Etymology dictionary
chervil (n.) — china (n.)
chervil (n.)
type of garden herb, Old English cerfelle "chervil," from Latin chaerephyllum, from Greek khairephyllon; the second element is phyllon "leaf" (from suffixed form of root *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom"); the first element perhaps is from khairein "to rejoice" (from PIE root *gher- (2) "to like, want").
Cheryl
fem. proper name, popular in U.S. for girls born 1944-1975.
Chesapeake
large bay in eastern U.S., from a central Atlantic coast Algonquian language, perhaps literally "great shellfish bay" [Bright]. Early spellings include Chesepiooc and Chesupioc.
Cheshire
1086, Cestre Scire, from Chester + scir "district" (see shire). Cheshire cat and its proverbial grin are attested from 1770, but the signification is obscure.
chess (n.)
very ancient game of skill with 32 pieces, played by two on a checkered board of 64 squares, 13c., from Old French esches "chessmen," plural of eschec "game of chess, chessboard; checkmate" (see check (n.1)), so called from the key move of the game. Modern French distinguishes échec "check, blow, rebuff, defeat," from plural échecs "chess."
The original word for "chess" is Sanskrit chaturanga "four members of an army" — elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers. This is preserved in Spanish ajedrez, from Arabic (al) shat-ranj, from Persian chatrang, from the Sanskrit word.
chess-board (n.)
"the board used in the game of chess" (same as a checker-board), also chessboard, mid-15c., from chess + board (n.1).
chessmen (n.)
also chess-men, "the pieces used in the game of chess," late 15c., from chess + men. Related: chessman.
chest (n.)
Middle English chest, from Old English cest "box, coffer, casket," usually large and with a hinged lid, from Proto-Germanic *kista (source also of Old Norse and Old High German kista, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, German kiste, Dutch kist). This is an early borrowing from Latin cista "chest, box," from Greek kistē "a box, basket," from PIE *kista "woven container" (Beekes compares Middle Irish cess "basket, causeway of wickerwork, bee-hive," Old Welsh cest).
The meaning of the English word was extended to "thorax, trunk of the body from the neck to the diaphragm" c. 1400, replacing breast (n.) in that sense, on the metaphor of the ribs as a "box" for the heart.
The meaning "place where public money is kept (common chest, mid-15c.) was extended to "public funds" (1580s). Chest of drawers is from 1670s.
Chester
Cestre (1086), from Old English Legacæstir (735) "City of the Legions," from Old English ceaster "Roman town or city," from Latin castrum "fortified place" (see castle (n.)). A post-Roman name; the place was the base of the Second Legion Adiutrix in the 70s C.E. and later the 20th Legion Valeria Victrix, but the town's name in Roman times was Deoua (c. 150 C.E.), from its situation on the River Dee, a Celtic river name meaning "the goddess, the holy one."
Chesterfield
Derbyshire town, Old English Cesterfelda, literally "open land near a Roman fort," from ceaster "fort" (see Chester) + feld "open land" (see field (n.)). The cigarette brand was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S. As a kind of overcoat and a kind of sofa (both 19c.), in reference to earls of Chesterfield. Philip Stanhope, the fourth Earl of Chesterfield, (1694-1773) was the writer on manners and etiquette.
chesty (adj.)
"aggressively self-assured," 1898, American English slang, from chest (n.) in the body sense + -y (2). Of a woman, "bosomy, full-breasted," by 1955.
chestnut (n.)
type of tall tree native to western Asia, southern Europe, and eastern U.S., also the large "nut" that it produces, 1560s, from chesten nut (1510s), with superfluous nut (n.) + Middle English chasteine, from Old French chastain (12c., Modern French châtaigne), from Latin castanea "chestnut, chestnut tree," from Greek kastaneia.
The Greeks explained this word as either "nut from Castanea" in Pontus, or "nut from Castana" in Thessaly, but probably both places are named for the trees, not the reverse, and the word is borrowed from a language of Asia Minor (compare Armenian kask "chestnut," kaskeni "chestnut tree"). In reference to the dark reddish-brown color, 1650s. Applied to the horse-chestnut by 1832.
The slang sense of "venerable joke or story" is from 1885, explained by U.S. actor Joseph Jefferson ("Lippincott's Monthly Magazine," January 1888) as probably abstracted from the 1816 melodrama "The Broken Sword" by William Dimond where an oft-repeated story involving a chestnut tree figures in an exchange between the characters "Captain Zavior" and "Pablo":
Jefferson traced the connection through William Warren (1812-1888), "the veteran comedian of Boston" (and Jefferson's cousin) who often played Pablo in the melodrama.
chetnik (n.)
"member of a Balkan guerrilla force," 1904, from Serbian četnik, from četa "band, troop."
cheval de frise (n.)
in military use, a name for various defensive arrangements, originally against attacking cavalry, 1680s, from French, literally "horse of Frisia," supposedly because it was first employed there (at the siege of Groningen); from French cheval "horse" (see cavalier (n.)). Plural chevaux de frise.
chevalier (n.)
late 14c. (c. 1200 as a surname), "mounted knight, armed horseman of noble birth," from Anglo-French chivaler "mounted knight," Old French chevalier "knight, horseman, knight in chess" (12c., Modern French chevaler), from Late Latin caballarius "horseman" (source of Provençal cavallier, Spanish caballero, Portuguese cavalleiro, Italian cavaliere; see cavalier (n.)). The word was nativized in Middle English ("chevaleer"), but has been given a French pronunciation since 16c.
Chevy (n.)
by 1938, popular form of Chevrolet, U.S. automobile brand, which was founded by Louis Chevrolet and William Durant in 1911; acquired by General Motors in 1917.
Cheviot (n.)
range of hills between Scotland and England, named for one of them, The Cheviot, attested from 12c. as Chiviet. The name is of uncertain origin; the second element is perhaps Old English geat "gate." As a breed of sheep, 1815.
chevron (n.)
late 14c., in heraldry, "a device in the shape of an inverted V," from Old French chevron "rafter; chevron" (13c.), so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from Vulgar Latin *caprione, from Latin caper "goat" (see cab); the hypothetical connection between goats and rafters being the animal's angular hind legs. Compare gambrel, also Latin capreolus "props, stays, short pieces of timber for support," literally "wild goat, chamoix."
chew (n.)
c. 1200, cheu, "an act of chewing," from chew (v.). The meaning "wad of tobacco chewed at one time" is from 1725; as a kind of chewy candy, by 1906.
chew (v.)
"masticate, bite and grind with the teeth," Middle English cheuen, from Old English ceowan, from West Germanic *keuwwan (source also of Middle Low German keuwen, Dutch kauwen, Old High German kiuwan, German kauen). This is perhaps from PIE *gyeu- "to chew" (source also of Old Church Slavonic živo "to chew," Lithuanian žiaunos "jaws," Persian javidan "to chew").
The figurative sense of "to think over" is from late 14c.; to chew the rag "discuss some matter" is from 1885, apparently originally British army slang. To chew (someone) out (1948) probably is military slang from World War II. Related: Chewed; chewing. Chewing-gum is by 1843, American English, originally hardened secretions of the spruce tree.
chewable (adj.)
"that may be chewed," 1827, from chew (v.) + -able.
Cheyenne
native American people of the Great Plains or their (Algonquian) language, 1778, from French Canadian, from Dakota Sahi'yena, a diminutive of Sahi'ya, a Dakotan name for the Cree people.
chez (prep.)
used with French personal names, meaning "house of _____," 1740, from French chez "at the house of," from Old French chiese "house" (12c.), from Latin casa "house" (see casino).
chi (n.)
22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, representing a -kh- sound (see ch). The letter is shaped like an X, and so the Greek letter name was used figuratively to signify such a shape or arrangement (as in khiasma "two things placed crosswise;" khiastos "arranged diagonally; marked with an X;" khiazein "to mark with an 'X', to write the letter 'X'"). Some dialects used chi to represent the -ks- sound properly belonging to xi; Latin picked this up and the sound value of chi in Latin-derived alphabets is now that of English X.
Chian (adj.)
"pertaining to the Greek island of Chios," 1630s. The island name is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Greek khion "snow."
Chiang Mai
city in northwest Thailand, founded in 1292; the name is Thai northern dialect chiang "town" + mai "new."
Chianti (n.)
also Chiante, kind of dry red wine, 1833, from Chianti Mountains of Tuscany, where the wine was made. "[L]oosely applied to various inferior Italian wines" [OED].
chiaroscuro (n.)
1680s, "disposition of light and dark in a picture," literally "bright-dark," from Italian chiaro "clear, bright" (from Latin clarus; see clear (adj.)) + oscuro (from Latin obscurus; see obscure (adj.)). Related: Chiaroscurist.
chiasm (n.)
Englished form of chiasmus or chiasma.
chiasma (n.)
1832, in anatomy, "a crossing, an intersection," medical Latin, from Latinized form of Greek khiasma "two things placed crosswise," which is related to khiasmos (see chi, and compare chiasmus). In cytology from 1911. Related: Chiasmal.
chiasmus (n.)
in grammar, "the arrangement of repeated, parallel, or contrasted words or phrases in pairs with inversion of word order," 1850, Latinized from Greek khiasmos "a placing crosswise, diagonal arrangement" (see chi). As in "Adam, first of men, To first of women, Eve." ["Paradise Lost"]
chiastic (adj.)
"of the nature of a chiasmus," 1856, from Latinized form of Greek khiastos "arranged diagonally; marked with an X" (i.e., resembling the Greek letter chi) + -ic.
chic (n.)
1856, "style in fine art, artistic skill, faculty of producing excellence rapidly and easily," from French chic "stylishness" (19c.), originally "subtlety" (16c.), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps [Klein] it is related to German Schick, Geschick "tact, skill, aptness," from Middle Low German schikken "arrange appropriately," or Middle High German schicken "to arrange, set in order." Or perhaps it is from French chicane, from chicanerie "trickery" (see chicanery).
The meaning "Parisian elegance and stylishness combined with originality" is by 1882 (Pall Mall Gazette, Sept. 6, 1888, uses the word in a concert review and pauses to define it as "an untranslatable word, denoting an indispensable quality"). As an adjective, in reference to persons, "stylish," 1879 in English. "Not so used in F[rench]" [OED].
chica (n.)
"young girl," U.S. slang, c. 2002, from American Spanish chica "girl," fem. of chico "boy," noun use of adjective meaning "small" (here used as an affectionate term of address), from Latin ciccum, literally "chick-pea," figurative of a small thing or an object of little value (compare Old French chiche).
Chicago (n.)
town founded in 1833, named from a Canadian French form of an Algonquian word, which, according to Bright, is either Fox /sheka:ko:heki/ "place of the wild onion," or Ojibwa shika:konk "at the skunk place" (sometimes rendered "place of the bad smell"). The Ojibwa "skunk" word is distantly related to the New England Algonquian word that yielded Modern English skunk (n.). Related: Chicagoan (1847; Chicagoian is from 1859).
chicane (n.)
a word used in English in various senses, including "act of chicanery, art of gaining advantage by using evasions or cheating tricks" (1670s), also "obstacles on a roadway" (by 1935), also a term in bridge (1880s), apparently all ultimately from an archaic verb chicane "to trick" (1670s), from French chicane "trickery" (16c.), from chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c., see chicanery).
chicanery (n.)
c. 1610s, "legal quibbling, sophistry, mean or petty tricks," from French chicanerie "trickery," from chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle Low German schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golf-like game once played in Languedoc. Also compare French chic "small, little," as a noun "a small piece; finesse, subtlety." Thornton's "American Glossary" has shecoonery (1845), which it describes as probably a corruption of chicanery.
Chicano (n.)
"person of Mexican heritage in the U.S.," 1947, from Mexican Spanish dialectal pronunciation of Mexicano "Mexican," with loss of initial unaccented syllable [Barnhart]. Said to have been in use among Mexican-Americans from c. 1911. Probably influenced by Spanish chico "boy," which also is used as a nickname. The adjective in English is attested by 1967. Fem. form is Chicana.
chi-chi (adj.)
also chichi, "extremely chic, sophisticated," also, as a noun, "pretentious fussiness," 1908, from French chichi "airs, fuss." Perhaps, like frou-frou, imitative.
chick (n.)
"the young of the domestic hen," also of some other birds, mid-14c., probably originally a shortening of chicken (n.).
Extended 14c. to human offspring, "person of tender years" (often in alliterative pairing chick and child) and thence used as a term of endearment. As modern slang for "young woman" it is recorded by 1927 (in "Elmer Gantry"), supposedly from African-American vernacular. In British use in this sense by c. 1940; popularized by Beatniks late 1950s (chicken in this sense is by 1860). Sometimes c. 1600-1900 chicken was taken as a plural, chick as a singular (compare child/children) for the domestic fowl.
chickadee (n.)
popular name of the American black-capped titmouse, 1834, American English, more or less echoic of its cry. The end of the call does sound like dee-dee-dee.
chickaree (n.)
popular name of the American red squirrel, 1829, echoic of its cry.
Chickasaw
native American people formerly of Mississippi and Alabama, 1670s, from Chickasaw Chikasha, the people's name for themselves. Also their (Muskogean) language.
chicken (v.)
"to back down or fail through cowardice," 1943, U.S. slang, from chicken (n.), almost always with out (adv.). Related: Chickened; chickening.
chicken (n.)
Middle English chiken, from Old English cicen (plural cicenu) "young of the domestic hen, the young of any bird;" by early Middle English, "any chicken," regardless of age, from Proto-Germanic *kiukinam (source also of Middle Dutch kiekijen, Dutch kieken, Old Norse kjuklingr, Swedish kyckling, German Küken "chicken"), from root *keuk- (echoic of the bird's sound and possibly also the root of cock (n.1)) + diminutive suffixes. By regular sound changes it should have become Modern English *chichen; the reason it didn't is unknown.
Generic words for "chicken" in Indo-European tend to be extended uses of "hen" words, as hens are more numerous than cocks among domestic fowl, but occasionally they are from words for the young, as in English and in Latin (pullus).
The meaning "one who is cowardly or timorous" is from 1610s; adjectival sense of "cowardly" is at least as old as 14c. (compare hen-herte "a chicken-hearted person," mid-15c.). As the name of a game of danger to test courage, it is recorded by 1953.
Chicken-feed "paltry sum of money" is by 1897, American English slang; literal use (it is made from the from lowest quality of grain) is by 1834. Chicken lobster "small lobster," is by 1947, American English, apparently from chicken in its sense of "young." To count (one's) chickens before they hatch "anticipate too confidently the obtaining or doing of something" is from 1570s. Chicken-fried steak (1937) is a U.S. Southern recipe that batters, breads, and fries a thin strip of steak in the way fried chicken typically is made.
chicken hawk (n.)
type of hawk that is believed to prey on domestic fowl, 1802, American English. Figuratively, from the secondary senses of both words, "public person who advocates war but declined significant opportunity to serve in uniform during wartime," at least 1988, American English. From chicken (n.) + hawk (n.).
chicken pox (n.)
c. 1730, from chicken (n.) + pox. Perhaps so called for its mildness compared to smallpox [Barnhart], or its generally appearing in children, or its resemblance to chick-peas.
chicken-shit
1947 (n.) "contemptible cowardly person;" 1948 (adj.); from chicken + shit (n.).
chickpea (n.)
also chick-pea, 1712, a false singular of chich-pease (1540s), earlier simply chich (late 14c.), cich, from Old French chiche "chick-pea" (13c.), from Latin cicer "pea," which is of uncertain origin, but with likely cognates in Greek kikerroi "pale," Armenian sisern "chick-pea," Albanian thjer "lentil." The Latin plural, cicera, is also the source of Italian cece and was borrowed into Old High German as chihhra (German Kichererbse).
The English word was altered after 17c. on the model of French pois chiche, and folk-etymologized as chick-. For second element, see pease.
chickweed (n.)
late 14c., chekwede, applied to various plants eaten by chickens, from chick + weed (n.). In Old English such plants were cicene mete "chicken food."
chicle (n.)
"elastic substance obtained from a tropical American tree, formerly used in the manufacture of chewing-gum," 1877, American English (in chicle-gum), from Mexican Spanish chicle, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) tzictli.
Chicom (adj.)
1962, American English, Cold War jargon, from Chinese + communist.
chicory (n.)
popular name of a common blue-flowered plant (Cichorium intybus) cultivated for its root, late 14c., cicoree (modern form from mid-15c.), from Old French cicorée "endive, chicory" (15c., Modern French chicorée), from Latin cichoreum, from Greek kikhorion (plural kikhoreia) "endive," which is of unknown origin. Klein suggests a connection with Old Egyptian keksher "chicory" (the plant is said to have been grown and used in ancient Egypt). The modern English form is from French influence. Compare endive.
chide (v.)
late 12c., chiden, "to scold, nag, rail," originally intransitive, from Old English cidan "to contend, quarrel, complain." Not found outside Old English (though Liberman says it is "probably related to OHG *kîdal 'wedge,'" with a sense evolution from "brandishing sticks" to "scold, reprove").
Originally a weak verb, the later strong constructions are by influence of ride/rode, etc. The past tense and past participle can be chided or chid or even (past participle) chidden (Shakespeare used it); the present participle is chiding.
chief (adj.)
c. 1300, "highest in rank or power; most important or prominent; supreme, best, placed above the rest," from Old French chief "chief, principal, first" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum (source also of Spanish and Portuguese cabo, Italian capo, Provençal cap), from Latin caput "head," also "leader, guide, chief person; summit; capital city" (from PIE root *kaput- "head").
chief (n.)
c. 1300, "head, leader, captain; the principal or most important part of anything;" from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" of something, "capital city" (10c., Modern French chef), from Vulgar Latin *capum, from Latin caput "head," also "leader, chief person; summit; capital city" (from PIE root *kaput- "head").
The meaning "head of a clan" is attested from 1570s; it was later extended to headmen of Native American tribes (by 1713; William Penn, 1680s, called them kings). Commander-in-chief is attested from 1660s.
chiefdom (n.)
1570s, "sovereignty," from chief (n.) + -dom.
chiefly (adv.)
"pre-eminently, above all, in the first place," mid-14c., from chief (adj.) + -ly (2). The adjectival meaning "pertaining to a chief" is by 1870 (from chief + -ly (1)).
chieftain (n.)
early 14c., cheftayne "ruler, chief, head" of something, from Anglo-French chiefteyn, Old French chevetain "captain, chief, leader," from Late Latin capitaneus "commander," from Latin capitis, genitive of caput "head" (from PIE root *kaput- "head"). Now mostly poetic or archaic; in "Rob Roy" (1818) a Highland chieftain was the head of a branch of a clan, a chief was the head of the whole name. Related: Chieftainship; chieftaincy.
chifferobe (n.)
also chifforobe; "article of furniture having drawers as well as space for hanging clothes," 1903, from merger of chiffonier + wardrobe (n.).
chiffon (n.)
1765, "feminine finery, something used by women purely for adornment," from French chiffon (17c.), diminutive of chiffe "a rag, piece of cloth" (17c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps a variant of English chip (n.1) or one of its Germanic cousins. Klein suggests Arabic. The meaning "sheer silk fabric, thin gauze" is from 1890. Extension to pastry is attested by 1929, probably on the notion of "lightness."
chiffonade (n.)
also chiffonnade, food preparation technique, 1847, from French chiffonade, from chiffon (see chiffon) + -ade. In reference to the condition of the leafy stuff after it is so treated.
chiffonier (n.)
"small cabinet with drawers for women's needlework, cloth, etc.," 1806, from French chiffonnier, a transferred use, literally "rag gatherer," from chiffon, diminutive of chiffe "rag, piece of cloth, scrap, flimsy stuff" (see chiffon).
chigger (n.)
"minute flea-like insect of the West Indies and South America," 1756, from West Indies chigoe (1660s), possibly from Carib, or from or influenced by words from African languages (such as Wolof and Yoruba jiga "insect").
chignon (n.)
"knot or coil of hair worn at the back of the neck," 1783, from French chignon "nape of the neck," from Old French chaignon "iron collar, shackles, noose" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *catenionem (nominative *catenio), from Latin catena "chain, fetter, restraint" (see chain (n.)). They were popular 1780s, 1870s, 1940s. The form has been influenced in French by tignon "coil of hair."
chigoe (n.)
see chigger.
Chihuahua (n.)
city and state in Mexico, said to be from a lost native word that meant "dry place." The dog breed is attested by that name from 1854, though such dogs seem to have been bred there long before. Early American explorers in the west seem to have confused them somewhat with prairie dogs.
chilblain (n.)
"cold-sore," 1540s, from chill (n.) + blain "inflamed swelling or sore on skin." Related: Chilblains.
childe (n.)
"youth of gentle birth," used as a kind of title, late Old English, a variant spelling of child (q.v.).
child (n.)
Old English cild "fetus, infant, unborn or newly born person," from Proto-Germanic *kiltham (source also of Gothic kilþei "womb," inkilþo "pregnant;" Danish kuld "children of the same marriage;" Old Swedish kulder "litter;" Old English cildhama "womb," lit. "child-home"); it has no certain cognates outside Germanic. "App[arently] originally always used in relation to the mother as the 'fruit of the womb'" [Buck].
Also in late Old English, "a youth of gentle birth" (archaic, usually written childe). In 16c.-17c. especially "girl child." The wider sense "young person before the onset of puberty" developed in late Old English. The phrase with child "pregnant" (late 12c.) retains the original sense. The sense extension from "infant" to "child" also is found in French enfant, Latin infans. The meaning "one's own child; offspring of parents" is from late 12c. (the Old English word was bearn; see bairn). Figurative use from late 14c. Most Indo-European languages use the same word for "a child" and "one's child," though there are exceptions (such as Latin liberi/pueri).
The difficulty with the plural began in Old English, where the nominative plural was at first cild, identical with the singular, then c.975 a plural form cildru (genitive cildra) arose, probably for clarity's sake, only to be re-pluraled late 12c. as children, which is thus a double plural. Middle English plural cildre survives in Lancashire dialect childer and in Childermas.
Child abuse is attested by 1963; child-molester from 1950. Child care is from 1915. Child's play, figurative of something easy, is in Chaucer (late 14c.):
childbed (n.)
also child-bed, c. 1200, "state of being in labor," from child + bed (n.). In reference to a bed (real or metaphorical) on which someone or something is born, from 1590s.
child-bearing (n.)
also childbearing, "bringing forth of a child, the action of producing children," late 14c., from child + verbal noun of bear (v.). As an adjective from late 14c.
childbirth (n.)
also child-birth, "act of bringing forth a child, labor," mid-15c., from child + birth (n.).
Childermas (n.)
"festival of the Holy Innocents" (Dec. 28), late Old English *cildramæsse (c. 1000), from obsolete plural of child (q.v.) + mass (n.2). It commemorates the slaughter of children in and around Bethlehem by order of Herod (Matthew ii.16-18).
childhood (n.)
"state of being a child; period of life from birth to puberty," Middle English childhod, from Old English cildhad; see child + -hood. Similar formation in German Kindheit.
childish (adj.)
Old English cildisc "proper to a child;" see child + -ish. The meaning "puerile, immature, like a child" in a bad sense is from early 15c. Similar formation in Old Saxon kindisc, Middle Dutch kintsch, Dutch kindsch, German kindisch. Related: Childishly; childishness.
childless (adj.)
"having no children or offspring," c. 1200, from child (n.) + -less. Related: Childlessness.
childlike (adj.)
1580s, "proper to a child," from child + like (adj.). The meaning "like a child" in a good sense (distinguished from childish) is from 1738. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (c. 1380) has child-gered "boyish, lighthearted."
child-proof (adj.)
"inaccessible to children, made to prevent children from harming themselves," 1933, from child (n.) + proof (n.). As a verb by 1951.
children (n.)
modern plural of child (q.v.)
Chile
South American country, probably named from a local native word subsequently confused with Mexican Spanish chile "chili pepper" (see chili). Suggestions are that the native word means "land's end" or else "cold, winter" which would make a coincidental convergence with English chilly. Related: Chilean. In 19c., often Chili, Chilian.
chili (n.)
also chilli, chile, "pod or fruit of a type of American pepper, used as a condiment," 1660s, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) chilli, native name for the peppers. Not named for the South American country. As short for chile con carne and similar dishes, attested by 1846.
chiliad (n.)
"group of 1,000" (of the same sort), 1590s; "period of a thousand years" (1660s), from Latinized form of Greek khiliados, from khilioi "a thousand; the number 1,000" (see chiliasm). Related: Chiliadal, chiliadic.
chiliasm (n.)
"the doctrine of the millennium (suggested by Revelation xx), the theological opinion that Christ and the saints will reign visibly and corporeally on earth for 1,000 years before the final struggle between good and evil," c. 1600, from Latinized form of Greek khiliasmos, from khilias, from khilioi "a thousand, the number 1,000," which is probably from a PIE *gheslo-, source also of Sanskrit sahasra- "thousand" and perhaps also Latin mille, but the exact original sense of the root is unclear. Related: Chiliast; chiliastic.
chill (n.)
Middle English chele, from Old English ciele (West Saxon), cele (Anglian) "cold, coolness, chill, frost, sensation of suffering from cold, sensation of cold experienced in illness," from Proto-Germanic *kal- "to be cold," from PIE root *gel- "cold; to freeze."
In modern use perhaps a back-formation from the verb. The figurative sense "depressing situation or influence" is from 1821 (in Middle English the figurative sense was "suffering, misfortune").
chill (v.)
late 14c., chillen, intransitive, "to feel cold, grow cold;" c. 1400, transitive, "to make cold," from chill (n.). Related: Chilled; chilling; chillingly. The figurative sense of "discourage, dispirit" is from late 14c. The meaning "hang out" is recorded by 1985; from earlier chill out "relax" (1979).
chilly (adj.)
1560s, "causing a sensation of cold," from chill (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "feeling coldish" is attested from 1610s; figurative sense of "distant, formal, not hearty or affectionate" is by 1841. Related: Chilliness. Earlier as an adjective was simply chill "tending to cause shivering" (1510s).
chime (n.)
c. 1300, chymbe "a cymbal," from Old French chimbe or directly from Latin cymbalum (see cymbal, the modern word for what this word originally meant). Old English had cymbal, cimbal in the "cymbal" sense. Evidently the word was shortened in Old French then misinterpreted in Middle English as chymbe bellen (a form also attested from c. 1300) and its sense shifted to "set of bells in a church or clock tower, apparatus or arrangement for striking bells," which is attested from mid-15c. Meaning "set of bells tuned to a musical scale" is from 1560s.
chime (v.)
mid-14c., chyme, from chime (n.). Originally of metal, etc.; of voices from late 14c. To chime in originally was musical, "join harmoniously;" of conversation by 1838. Related: Chimed; chiming.
chimenea (n.)
"free-standing fireplace," by 1987, from Mexican Spanish, literally "chimney," from Spanish, ultimately from Latin caminata (see chimney).
chimerical (adj.)
"pertaining to or of the nature of a chimera;" hence "incapable of realization, preposterous," 1630s, from chimera + -ical. Related: Chimeric (1650s).
chimera (n.)
fabulous monster of Greek mythology, slain by Bellerophon, late 14c., from Old French chimere or directly from Medieval Latin chimera, from Latin Chimaera, from Greek khimaira, name of a mythical fire-breathing creature (slain by Bellerophon) with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail, a word that also meant "year-old she-goat" (masc. khimaros), from kheima "winter season," from PIE root *gheim- "winter."
Supposedly a personification of snow or winter, but the connection to winter might be no more than the ancient habit of reckoning years as "winters." It was held by the ancients to represent a volcano; perhaps it was a symbol of "winter storms" (another sense of Greek kheima) and generally of destructive natural forces. The word was used generically for "any grotesque monster formed from parts of other animals;" hence the figurative meaning "wild fantasy" first recorded 1580s in English (13c. in French).
chimichanga (n.)
"deep-fried burrito," by 1964; the thing and the name for it seem to have originated somewhere along the western U.S.-Mexico border (Arizona, Sonora). The name is said to mean "trinket" in Mexican Spanish.
chimney (n.)
late 13c., "furnace;" late 14c., "smoke vent of a fireplace, vertical structure raised above a house for smoke to escape to the open air;" from Old French cheminee "fireplace; room with a fireplace; hearth; chimney stack" (12c., Modern French cheminée), from Medieval Latin caminata "a fireplace," from Late Latin (camera) caminata "fireplace; room with a fireplace," from Latin caminatus, adjective of caminus "furnace, forge; hearth, oven; flue," from Greek kaminos "furnace, oven, brick kiln," which is of uncertain origin.
Middle English also had native names for it: smokethurl, smokehole (14c.). Jamieson [1808] notes that in vulgar use in Scotland it typically was pronounced "chimley." From the same source are Old High German cheminata, German Kamin, Russian kaminu, Polish komin. Chimney-corner "space beside a fireplace" is from 1570s.
chimney-sweep (n.)
"one whose occupation is the clearing of soot from chimneys," 1727, from their cry (attested from 1610s); see chimney + sweep (v.). The earlier noun was chimney-sweeper (c. 1500).
chimp (n.)
short for chimpanzee (q.v.), by 1877.
chimpanzee (n.)
large type of West African ape, 1738, from a Bantu language of Angola (compare Tshiluba kivili-chimpenze "ape").
chin (n.)
"lower extremity of the face below the mouth," Old English cin, cinn "chin," a general Germanic word (compare Old Saxon and Old High German kinni; Old Norse kinn; German Kinn "chin;" Gothic kinnus "cheek"), from PIE root *genu- (2), probably originally "jaw, jawbone," but also forming words for "chin, cheek."
The West Germanic words generally mean "chin," but there are traces of earlier use as "jaw," such as Old English cinbane "jawbone," and the words for "cheek," "chin," and "jaw" naturally overlap and interchange; compare cheek (n.), which originally meant "jaw," and Latin maxilla, which gave Italian mascella "jaw," but Spanish mejilla "cheek."
To take it on the chin "be hit hard" in a figurative sense (sometimes suggesting "ability to withstand punishment"), is from 1924, an image from pugilism. To keep (one's) chin up "remain optimistic amid adversity" is from 1913, though the image itself is older.
chinned (adj.)
"having a chin or chins" (of a certain kind or number), used in combinations from c. 1600.
chin (v.)
1590s, "to press (affectionately) chin to chin," from chin (n.). Meaning "to bring to the chin" (of a fiddle) is from 1869. Slang meaning "to talk, gossip" is from 1883, American English. Related: Chinned; chinning. Athletic sense of "raise one's chin over" (a raised bar, for exercise) is from 1880s.
china (n.)
"porcelain imported from China," 1650s, short for China-ware (1630s), China dishes (1570s), etc.; from the country name (see China). Used of porcelain and porcelain-ware generally. China-shop is attested from 1750.