The exact origins of the word hoodlum are not known, but one theory
is that the word derives from hudelum, an adjective that means
"disorderly" in dialects of German spoken in and around the region of
Swabia.
A young troublemaker is sometimes
called a hooligan, it most likely
derives from the name of Patrick Hooligan, an Irish youth purported to have
wreaked havoc in the streets of Southwark, England, in the late 19th century.
English speakers created acerbic in the 19th century by adding
-ic to the adjective acerb. Acerb had been around since the 17th century, but
for most of that time it had been used only to describe foods with a sour
taste. (Acerb is still around today, but now it's simply a less common synonym
of acerbic.) Acerbic and acerb ultimately come from the Latin adjective
acerbus, which can mean "harsh" or "unpleasant." Another
English word that comes from acerbus is exacerbate, which means "to make
more violent or severe."
Gemutlich: (guh-MOOT-lik,
-MUT-likh) Cozy; comfortable; pleasant;
friendly. From German gemüetlich (cozy, comfortable, etc.), from Gemüt (nature,
mind, soul) + -lich (-ly).
Baroque came to
English from the French word barroque, meaning "irregularly shaped."
At first, the word in French was used mostly to refer to pearls. Eventually, it
came to describe an extravagant style of art characterized by curving lines,
gilt, and gold.
Peregrinate. PAIR-uh-gruh-nayt 1: to travel especially on foot : walk 2: to
walk or travel over : travers. Latin word peregrinatus, the past participle of
peregrinari, which means "to travel in foreign lands." The verb is
derived from the Latin word for "foreigner," peregrinus, which was earlier
used as an adjective meaning "foreign."That term also gave us the
words pilgrim and peregrine, the latter of which once meant "alien"
but is now used as an adjective meaning "tending to wander" and as a
noun naming a kind of falcon.
Refurbish was
borrowed into English in the 14th century from Anglo-French furbiss-, a distant
relative of Old High German furben, meaning "to polish." In its
earliest uses furbish also meant "to polish," but it developed an
extended sense of "renovate" shortly before English speakers created
refurbish with the same meaning in the 17th century.
Myriad
(MIR-ee-ehd)
A large number. From Greek myriás (ten thousand, countless)
Nugatory (NOO-guh-tor-ee,
NYOO-) Of little value; trifling.From
Latin nugatorius (trifling), from nugari (to trifle). In Greek mythology, Lethe
was the name of a river in the underworld that was also called "the River
of Unmindfulness" or "the River of Forgetfulness." Legend held
that when someone died, he or she was given a drink of water from the river
Lethe to forget all about his or her past life. Eventually this act of
forgetting came to be associated with feelings of sluggishness, inactivity, or
indifference. The name of the river and the word lethargic, as well as the
related noun lethargy, all derive from lēthē, Greek for
"forgetfulness."
Au
courant (o koo-RAN) 1. Up-to-date; fully-informed. 2. Fashionable.From
French au courant (literally, in the current, i.e. knowledgeable or
up-to-date), from Latin currere (to run). Ultimately from the Indo-European
root kers- (to run), which also gave us car, career, carpenter, occur,
discharge, caricature, cark, discursive, and succor.
Plethora (PLETH-uhr-uh) An abundance or excess. From Latin plethora,
from Greek plethore (fullness), from plethein (to be full). In the beginning
the word was applied to an excess of a humor, especially blood, in the body.