itself | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

38 entries found.

fem. proper name, alternative spelling of Kathleen (itself a variant of Catherine); not much used in U.S., then suddenly popular from c. 1985.

Colin

masc. proper name, from French Colin, a diminutive of Col, itself a diminutive of Nicolas (see Nicholas). A common shepherd's name in pastoral verse.

Marcella

fem. proper name, Latin, fem. of Marcellus, itself a diminutive of Marcus. Marcellina was the name of a female Gnostic of 2c. and a teacher of Gnosticism in Rome.

Seconal

1935, U.S. proprietary name (Eli Lilly & Co.), from Secon(dary) Al(lyl)or else from secobarbital (itself short for secondary barbital).

Ghana

since 1957 the name of the former Gold Coast; from the name of a former tribal chieftain, whose name itself is a form of a royal title, hence, "king." Related: Ghanian.

Ritalin (n.)

central nervous system stimulant, a proprietary name (Ciba Ltd., originally in Switzerland) for the drug methylphenidate hydrochloride. It was trademarked 1948, years before the drug itself was marketed.

Lancelot

masc. proper name, Old French, a double-diminutive of Frankish Lanzo, itself a shortened pet-name (hypocoristic) of one of the many Germanic names in Land- (compare Old English Landbeorht "land-bright;" see Lambert).

Bar Mitzvah

1842, in Judaism, "male person who has completed his 13th year" and thus reached the age of religious responsibility; Hebrew, literally "son of command." As a name for the ceremony itself, by 1917.

Celebes

old name for modern Sulawesi (which itself might be a native corruption of Celebes) in Indonesia, first used by Portuguese, 1512, perhaps from Os Célebres "the famous ones," a name given by navigators to the dangerous capes on the island's northeast coast.

Catawba (n.)

type of American grape, 1857, the name taken from the river in the Carolinas, in which region the grape was found. The river is named for the Katahba Indian group and language (Siouan), from their word katapu "fork of a stream," itself a Muskogean loan-word meaning "separate."

Trending words