Category: vocabulary

Old English will, willa “mind, determination, purpose; desire, wish, request; joy, delight,” from Proto-Germanic *wiljon- (source also of Old Saxon willio, Old Norse vili, Old Frisian willa, Dutch wil, Old High German willio, German Wille, Gothic wilja “will”), related to *willan “to wish” (see will (v.1)). The meaning “written document expressing a person’s wishes about disposition of property after death” is first recorded late 14c.

1610s, “one’s share or portion,” from Latin quantum (plural quanta) “as much as, so much as; how much? how far? how great an extent?” neuter singular of correlative pronominal adjective quantus “as much” (see quantity). Introduced in physics directly from Latin by Max Planck, 1900; reinforced by Einstein, 1905. Quantum theory is from 1912; quantum mechanics, 1922; quantum jump is first recorded 1954; quantum leap, 1963, often figurative.

1610s, epocha, “point marking the start of a new period in time” (such as the founding of Rome, the birth of Christ, the Hegira), from Medieval Latin epocha, from Greek epokhe “stoppage, fixed point of time,” from epekhein “to pause, take up a position,” from epi “on” (see epi-) + ekhein “to hold” (from PIE root *segh- “to hold”). Transferred sense of “a period of time” is 1620s; geological usage (not a precise measurement) is from 1802.

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”). Meaning “head of a clan” is from 1570s; later extended to headmen of American Indian tribes (by 1713; William Penn, 1680s, called them kings). Commander-in-chief attested from 1660s.

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 (also source 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”).

c. 1300, deite, “divine nature, godhood, attributes of a god;” late 14c., “a god, God, the Supreme Being or self-existing spirit,” from Old French deité, from Late Latin deitatem (nominative deitas) “divine nature,” coined by Augustine from Latin deus “god,” from PIE *deiwos “god,” from root *dyeu- “to shine,” in derivatives “sky, heaven, god.” From 1580s as “a being to whom a divine or godlike nature is attributed.”

early 14c., “announce, make known in a formal manner” (a sense now obsolete), from Old French denoncier (12c., Modern French dénoncer) and directly from Latin denuntiare “to announce, proclaim; denounce, menace; command, order,” from de- “down” + nuntiare “proclaim, announce,” from nuntius “messenger” (from PIE root *neu- “to shout”).

The negative sense in English developed (probably encouraged by other words in de-) via the meanings “proclaim as cursed, excommunicated, removed from office” (early 14c.); “formally or publicly threaten to do” (1630s); “declare or proclaim to be cursed, wicked, or evil” (1660s). The meaning “make formal or public accusation against, inform against, accuse” (especially in turning on one’s co-conspirators) is from late 15c. Related: Denounced; denouncing.

early 15c., “to convey (truth) in a fable,” from Latin implicatus, past participle of implicare “to involve, entwine, entangle, embrace,” from assimilated form of in- “into, in, on, upon” (from PIE root *en “in”) + plicare “to fold” (from PIE root *plek- “to plait”). From c. 1600 as “intertwine, wreathe.” Meaning “involve (someone) in a crime, charge, etc.; show (someone) to be involved” is from 1797. Related: Implicated; implicating.

“formal offer for acceptance,” 1540s, from tender (v.). Specific sense of “money offered as payment” is from 1740, in legal tender “currency which by law must be accepted from a debtor” (see legal)

“to offer formally,” 1540s, from Middle French tendre “to offer, hold forth” (11c.), from Latin tendere “to stretch, extend,” from PIE root *ten- “to stretch.” The retention of the ending of the French infinitive is unusual (see render (v.) for another example).