c. 1300 (late 12c. as a surname), "base or low-born rustic," from Anglo-French and Old French vilain "peasant, farmer, commoner, churl, yokel" (12c.), from Medieval Latin villanus "farmhand," from Latin villa "country house, farm" (from PIE root *weik- (1) "clan"). Meaning "character in a novel, play, etc. whose evil motives or actions help drive the plot" is from 1822.

The most important phases of the sense development of this word may be summed up as follows: 'inhabitant of a farm; peasant; churl, boor; clown; miser; knave, scoundrel.' Today both Fr. vilain and Eng. villain are used only in a pejorative sense. [Klein]

late 14c., "ancient Roman settlement outside Italy," from Latin colonia "settled land, farm, landed estate," from colonus "husbandman, tenant farmer, settler in new land," from colere "to cultivate, to till; to inhabit; to frequent, practice, respect; tend, guard," from PIE root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell" (source also of Latin -cola "inhabitant"). Also used by the Romans to translate Greek apoikia "people from home."

In reference to modern situations, "company or body of people who migrate from their native country to cultivate and inhabit a new place while remaining subject to the mother country," attested from 1540s. Meaning "a country or district colonized" is by 1610s.

early 14c., "agreement between persons, union in opinions or sentiment, state of mutual friendship, amiability," from Old French concorde (12c.) "concord, harmony, agreement, treaty," from Latin concordia "agreement, union," from concors (genitive concordis) "of the same mind," literally "hearts together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + cor (genitive cordis) "heart," from PIE root *kerd- "heart." Related: Concordial.

Meaning "a compact or agreement" is from late 15c. The village in Massachusetts (site of one of the opening battles of the Revolutionary War, April 19, 1775) was named in 1635, perhaps in reference to the peaceful dealings between the settlers and the local native tribes. The capital of New Hampshire was renamed for the Massachusetts town in 1763 (formerly it had been Pennycook, from a mangling of  a native Algonquian word meaning "descent").

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

   Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

   And fired the shot heard round the world.  

[Emerson, from "Concord Hymn"]

The Concord grape was so called by 1853, from the Massachusetts town, where it was bred for the local climate and promoted by farmer Ephraim Wales Bull. It is mentioned, but not named in the "New England Farmer" of Oct. 26, 1850, in its acknowledgements:

From E. W. Bull, Concord, a lot of fine seedling grapes, which he produced by a cross of the Catawba with a native grape. It is very good, and partakes of the nature of its parents, having some of the vinous flavor of the Catawba, and a little of the acid peculiar to our native fruit.  

"liquid in which flesh is boiled," Old English broþ, from Proto-Germanic *bruthan (source also of Old High German *brod, Old Norse broð), from verb root *bhreue- "to heat, boil, bubble;" also "liquid in which something has been boiled" (from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn"). Picked up from Germanic by the Romanic and Celtic languages (Italian brodo, Spanish brodio, Old French breu, Irish broth, Gaelic brot).

The Irishism broth of a boy, which is in Byron, was "thought to originate from the Irish Broth, passion — Brotha passionate, spirited ..." [Farmer], and if so is not immediately related, but rather, with Scottish braith, from Middle English bratthe "violence, impetuosity; anger, rage" (c. 1200), which is from Old Norse braðr "sudden, hasty," from brað "haste."

c. 1400, apparently from the gerund of the Middle English verb inclen "utter in an undertone, hint at, hint" (mid-14c.), which is of unknown origin; perhaps it is related to Old English inca "doubt, suspicion, question, scruple." However the earliest record of the word is as a nyngkiling; and The Middle English Compendium offers that this is not a misdivision of an inkling but rather suggests the word is a nasalized variant of nikking "a hint, slight indication," gerundive of the Middle English verb nikken "to mark (a text) for correction" (mid-15c.), from nik (n.) "a notch, tally" (see nick (n.)).

A farmer, he told me, he did:

"The young of a goat is a kid."

He just shook his head

When I blandly said:

"An inkling's the spawn of a squid."

[Peter Anderson]

masc. proper name, Old English Osgar "god's spear," from gar "spear" (see gar) + os "god" (only in personal names), for which see Aesir.

The statuette awarded for excellence in film acting, directing, etc., given annually since 1928 was first so called in 1936. The common explanation of the name is that it sprang from a 1931 remark by Margaret Herrick, secretary at Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, on seeing the statuette: "He reminds me of my Uncle Oscar." Thus the award would be named for Oscar Pierce, U.S. wheat farmer and fruit grower. The popularity of the name seems to trace to columnist Sidney Skolsky, and there are other stories of its origin.

1610s as the name of an Italian and Turkish gold coin, from French sequin (17c.), from Italian zecchino, the name of a gold coin minted by the Venetian Republic, from zecca "a mint" (13c.), which is from Arabic sikka "a minting die," hence, by extension, "coined money, coinage."

The meaning "ornamental disc or spangle" is by 1852 in fashion articles, also in descriptions of the attire of women in the Orient, who wore the Venetian coins perforated as earrings or necklaces. The Ladies' Department of "The Genesee Farmer" reports in November 1865 that "Head dresses are all in the Greek style, either fillets of velvet studded with beads, or stars of gilt silver, silver, or steel, or else they are hung with chains of gilt sequins." The past-participle adjective sequined is by 1889.

"to make fun of, to banter," 1845 (intransitive), 1852 (transitive), American English; according to "Dictionary of American Slang," the earliest example is capitalized, hence it is probably from the familiar version of the proper name Joshua. Perhaps it was taken as a typical name of an old farmer.

If those dates are correct, the word was in use earlier than the career of U.S. humorist Josh Billings, pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw (1818-1885), who did not begin to write and lecture until 1860; but his popularity after 1869 may have influence that of the word, or even re-coined it, as it does not seem to have been much in print before 1875.

About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment. ["Josh Billings"]

Related: Joshed; joshing.