The verb debilitate (and its adjective form debilitating) comes from the Latin word for "weak," debilis.
Winsome comes from Old English wynn, meaning "joy" or "pleasure," which was altered in spelling to win (with the same meaning). That win is obsolete and is unrelated to today's win—referring to victory and coming from Old English winnan, "to struggle, suffer, or acquire." The adjective winning, meaning "tending to please or delight," as in "a winning smile" or "winning ways," is believed to be from the victorious win.
Cherub From Latin cherubim, from Greek kheroubin, from Hebrew kerubim. Ultimately from the Semitic root krb (to praise).
The plural is cherubs or
cherubim. Cherubim are the second highest order of angels.
The Order of Angels
angels
archangels
principalities
powers
virtues
dominions
thrones
cherubim
seraphim
Sanguine is the name of one of the temperaments that ancient and medieval scholars believed was caused by an abundance of one of the four humors. It comes from sanguineus—Latin for "of or relating to blood" or "bloody"—and over centuries has had meanings ranging from "bloodthirsty" and "bloodred" to "confidently optimistic."
Euphemism comes from Greek eúphēmos, which
means "uttering sounds of good omen," "fair-sounding," or
"auspicious." The first part of that root is the prefix eu-, meaning
"good." The second part is
phēmos, a Greek word for "speech."
Gloss, referring to a brief
explanation, comes from Greek glôssa, meaning "tongue,"
"language," or "obscure word." There is also the familiar phrase
gloss over, meaning "to deal with (something) too lightly or not at
all." That gloss is related to Germanic glosen, "to glow or
shine," and comes from the noun gloss, which in English can refer to a
shine on a surface or to a superficial attractiveness that is easily dismissed.
Stir-crazy originated as a word to describe a prisoner who became distraught after prolonged confinement. Stir is a 19th-century slang word for "prison" that some word historians have suspected to be from Romani stariben, of the same meaning. But a convincing argument of that origin has yet been made. Today, stir-crazy describes any person who has become restless, agitated, or anxious from being or feeling entrapped in some place.
