bring | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

509 entries found.

"to render mechanical, bring into a mechanical state or condition," 1670s; see mechanic (adj.) + -ize. Related: Mechanized; mechanizing. Earlier was mechanicalize (1610s); in 19c., mechanicize also was tried.

unmake (v.)

late 14c., "bring down, dethrone;" early 15c., "undo, destroy, reduce to an unmade state," from un- (2) "reverse, opposite of" + make (v.). Similar formation in Middle Dutch ontmaken, German entmachen.

occasion (v.)

mid-15c., occasionen, "to bring (something) about, be the cause of (something)," from occasion (n.), or else from Old French occasionner "to cause," from Medieval Latin occasionare, from Latin occasionem (see occasion (n.)). Related: Occasioned; occasioning.

nationalize (v.)

1794, "invest with a national character;" see national + -ize. Probably inspired by French nationaliser, noted by 1795 as one of the coinages of the Revolution. Meaning "bring under state control" is from 1869. Related: Nationalized; nationalizing.

regender (v.)

also re-gender, c. 1400, "beget again, make or create afresh," a sense identified in OED as obsolete, from re- "back, again" + gender (v.) "bring forth, give birth." Related: Regendered; regendering.

focus (v.)

1775 in optics, "bring into focus" (transitive); 1807 in the figurative sense, from focus (n.). Intransitive use by 1864, originally in photography. Related: Focused; focusing; less commonly focussed; focussing.

engender (v.)

early 14c., "beget, procreate," from Old French engendrer (12c.) "give birth to, beget, bear; cause, bring about," from Latin ingenerare "to implant, engender, produce," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + generare "bring forth, beget, produce," from genus "race, kind" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal groups). With euphonious -d- in French. Also from early 14c. engendered was used in a theological sense, with reference to Jesus, "derived (from God)." Meaning "cause, produce" is mid-14c. Related: Engendering.

down (v.)

1560s, "cause to go down," from down (adv.). Meaning "swallow hastily" is by 1860; football sense of "bring down (an opposing player) by tackling" is attested by 1887. Figurative sense of "defeat, get the better of" is by 1898. Related: Downed; downing.

re-present (v.)

"to offer again, bring before again," 1560s, from re- "back, again" + present (v.). With hyphenated spelling and full pronunciation of the prefix to distinguish it from represent. Related: Re-presented; re-presenting; re-presentation.

introduction (n.)

late 14c., "act of bringing into existence," from Old French introduccion (14c.) and directly from Latin introductionem (nominative introductio) "a leading in," noun of action from past-participle stem of introducere "to lead in, bring in; introduce; found, establish; bring forward (as an assertion)," from intro- "inward, to the inside" (see intro-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead").

Meanings "initial instruction in a subject" and "an introductory statement" are from mid-15c.; meaning "elementary treatise on some subject" is from 1520s. The sense of "formal presentation of one person to another" is from 1711.

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