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86 entries found.

masc. proper name, from Old Irish Máel Coluim "servant of (St.) Columba," from máel "servant," etymologically "bald, shorn, hornless," from PIE base *mai- (1) "to cut" (see maim).

Lysander

masc. proper name, from Greek Lysandros, literally "releasing men," from combining form of lyein "to release, unfasten" (from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart") + andros, genitive of anēr "man" (from PIE root *ner- (2) "man").

Hippolytus

masc. proper name, son of Theseus in Greek mythology, from Greek Hippolytos, literally "letting horses loose," from hippos "horse" (from PIE root *ekwo- "horse") + stem of lyein "to unfasten, loose, loosen, untie" (from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart").

Sinon

name of the Greek who induced the Trojans to take the wooden horse into the city; hence "a deceiver by false tales."

Gideon

masc. proper name, name of an Israelite judge and warrior [Judges vi:11-viii:25], from Hebrew Gidh'on, literally "feller," from stem of gadha "he cut off, hewed, felled." In reference to the Bible propagation society, 1906, formally Christian Commercial Young Men's Association of America, founded 1899. The hotel room Gideon Bible so called by 1922.

Hebrides

originally Ebudae, Haebudes, of uncertain origin. Apparently a scribal error turned -u- into -ri-. The Norse name, Suðregar, "Southern Islands," is relative to the Orkneys. Related: Hebridean.

Vietnam

country in Southeast Asia, from Vietnamese Viet, the people's name + nam "south." Division into North and South lasted from 1954 to 1976. Vietnam War attested by 1963.

Kampuchea

name taken by Cambodia after the communist takeover in 1975, representing a local pronunciation of the name that came into English as Cambodia. Related: Kampuchean.

Monmouth

town in Wales, so called from its situation where the River Monnow flows into the larger Wye. The Welsh name, Trefynwy, "homestead on the Mynwy," preserves the native form of the name.

Chamorro

indigenous people of Guam and the Marianas Islands, 1905, from Spanish Chamorro, literally "shorn, shaven, bald." Supposedly because the men shaved their heads, but the name also has been connected to native Chamoru, said to mean "noble," so perhaps Chamorro is a Spanish folk-etymology.

CHAMORRO a scornful name, given by the Spaniards to the Portuguese, who used to cut off the hair. From the Spanish Chamorro, bald [Anthony Vierya Transtagano, "Dictionary of the Portuguese and English Languages," London, 1773]

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