow).
jovial: 1590, from Fr., from It. joviale, lit. "pertaining to Jupiter," from L. Jovialis "of Jupiter," from Jovius (used as gen. of Juppiter) "Jupiter," Roman god of the sky. The meaning "good-humored, merry," is from astrological belief that those born under the sign of the planet Jupiter are of such dispositions. In classical L., the compound Juppiter replaced Old L. Jovis as the god's name. Jovian, in ref. to the planet Jupiter, is from 1794.
Latvia: Baltic nation, independent from 1918, named for its inhabitants, Latvian Latvji, whose ancient name is of unknown origin. In English, the people name was Lett. Parts of the modern state were known previously as Livonia (from Estonian liiv "sand") and Courland (from Curonians, name of a Lettish people, of unknown origin).
leviathan: 1382, from L.L. leviathan, from Heb. livyathan "dragon, serpent, huge sea animal," of unknown origin, perhaps related to liwyah "wreath," from base l-w-h- "to wind, turn, twist."
Moravian: 1746, Protestant sect founded in the former Ger. state of Moravia (now in Czech Republic), from M.L., named for River Morva (Ger. March, L. Marus), which runs through it.
obliviate: 1660s, from L. oblivium (see oblivion).
obviate: 1598, "to meet and do away with," from L.L. obviatus, pp. of obviare "act contrary to, go against," from L. obvius "that is in the way, that moves against" (see obvious).
Octavia: fem. proper name, from L., fem. of Octavius, lit. "the eighth."
Octavian: from L. octavus "eighth," from octo (see eight).
Olivia: fem. proper name, from It. Olivia, from L. oliva "olive."
Pavlovian: 1931, from the theories, experiments, and methods of Rus. physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), especially in connection with the salivary reflexes of dogs to mental stimulus of the sound of a bell (attested from 1911, in Pavloff [sic] method).
pluvial: 1656, "pertaining to rain," from Fr. pluvial (12c.), from L. pluvialis "pertaining to rain," from (aqua) pluvia "rain (water)," from fem. of pluvius "rainy," from plovere "to rain," from PIE base *pleu- "to flow, to swim" (cf. Skt. plavate "navigates, swims;" Gk. plynein "to wash," plein "to navigate;" O.E. flowan "to flow").
Scandinavian: 1765, from L.L. Scandinavia, a mistake for Scadinavia, from a Gmc. source (cf. O.E. Scedenig, O.N. Skaney "south end of Sweden"), from P.Gmc. *skadinaujo "Scadia island," first element of uncertain origin, second element from *aujo "thing on the water," from PIE *akwa- "water." It may truly have been an island when the word was formed; the geography of the Baltic Sea has changed dramatically since the end of the Ice Ages.
Shavian: 1903, "in the style or manner of George Bernard Shaw" (1856-1950). An earlier form was Shawian (1894).
Sylvia: fem. proper name, lit. "inhabiting woods," from L. silva "wood, forest."
Traviata, La: title of an opera by Verdi, from It., lit. "the woman led astray," from traviata lit. "to lead beyond the way," from tra- "across, beyond" (from L. trans-) + via "way" (see via).
trivia: "trivialities, things of little consequence," 1902, popularized as title of a book by L.P. Smith, from L. trivia, pl. of trivium "place where three roads meet" (see trivial).
trivial: early 15c., "of the trivium," from M.L. trivialis, from trivium "first three of the seven liberal arts," from L., lit. "place where three roads meet," from tri- "three" + via "road." The basic notion is of "that which may be found anywhere, commonplace, vulgar." The meaning "ordinary" (1580s) and "insignificant" (1590s) were in L. trivialis "commonplace, vulgar," originally "of or belonging to the crossroads." The verb trivialize is attested from 1846.
Vivian: masc. proper name, from L. Vivianus (cf. Fr. Vivien), lit. "living, alive," (see vivid). But Klein says it is "prob. a misreading of the Celtic name Ninian."