1620s, "power to make use of, right to dispose of or control;" see dispose + -al (2). Meaning "a disposing" (of a daughter by marriage, of money by a will, of an estate by sale, etc.) is from 1650s; of waste material, from c. 1960, originally in medical use.

1849, of chemicals, etc.; 1885 as a person who "makes things right;" agent noun from fix (v.). Fixer-upper is from 1967 as "that which repairs other things" (in an advertisement for a glue); by 1976 as a real-estate euphemism for "property that needs a lot of work."

late 14c., "in person; by one's own actions," from personal + -ly (2). Sense of "with respect to an individual" is from late 15c. Meaning "as far as I'm concerned" is from 1849.

also trans-gender, by 1974 in reference to persons whose sense of personal identity does not correspond with their anatomical sex, from trans- + gender (n.). Related: Transgendered.

used figuratively for "generic suburban tract housing," American English, from the vast planned real estate developments built by the firm Levitt & Sons Inc., the first on Long Island, 1946-51 (more than 17,000 homes), the second north of Philadelphia (1951-55).

slang word meaning "dolt," 1855, originally (16c.) "donkey;" of unknown origin, perhaps originally a personal name. In U.S., "black person," from 1856, perhaps a different word.

late 13c., "foundation, base; buttocks, anus," from Old French fondement "foundation, bottom; land, estate; anus" (12c.), from Latin fundamentum "a foundation, ground-work; support; beginning," from fundare "to found" (see bottom (n.)). So called because it is where one sits.

1963, from French tiers monde, formulated 1952 by French economic historian Alfred Sauvy (1898-1990) on model of the third estate (French tiers état) of Revolutionary France; his first world (The West) and second world (the Soviet bloc) never caught on.

U.S. capital, founded 1791, named for President George Washington (1732-1799); the family name is from a town in northeastern England, from Old English, literally "estate of a man named Wassa." The U.S. state was named when it was formed as a territory in 1853 (admitted to the union 1889). Related: Washingtonian.

"female servant," c. 1300, from hand (n.) in the sense in close at hand + maid. Compare Old English handþegn "personal attendant" and the original sense of handsome.