Old English, "move swiftly by using the legs, go on legs more rapidly than walking," also "make haste, hurry; be active, pursue or follow a course," and, of inanimate things, "to move over a course."

The modern verb is a merger of two related Old English words, in both of which the initial two letters sometimes switched places. The first is intransitive rinnan, irnan "to run, flow, run together" (past tense ran, past participle runnen), which is cognate with Middle Dutch runnen, Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic rinnan, German rinnen "to flow, run."

The second is Old English transitive weak verb ærnan, earnan "ride, run to, reach, gain by running" (probably a metathesis of *rennan), from Proto-Germanic *rannjanan, causative of the root *ren- "to run." This is cognate with Old Saxon renian, Old High German rennen, German rennen, Gothic rannjan.

Watkins says both are from PIE *ri-ne-a-, nasalized form of root *rei- "to run, flow," but Boutkan's sources find this derivation doubtful based on the poor attestation of supposed related forms, and he lists it as of "No certain IE etymology."

Of streams, etc., "to flow," from late Old English. From c. 1200 as "take flight, retreat hurriedly or secretly." Phrase run for it "take flight" is attested from 1640s.

Also from c. 1200 as "compete in a race." Extended to "strive for any ends," especially "enter a contest for office or honors, stand as a candidate in an election" (1826, American English).

Of any sort of hurried travel, c. 1300. From early 13c. as "have a certain direction or course." By c. 1300 as "keep going, extend through a period of time, remain in existence." Specifically of theater plays by 1808. Of conveyances, stage lines, etc., "perform a regular passage from place to place" by 1817.

Of machinery or mechanical devices, "go through normal or allotted movements or operation," 1560s. Of colors, "to spread in a fabric when exposed to moisture," 1771. Of movie film, "pass between spools," hence "be shown," by 1931.

The meaning "carry on" (a business, etc.) is by 1861, American English; hence extended senses of "look after, manage." As "publish or print in a newspaper or magazine," by 1884. 

Many senses are via the notion of "pass into or out of a certain state." To run dry "cease to yield water or milk" (1630s). In commerce, "be of a specified price, size, etc.," by 1762. To run low "be nearly exhausted" is by 1712; to run short "exhaust one's supply" is from 1752; to run out of in the same sense is from 1713. To run on "keep on, continue without pause or change" is from 1590s.

The transitive sense of "cause to run" was in Old English. By late 15c. as "to pierce, stab," hence 1520s as "thrust through or into something." The meaning "enter (a horse) in a race" is from 1750. The sense of "cause a mechanical device to keep moving or working" is by 1817.

Many figurative uses are from horseracing or hunting (such as to run (something) into the ground "carry to excess, exhaust by constant pursuit," 1836, American English).

To run across "meet by chance, fall in with" is attested from 1855, American English. To run into in this sense is by 1902. To run around with "consort with" is from 1887.

In reference to fevers by 1918. To run a (red) traffic signal is by 1933. Of tests, experiments, etc., by 1947. Of computers by 1952. Time has been running out since c. 1300. To run in the family is by 1771. The figurative expression run interference (1929) is from U.S. football. To run late is from 1954.

late 14c., "to give up (something) absolutely, relinquish control, give over utterly;" also reflexively, "surrender (oneself), yield (oneself) utterly" (to religion, fornication, etc.), from Old French abandonner "surrender, release; give freely, permit," also reflexive, "devote (oneself)" (12c.).

The Old French word was formed from the adverbial phrase à bandon "at will, at discretion," from à "at, to" (from Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon "power, jurisdiction," from Latin bannum, "proclamation," which is from a Frankish or other Germanic word, from Proto-Germanic *bannan- "proclaim, summon, outlaw" (things all done by proclamation); see ban (v.).

Mettre sa forest à bandon was a feudal law phrase in the 13th cent. = mettre sa forêt à permission, i.e. to open it freely to any one for pasture or to cut wood in; hence the later sense of giving up one's rights for a time, letting go, leaving, abandoning. [Auguste Brachet, "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]

Meaning "to leave, desert, forsake (someone or something) in need" is from late 15c.  Related: Abandoned; abandoning.

Etymologically, the word carries a sense of "put (something) under someone else's control," and the earliest appearance of the word in English is as an adverb (mid-13c.) with the sense "under (one's) control," hence also "unrestricted."

Again, as that which is placed at the absolute command of one party must by the same act be entirely given up by the original possessor, it was an easy step from the sense of conferring the command of a thing upon some particular person to that of renouncing all claim to authority over the subject matter, without particular reference to the party into whose hands it might come ; and thus in modern times the word has come to be used almost exclusively in the sense renunciation or desertion. [Hensleigh Wedgwood, "A Dictionary of English Etymology," 1859]

"tear apart, cut open or off," c. 1400, rippen, "pull out sutures," probably from a North Sea Germanic language (compare Flemish rippen "strip off roughly," Frisian rippe "to tear, rip;" also Middle Dutch reppen, rippen "to rip") or else from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish reppa, Danish rippe "to tear, rip"). Likely most or all of them are from a Proto-Germanic *rupjan- (from PIE root *reup-, *reub- "to snatch"). "Of somewhat obscure origin and history; it is not quite certain that all the senses really belong to the same word" [OED].

The meaning "to slash with a sharp instrument" is from 1570s. Intransitive sense of "be torn or split open" is by 1840. Related: Ripped; ripping. In old U.S. slang, "to utter strong language" (1772), often with out; hence "break forth with sudden violence." The meaning "to move with slashing force" (1798) is the sense in let her rip "allow something to go or continue unrestrained," an American English colloquial phrase attested by 1846.

At another time, when a charge was ordered one of the officers could not think of the word, and he shouted—'Let 'er rip!'—when the whole line burst out with a yell—'Let 'er rip!' and dashed in among the Mexicans, laughing and shouting this new battle cry. [from an account of Illinois volunteers in the Mexican-American War, in the Pensacola Gazette, March 29, 1851] 

  In garments we rip along the line at which they were sewed ; we tear the texture of the cloth; we say, "It is not torn; it is only ripped." More broadly, rip, especially with up, stands for a cutting open or apart with a quick, deep strike: as, to rip up a body or a sack of meal. Rend implies great force or violence. [Century Dictionary]

"the mark in the middle of the belly where the umbilical cord was attached in the fetus," Middle English navele, from Old English nafela, nabula, from Proto-Germanic *nabalan (source also of Old Norse nafli, Danish and Swedish navle, Old Frisian navla, Middle Dutch and Dutch navel, Old High German nabalo, German Nabel), from PIE *(o)nobh- "navel" (source also of Sanskrit nabhila "navel, nave, relationship;" Avestan nafa "navel," naba-nazdishta "next of kin;" Persian naf; Latin umbilicus "navel;" Old Prussian nabis "navel;" Greek omphalos; Old Irish imbliu). For Romanic words, see umbilicus.

The cords of all link back, strandentwining cable of all flesh. [Joyce, "Ulysses"]

"Navel" words from other roots include Lithuanian bamba, Sanskrit bimba- (also "disk, sphere"), Greek bembix, literally "whirlpool." Old Church Slavonic papuku, Lithuanian pumpuras are originally "bud." Considered a feminine sexual center since ancient times, and still in parts of the Middle East, India, and Japan. In medieval Europe, it was averred that "[t]he seat of wantonness in women is the navel" [Cambridge bestiary, C.U.L. ii.4.26]. Words for it in most languages have a secondary sense of "center."

Meaning "center or hub of a country" is attested in English from late 14c. To contemplate (one's) navel "meditate" is from 1933; hence navel-gazer (by 1947); see also omphaloskepsis. Navel orange is attested from 1831.

Another great key I will give you is to be found by the contemplation of the Manipur Lotus, which is in the navel, or thereabouts. By contemplating this center you will be able to enter and go into another person's body, and to take possession of that person's mind, and to cause him to think and to do what you want him to do; you will obtain the power of transmuting metals, of healing the sick and afflicted, and of seership. ["Swami Brahmavidya," "Transcendent-Science or The Science of Self Knowledge," Chicago, 1922]

late 14c., "a number of people associated together by the fact of residence in the same locality," also "the common people" (not the rulers or the clergy), from Old French comunité "community, commonness, everybody" (Modern French communauté), from Latin communitatem (nominative communitas) "community, society, fellowship, friendly intercourse; courtesy, condescension, affability," from communis "common, public, general, shared by all or many" (see common (adj.)).

Latin communitatem "was merely a noun of quality ... meaning 'fellowship, community of relations or feelings' " [OED], but in Medieval Latin it came to be used concretely to mean "a society, a division of people." In English, the meaning "common possession or enjoyment" is from c. 1400. Sense of "a society or association of persons having common interests or occupations" also is from c. 1400.

An Old English word for "community" was gemænscipe "community, fellowship, union, common ownership," from mæne "common, public, general," and thus probably composed from the same PIE roots as communis. Middle English also had commonty (late 14c.) "the common people; a community," also later meaning "land held in common" (c. 1600).

Community service as a criminal sentence is recorded from 1972, American English. Community college, one offering post-secondary instruction geared to local needs and interests, is recorded from 1947, American English. Community chest "fund made up of individual donations to meet the needs of charity and social welfare in a community" is from 1919, American English.

The Community Chest is a device to consolidate all these separate [charitable] appeals, and go before the people once a year with a budget which appropriates to each organization the amount which it needs to make up the difference between its income from other sources, and its necessary expenses. By this means not only are the charities relieved of financial worry and adequately supported, but the public is spared the irritation of constant solicitation, which is all the more unbusinesslike because it is decentralized and not subject to outside disinterested scrutiny. ["New Jersey Municipalities," December 1919]

"companion, comrade," c. 1200, from Old English feolaga "partner, one who shares with another," from Old Norse felagi, from fe "money" (see fee) + lag, from Proto-Germanic *lagam, from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay." The etymological sense of fellow seems to be "one who puts down money with another in a joint venture."

Meaning "one of the same kind" is from early 13c.; that of "one of a pair" is from c. 1300. Used familiarly since mid-15c. for "any man, male person," but not etymologically masculine (it is used of women, for example, in Judges xi.37 in the King James version: "And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows").

Its use can be contemptuous or dignified in English and American English, and at different times in its history, depending on who used it to whom, it has carried a tinge of condescension or insult.

University senses (mid-15c., corresponding to Latin socius) evolved from notion of "one of the corporation who constitute a college" and who are paid from its revenues. Fellow well-met "boon companion" is from 1580s, hence hail-fellow-well-met as a figurative phrase for "on intimate terms."

In compounds, with a sense of "co-, joint-," from 16c., and by 19c. also denoting "association with another." Hence fellow-traveler, 1610s in a literal sense but in 20c. with a specific extended sense of "one who sympathizes with the Communist movement but is not a party member" (1936, translating Russian poputchik).

Fellow-countrymen formerly was one of the phrases the British held up to mock the Americans for their ignorance, as it is redundant to say both, until they discovered it dates from the 1580s and was used by Byron and others.

Middle English neue, from Old English neowe, niowe, earlier niwe "made or established for the first time, fresh, recently made or grown; novel, unheard-of, different from the old; untried, inexperienced, unused," from Proto-Germanic *neuja- (source also of Old Saxon niuwi, Old Frisian nie, Middle Dutch nieuwe, Dutch nieuw, Old High German niuwl, German neu, Danish and Swedish ny, Gothic niujis "new").

This is from PIE *newo- "new" (source also of Sanskrit navah, Persian nau, Hittite newash, Greek neos, Lithuanian naujas, Old Church Slavonic novu, Russian novyi, Latin novus, Old Irish nue, Welsh newydd "new").

From mid-14c. as "novel, modern" (Gower, 1393, has go the new foot "dance the latest style"). In the names of cities and countries named for some other place, c. 1500. Meaning "not habituated, unfamiliar, unaccustomed," 1590s. Of the moon from late Old English. The adverb, "newly, for the first time," is Old English niwe, from the adjective. As a noun, "that which is new," also in Old English. There was a verb form in Old English (niwian, neowian) and Middle English (neuen) "make, invent, create; bring forth, produce, bear fruit; begin or resume (an activity); resupply; substitute," but it seems to have fallen from use.

New Testament is from late 14c. New math in reference to a system of teaching mathematics based on investigation and discovery is from 1958. New World (adj.) to designate phenomena of the Western Hemisphere first attested 1823, in Lord Byron; the noun phrase is recorded from 1550s. New Deal in the FDR sense is attested by 1932. New school in reference to the more advanced or liberal faction of something is from 1806. New Left (1960) was a coinage of U.S. political sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916-1962). New light in reference to religions is from 1640s. New frontier, in U.S. politics, "reform and social betterment," is from 1934 (Henry Wallace) but associated with John F. Kennedy's use of it in 1960.

mid-12c., dien, deighen, of sentient beings, "to cease to live," possibly from Old Danish døja or Old Norse deyja "to die, pass away," both from Proto-Germanic *dawjan (source also of Old Frisian deja "to kill," Old Saxon doian, Old High German touwen, Gothic diwans "mortal"), from PIE root *dheu- (3) "to pass away, die, become senseless" (source also of Old Irish dith "end, death," Old Church Slavonic daviti, Russian davit' "to choke, suffer").

It has been speculated that Old English had *diegan, from the same source, but it is not in any of the surviving texts and the preferred words were steorfan (see starve), sweltan (see swelter), wesan dead ("become dead"), also forðgan and other euphemisms.

Languages usually don't borrow words from abroad for central life experiences, but "die" words are an exception; they often are hidden or changed euphemistically out of superstitious dread. A Dutch euphemism translates as "to give the pipe to Maarten."

Regularly spelled dege through 15c., and still pronounced "dee" by some in Lancashire and Scotland. Of plants, "become devitalized, wither," late 14c.; in a general sense of "come to an end" from mid-13c. Meaning "be consumed with a great longing or yearning" (as in dying to go) is colloquial, from 1709. Used figuratively (of sounds, etc.) from 1580s; to die away "diminish gradually" is from 1670s. To die down "subside" is by 1834. Related: Died; dies.

To die out "become extinct" is from 1865. To die game "preserve a bold, resolute, and defiant spirit to the end" (especially of one facing the gallows) is from 1793. Phrase never say die "don't give up or in" is by 1822; the earliest contexts are in sailors' jargon.

"Never look so cloudy about it messmate," the latter continued in an unmoved tone—"Cheer up man, the rope is not twisted for your neck yet. Jack's alive; who's for a row? Never say die while there's a shot in the locker. Whup;" [Gerald Griffin, "Card Drawing," 1842]

Old English fæger "pleasing to the sight (of persons and body features, also of objects, places, etc.); beautiful, handsome, attractive," of weather, "bright, clear, pleasant; not rainy," also in late Old English "morally good," from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (source also of Old Saxon fagar, Old Norse fagr, Swedish fager, Old High German fagar "beautiful," Gothic fagrs "fit"), perhaps from PIE *pek- (1) "to make pretty" (source also of Lithuanian puošiu "I decorate").

The meaning in reference to weather preserves the oldest sense "suitable, agreeable" (opposed to foul (adj.)). Of the main modern senses of the word, that of "light of complexion or color of hair and eyes, not dusky or sallow" (of persons) is from c. 1200, faire, contrasted to browne and reflecting tastes in beauty. From early 13c. as "according with propriety; according with justice," hence "equitable, impartial, just, free from bias" (mid-14c.).

Of wind, "not excessive; favorable for a ship's passage," from late 14c. Of handwriting from 1690s. From c. 1300 as "promising good fortune, auspicious." Also from c. 1300 as "above average, considerable, sizable." From 1860 as "comparatively good."

The sporting senses (fair ball, fair catch, etc.) began to appear in 1856. Fair play is from 1590s but not originally in sports (earlier it meant "pleasant amusement," c. 1300, and foul play was "sinful amusement"). Fair-haired in the figurative sense of "darling, favorite" is from 1909. First record of fair-weather friends is from 1736 (in a letter from Pope published that year, written in 1730). The fair sex "women" is from 1660s, from the "beautiful" sense (fair as a noun meaning "a woman" is from early 15c.). Fair game "legitimate target" is from 1776, from hunting.

Others, who have not gone to such a height of audacious wickedness, have yet considered common prostitutes as fair game, which they might pursue without restraint. ["Advice from a Father to a Son, Just Entered into the Army and about to Go Abroad into Action," London, 1776]

c. 1300, "testimony committed to writing, fact or condition of having been recorded," from Old French record "memory; statement, report," from recorder "to record" (see record (v.)). Also in part from Medieval Latin noun recordum, recorda. Related: Records.

The meaning "a written account of some fact, event, or proceeding for the purpose of preserving the memory of it" is from late 14c., as is the sense of "official document of a government department or municipal office." Hence the meaning "fact or condition of being preserved as knowledge, especially by being put into writing" (late 14c.).

The meaning "disk on which sounds or images have been recorded" is attested from 1878, originally also of Edison's wax cylinders, later extended somewhat to other forms of sound storage. Record-player is attested from 1919; record-album " audio recordings issued as a collection" is by 1936. Earlier it was "an album in which to store Edison cylinders." "The man who owns Blue Amberol Records only, ought to have albums in which to keep them instead of scattering them around or keeping them in old boxes, etc., under the piano or the sofa." [advertisement, Edison Phonograph Monthly, July 1913]. Record-store is attested by 1933; record-shop from 1929.

The meaning "best or highest official achievement in a sport, activity, etc." is by 1883; the verb to go with it might be break (1924) or beat (1884). The sense of "aggregate of known facts in a person's life" is by 1856, American English.

The journalist's phrase on the record is attested from 1900; adverbial phrase off the record "confidentially" is attested from 1906. For the record "for the sake of having the facts known" is by 1930 in congressional testimony. To keep (or set) the record straight is by 1949. The legal phrase matter of record was in Middle English as "matter that has been formally recorded or documented" and "legal issue that can be resolved by existing record."