German name of Polish Gdańsk,city on the Baltic coast of Poland, perhaps from Gdania, an older name for the river that runs through it, or from Gothic Gutisk-anja "end of the (territory of the) Goths." The spelling (attested from 13c.) in the German form of the name perhaps suggests a connection with Dane.
1540s, "act of converting from jealousy or suspicion and gaining favor or good will," from French conciliation, from Latin conciliationem (nominative conciliatio) "a connection, union, bond," figuratively "a making friendly, gaining over," noun of action from past-participle stem of conciliare "to bring together, unite in feelings, make friendly" (see conciliate).
c. 1500, "to break, cut, gouge, etc. with a chisel," from chisel (n.). Slang sense of "to cheat, defraud" is first recorded in 1808 as chizzel; origin and connection to the older word are obscure (but compare slang sense of gouge; perhaps the sense is "to cut close" as in a bargain). Related: Chiseled; chiseling.
Old English afæred, past participle of now-obsolete afear (Old English afæran) "terrify, cause to fear," from a- (1) + færan (see fear (v.)). Used frequently by Shakespeare, but supplanted in literary English after 1700 by afraid (q.v.), to which it has no connection. It survived in popular speech and colloquial writing.
"swindler, impostor," c. 1600; also "one easily cheated" (1640s); "a swindle, trick, sham, imposition" (1708), an obsolete word said to be from Turkish chaush "sergeant, herald, messenger," but the sense connection is obscure. Century Dictionary says the Turkish word is via Arabic khawas from Hindi khawas "an attendant." Also used as a verb, "to cheat, swindle" (1650s).
"toward and upon; to and in connection with; to the top of," 1580s, on to, from on + to. It appeared much later than parallel into, unto. As a closed compound, onto (on analogy of into), it is recorded from 1715. "The word is regarded by purists as vulgar, and is avoided by careful writers" [Century Dictionary, 1895].
German familiar form of masc. proper name Friedrich; as a characteristic name for a German attested by 1883; very common in World War I. Phrase on the fritz "inoperative, not working properly" (1903) is American English slang, of unknown connection to the name; the earliest references suggest a theatrical origin.
"deep ravine," 1832, perhaps from obsolete or dialectal verb gulsh "sink in" (of land), "gush out" (of water), from Middle English gulchen "to gush forth; to drink greedily" (c. 1200). Compare gulche-cuppe "a greedy drinker" (mid-13c.). "There appears to be no etymological connection with gully" [Century Dictionary].
large, edible flatfish, c. 1300, from Old French turbut (12c., Modern French turbot), probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Swedish törnbut, from törn "thorn" + but "flatfish;" see butt (n.4) and compare halibut). But OED says of uncertain origin and speculates on a connection to Latin turbo "spinning top."
"notched on the edge like a saw," 1660s, from Latin serratus "sawlike, notched like a saw," from serra "a saw" (also a name of a type of serrated battle formation), a word of unknown origin. De Vaan suggests a connection to Latin sario 'to hoe, weed," and a PIE source in *sers- "cutting off." Related: Serrated; serrating.
