Online Etymology Dictionary

wave (v.): "move back and forth," O.E. wafian "to wave with the hands" (related to wæfre "wavering, restless"), from P.Gmc. *wab- (cf. O.N. vafra "to hover about," M.H.G. waben "to wave, undulate"), from PIE base *webh- "to move to and fro, to weave" (see weave). Meaning "to make a sign by a wave of the hand" is from 1513.
wave (n.): "moving billow of water," 1520s, from wave (v.), replacing M.E. waw, which is from O.E. wagian "to move to and fro" (cf. O.S., O.H.G. wag, O.Fris. weg, O.N. vagr "water in motion, wave, billow," Goth. wegs "tempest;" see wag (v.)). The usual O.E. word for "moving billow of water" was yð. The "hand motion" meaning is recorded from 1680s; meaning "undulating line" is recorded from 1660s. Of people in masses, first recorded 1852; in physics, from 1832. Sense in heat wave is from 1843. The crowd stunt in stadiums is attested under this name from 1984, the thing itself said to have been done first Oct. 15, 1981, at the Yankees-A's AL championship series game in the Oakland Coliseum; soon picked up and popularized at University of Washington. To make waves "cause trouble" is attested from 1962.
wavelength: 1850, "distance between peaks of a wave," from wave (n.) + length. Originally of spectra; radio sense is attested by 1925. Fig. sense of "mental harmony" is recorded from 1927, on analogy of radio waves.
wavelet: 1813, dim. of wave (n.).
waver (v.): late 13c., weyveren, "to show indecision," probably related to O.E. wæfre "restless, wavering," from P.Gmc. *wæbraz (cf. M.H.G. wabern "to waver," O.N. vafra "to hover about"), a frequentative form from the root of wave (v.).
tidal: 1807, a hybrid formation from tide (q.v.) + Latin-derived suffix -al. A tidal wave (1830) is properly high water caused by movements of the tides; erroneous use for "tsunami, great ocean wave caused by an earthquake, etc." is recorded from 1878.
short-wave: "radio wavelength less than c.100 meters," 1907, from short (adj.) + wave.
microwave: "type of electromagnetic wave," 1931, coined in Eng. from micro- + wave. First record of microwave oven is from 1965; microwave as short for this is attested from 1974; as a verb, from 1976.
abound: late 14c., from O.Fr. abunder, from L. abundare "overflow, run over," from L. ab- "off" (see ab-) + undare "rise in a wave," from unda "water, wave" (see water).
a.m.: type of radio wave broadcast; see amplitude.
perm (n.): 1927, shortened form of permanent wave (1909). The verb is first recorded 1928.
New Wave: 1960, of cinema (from Fr. Nouvelle Vague, late 1950s); 1976 as a name for the more restrained and melodic alternative to punk rock.
seacoal: old name for "mineral coal" (as opposed to charcoal), mid-13c.; earlier in O.E., "jet," which chiefly was found washed ashore by the sea. The coal perhaps so called from resemblance to this, or because it was first dug from beds exposed by wave erosion.
breaker: "heavy ocean wave," 1680s, agent noun from break. Related: Breakers.
p wave: 1908 in geology, the p representing primary.
backwash: 1876, Motion of a receeding wave," from back + wash.
ripple (v.): 1670, "to present a ruffled surface," of unknown origin, perhaps a frequentative of rip (v.). The noun meaning "very small wave" first recorded 1798, from earlier meaning "stretch of shallow, rippling water" (1755). Meaning "ice cream streaked with colored syrup" first attested 1939, so called from its appearance.
oscilloscope: 1915, "instrument for visually recording an electrical wave," a hybrid formed from L. oscillare "to swing" (see oscillation) + -scope.
pipeline: 1873, "continuous line of pipes," from pipe + line. Figurative sense of "channel of communication" is from 1921; surfer slang meaning "hollow part of a large wave" is attested by 1963.
gnarly: 1829, from gnarl (see gnarled) + -y (2). Picked up 1970s as surfer slang to describe a dangerous wave; it had spread in teen slang by 1980s, where it meant both "excellent" and "disgusting."
wavy: 1580s, from wave (n.) + -y (2).
surf (n.): 1685, probably from earlier suffe (1599), of uncertain origin. Originally used in reference to the coast of India, hence perhaps of Indic origin. Or perhaps a phonetic respelling of sough, which meant "a rushing sound." The verb meaning "ride the crest of a wave" is from 1917; surfer, surfing both from 1955. In the Internet sense, first recorded 1993.
undulation: 1640s, from M.L. *undulatio, from L.L. undulatus "wavy, undulated," from undula "wavelet," dim. of L. unda "wave" (see water).
redundant: 1590s, from L. redundantem (nom. redundans), prp. of redundare "come back, contribute," lit. "overflow," from re- "again" + undare "rise in waves," from unda "a wave" (see water).
overwhelm: early 14c., "to turn upside down, to overthrow," from over + M.E. whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is mid-15c. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Figurative sense of "to bring to ruin" is attested from 1520s. Related: Overwhelming; overwhelmingly.
fluctuation: mid-15c., from L. fluctuationem (nom. fluctuatio), from fluctuare "to undulate," from fluctus "wave," from pp. of fluere "to flow" (see fluent).
holm: from O.N. holmr "small island, especially in a bay or river," also "meadow by a shore," or cognate O.Dan. hulm "low lying land," from P.Gmc. *hul-maz, from PIE base *kel- "to rise, be elevated" (see hill). Obsolete, but preserved in place names. Cognate O.E. holm (only attested in poetic language) meant "sea, ocean, wave."
inundation: early 15c., from L. inundationem (nom. inundatio) "an overflowing," from inundatus, pp. of inundare "to overflow," from in- "onto" + undare "to flow," from unda "wave" (see water).
billow: 1550s, perhaps older in dialectal use, from O.N. bylgja "a wave," from P.Gmc. *bulgjan (cf. M.H.G. bulge "billow, bag"), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell" (see belly). Related: Billowing; billowy.
amplitude: 1540s, from L. amplitudinem (nom. amplitudo, gen. amplitudinis) "wide extent, width," from amplus (see ample). Amplitude modulation in ref. to radio wave broadcast (as opposed to frequency modulation) first attested 1921, usually abbreviated a.m.
waft: 1510s, "to carry over water," back-formation from obs. wafter "convoy ship" (late 15c.), from M.Du. or M.L.G. wachter "a guard," from wachten "to guard," related to waken "rouse from sleep" (see wake (1)). The meaning "pass through air or space, float" is first attested 1704, and possibly shows some influence of northern dialect waff "cause to move to and fro" (1510s), a variant of wave.
compression: c.1400, from M.Fr. compression (14c.), from L. compressionem (nom. compressio) "a pressing together," noun of action from compress-, pp. stem of comprimere (see compress). Related: Compressional wave (1887).
undine: 1821, from Mod.L. Undina (1657), coined by Paracelsus ("De Nymphis") for a water spirit in his alchemical system, from L. unda "a wave" (see water). Popularized by Ger. romance "Undine, eine Erzählung" (1811) by Baron F.H.C. La Motte Fouqué. Undinism (1928) was coined by sex researcher Havelock Ellis to describe the fetish for urine (which Ellis had); nowadays it would be called urophilia.
sway: c.1300, "to go, glide, move," probably from O.N. sveigja "to bend, swing, give way," from P.Gmc. *swaigijanan and related to swag (v.) and swing. The sense of "swing, wave, waver" is first recorded c.1500. The noun meaning "controlling influence" (to be under the sway of) is 1510, from a transitive sense of the verb in Du. and other languages. The verb in this sense is recorded in Eng. from 1593.
Amazon: late 14c., from Gk. Amazon "one of a race of female warriors in Scythia," probably from an unknown non-I.E. word, but in folk etymology long derived from a- "without" + mazos "breasts," hence the story that the Amazons cut or burned off one breast so they could draw bowstrings more efficiently. The river in South America (originally called by the Sp. Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce) rechristened by Francisco de Orellana, 1541, after an encounter with female warriors of the Tapuyas (or, as some say, beardless, long-haired male tribesmen; still others hold that the name is a corruption of a native word in Tupi or Guarani meaning "wave").
crime: mid-13c., "sinfulness," from O.Fr. crimne (12c., Mod.Fr. crime), from L. crimen (gen. criminis) "charge, indictment, accusation; crime, fault, offense," perhaps from cernere "to decide, to sift" (see crisis). But Klein (citing Brugmann) rejects this and suggests *cri-men, which originally would have been "cry of distress" (Tucker also suggests a root in "cry" words and refers to English plaint, plaintiff, etc.). Meaning "offense punishable by law" is from late 14c. The Latin word is glossed in O.E. by facen, also "deceit, fraud, treachery." Crime wave first attested 1893, Amer.Eng.
surround: early 15c., "to flood, overflow," from M.Fr. soronder "to overflow, abound, surpass, dominate," from L.L. superundare "overflow," from L. super "over" (see super-) + undare "to flow in waves," from unda "wave" (see water; and cf. abound). Sense of "to shut in on all sides" first recorded 1610s, influenced by figurative meaning in French of "dominate," and by sound association with round. First record of surroundings in sense of "environment" is from 1861.
heat: O.E. hætu, hæto, from P.Gmc. *khaitin- "heat," from *khaitaz "hot" (cf. O.S. hittia, O.N. hiti, O.Fris. hete, Ger. hitze "heat," Goth. heito "fever"). The same root is the source of O.E. hat "hot" and hæða "hot weather." The verb is from O.E. hætan, from P.Gmc. *khaitijanam. Related: Heated; heating. Meaning "a single course in a race" is from 1660s, perhaps from earlier fig. sense of "a single intense effort" (late 14c.), or meaning "run given to a horse to prepare for a race" (1570s). Meaning "sexual excitement in animals" is from 1768. Meaning "trouble with the police" attested by 1920. Heat wave "period of excessive hot weather" first attested 1893.
Europe: from L. Europa "Europe," from Gk. Europe, of uncertain origin; as a geographic name, first the Homeric hymn to Apollo (522 B.C.E. or earlier):
"Telphusa, here I am minded to make a glorious temple, an oracle for men, and hither they will always bring perfect hecatombs, both those who live in rich Peloponnesus and those of Europe and all the wave-washed isles, coming to seek oracles."
Often explained as "broad face," from eurys "wide" (see aneurysm) + ops "face." But also traditionally linked with Europa, Phoenician princess in Greek mythology. Klein (citing Heinrich Lewy) suggests a possible Semitic origin in Akkad. erebu "to go down, set" (in reference to the sun) which would parallel orient. Another suggestion along those lines is Phoenician 'ereb "evening," hence "west."
tube: 1610s, from M.Fr. tube (mid-15c.), from L. tubus "tube, pipe," of unknown origin. The London subway was christened the Twopenny Tube before it even opened (H.D. Browne, in the "Londoner" of June 30, 1900); tube for "cylindrical railway tunnel" is attested from 1847. The meaning "TV as a medium" is from 1959, short for cathode ray tube or picture tube. Tube top as a women's clothing style is attested from 1972. Tubular is attested from 1670s, "having the form of a tube or pipe," but the modern slang sense is from 1982, Valspeak, from surfers' slang for a hollow, curling wave, ideal for riding. Tube steak is attested from 1963 as "frankfurter," slang meaning "penis" is recorded by mid-1980s. Tubing as a recreational pastime is recorded from 1975.
vulva: 1540s, from L. vulva, earlier volva "womb, female sexual organ," lit. "wrapper," from volvere "to turn, twist, roll, revolve," also "turn over in the mind," from PIE base *wel- "to turn, revolve," with derivatives refering to curved, enclosing objects (cf. Skt. valate "turns round," ulvam "womb, vulva;" Lith. valtis "twine, net," apvalus "round;" O.C.S. valiti "roll, welter," vluna "wave;" Gk. eluo "wind, wrap," helix "spiral object," eilein "to turn, squeeze;" Goth. walwjan "to roll;" O.E. wealwian "roll," weoloc "whelk, spiral-shelled mollusk;" O.H.G. walzan "to roll, waltz;" O.Ir. fulumain "rolling;" Welsh olwyn "wheel").
shock (1): "sudden blow," 1565, a military term, from M.Fr. choc "violent attack," from O.Fr. choquer "strike against," probably from Frankish, from a P.Gmc. imitative base (cf. M.Du. schokken "to push, jolt," O.H.G. scoc "jolt, swing"). Meaning "a sudden and disturbing impression on the mind" is from 1705; medical sense is attested from 1804. The verb, "to come into violent contact" is attested from 1576; meaning "to give (something) an electric shock" is from 1706; sense of "to offend, displease" is first recorded 1694. Shock-absorber is attested from 1906; shock wave is from 1907. Shocking pink introduced Feb. 1937 by It.-born fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Shocker "something that shocks or excites" is from 1824. Shock troops (1917) translates Ger. stoßtruppen and preserves the word's original military sense.
deep: O.E. deop (adj.) "profound, awful, mysterious; serious, solemn; deepness, depth," deope (adv.), from P.Gmc. *deupaz (cf. O.S. diop, O.Fris. diap, Du. diep, O.H.G. tiof, Ger. tief, O.N. djupr, Dan. dyb, Swed. djup, Goth. diups "deep"), from PIE *dheub- "deep, hollow" (cf. Lith. dubus "deep, hollow, O.C.S. duno "bottom, foundation," Welsh dwfn "deep," O.Ir. domun "world," via sense development from "bottom" to "foundation" to "earth" to "world"). Figurative senses were in O.E.; extended 16c. to color, sound. Deep pocket "wealth" is from 1951. To go off the deep end "lose control of oneself" is slang first recorded 1921, probably in reference to the deep end of a swimming pool, where a person on the surface can no longer touch bottom. The noun is O.E. deop "deep water," especially the sea. When 3-D films seemed destined to be the next wave and the biggest thing to hit cinema since talkies, they were known as deepies (1953).
water (n.1): O.E. wæter, from P.Gmc. *watar (cf. O.S. watar, O.Fris. wetir, Du. water, O.H.G. wazzar, Ger. Wasser, O.N. vatn, Goth. wato "water"), from PIE *wodor/*wedor/*uder-, from root *wed- (cf. Hittite watar, Skt. udrah, Gk. hydor, O.C.S., Rus. voda, Lith. vanduo, O.Prus. wundan, Gael. uisge "water;" L. unda "wave"). Linguists believe PIE had two root words for water: *ap- and *wed-. The first (preserved in Skt. apah) was "animate," referring to water as a living force; the latter referred to it as an inanimate substance. The same probably was true of fire (n.). To keep (one's) head above water in the fig. sense is recorded from 1742. Water cooler is recorded from 1846; water polo from 1884; water torture from 1928. First record of water-closet is from 1755. Water-ice as a confection is from 1818. Watering-place is mid-15c., of animals, 1757, of persons. Water-lily first attested 1540s. Waterfront is attested from 1856.
Wyoming: region in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from Munsee Delaware (Algonquian) chwewamink "at the big river flat," from /xw-/ "big" + /-e:wam-/ "river flat" + /-enk/ "place." Popularized by 1809 poem "Gertrude of Wyoming," set amid wars between Indians and American settlers, by Scottish author Thomas Campbell (1777-1844), who seems to have had a vague or defective notion of Pennsylvania geography. Subsequently applied 19c. to other locations, including a western territory organized July 25, 1868 (admitted as a state 1890); also used in Kansas, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
"On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!
Although the wild-flower on thy ruin'd wall,
And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring,
Of what thy gentle people did befall;
Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all
That see the Atlantic wave their morn restore.
Sweet land! may I thy lost delights recall,
And paint thy Gertrude in her bowers of yore,
Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania's shore!"
[Campbell, "Gertrude of Wyoming," 1809]