Search for: ring
2481 Etymology dictionary, p. onion (n.).5
Onion-ring "circular segment of an onion" (especially battered and deep-fried) is attested by 1904. Onion-dome on a church-tower, etc., is attested by 1950, so called …
2482 Etymology dictionary, p. orb (n.).2
… , disk, ring, hoop, orbit," probably related to orbita "wheel track, rut," a word of unknown and much-disputed origin. Watkins suggests a connection with the root of …
2483 Etymology dictionary, p. path (n.).3
… . Don Ringe ("From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic," Oxford 2006), reflecting an old theory, describes it as "An obvious loan from Iranian ..., clearly borrowed …
2484 Etymology dictionary, p. peal (n.).2
… , "a ringing of a bell" especially as a call to church service; generally considered a shortened form of appeal (n.), with the notion of a bell that "summons" people …
2485 Etymology dictionary, p. peal (n.).3
Extended sense of "loud ringing of bells" is first recorded 1510s; subsequently it was transferred to other successions of loud sounds (thunder, cannon, mass shouts or laughter). Meaning "set of bells tuned to one another" is by 1789.
2486 Etymology dictionary, p. peal (v.).2
1630s, "sound loudly, resound" (intransitive), from peal (n.). Transitive sense of "to utter or cause to ring loudly and sonorously" is by 1714. Related: Pealed; pealing .
2487 Etymology dictionary, p. peel (v.).2
… or ring," and Old French pillier, both from Latin pilare "to strip of hair," from pilus "hair" (see pile (n.3)). Probably also influenced by Latin pellis "skin, hide." Related …
2488 Etymology dictionary, p. phony (adj.).2
also phoney, "not genuine," 1899, perhaps an alteration of fawney "gilt brass ring used by swindlers."
2489 Etymology dictionary, p. phonolite (n.).2
a kind of volcanic rock that rings when struck, 1818, literally "sounding stone," from phono- + -lite. Translating German Klingstein (compare French phonolithe, 1812).
2490 Etymology dictionary, p. phosphene (n.).2
"the luminous ring produced by pressing the eyeball with the finger, etc.," 1850, from French phosphène, irregularly formed from Greek phōs "light" + phainein "to show," both from PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine." By 1831 as a name for a type of gas.
2491 Etymology dictionary, p. pillar (n.).4
… manège ring around which a horse turns is unlikely because that sense seem to date only to 18c.
2492 Etymology dictionary, p. pixie (n.).2
… "fairy rings" of old pastures, where they are supposed to dance by moonlight, c. 1630, a word of obscure origin, perhaps from or related to Swedish dialect pyske …
2493 Etymology dictionary, p. poltergeist (n.).2
… sound, ring, roar;" source of bellow, bell ) + Geist "ghost" (see ghost (n.)). In the native idiom of Northern England, such phenomena likely would be credited to a boggart …
2494 Etymology dictionary, p. posy (n.).2
… a ring," an alteration of poesy "poetry; a passage of poetry," which is recorded in this sense from early 15c. Meaning "flower; bunch of flowers, bouquet" is recorded …
2495 Etymology dictionary, p. precious (n.).2
"beloved or dear person or object," 1706, from precious (adj.). Since the "Lord of the Rings" movies, often with deliberate echoes of Tolkien.
2496 Etymology dictionary, p. Prince Albert.2
"piercing that consists of a ring which goes through the urethra and out behind the glans," mid-20c., supposedly so-called from the modern legend that Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861), prince consort of Queen Victoria, had one.
2497 Etymology dictionary, p. puzzle (n.).2
… . Puzzle-ring "number of small rings intertwined inseparably with one another that can be arranged as a single ring" is by 1877.
2498 Etymology dictionary, p. quoit (n.).2
… a ring of iron used the same way (15c.); a word of uncertain origin; probably from Old French coite "flat stone," which is perhaps literally "cushion," and a variant …
2499 Etymology dictionary, p. quoit (n.).3
Quoits were among the games prohibited by Edward III and Richard II to encourage archery. In reference to the tossing game played with iron rings, from mid-15c.
2500 Etymology dictionary, p. ranch (n.).2
… "circle, ring, something curved" (from nasalized form of PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend"). The evolution would seem to be from "group of people who eat together" to "group …