varied | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

46 entries found.

"changed," early 15c., past-participle adjective from vary (v.). From 1580s as "differing from one another;" as "characterized by variety," from 1732.

vary (v.)

mid-14c. (transitive); late 14c. (intransitive), from Old French variier "be changed, go astray; change, alter, transform" and directly from Latin variare "change, alter, make different," from varius "varied, different, spotted;" perhaps related to varus "bent, crooked, knock-kneed," and varix "varicose vein," and, more distantly, to Old English wearte "wart," Swedish varbulde "pus swelling," Latin verruca "wart." Related: Varied; varying.

prittle-prattle (n.)

"trivial, idle, or worthless talk," 1550s, a varied reduplication of prattle. Also from 1550s as a verb.

jingle-jangle (v.)

1630s, varied reduplication of jingle (v.).

varify (v.)

"to make varied," c. 1600, from Latin vari-, stem of varius "different, diverse" (see vary) + -fy. Related: Varified; varifying.

poky (adj.)

also pokey, 1828, of places, "confined, cramped, shabby," later (1856), of persons, "slow, dull;" from varied senses of poke (v.) + -y (2). Also see poke (n.3), which perhaps influenced it. Related: Pokily; pokiness.

descant (v.)

mid-15c., discanten, "to run a variety with the voice in harmony with a musical theme, sing in counterpoint," from descant (n.). Sense of "to comment at length, make copious and varied comments" is attested by 1640s.

razzmatazz (n.)

1894, a slang word but the earliest uses are unclear as to sense, perhaps a varied reduplication of jazz (n.). The word had early associations with jazz, which by the 1930s had become disparaging, "old-fashioned jazz," especially in contrast to swing.

bushel (n.)

early 14c., measure of capacity containing four pecks or eight gallons, from Old French boissel "bushel" (13c., Modern French boisseau), probably from boisse, a grain measure based on Gallo-Roman *bostia "handful," from Gaulish *bosta "palm of the hand" (compare Irish bass, Breton boz "the hollow of the hand").

The exact measure varied from place to place and according to commodity, and though in 19c. in Britain it acquired a precise legal definition, it varied in U.S. from state to state. Used since late 14c. loosely to mean "a large quantity or number." From late 14c. as "a bushel basket." To hide (one's) light under a bushel is from Matthew v.15.

beholden (adj.)

"under obligation, obliged, bound in gratitude," mid-14c., originally past participle of behold (and preserving the original past participle of hold), but a sense directly related to this usage is not recorded among the many and varied meanings attested for behold.

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