"a quibble, a nicety or subtlety," 1580s, obsolete, probably a corruption or contraction of Latin quidlibet "what you please," from quid "anything," neuter of indefinite pronoun quis "somebody, someone or other" (from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns) + libet "it pleases" (from PIE root *leubh- "to care, desire, love").

late 14c., "relative, kinsman" (a sense now obsolete), from ally (v.); mid-15c. in the sense of "one united with another by treaty or league." Allies as the name of the nations aligned against the Central Powers in World War I is from 1914; as the nations aligned against Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II, from 1939.

c. 1200, "deficiency, insufficiency, shortage," from want (v.) and from Old Norse vant, neuter of vanr "wanting, deficient;" related to Old English wanian "to diminish" (see wane). Meaning "state of destitution, poverty" is recorded from early 14c. Meaning "thing desired, that which is lacking but needed" is from 1560s. Phrase for want of is recorded from c. 1400. Newspaper want ad is recorded from 1897. Middle English had wantsum (c. 1200) "in want, deprived of," literally "want-some."

"pilgrim; itinerant monk going from shrine to shrine under a perpetual vow of poverty;" originally "pilgrim who has returned from the Holy Land," c. 1300, palmere (mid-12c. as a surname), from Anglo-French palmer (Old French palmier), from Medieval Latin palmarius, from Latin palma "palm tree" (see palm (n.2)). So called because they wore palm branches in commemoration of the journey. "The distinction between pilgrim and palmer seems never to have been closely observed" [Century Dictionary].

early 15c., "physical weakness," also "poverty," from Old French impotence "weakness" (13c.), from Latin impotentia "lack of control or power," from impotentem "lacking control, powerless" (see impotent). In reference to a complete want of (male) sexual potency, from c. 1500. The figurative senses of the word in Latin were "violence, fury, unbridled passion," via the notion of "want of self-restraining power," and these sometimes were used in English. Related: Impotency.

Old English nunne "woman devoted to religious life under vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience to a superior," also "vestal, pagan priestess," from Late Latin nonna "nun, tutor," originally (along with masc. nonnus) a term of address to elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana (compare Sanskrit nona, Persian nana "mother," Greek nanna "aunt," Serbo-Croatian nena "mother," Italian nonna, Welsh nain "grandmother;" see nanny).

early 14c. "relative freedom of a noble metal from alloy or other impurities," from Anglo-French alai, Old French aloi "alloy," from aloiier (see alloy (v.)). The meaning " base metal alloyed with a noble metal" is from c. 1400. The modern spelling from late 17c. The meaning "any mixture of metals," without reference to values, is from 1827.

mid-15c. (late 13c. in Anglo-French), "royal writ to determine by what warrant a person holds an office or franchise," a Medieval Latin legal phrase, literally "by what warrant," from quo "from, with, or by whom or what?," ablative of the interrogative pronoun quis "who?" (from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns). Also see warrant (n.).

early 15c., "extract, preparation," from Latin valentia "strength, capacity," from valentem (nominative valens) "strong, stout, vigorous, powerful," present participle of valere "be strong" (from PIE root *wal- "to be strong"). Chemistry sense of "relative combining capacity of an element with other atoms when forming compounds or molecules" is recorded from 1884, from German Valenz (1868), from the Latin word. Related: Valency.

also co-ordinate, 1660s, "to place in the same rank," from Latin coordinare "to set in order, arrange," from co- "with, together" (see com-) + ordinatio "arrangement," from ordo "row, rank, series, arrangement" (see order (n.)).

Meaning "to arrange in proper position relative to each other" (transitive) is from 1847; that of "to work together in order" (intransitive) is from 1863. Related: Coordinated; coordinating.