1178 in Anglo-Latin, the popular name of Great Inquisition or Survey (1086), a digest in Anglo-French of a survey of England undertaken at the order of William the Conqueror to inventory his new domain, from Middle English domes, genitive of dom "day of judgment" (see doom (n.)). "The booke ... to be called Domesday, bicause (as Mathew Parise saith) it spared no man, but iudged all men indifferently." [William Lambarde, "A Perambulation of Kent," 1570]
early 12c., Stanenges, literally "stone gallows," perhaps so called from fancied resemblance to old-style gallows with two posts, with the second element related to the verb hang. Some antiquarians suggest the notion may be of "supported in the air, that which hangs in the air" (compare henge-clif for Latin præruptum), in reference to the lintel stones, but the order of the elements and the inflection is against this. An ancient name for it was the Giant's Dance.
in Greek religion, the Olympian goddess of agriculture and useful vegetation, protectress of the social order and of marriage, mother of Persephone, from Greek Dēmētēr; the second element generally given as māter (see mother (n.1)); the first element possibly from da, Doric form of Greek gē "earth" (see Gaia), but Liddell & Scott find this "improbable" and Beekes writes, "there is no indication that [da] means 'earth', although it has also been assumed in the name of Poseidon." The Latin masc. proper name Demetrius means "son of Demeter."
Mexican province, briefly an independent nation and now a U.S. state, from Spanish Texas, Tejas, earlier pronounced "ta-shas," originally an ethnic name, from Caddo (eastern Texas Indian tribe) taysha "friends, allies," written by the Spanish as a plural. Related: Texan. The alternative form Texian is attested from 1835 and was the prevailing form in U.S. newspapers before 1844.
The baseball Texas-leaguer "ball popped up just over the head of the infielders and falling too close for outfielders to catch" is recorded from 1905, named for the minor league that operated in Texas from 1902 (one theory is that outfielders played unusually deep in Texas because hit balls bounced hard off the hard, sun-baked ground).
"division of invertebrate animals with soft, unsegmented bodies, no jointed legs, and commonly covered by hard shells," 1797, from Modern Latin mollusca, chosen by Linnaeus as the name of an invertebrate order (1758), from neuter plural of Latin molluscus "thin-shelled," from mollis "soft" (from PIE root *mel- (1) "soft"). Linnæus applied the word to a heterogeneous group of invertebrates, not originally including mollusks with shells; the modern scientific use is after a classification proposed 1790s by French naturalist Georges Léopole Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832).
capital of Laconia in ancient Greece, famed for severity of its social order, the frugality of its people, the valor of its arms, and the brevity of its speech. Also for dirty boys, men vain of their long hair, boxing girls, iron money, and insufferable black broth. The name is said to be from Greek sparte "cord made from spartos," a type of broom, from PIE *spr-to-, from root *sper- (2) "to turn, twist" (see spiral (adj.)). Perhaps the reference is to the cords laid as foundation markers for the city. Or the whole thing could be folk etymology.
Old English Sætern, name of the Roman god, also, in astronomy, the name of the most remote planet (then known); from Latin Saturnus, originally a name of an Italic god of agriculture, possibly from Etruscan. Derivation from Latin serere (past participle satus) "to sow" is said to be folk-etymology.
An ancient Italic deity, popularly believed to have appeared in Italy in the reign of Janus, and to have instructed the people in agriculture, gardening, etc., thus elevating them from barbarism to social order and civilization. His reign was sung by the poets as "the golden age." [Century Dictionary]
Identified with Greek Kronos, father of Zeus. Also the alchemical name for lead (late 14c.). In Akkadian, the planet was kaiamanu, literally "constant, enduring," hence Hebrew kiyyun, Arabic and Persian kaiwan "Saturn."
early 14c., "Dominican friar," from Old French Jacobin (13c.) "Dominican friar" (also, in the Middle East, "a Copt"); so called because the order built its first convent near the church of Saint-Jacques in Paris. The masc. proper name Jacques is from Late Latin Iacobus, for which see Jacob.
The Revolutionary extremists ("Society of the Friends of the Constitution") made their club headquarters there October 1789 and supported Robespierre during the Terror. They were suppressed along with him in November 1794 and many members executed. In English, the word quickly became a scare-word for the worst excesses of the French Revolution, and since 1793 it has been used generically and often inappropriately of allegedly radical politicians and reformers. Related: Jacobinism; Jacobinic; Jacobinical.
"Russian radical socialist of the revolutionary period," 1917, from Russian bol'shevik (plural bol'sheviki), from bol'shiy "greater," comparative of adjective bol'shoy "big, great" (as in Bolshoi Ballet), from Old Church Slavonic boljiji "larger," from PIE root *bel- "strong" (source also of Sanskrit balam "strength, force," Greek beltion "better," Phrygian balaios "big, fast," Old Irish odbal "strong," Welsh balch "proud;" Middle Dutch, Low German, Frisian pal "strong, firm").
The faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party after a split in 1903 that was either "larger" or "more extreme" (or both) than the Mensheviks (from Russian men'shij "less"); after they seized power in 1917, the name was applied generally in English to Russian communists, then also to anyone opposed to an existing order or social system. Bolshevism is recorded from 1917.
also gipsy, c. 1600, alteration of gypcian, a worn-down Middle English dialectal form of egypcien "Egyptian," from the supposed origin of the people. As an adjective, from 1620s. Compare British gippy (1889) a modern shortened colloquial form of Egyptian.
Cognate with Spanish Gitano and close in sense to Turkish and Arabic Kipti "gypsy," literally "Coptic;" but in Middle French they were Bohémien (see bohemian), and in Spanish also Flamenco "from Flanders." "The gipsies seem doomed to be associated with countries with which they have nothing to do" [Weekley]. Zingari, the Italian and German name, is of unknown origin. Romany is from the people's own language, a plural adjective form of rom "man." Gipsy was the preferred spelling in England. The name is also in extended use applied to "a person exhibiting any of the qualities attributed to Gipsies, as darkness of complexion, trickery in trade, arts of cajolery, and, especially as applied to a young woman, playful freedom or innocent roguishness of action or manner" [Century Dictionary]. As an adjective from 1620s with a sense "unconventional; outdoor."
