stopper | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

15 entries found.

late 15c., "one who obstructs," agent noun from stop (v.). From 1590s as "something that obstructs;" specific sense "glass plug for a bottle neck" is from 1660s. As a verb from 1670s. Related: Stoppered.

unstop (v.)

"remove the stopper from," late 14c., from un- (2) "reverse, opposite of" + stop (v.). Related: Unstopped; unstopping.

powder-horn (n.)

"powder flask made of horn (usually of an ox or cow) with a movable stopper at the small end," 1530s, from powder (n.) + horn (n.).

tampion (n.)

early 15c., "plug, bung," from a nasalized variant of Old French tapon "piece of cloth to stop a hole" (14c.), a suffixed form of Frankish *tappo "stopper, plug," related to Old High German zapfo and Old English tæppa "stopper" (see tap (n.1)). Meaning "wooden plug for the muzzle of a gun" (to keep out rain or seawater) is recorded from 1620s.

gob (n.2)

"mouth," 1540s, from Irish gob "mouth," and thus related to the other English noun gob (also see gobbet). Gob-stopper "type of large hard candy" is from 1928.

embolus (n.)

1660s, "stopper, wedge," from Latin embolus "piston of a pump," from Greek embolos "peg, stopper; anything pointed so as to be easily thrust in," also "a tongue (of land), beak (of a ship)," from emballein "to insert, throw in, invade" from assimilated form of en "in" (see en- (2)) + ballein "to throw" (from PIE root *gwele- "to throw, reach"). Medical sense in reference to obstruction of a blood vessel is from 1866. Related: Embolic.

bung-hole (n.)

also bunghole, "hole in a cask through which is it filled, closed by a stopper," 1570s, from bung (n.) + hole (n.). Sense extended to "anus" by c. 1600.

bung (n.)

mid-15c., "large stopper for a cask," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch bonge "stopper;" or perhaps from French bonde "bung, bunghole" (15c.), which may be of Germanic origin (or the Germanic words may be borrowed from Romanic), or it may be from Gaulish *bunda (compare Old Irish bonn, Gaelic bonn, Welsh bon "base, sole of the foot"). It is possible that either or both of these sources is ultimately from Latin puncta in the sense of "hole" (from PIE root *peuk- "to prick"). Transferred to the cask-mouth itself (also bung-hole) from 1570s.

cork (n.)

c. 1300, "the light, elastic outer bark of a species of oak tree native to Iberia and North Africa, used for many purposes," from Spanish alcorque "cork sole," probably from earlier Spanish corcho, from Latin quercus "oak" (see Quercus) or cortex (genitive corticis) "bark" (see corium).

In reference to the tree itself, mid-15c. From late 14c. as "cork-soled shoe." As "cork float for a fishing line," mid-15c. Meaning "cylindrical cork stopper or bung for a bottle, etc.," 1520s. As an adjective, "made of cork," 1716.

tap (n.1)

"stopper, faucet through which liquid can be drawn," Old English tæppa "tap, spigot," from Proto-Germanic *tappon (source also of Middle Dutch tappe, Dutch tap, Old High German zapfo, German Zapfe). Originally a tapering cylindrical peg for a cask, then a hollowed one to draw from it (compare sense evolution of spigot). Phrase on tap "ready for use, ready to be drawn and served" is recorded from late 15c. Tap-wrench, used in turning one, attested from 1815.

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