Old English botm, bodan "ground, soil, foundation, lowest or deepest part of anything," from Proto-Germanic *buthm- (source also of Old Frisian boden "soil," Old Norse botn, Dutch bodem, Old High German bodam, German Boden "ground, earth, soil"). This is perhaps from PIE root *bhudhno- "bottom" (source also of Sanskrit budhnah, Avestan buna- "bottom," Greek pythmen "foundation," Latin fundus "bottom, piece of land, farm," Old Irish bond "sole of the foot").
Meaning "fundamental character, essence" is from 1570s; to get to the bottom of some matter is from 1773. Meaning "posterior of a person" (the sitting part) is from 1794. Bottoms up as a call to finish one's drink is from 1875. Bottom dollar "the last dollar one has" is from 1857. To do or feel something from the bottom of (one's) heart is from 1540s. Bottom-feeder, originally of fishes, is from 1866.
type of flowering shrub, 1753, Modern Latin, coined by Linnaeus from the fem. of Greek azaleos "dry," related to azein "to dry up," probably from PIE root *as- "to burn, glow." The plant thrives in sandy soil.
c. 1600, in reference to the Netherlands, Flanders, and Frisia, "boggy or marshy soil," especially a tract of marshy land which as been reclaimed and brought under cultivation, from Dutch polder, from Middle Dutch polre, related to East Frisian poller, polder, words of unknown origin.
1650s, "having a characteristic agreeable taste; having a flavor supposed to be imparted by the soil" (of wines, fruits, etc.), from race (n.2) in its older meaning "flavor" or in the sense "class of wines" + -y (2).
The extended meaning "having a quality of vigor" (1660s) led to that of "improper, risqué," attested by 1901, which probably was reinforced by the phrase racy of the soil "earthy" (1870). Related: Racily; raciness.
Figuratively, that is racy which is agreeably fresh and distinctive in thought and expression ; that is spicy which is agreeably pungent to the mind, producing a sensation comparable to that which spice produces in taste. [Century Dictionary]
