as | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

220 entries found.

also ad lib., 1811 as a musical instruction, shortened from Latin ad libitum "to (one's) pleasure, as much as one likes" (c. 1600), from ad "to" (see ad-) + libitum "pleasure," accusative of libere "to please" (see libido). As a noun from 1825; as a verb by 1915.

global warming (n.)

by 1983 as the name for a condition of overall rising temperatures on Earth and attendant consequences as a result of human activity. Originally theoretical, popularized as a reality from 1989.

anorexia nervosa (n.)

"emaciation as a result of severe emotional disturbance," coined 1873 by William W. Gull, who also offered as an alternative apepsia hysterica as a name for it. See anorexia.

hot spot (n.)

also hotspot, 1888 as a skin irritation; 1931 as "nightclub;" 1938 in the firefighting sense; 1941 as "place of international conflict." See hot (adj.) + spot (n.).

get over (v.)

1680s, "overcome," from get (v.) + over (adv.). From 1712 as "recover from;" 1813 as "have done with."

go together (v.)

1520s, "accompany," see go (v.) + together (adv.). From 1710 as "agree with, harmonize with;" 1899 as "be courting."

big deal (n.)

from 1860s as "a good deal, a large amount;" by 1878 in financial speculation, originally in California publications; see deal (n.1). As an ironic expression, popular in American English from c. 1965, perhaps a translated Yiddishism (such as a groyser kunst).

upside down (adv.)

late 15c., earlier upsadoun (late 14c.), up so down (c. 1300); the so perhaps meaning "as if." As an adjective from 1866.

wild man (n.)

c. 1200, "man lacking in self-restraint," from wild (adj.) + man (n.). From mid-13c. as "primitive, savage." Late 14c. as a surname.

set off (v.)

verbal phrase; see set (v.) + off (adv.). From 1590s as "make prominent by contrast," 1610s as "adorn." Intransitive sense of "start on or as on a journey" is from 1774. Meaning "separate from contect" (in typography) is from 1824; sense of "ignite, discharge, cause to explode" is from 1810.

Trending words