also applesauce, by 1739, American English, from apple + sauce (n.). The slang meaning "nonsense" is attested from 1921 and was noted as a vogue word early 1920s. Mencken credits it to cartoonist T.A. ("Tad") Dorgan. DAS suggests the word was thus used because applesauce was cheap fare served in boardinghouses.
also subitise, 1949, coined in an article in American Journal of Psychology, which describes it as "the discrimination of stimulus-numbers of 6 and below" and credits the suggestion of the word to Dr. Cornelia C. Coulter, the Department of Classical Languages and Literature, Mount Holyoke College. It is -ize + Latin subitus, past participle of subire "come or go stealthily" (see sudden).
also Indochina, "Farther India, the region between India and China," 1815, from Indo- "India" + China. The name was said to have been proposed by Scottish poet and orientalist John Leyden, who lived and worked in India from 1803 till his death at 35 in 1811. French Indo-Chine is attested from 1813, but the source credits it to Leyden. The inappropriateness of the name was noticed from the start. Related: Indo-Chinese (1814).
1714, "too frequent use of 'I'," from ego + -ism. First used by Joseph Addison, who credits the term to "Port-Royalists" who used it in reference to obtrusive use of first person singular pronoun in writing, hence "talking too much about oneself." Meaning "self-conceit, selfishness" is from 1800. The -t- is abnormal, perhaps by influence of dogmatism.
early 14c., Menour, "a Franciscan," from Latin Fratres Minores "lesser brethren," name chosen by the order's founder, St. Francis, for the sake of humility; see minor (adj.). From c. 1400 as "minor premise of a syllogism." From 1610s as "person of either sex who is under legal age for the performance of certain acts" (Latin used minores (plural) for "the young"). Musical sense is from 1797 (see the adjective). Academic meaning "secondary subject of study, subject of study with fewer credits than a major" is from 1890; as a verb in this sense by 1905.
1590s, "conception, mental scheme," from Late Latin theoria (Jerome), from Greek theōria "contemplation, speculation; a looking at, viewing; a sight, show, spectacle, things looked at," from theōrein "to consider, speculate, look at," from theōros "spectator," from thea "a view" (see theater) + horan "to see," which is possibly from PIE root *wer- (3) "to perceive." Philosophy credits sense evolution in the Greek word to Pythagoras.
Earlier in this sense was theorical (n.), late 15c. Sense of "principles or methods of a science or art" (rather than its practice) is first recorded 1610s (as in music theory, which is the science of musical composition, apart from practice or performance). Sense of "an intelligible explanation based on observation and reasoning" is from 1630s.
c. 1300; "wasted, ruined, spent in vain," c. 1500; also "no longer to be found, gone astray" (1520s), past-participle adjectives from lose. Meaning "spiritually ruined, inaccessible to good influence" is from 1640s. Related: Lostness.
Of battles, games, etc. in which one has been defeated, 1724; hence Lost Cause in reference to the bid for independence by the southern states of the U.S., first as the title of the 1866 pro-Southern history of the CSA and the rebellion written by Virginia journalist E.A. Pollard (1832-1872). Lost Generation in reference to the youth that came of age when World War I broke is first attested 1926 in Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises," where he credits it to Gertrude Stein. Lost-and-found as the name of a department where misplaced articles are brought or sought is by 1907.
1540s, "belief, faith," from French crédit (15c.) "belief, trust," from Italian credito, from Latin creditum "a loan, thing entrusted to another," neuter past participle of credere "to trust, entrust, believe" (see credo).
The commercial sense of "confidence in the ability and intention of a purchaser or borrower to make payment at some future time" was in English by 1570s (creditor is mid-15c.); hence "sum placed at a person's disposal" by a bank, etc., 1660s. From 1580s as "one who or that which brings honor or reputation to." Meaning "honor, acknowledgment of merit," is from c. 1600.
Academic sense of "point awarded for completing a course of study" is by 1904 (short for hour of credit (1892), given for satisfactory completion of one lecture, etc., a week, usually one hour in length). Movie/broadcasting sense "acknowledgement and naming of the individual contributors" (in plural, credits) is by 1914.
Credit rating is from 1958; credit union "cooperative banking society" is 1881, American English.
