egg | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

78 entries found.

"limestone rock consisting of fine spherical grains of carbonate of lime," 1785, from Modern Latin oolites, from oo- "egg," + Greek lithos "stone" (see litho-). So called because the rock resembles the roe of fish. Related: Oolitic.

moisturize (v.)

"impart moisture to, remove dryness, make slightly damp or wet," 1915 (implied in moisturizing), in reference to a commercial egg incubator, from moisture + -ize. By 1953 in reference to creams and lotions for the skin. Related: Moisturized; moisturization.

beignet (n.)

"fritter," 1827, from French beignet "fritter, egg-roll, doughnut" (14c.), from Old French buigne "bump, lump," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (compare Middle High German bunge "clod, lump"), or from Gaulish *bunia (compare Gaelic bonnach).

poach (v.2)

"cook in boiling liquid," mid-15c. (implied in pocched egges), from Old French poché, past participle of pochier (12c.), apparently literally "put into a pocket" (perhaps as the white of an egg forms a pocket for the yolk), from poche "bag, pocket," from Frankish *pokka "bag," from Proto-Germanic *puk- (see poke (n.1)). But connection to poke (v.) via the notion of a "broken" (shell-less) egg also has been proposed.

Pochee as a noun in reference to a way of preparing eggs is attested in a late 14c. cookery book, and eyron en poche for "poached eggs" is attested from early 15c. Related: Poaching.

ovoviviparous (adj.)

"producing eggs which are hatched within the body of the parent, but without placental attachment," 1801, from combining form of ovum "egg" + viviparous "bringing forth young alive." It occurs in many reptiles, and some fishes, insects, worms, etc. Related: Ovoviviparity.

chopper (n.)

1550s, "one who chops," agent noun from chop (v.1). Meaning "meat cleaver" is by 1818. Meaning "helicopter" is from 1951, Korean War military slang (compare egg-beater); as a type of stripped-down motorcycle (originally preferred by Hells Angels) from 1965.

roc (n.)

monstrous predatory bird of Arabian mythology, 1570s, from Arabic rukhkh, from Persian rukh. It is mentioned in Marco Polo's account of Madagascar; according to OED, modern use of the word mostly is due to translations of the "Arabian Nights" tales. Hence roc's egg "something marvelous or prodigious." Compare simurgh.

lecithin (n.)

fatty substance found in the yolks of eggs (among other places), 1853, from French lécithine (coined 1850 by French pharmacist Theodore N. Gobley), from Greek lekithos "egg yolk," + chemical suffix -ine (2). Greek lekithos is of unknown origin; Beekes writes that, "Because of the suffixes and the meaning, the word is clearly of Pre-Greek origin." Related: Lecithinase.

lysozyme

type of immune-system enzyme found in tears, saliva, egg-whites, etc., 1922, named by its discoverer, Alexander Fleming (six years before he discovered penicillin), who coined it from lyso- "loosening, dissolving" + suffix from enzyme. So called because it attack bacteria cell walls.

aerie (n.)

"eagle's nest," 1580s (attested in Anglo-Latin from early 13c.), from Old French aire "nest," Medieval Latin area "nest of a bird of prey" (12c.), perhaps from Latin area "level ground, garden bed" [Littré], though some doubt this [Klein]. Another theory connects it to atrium. Formerly spelled eyrie (1660s) on the mistaken assumption that it derived from Middle English ey "egg."

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