whole cloth | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

698 entries found.

"one who fulls cloth," Old English fullere "fuller" (Mark ix.3), from Latin fullo "fuller" (see foil (v.)). The native word is walker. Fuller's earth (silicate of alumina) is recorded by 1520s; so called because it was used in cleansing cloth.

Holocene (adj.)

in reference to the epoch that began 10,000 years ago and continues today, 1897, from French holocène (1867), from Greek holos "whole" (from PIE root *sol- "whole, well-kept") + -cene. The notion is "entirely new."

heal (v.)

Old English hælan "cure; save; make whole, sound and well," from Proto-Germanic *hailjan (source also of Old Saxon helian, Old Norse heila, Old Frisian hela, Dutch helen, German heilen, Gothic ga-hailjan "to heal, cure"), literally "to make whole" (from PIE *kailo- "whole;" see health). Intransitive sense from late 14c. Related: Healed; healing.

toil (n.2)

"net, snare," 1520s, from French toile "hunting net, cloth, web" (compare toile d'araignée "cobweb"), from Old French toile "cloth" (11c.), from Latin tela "web, net, warp of a fabric," from PIE root *teks- "to weave," also "to fabricate." Now used largely in plural (as in caught in the toils of the law).

calico (n.)

1530s, kalyko cloth, "white cotton cloth," from an alternative form of Calicut (modern Kozhikode), name of the seaport on the Malabar coast of India where Europeans first obtained it. In U.S. use from c. 1800, "printed cotton cloth coarser than muslin;" extended to animal colorings suggestive of printed calicos in 1807, originally of horses, of cats from 1882. The place-name (mentioned by Ptolemy as kalaikaris) is Tamil, said to mean "fort of Kalliai."

fane (n.)

"weathercock," late 14c., from Old English fana, fona "flag, banner," from Proto-Germanic *fanan- (source also of Old Frisian fana, Gothic fana "piece of cloth," Old High German fano, German Fahne "flag, standard"); possibly cognate with Latin pannus "piece of cloth" (see pane).

carpeting (n.)

"cloth for carpets; carpets generally," 1758, verbal noun from carpet (v.).

globally (adv.)

"throughout the whole world," by 1910, from global + -ly (2).

handkerchief (n.)

1520s, from hand + kerchief, originally "cloth for covering the head," but since Middle English used generally as "piece of cloth used about the person." A curious confluence of words for "hand" and "head." By-form handkercher was in use 16c.-19c. A dropped handkerchief as a token of flirtation or courtship is attested by mid-18c.

wiper (n.)

1550s as a person, 1580s as a cloth, agent noun wipe (v.). From 1929 as short for windshield wiper.

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