game of chance played with dice, 1843, American English, unrelated to the term for excrement, instead it is from Louisiana French craps "the game of hazard," from an 18c. continental French corruption of English crabs, which was 18c. slang for "a throw of two or three" (the lowest throw), which perhaps is from crab (n.2), the sense in crab apple. The 1843 citation (in an anti-gambling publication, "An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling") calls it "a game lately introduced into New Orleans." To shoot craps is by 1885.
c. 1500, "to tie up with cables," from cable (n.). As "to transmit by telegraph cable," 1868. Related: Cabled; cabling.
We have done our part lately to bring into use the verb cabled, as applied to a message over the Atlantic cable. It is proper to say "it has been cabled," instead of "it has been telegraphed over the Atlantic cable." [The Mechanics Magazine, London, Sept. 11, 1868]
But other British sources list it as an Americanism.
"remedy counteracting poison," early 15c. (c. 1400 as antidotum), from Old French antidot and directly from Latin antidotum/antidotus "a remedy against poison," from Greek antidoton (pharmakon) "(drug) given as a remedy," from antidoton literally "given against," verbal adjective of antididonai "give for" (also "give in return, give instead of") from anti "against" (see anti-) + didonai "to give" (from PIE root *do- "to give"). Compare Middle English antidotarie "treatise on drugs or medicines" (c. 1400).
"marriage within the tribe or group," 1865, from endo- on model of polygamy. Related: Endogamous (1865). Opposed to exogamy. Apparently both were coined by Scottish anthropologist John Ferguson McLennan (1827-1881) in "Primitive Marriage."
To this law, the converse of caste, forbidding marriage within the tribe, Mr. M'Lennan has given the name of exogamy: while, instead of caste, since that word involves notions unconnected with marriage, he has used the correlative word — endogamy. [review in The Lancet, March 25, 1865]
also pseudoscience, "a pretended or mistaken science," 1796 (the earliest reference is to alchemy), from pseudo- + science.
The term pseudo-science is hybrid, and therefore objectionable. Pseudognosy would be better etymology, but the unlearned might be apt to association with it the idea of a dog's nose, and thus, instead of taking "the eel of science by the tail," take the cur of science by the snout; so that all things considered we had better adopt the current term pseudo-sciences ["The Pseudo-Sciences," in The St. James's Magazine, January 1842]
"wrongful conduct, the doing of that which ought not to be done," especially "official misconduct, violation of a public trust or obligation," 1690s, from French malfaisance "wrongdoing," from malfaisant, from mal- "badly" (see mal-) + faisant, present participle of faire "to do," from Latin facere "to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").
[S]pecifically, the doing of an act which is positively unlawful or wrongful, in contradistinction to misfeasance, or the doing of a lawful act in a wrongful manner. The term is often inappropriately used instead of misfeasance. [Century Dictionary]
Malfeasor "wrong-doer" is attested from early 14c. Related: Malfeasant.
"one who goes back and forth to work," 1865, American English, originally "holder of a commutation ticket," agent noun from commute (v.).
A commutation ticket (1848) was a ticket issued (by a railroad, etc.) at a reduced rate entitling the holder to travel over a given route a limited number of times or an unlimited number of times over a certain period. It is from commute in its sense of "to change one kind of payment into another" (1795), especially "to combine a number of payments into a single one, pay a single sum instead of a number of successive payments" (1845).
