also Sauternes, name for certain white wines from the Gironde, by 1711, from Sauterne, district near Bordeaux where they are made.
former principality in central Russia that formed the nucleus of the modern Russian nation; from French Moscovie, from Modern Latin Moscovia, old name of Russia, from Russian Moskova "(Principality of) Moscow." In Muscovy duck (1650s), the tropical American bird, and certain other uses it is a corruption of musk. Related: Muscovite; Muscovian.
isles off Cornwall, a name of unknown origin. Pliny has Silumnus, Silimnis. Perhaps it is connected with the Roman god Sulis (compare Aquae sulis "Bath," literally "waters of Sulis"). The -y might be Old Norse ey "island." The -c- was added 16c.-17c. "[A]bout the only certain thing that can be said is that the c of the modern spelling is not original but was added for distinction from ModE silly as this word developed in meaning from 'happy, blissful' to 'foolish.'" ["Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names"].
1872, trademark for an ointment made from petroleum and marketed by Chesebrough Manufacturing Co., coined from German Wasser "water" + Greek elaion "oil" + scientific-sounded ending -ine. Robert A. Chesebrough was of the opinion that petroleum was a product of the underground decomposition of water.
The name is of mixed origin, being derived from Wasser, water, and elaion [Greek in the original], oil (water-oil), and indicates the belief of the discoverer that petroleum, the mother of Vaseline, is produced by the agency of heat and pressure from the carbon of certain rocks, and the hydrogen of water. [The Monthly Review of Dental Surgery, February 1877]
masc. proper name, from French Nicolas, from Latin Nicholaus, Nicolaus, from Greek Nikholaos, literally "victory-people," from nikē "victory" (see Nike) + laos "people" (see lay (adj.)). The saint (died 326 C.E.) was a bishop of Myra in Lycia, patron of scholars, especially schoolboys. A popular given name in England in the Middle Ages (the native form, Nicol, was more common in early Middle English), as was the fem. form Nicolaa, corresponding to French Nicole. Colloquial Old Nick "the devil" is attested from 1640s, evidently from the proper name, but for no certain reason.
surname, from marshal (n.). The city in Texas, U.S., was named in 1841 for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835). The Marshall Plan, "U.S. assistance to aid certain Western European nations recovering from World War II," is from 1947, named for its initiator, George C. Marshall (1880-1959), who was U.S. Secretary of State 1947-49. The Marshall Islands in the western Pacific were explored in 1788 by British naval captains John Marshall (1748-1819) and Thomas Gilbert, and named for the former (for the latter, see Kiribati). Related: Marshallese.
"stale joke," 1816, from Joseph Miller (1684-1738), a comedian, whose name was affixed after his death to a popular jest-book, "Joe Miller's Jests, or the Wit's Vade-mecum" (1739) compiled by John Mottley, which gave Miller after his death more fame than he enjoyed while alive.
A certain Lady finding her Husband somewhat too familiar with her Chamber-maid, turned her away immediately; Hussy, said she, I have no Occasion for such Sluts as you, only to do that Work which I choose to do myself. [from "Joe Miller's Jests"].
They were so called by critics who saw in them heretics pretending to humble piety, from lollen "to mumble or doze." In transferred use it became the generic late Middle English term for groups suspected of heresy, especially followers of John Wyclif. Related: Lollardism (the modern word); Lollardy (the old one).
