Category: vocabulary

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.”

c. 1400, “a blend of mercury with another metal; soft mass formed by chemical manipulation,” from Old French amalgame or directly from Medieval Latin amalgama, “alloy of mercury (especially with gold or silver),” c. 1300, an alchemists’ word, probably from Arabic al-malgham “an emollient poultice or unguent for sores (especially warm)” [Francis Johnson, “A Dictionary of Persian, Arabic, and English”], which is itself perhaps from Greek malagma “softening substance,” from malassein “to soften,” from malakos “soft” (from PIE *meldh-, from root *mel- (1) “soft”). Figurative meaning “compound of different things” is from 1790.

“act of pardoning a wrong act,” 1620s, from Latin condonationem (nominative condonatio) “a giving away,” noun of action from past-participle stem of condonare “to give up, remit, permit,” from assimilated form of com-, here probably an intensive prefix (see con-), + donare “give as a gift” (from donum “gift,” from PIE root *do- “to give”).

Condonation is the remission of a matrimonial offence known to the remitting party to have been committed by the other; on the condition subsequent that ever afterward the party remitting shall be treated by the other with conjugal kindness. [Joel Prentiss Bishop, “Commentaries on the Law of Marriage and Divorce,” 1864]

“to substitute,” 1530s, from Latin subrogatus, variant of surrogatus, past participle of subrogare/surrogare “put in another’s place, substitute, cause to be chosen in place of another,” from sub “in the place of, under” (see sub-) + rogare “to ask, propose,” apparently a figurative use of a PIE verb meaning literally “to stretch out (the hand),” from root *reg- “move in a straight line” (compare surrogate). Related: Subrogated; subrogating.

“love of cruelty,” 1888, from French sadisme, from the name of Count Donatien A.F. de Sade (1740-1815). Not a marquis, though usually now called one, he was notorious for cruel sexual practices he described in his novels

early 15c., of a deed, “evil, wicked;” from 1520s as “having the property of destroying or being injurious,” from Old French pernicios (13c., Modern French pernicieux) and directly from Latin perniciosus “destructive,” from pernicies “destruction, death, ruin,” from per “completely” (see per) + necis “violent death, murder,” related to necare “to kill,” nocere “to hurt, injure, harm,” noxa “harm, injury” (from PIE root *nek- (1) “death”). Related: Perniciously; perniciousness.

“dryness, want of moisture,” 1590s, from Middle French aridité or directly from Latin ariditatem (nominative ariditas) “dryness,” from aridus “dry” (see arid). Figuratively from 1690s; the Latin word was used figuratively of unadorned styles as well as stingy men.