U.S. abbreviation of Incorporated in company names (equivalent of British Ltd.), first attested 1904.
late 15c., "a guide," from Anglo-French directour, French directeur, agent noun from Latin dirigere "set straight, arrange; give a particular direction to," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + regere "to direct, to guide, keep straight" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straight line").
Corporate sense of "one of a number of persons having authority to manage the affairs of a company" is from 1630s; theatrical sense of "the leader of a company of performers" is from 1911.
mid-15c., "group of soldiers sent as reinforcements" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French crue, creue "an increase, recruit, military reinforcement," from fem. past participle of creistre "to grow," from Latin crescere "to arise, grow" (from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow"). Compare accrue.
Meaning "any company of people" is from 1570s; that of "group of people engaged upon a particular work" is attested by 1690s. Sense of "company of seamen who man a ship, vessel, or boat, common sailors of a ship's company" is from 1690s. Crew-cut hairstyle first attested 1938, so called because the style originally was adopted by boat crews at Harvard and Yale.
1926, American English, originally Levi's, from the name of the original manufacturer, Levi Strauss and Company of San Francisco. The Bavarian-born Strauss had been a dry-goods merchant in San Francisco since 1853; his innovation was the copper rivets at strain points, patented in 1873 according to the company. A cowboy's accessory at first, hip or fashionable from c. 1940s.
1819, "work-room of a sculptor or painter," usually one with windows to admit light from the sky, from Italian studio "room for study," from Latin studium (see study (v.)). Motion picture sense first recorded 1911; radio broadcasting sense 1922; television sense 1938. Studio apartment first recorded 1903.
1902, trademark name, from John B. Stetson (1830-1906), U.S. hat manufacturer, who started his company in Philadelphia in 1865.
elastic polyurethane fiber, 1955, proprietary name (registered by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.) of an elastic polyurethane fiber.
1783, "intermeddling," from interfere on model of difference, etc. In physics, in reference to the mutual action of waves on each other, from 1802, coined in this sense by English scientist Dr. Thomas Young (1773-1829). Telephoning (later broadcasting) sense is from 1887. In chess from 1913; in U.S. football from 1894.
