Old English crafian "ask, implore, demand by right," from North Germanic *krabojan (source also of Old Norse krefja "to demand," Danish kræve, Swedish kräva); perhaps related to craft (n.) in its base sense of "power." Current sense "to long for, eagerly desire" is c. 1400, probably through intermediate meaning "to ask very earnestly" (c. 1300). Related: Craved; craving.
"that point, place, or state which is halfway between extremes;" c. 1300, originally in music, "a tone intermediate between two other tones," from Old French meien "middle, means, intermediary," noun use of adjective from Late Latin medianus "of or that is in the middle," from Latin medius "in the middle," from PIE root *medhyo- "middle."
The modern range of senses in English mostly appeared late 14c.: "course of action; method, way of attaining an end" (as in ways and means;by means of; by all means; by no means); also "the golden mean, moderation;" and "something physically between two extremes." The mathematical sense, "a quantity having a value intermediate between the values of other quantities, the average obtained by adding several quantities together and dividing the sum by their number" is from mid-15c. Some senses reflect confusion with mean (adj.1).
"leather case for a pistol," 1660s, probably from Old English heolster, earlier helustr "concealment, hiding place," from Proto-Germanic *hulfti- (source also of Old High German hulft "cover, case, sheath," Old Norse hulstr "case, sheath," Middle Dutch holster, German Halfter "holster"), from PIE root *kel- (1) "to cover, conceal, save." Intermediate forms are wanting, and the modern word could as well be from the Norse or Dutch cognates.
also mean time, mid-14c., mene-time, "interim, interval between one specified time and another" (now only in in the mean time), from mean (adj.2) "middle, intermediate" + time (n.). Late 14c. as an adverb, "during the interval (between one specified time and another)." As a noun, properly written as two words but commonly as one, after the adverb. In the mean space "meanwhile" was in use 16c.-18c.
1530s, "cat-like quadruped of northern Africa," from French civette (15c.), ultimately (with Italian zibetto, Medieval Latin zibethum, Medieval Greek zapetion) via lost intermediate forms from Arabic zabad "civet," which is said to be related to zabad "foam, froth," zubd "cream," but perhaps this is folk-etymology of an African name. As "secretion of the anal glands of a civet-cat," one popular in perfumes, from 1550s. Hence, as a verb, "to scent with perfume" (c. 1600). Related: Civited.
1816, false spelling of local in a sense "a place, a locality, a scene," especially with reference to circumstances connected with it, from this sense in French local, noun use of local (adj.), from Latin locus "a place" (see locus). The English spelling with -e probably is based on morale and intended to indicate stress.
The word's right to exist depends upon the question whether the two indispensable words locality & scene give all the shades of meaning required, or whether something intermediate is useful. [Fowler]
late 14c., sequestren, transitive, "remove (something), set aside; quarantine, isolate (someone); excommunicate;" also intransitive, "separate oneself from," from Old French sequestrer (14c.) and directly from Late Latin sequestrare "to place in safekeeping," from Latin sequester "trustee, mediator," noun use of an adjective meaning "intermediate," which probably is related to sequi "to follow" (from PIE root *sekw- (1) "to follow").
The legal meaning "seize by authority, confiscate" is attested from 1510s. The alternative verb sequestrate is early 15c. (Chauliac), from the Latin past participle sequestratus. Related: Sequestered; sequestering.
