"motherless calf in a herd," 1887, cowboy slang, of uncertain origin. It may have had an earlier, more specific meaning:
What is called a "dogie" is a scrub Texas yearling. Dogies are the tailings of a mixed herd of cattle which have failed of a ready sale while on the market. They are picked up finally by purchasers in search of cheap cattle; but investments in such stock are risky and have proven to be disastrous this winter. [The Breeder's Gazette, March 5, 1885]
1706, "cross-shaped, having the form of an X," from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the interior of the knee-joint (which cross each other), from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cross" (see crux).
The meaning "decisive, critical, finally disproving one of two alternative suppositions" (1830) is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.
"it appears to me" (now archaic or poetic only), from Old English me þyncð "it seems to me," from me (pron.), dative of I, + þyncð, third person singular of þyncan "to seem," reflecting the Old English distinction between þyncan "to seem" and related þencan "to think," which bedevils modern students of the language (see think). The two thinks were constantly confused, then finally merged, in Middle English. Related: Methought.
"branched cluster of lights suspended from a ceiling," 1736, from Middle English chaundeler "candlestick" (late 14c.), from Old French chandelier (n.1), 12c., earlier chandelabre "candlestick, candelabrum" (10c.), from Latin candelabrum, from candela "candle" (see candle).
Originally a candlestick, then a cluster of them; finally a distinction was made (with a re-spelling mid-18c. in French fashion; during 17c. the French spelling referred to a military device), between a candelabrum, which stands, and a chandelier, which hangs.
"belonging to the period of Queen Elizabeth I" (1558-1603) of England, 1807 (Elizabethean); Coleridge (1817) has Elizabethian, and Carlyle (1840) finally attains the modern form. The noun is first attested 1859.
John Knox, one of the exiles for religion in Switzerland, publiſhed his "Firſt Blaſt of the Trumpet againſt the Government of Women," in this reign [of Elizabeth]. It was lucky for him that he was out of the queen's reach when he ſounded the trumpet. [The Rev. Mr. James Granger, "A Biographical History of England," 1769]
also hand-writing, "writing with the hand; form of writing peculiar to a person," early 15c., from hand (n.) + writing, translating Latin manuscriptum and equivalent to Greek kheirographia. Earlier was simply hand (n.) "handwriting, style of writing;" and Old English had handgewrit "handwriting; a writing."
An ordinary note in his [Horace Greeley's] handwriting is said to have been used for a long time as a railroad pass, then as a servant's recommendation, and finally taken to a drug-store as a doctor's prescription. [Frank Leslie's Magazine, August 1884]
