1845, "animal which browses," agent noun from browse (v.). From 1863 as "person who browses" among books. In the computer sense by 1982.

The first browser was invented at PARC by Larry Tesler, now a designer at Apple Computer. Tesler's first Smalltalk browser was a tree-structured device. It enabled programmers to hunt quickly for items in a Smalltalk dictionary. [InfoWorld magazine, vol. v, no. 4, Jan. 24, 1983]

1734, "orrery, astronomical machine which by the movements of its parts represents the motions and orbits of the planets," Modern Latin, from Late Latin planeta (see planet) + Latin -arium "a place for." Sense of "device for projecting the night sky onto the interior of a dome," developed by Zeiss in Germany, debuted in Munich in 1923 and is attested by the name in English from 1929.

1580s, of fortifications, "interior slope of a ditch," hence any sharp, steep slope, from Italian scarpa "slope," which is probably from a Germanic source, perhaps Gothic skarpo "pointed object," from Proto-Germanic *skarpa- "cutting, sharp," source also of Middle High German schroffe "sharp rock, crag," Old English scræf "cave, grave" (from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut"). Compare escarpment.

mid-14c., enginour, "constructor of military engines," from Old French engigneor "engineer, architect, maker of war-engines; schemer" (12c.), from Late Latin ingeniare (see engine); general sense of "inventor, designer" is recorded from early 15c.; civil sense, in reference to public works, is recorded from c. 1600 but not the common meaning of the word until 19c (hence lingering distinction as civil engineer). Meaning "locomotive driver" is first attested 1832, American English. A "maker of engines" in ancient Greece was a mekhanopoios.

1706, "cross-shaped, having the form of an X," from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the interior of the knee-joint (which cross each other), from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cross" (see crux).

The meaning "decisive, critical, finally disproving one of two alternative suppositions" (1830) is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.

"sikly envelop which the larvae of many insects spin as a covering while they are in the crysalis state," 1690s, from French coucon (16c., Modern French cocon), from coque "clam shell, egg shell, nut shell," from Old French coque "shell," from Latin coccum "berry," from Greek kokkos "berry, seed" (see cocco-). The sense of "one's interior comfort place" is from 1986. Also see -oon.

style of furniture, 1878, often a mere debased Gothic, but at its best inspired by English designer Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906) and his book "Hints on Household Taste."

I find American tradesmen continually advertising what they are pleased to call 'Eastlake' furniture, with the production of which I have had nothing whatever to do, and for the taste of which I should be very sorry to be considered responsible [C.L. Eastlake, preface to "Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and Other Details," 4th ed., London, 1878]

"romantically desirable person," 1947, from dream (n.) + boat (n.). The phrase was in use about two decades before that. "When My Dream Boat Comes Home" was the title of a 1936 song credited to Guy Lombardo and "Dream Boat" was the title of a 1929 book.

It is rare indeed that a designer ever has the opportunity to build his dream boat. Chris Smith, all his life, had held in mind a boat of about fifty feet overall which would be the last word in yacht design and performance. [Motor Boating, December 1929]

Old English bor "instrument for making holes by boring or turning," from the source of bore (v.1). As "hole made by boring," early 14c. The meaning "cylindrical hole through a tube, gun, etc." is from 1570s; that of "interior diameter of a tube, caliber of a gun" (whether bored or not) is from 1580s. Hence figurative slang full bore (1936) "at maximum speed," from notion of unchoked carburetor on an engine.

1864, named for its designer, U.S. inventor Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903); patented by 1862 but not used in American Civil War until the Petersburg campaign of June 1864 as an independent initiative by U.S. Gen. Ben Butler.

For the first time in this war, the Gatling gun was used by Butler in repelling one of Beauregard's midnight attacks. Dispatches state that it was very destructive, and rebel prisoners were very curious to know whether it was loaded all night and fired all day. [Scientific American, June 18, 1864]