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early 15c., “sale of ecclesiastical or state offices,” from Old French baraterie “deceit, guile, trickery,” from barat “malpractice, fraud, deceit, trickery,” which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Celtic. In marine law, “wrongful conduct by a ship’s crew or officer, resulting in loss to owners,” from 1620s.

Meaning “offense of habitually starting legal suits” is from 1640s. The sense has been somewhat confused with that of Middle English baratri “combat, fighting” (c. 1400), from Old Norse baratta “fight, contest strife.” This was an active word in Middle English, with forms such as baraten “to disturb the peace” (mid-15c.); baratour “inciter to riot, bully” (late 14c., mid-13c. as a surname).

Barataria Bay, Louisiana, U.S., is from Spanish baratear “to cheat, deceive,” cognate of the French word; the bay so called in reference to the difficulty of its entry passages.

mid-15c., “body of a person” (with regard to appearance), also “notable person, a man or woman of high rank or distinction,” from Old French personage “size, stature,” also “a dignitary” (13c.), from Medieval Latin personaticum (11c.), from Latin persona (see person). As a longer way to say person, the word was in use from 1550s (but often slyly ironical, with suggestion that the subject is overly self-important).

1630s, “capable of feeling,” from Latin sentientem (nominative sentiens) “feeling,” present participle of sentire “to feel” (see sense (n.)). Meaning “conscious” (of something) is from 1815.

late 14c., “to put (something) into the body or substance of (something else), blend; absorb, eat,” also “solidify, harden,” often in medical writing, from Late Latin incorporatus, past participle of incorporare “unite into one body, embody, include,” from Latin in- “into, in, on, upon” (from PIE root *en “in”) + verb from corpus (genitive corporis) “body” (from PIE root *kwrep- “body, form, appearance”).

Meaning “to legally form a body politic with perpetual succession and power to act as one person, establish as a legal corporation” is from mid-15c. (A verb corporate was used in this sense from early 15c.) Intransitive sense of “unite with another body so as to become part of it” is from 1590s. Related: Incorporated; incorporating.

c. 1200, “agitation of the mind, emotional turmoil,” from Old French truble, torble “trouble, disturbance” (12c.), from trubler/torbler (see trouble (v.)). From early 15c. as “a concern, a cause for worry;” 1590s as “something that causes trouble.” Meaning “unpleasant relations with the authorities” is from 1550s. Related: Troubles (1510s). Trouble and strife as rhyming slang for “wife” is recorded from 1908.

c. 1200, from Old French trubler, metathesis of turbler, torbler “to trouble, disturb; make cloudy, stir up, mix” (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *turbulare, from Late Latin turbidare “to trouble, make turbid,” from Latin turbidus (see turbid). Related: Troubled; troubling.

“act of joining together” (usually in specific legal senses), c. 1600, from French joindre “to join,” taken as a noun, from Latin iungere “to join together, unite, yoke,” from nasalized form of PIE root *yeug- “to join.”

mid-13c., “unblemished, refined, pure, free of impurities,” also “of high quality, choice,” from Old French fin “perfected, of highest quality” (12c.), a back-formation from finire or else from Latin finis “that which divides, a boundary, limit, border, end” (see finish (v.)); hence “acme, peak, height,” as in finis boni “the highest good.” The English word is from c. 1300 as “rich, valuable, costly;” also in a moral sense “true, genuine; faithful, constant.” From late 14c. as “expertly fashioned, well or skillfully made,” also, of cloth, “delicately wrought.” Of weapons or edges, “sharp” from c. 1400. In reference to quality of gold and silver, late 15c.

In French, the main meaning remains “delicate, intricately skillful;” in English since c. 1300 fine has been also a general broad expression of admiration or approval, the equivalent of French beau (as in fine arts, “those which appeal to the mind and the imagination,” 1767, translating French beaux-arts). Related: Finer; finest. Fine print is from 1861 as “type small and close-set;” by 1934 in the extended sense “qualifications and limitations of a deal.”