c | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

4697 entries found.

"to beg" (1812), "to get by begging" (1848), of uncertain origin, perhaps a back-formation from cadger "itinerant dealer with a pack-horse" (mid-15c.), which is perhaps from Middle English cadge "to fasten, to tie" (late 14c.), which probably is from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse kögur-barn "swaddled child").

Cadillac (n.)

type of luxury automobile made by the Cadillac Automobile Company, established in 1902 by Detroit engine-maker Henry Martyn Leland and named for Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658-1730), French minor aristocrat and colonial governor who founded Detroit in 1701. The company was purchased by General Motors in 1909.

Cadiz

port city in southwestern Spain, from Latin Gades (Greek Gadeira), from Phoenician gadir "fort, enclosure." Related: Gaditan (from Latin adjective Gaditanus).

Cadmean victory (n.)

c. 1600, "victory involving one's own ruin," translating Greek Kadmeia nikē, from Cadmus (Greek Kadmos), legendary hero-founder of Thebes in Boeotia and bringer of the original sixteen-letter alphabet to Greece. Probably a reference to the story of Cadmus and the "Sown-Men," who fought each other till only a handful were left alive. Compare Pyrrhic (adj.1).

cadmium (n.)

bluish-white metallic element, 1822, discovered 1817 by German scientist Friedrich Strohmeyer (1776-1835), coined in Modern Latin from cadmia, a word used by ancient naturalists for various earths and oxides (especially zinc carbonate), from Greek kadmeia (ge) "Cadmean (earth)," from Kadmos "Cadmus," legendary founder of Boeotian Thebes. With metallic element ending -ium. So called because the earth was first found in the vicinity of Thebes (Kadmeioi was an alternative name for "Thebans" since the time of Homer). Its sulphate furnishes a brilliant and permanent yellow color (cadmium-yellow, 1850) used by artists, etc.

cadre (n.)

"permanently organized framework of a military unit" (the officers, etc., as opposed to the rank-and-file), 1851; earlier "framework, scheme" (1830); from French cadre, literally "a frame of a picture" (16c.), so, "a detachment forming the skeleton of a regiment," from Italian quadro, from Latin quadrum "a square," which related to quattuor "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four"). The communist sense "group or cell of workers trained to promote the interests of the Party" is from 1930.

caduceus (n.)

in ancient Greece or Rome, "herald's staff," 1590s, from Latin caduceus, alteration of Doric Greek karykeion "herald's staff," from kēryx (genitive kērykos) "a herald," probably a Pre-Greek word. Token of a peaceful embassy; originally an olive branch. Later especially the wand carried by Mercury, messenger of the gods, usually represented with two serpents twined round it and wings. Related: Caducean.

The caduceus is a symbol of peace and prosperity, and in modern times figures as a symbol of commerce, Mercury being the god of commerce. The rod represents power; the serpents represent wisdom; and the two wings, diligence and activity. [Century Dictionary]

Sometimes used mistakenly as a symbol of medicine by confusion with the Rod ofAsclepius, Greek god of medicine, which also features a serpent entwined about a rod but only a single serpent.

caducous (adj.)

"having a tendency to fall or decay," 1797, in botany, from Latin caducus "falling, fallen, fleeting," from cadere "to fall, decline, perish," from PIE root *kad- "to fall." Related: Caducity.

cady (n.)

"hat, cap," 1846, British English, of unknown origin.

caecum (n.)

in human anatomy, "the pouch at the beginning of the colon," 1721, from Latin intestinum caecum "blind gut," from neuter of caecus "blind, hidden," from Proto-Italic *kaiko-, from PIE *kehi-ko- "one-eyed," cognate with Old Irish ca'ech "one-eyed," coeg "empty," Welsh coeg-dall, Old Cornish cuic "one-eyed;" Gothic haihs "one-eyed, blind." So called for being prolonged into a cul-de-sac. Related: Caecal.

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