English words first recorded in the 17th century

1. It was formed from English box + -er, from the verb box, to fight with the fists, whose own origin is unknown. The dog breed was named in German: Boxer (by 1895) is short for Boxerhund (1842)…

It is borrowed from New Latin corticālis (“of or like bark or rind”), from Latin cortex (“bark of a tree”), stem cortic-, and the suffix -ālis. The Shorter Oxford calls the adjective Medieval Latin…

1. The word for father is probably imitative, from the doubled syllable /da/ that is typical of a baby's first sounds, formed like dad; the OED compares the earlier dad and daddy. 2. The art…

It is formed from English dis- + belief, a hybrid of a prefix of Latin origin and a native Germanic word. It follows the verb disbelieve, recorded from the 1640s, from which Johnson (1755) derived it.

It was formed from English flag + ship in English. Etymonline notes that at sea a flag is properly the banner that marks an admiral's ship among the others of the squadron, the rest being ensigns…

It is borrowed from French héroïsme (“heroic action or conduct”), recorded in French from 1658, from héros (“hero”) and -isme. Hero is from Latin hērōs, from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs), of unknown…

1. The reception is borrowed from French lever (“a rising from bed”), the infinitive used as a noun, or the variant French levé, from lever (“to raise; to rise”), from Latin levō (“to raise”). The…

It is borrowed from Latin migrāns (“moving, changing one's home”), the present participle of migrō (“to move from one place to another”), with the ending that became -ant. The same verb gave migrate…

It is borrowed from Latin ōvum (“egg”), from Proto-Indo-European *ōwyo- (“egg”), also given as *ōyyo-, which de Vaan reconstructs as *h₂ōuiom. The OED derives it from the same Indo-European base as…

It is formed from English regulate + -ation.

It is borrowed from Latin serum (“whey, watery fluid”). Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein connect the Latin noun with Ancient Greek ὀρός (orós, “whey”) and Sanskrit सरस् (sará-, “flowing”), and…

1. It is probably from a Scandinavian source, compare dialectal Swedish slämma, to slam, bang, Norwegian slamre and Icelandic slæma, perhaps related to Old Norse slam(b)ra, and of imitative origin…

It is imitative, a natural utterance first recorded in English in the early 17th century in NODE.

It is borrowed from New Latin vāsculāris (“of or relating to vessels or tubes”), from Latin vāsculum (“a small vessel”), a diminutive of vās (“vessel”), with the suffix -āris. It is related to vase…

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin coincidō (“to fall together”), a verb of astrology, and in part borrowed from French coïncider, which the OED and Barnhart give as the immediate source. The…

1. It is borrowed from French consoler (“to comfort”), from Latin cōnsōlārī (“to offer solace, comfort”), from com-, intensive, and sōlor, to soothe (see solace). It may instead be a back-formation…

It is a compound from English mouth + piece. Mouth is from Old English mūþ, and piece is from Old French piece (“piece, bit, portion”).

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from French observatoire, from observer (“to observe”), from Latin observō (“to watch over, heed”). The American Heritage Dictionary thinks the French form was…

It is borrowed from Italian pasta (“paste, dough”), from Late Latin pasta (“dough, pastry cake, paste”) (see paste), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “barley porridge”), probably first a salted mess…

It is borrowed from Spanish plaza (“square, place”), from Vulgar Latin *plattea, from Latin platea (“courtyard, broad street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa). It is a doublet of place.

It is borrowed from French suite, from Old French suite, earlier sieute, siute, the act of following, attendance, a later borrowing of the word that gave suit. The pronunciation is French.

1. The modern word is from English -teen, the ending of the numbers thirteen to nineteen, later felt as a shortening of teenager, which is a younger word. 2. The old word is Middle English tene…

It is formed from English tone + -er. The verb tone is from the noun, which is from Middle English ton, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”), possibly through Old French ton, from Ancient Greek τόνος…

It is formed from English de- + consecrate, taking only a shortened form of the second part, with the prefix in its reversing sense. Consecrate is from Latin cōnsecrō (“to dedicate, devote as…

It is formed from English experiment + -ation, a noun of action from the verb experiment. The verb comes from the noun, which goes back through Old French esperment to Latin experīmentum (“a trial…

Its origin is uncertain. The OED, noting that it was mentioned in 1676 as a cant word, takes it as presumably onomatopoeic, comparing flack and flap, and Hoad and the Oxford Dictionary of English…

It is formed from English in- + destructible, and the OED compares French indestructible, in use in the 17th and 18th centuries. The American Heritage Dictionary and Dictionary.com take it instead…

It is formed from English poly- + -nomial, after binomial, whose stem Etymonline calls irregularly reused here. The Oxford Dictionary of English names multinomial as the pattern instead, and the OED…

It is borrowed from Latin pulsātus, the past participle of pulsō (“to beat, strike, push”), the frequentative of pellō (“to drive, beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to thrust, strike…

It is borrowed from French zeste (“orange or lemon peel”), formerly zest, recorded in French from 1645 for the outer coloured part of citrus peel used as flavouring. The OED explains this as an…

It is borrowed from Latin abrādō (“to remove by rubbing, scrape off”), from ab- (“off, away”) and rādō (“to scrape”), the source of raze and razor. The Latin verb also meant to remove by erosion, to…

It is formed from English camp + fire.

It is formed from English cross- + breed. The dictionaries analyse the verb as the prefix or the verb cross with the verb breed, and the noun as cross- with the noun breed; the revised OED adds that…

It is formed from English elector and -al.

It is borrowed from Latin ēthos (“character, depiction of character”), from Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos, “custom, usage, disposition, character; in rhetoric, delineation of character”)…

It is formed from English in- (“not”) + adequate.

1. The card game is a clipping of lanterloo, which is from French lanturelu, also lanturlu, perhaps by way of Dutch lanterlu. The French word was at first a meaningless refrain of a popular song…

It is borrowed from French minaret, from Ottoman Turkish مناره (minare), from Arabic مَنَارَة (manāra, “lighthouse, lamp, minaret”). The OED takes it from Turkish or from the Arabic word directly…

It is formed from English noise + -y. The noun is from Middle English noise, from Anglo-Norman noise and Old French noise (“noise, tumult, quarrel”), probably from Latin nausea (“seasickness”); the…

1. The verb meaning to push gently is of uncertain origin. Barnhart and Etymonline suggest a Scandinavian source, comparing Norwegian nugge and nyggje (“to jostle, rub”), Icelandic nugga (“to rub…

The OED, in its revised entry, takes it borrowed from Medieval Latin statutorius, recorded from 1552, formed on statūtus, the past participle of statuō (“to decree, enact”), the source of statute…

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman arson, a term of the Anglo-Norman legal language, also arsoun, arsun, compare Old French arsion, from Medieval Latin ārsiō (“a burning”), a noun of action formed…

It was formed from English embarrass + -ment in English, perhaps after embarrassement, and Barnhart, Merriam-Webster and Klein derive it from the French noun, which is now obsolete. The verb…

According to the Oxford dictionaries it is borrowed from Medieval Latin ēmergentia, which Klein and the OED call Late Latin; Etymonline and Dictionary.com bring it through émergence. The Latin noun…

It is borrowed from French générique, or formed in English from Latin gener-, the stem of genus (“race, kind”) (see genus), and -ic, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gene- (“to give birth, beget”).

It is from English head + line (in the sense heading of a book or chapter).

It is formed from English miss + -y, as a playful or diminutive form of the noun for a young girl. The noun has the diminutive suffix; the adjective takes the adjective-forming suffix of the same…

It is formed from English re- + capture, the noun first and the verb about a century later, perhaps formed to go with the noun. Capture is from French capture (“a taking”), from Latin captūra (“a…

It is borrowed from French routine (“usual course of action, beaten path”) (16th century), from route (“way, path, course”) (see route) and the noun suffix -ine. Hoad records the early spelling…

The modern word is a learned borrowing of the late 17th century. The OED takes it as partly borrowed from Old Norse rún (“runic character, secret, mystery”), as used by Scandinavian antiquarian…

1. The noun meaning an informer, with the verb "to inform", is of unknown or obscure origin. Etymonline thinks it probably grew out of the underworld slang sense "the nose", itself probably from one…

It is formed from English un- + productive. Productive is from French productif and Medieval Latin productivus, from prōdūcō (“to bring forth”).

It is borrowed from French détonation, a noun of action from détoner (“to detonate”). Etymonline and Merriam-Webster trace the French word to Medieval Latin dētonātiō, and Dictionary.com takes the…

It is formed from English dis- + respectful, after disrespect. Johnson (1755) analysed it as disrespect and full.

It is formed from English distiller + -ery in the OED and the Shorter Oxford, while Etymonline, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com derive it directly from the verb. Distill is from Old French…

It is borrowed from French fond (“bottom, floor, ground; a merchant's stock or capital”), also fonds “stock, capital”, from Latin fundus (“bottom, foundation, piece of land”), from…

It is a compound from English key + note, from key in the musical sense "scale". The verb, from 1877, is a conversion of the noun.

It is borrowed from Italian novella (“short story”), the feminine of novello (“new”), from Latin novellus (“new, young, recent”), a diminutive of novus (“new”). Onions explains the noun as short for…

It is borrowed from French papa, from Late Latin pāpa, a reduplicated child's word, like Ancient Greek πάππας (páppas, “father”).

It is of uncertain origin. Most dictionaries suggest that it is a northern dialect form of shame, and Klein states this as fact, giving "trick, fraud" as the original meaning. The OED notes that the…