make-work | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

64 entries found.

fem. proper name, earlier Malasintha, from shortened form of Old High German Amalswind, literally "strong in work," from amal "work" + *swind "strong" (related to Old English swið "strong," gesund "healthy").

Galen

celebrated Greek physician of 2c.; his work still was a foundation of medicine in the Middle Ages and his name is used figuratively for doctors.

Parkinson's Law

1955 (in the "Economist" of Nov. 19), named for its deviser, British historian and journalist Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909-1993): "work expands to fill the time available for its completion."

Titian (n.)

1824, "a painting by Venetian painter Tiziano Vecellio" (c. 1490-1576), from Englished form of his name. Often also in reference to the tint of bright auburn hair favored by him in his work.

Elsevier (n.)

early 18c., Elzevir (via French Elzévir), from Dutch Elsevier, the name of a family of Dutch printers famed for the accuracy and elegance of their work; especially in reference to editions of the classics and other works published by them c. 1580-1680.

Pulitzer (n.)

annual awards for distinguished work in U.S. journalism, letters, music, etc., 1918, named for U.S. journalist Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), publisher of the New York Globe, who established the awards in 1917 through an endowment to Columbia University.

Daedalus

father of Icarus in Greek mythology, builder of the Cretan labyrinth, from Latin Daedelus, from Greek Daidalos, literally "the cunning worker," from or related to daidallein "to work artfully, embellish," a word of disputed etymology. Beekes writes, "we should consider Pre-Greek origin." Related: Daedalian.

Athanasian (adj.)

1580s, "pertaining to Athanasius" (c. 296-373), bishop of Alexandria in the reign of Constantine. The name is Latin, from Greek Athanasios, from athanatos "immortal," from a- "not, without" (see a- (3)) + thanatos "death" (see thanatology). The anti-Arian creed attributed to him was perhaps not his work.

Copernicus

Latinized form of name of Mikolaj Koppernigk (1473-1543), Prussian Polish physician and canon of the cathedral of Frauenburg who promulgated the theory that the Earth and the planets revolve about the sun. His great work was "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium." Related: Copernican (1660s).

Ida

fem. proper name, Medieval Latin, from Old High German Ida, which is perhaps related to Old Norse ið "work." As the name of a mountain near Troy and one in Crete (the mystic birthplace of Zeus), it probably is a different word, of unknown or non-IE origin; related: Idaean.

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