cotton | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

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as a termination in certain people names (Iraqi, Israeli), it represents the common Semitic national designation suffix -i.

dextrous (adj.)

1620s, alternative spelling of dexterous; this version is more conformable to Latin but less common in English.

ridley

type of sea-turtle, by 1942, from a common name of the animals in the Florida Keys, but the word is of unknown origin.

cockchafer (n.)

popular name of a common European beetle, the May-beetle, 1690s, from cock (n.1), in reference to its size, + chafer "beetle."

hair-trigger (n.)

1795; Figurative use by 1841. Hair perhaps in reference to the slight pressure required to activate it.

The difference between a hair-trigger and a common trigger is this—the hair-trigger, when set, lets off the cock by the slightest touch, whereas the common trigger requires a considerable degree of force, and consequently is longer in its operation. [Charles James, "Military Dictionary," London, 1802]

B.C.E.

initialism (acronym) for "Before Common Era" or "Before Christian Era," 1881; see C.E. A secular alternative to B.C.

planktology (n.)

"scientific study of plankton," 1892, from German planktologie (1891); see plankton + -logy. The native formation planktonology (1896) is less common.

POW (n.)

also P.O.W., initialism (acronym) for prisoner of war, coined 1919 but not common until World War II.

Carol

masc. proper name, from Medieval Latin Carolus, which is of Germanic origin, from the common noun meaning "man, husband" (see carl). As a fem. proper name, an abbreviation of Caroline. The masc. name never has been popular in U.S.; the fem. form was common after c. 1900 and was a top-10 name for U.S. girls born 1936-1950.

regrettable (adj.)

c. 1600, "deserving of regret, calling for regret," from regret + -able. "Common in recent use" [OED]. Related: Regrettably.

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