one of a class of people living in eastern Tennessee of peculiar appearance and uncertain origin, probably descendants of an early mix of white and African residents with some Native blood; by 1813 (Melungin); the word itself is of uncertain origin, though it often is referred to melange.
fem. proper name, from Welsh Gwenhwyvar, from gwen "fair, white" + (g)wyf "smooth, yielding." The most popular name for girls born in America 1970-1984; all but unknown there before 1938. Also attested as a surname from late 13c.
"Englishman who exemplifies the coarse, burly form and bluff nature of the national character," 1772, from name of a character representing the English nation in Arbuthnot's satirical "History of John Bull" (1712). Via a slurred pronunciation of it comes jumble (n.), London West Indian and African slang word for "a white man," attested from 1957.
of or pertaining to the great inland sea of central Asia, 1580s, from Latin Caspius, from Greek Kaspios, named for native people who lived on its shores (but who were said to be originally from the Caucasus), Latin Caspii, from a native self-designation, perhaps literally "white." Middle English had Caspy, Capsi.
light, white Burgundy wine, 1660s, named for town of Chablis southeast of Paris. Made only of Chardonnay grapes. The French word chablis (16c.) is literally "deadwood," fallen from a tree through age or brought down by wind, short for bois chablis, from Old French *chableiz.
1580s, "pertaining to the brackish sea between the Scandinavian peninsula and Eastern Europe," from Medieval Latin Balticus, perhaps from Lithuanian baltas "white" or Scandinavian balta "belt; strait" (in reference to its narrow entranceway). In German, it is Ostsee, literally "east sea." From 1887 as the name of a language group comprising Lithuanian, Lettish, and Old Prussian.
type of dry white wine, 1907, from French chardonnay, originally the type of grape used to make the wine, supposedly named for the town of Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire, in eastern France. The name is said to be from Latin Cardonnacum. The wine was enormously popular worldwide in 1990s and early 2000s and the word came to be used as a given name for girls.
name of the ship in which Jason and his 54 heroic companions sought the Fleece in Colchis on the Euxine Sea, in Greek, literally "The Swift," from argos "swift" (adj.), an epithet, literally "shining, bright" (from PIE root *arg- "to shine; white"), "because all swift motion causes a kind of glancing or flickering light" [Liddell & Scott]. Related: Argean.
masc. proper name, from French, from German Lambert, from Old High German Lambreht, from lant "land" (see land (n.)) + beraht "bright" (from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white."). Old English cognate was Landbeorht. The English popularity of the name 12c. and after probably is due to immigration from Flanders, where St. Lambert of Maestricht was highly venerated. Attested as a surname from mid-12c.
c. 1600, "relating to the Albigenses," collective name for the Catharist religious reformers of southern France c. 1020-1250, from Medieval Latin Albigenses (12c.), from French Albi, name of the town in Languedoc where they lived and first were condemned as heretics (1176) and vigorously persecuted (the Albigensian Crusade). The town name is from Roman personal name Albius, from Latin albus "white" (see alb). Also sometimes Albanesian.
