A- (3) prefix meaning "not," from Gk a-, an- "not," from pie base *ne "not" (see un-)



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yak (1) --- wild ox of central Asia, 1795, from Tibetan g-yag "male yak."

yak (2) --- laugh, 1938; talk idly (v.), 1950; echoic, perhaps of Yiddish origin.

yakuza --- traditional Japanese organized crime cartel, lit. "eight-nine-three" (ya, ku, sa) the losing hand in the traditional baccarat-like Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu. The notion may be "good for nothing," or "bad luck" (in someone who runs afoul of them), or it may be a reference to the fact that a player who draws this hand requires great skill to win.

Yale --- 1869, kind of lock invented by Linus Yale. The surname is Welsh, from ial, and means "dweller at the fertile upland."

y'all --- 1909, U.S. dial. abbreviation of you all (see you).

yam --- 1588, from Port. inhame or Sp. igname, from a W.African language (cf. Fulani nyami "to eat;" Twi anyinam "species of yam"); the word in Amer.Eng. and in Jamaican Eng. is probably directly borrowed from W.African sources.

yammer --- 1481, "to lament," probably from M.Du. jammeren and cognate M.E. yeoumeren, "to mourn, complain," from O.E. geomrian "to lament," from geomor "sorrowful," probably of imitative origin. Meaning "to make loud, annoying noise" is attested from 1513.

yang --- 1679, from Mandarin yang "male, daylight, solar."

yank (v.) --- 1822, Scottish, of unknown origin; the noun is 1818 in sense of "sudden blow, cuff."

Yankee --- 1683, a name applied disparagingly by Du. settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Du. Janke, lit. "Little John," dim. of common personal name Jan; or it may be from Jan Kes familiar form of "John Cornelius," or perhaps an alt. of Jan Kees, dial. variant of Jan Kaas, lit. "John Cheese," the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and slapped it on the English. A less-likely theory is that it represents some southern New England Algonquian language mangling of English. In Eng. a term of contempt (1750s) before its use as a general term for "native of New England" (1765); during the American Revolution it became a disparaging British word for all American native or inhabitants. Shortened form Yank in reference to "an American" first recorded 1778.

Yankee Doodle --- popular tune of the Amer. Revolution, apparently written c.1755 by British Army surgeon Dr. Richard Schuckburgh while campaigning with Amherst's force in upper New York during the French and Indian War. The original verses mocked the colonial troops serving alongside the regulars, and the Doodle element just may have been, or hinted at, the 18c. slang term for "penis." The song naturally was popular with British troops in the colonies, but after the colonials began to win skirmishes with them in 1775, they took the tune as a patriotic prize and re-worked the lyrics. The current version seems to have been written in 1776 by Edward Bangs, a Harvard sophomore who also was a Minuteman.

yap --- 1603, probably of imitative origin. Originally in ref. to dog sounds; meaning "to talk idle chatter" is first recorded 1886.

yar --- growling sound, imitative, attested from c.1300.

yard (1) --- ground around a house, O.E. geard "enclosure, garden, court, house, yard," from P.Gmc. *garda (cf. O.N. garðr "enclosure, garden, yard;" O.Fris. garda, Du. gaard, O.H.G. garto, Ger. Garten "garden;" Goth. gards "house," garda "stall"), from PIE *gharto-, from base *gher- "to grasp, enclose" (cf. O.E. gyrdan "to gird," Skt. ghra- "house," Alb. garth "hedge," L. hortus "garden," Phrygian -gordum "town," Gk. khortos "pasture," O.Ir. gort "field," Bret. garz "enclosure, garden," and second element in L. cohors "enclosure, yard, company of soldiers, multitude"). Lith. gardas "pen, enclosure," O.C.S. gradu "town, city," and Rus. gorod, -grad "town, city" belong to this group, but linguists dispute whether they are independent developments or borrowings from Gmc. Yard sale is attested by 1976. M.E. yerd "yard-land" (c.1450) was a measure of about 30 acres. Yardbird "convict" is 1956, from the notion of prison yards; earlier it meant "basic trainee" (World War II armed forces slang).

yard (2) --- measure of length, O.E. gerd (Mercian), gierd (W.Saxon) "rod, stick, measure of length," from W.Gmc. *gazdijo, from P.Gmc. *gazdaz "stick, rod" (cf. O.S. gerda, O.Fris. ierde, Du. gard "rod;" O.H.G. garta, Ger. gerte "switch, twig," O.N. gaddr "spike, sting, nail"), from PIE *gherdh- "staff, pole" (cf. L. hasta "shaft, staff"). In O.E. it was originally a land measure of roughly 5 meters (a length later called rod, pole or perch). Modern measure of "three feet" is attested from 1377 (earlier rough equivalent was the ell of 45 inches, and the verge). In M.E., the word also was a euphemism for "penis" (cf. "Love's Labour's Lost," V.ii.676). Slang meaning "one hundred dollars" first attested 1926, Amer.Eng. Yardstick is 1816. The nautical yard-arm (1553) retains the original sense of "stick." In 19c. British naval custom, it was permissible to begin drinking when the sun was over the yard-arm.

yare --- ready, prepared, O.E. gearo "ready," from P.Gmc. prefix *ga- + *arw-; related to gearwe "clothing, dress" (see gear). Cf. Du. gaar "done, dressed;" O.H.G. garo "ready, prepared, complete."

yarmulke --- 1903, from Yiddish yarmulke, from Pol. jarmulka, originally "a skullcap worn by priests," perhaps ult. from M.L. almutia "cowl, hood."

yarn --- O.E. gearn "spun fiber," from P.Gmc. *garnan (cf. O.N., O.H.G., Ger. garn, M.Du. gaern, Du. garen "yarn"), from PIE base *gher- "intestine" (cf. O.N. gorn "gut," Skt. hira "vein," Gk. khorde "intestine, gut-string," Lith. zarna "gut"). The phrase to spin a yarn "to tell a story" is first attested 1812, from a sailors' expression, on notion of telling stories while engaged in sedentary work like yarn-twisting.

yarrow --- plant, also known as milfoil, O.E. gearwe, from P.Gmc. *garwo (cf. M.Du. garwe, O.H.G. garawa, Ger. Garbe), perhaps from a source akin to the root of yellow.

yaw --- to fall away from the line of a course, 1546, from O.N. jaga, O.Dan. jæge "to drive, chase," from M.L.G. jagen (see yacht).

yawn (v.) --- c.1300, yenen, yonen, from O.E. ginian, gionian "open the mouth wide, gape," from P.Gmc. *gin- (cf. O.N. gina "to yawn," Du. geeuwen, O.H.G. ginen, Ger. gähnen "to yawn"), from PIE *gh(e)i- (cf. O.C.S. zijajo "to gape," Lith. zioju, Czech zivati "to yawn," Gk. khainein, L. hiare "to yawn, gape," Skt. vijihite "to gape, be ajar"). Noun meaning "act of yawning" is recorded from 1697. Yawner "something boring" is Amer.Eng. slang first recorded 1942 (yawn in this sense is attested from 1889).

yawp (v.) --- c.1300, yolpen, probably echoic variant of yelpen (see yelp). The noun, in ref. to speech, is recorded from 1835, now used chiefly with conscious echo of Whitman.

yaws --- 1679, from Carib yaya, the native name for the disease.

yclept --- O.E. gicliopad; see y-.

ye (article) --- old or quaintly archaic way of writing the, in which the -y- is a 16c. graphic alteration of þ, an O.E. character (generally called "thorn," originally a Gmc. rune; see th-) that represented the "hard" -th- sound at the beginning of the. Early printers, whose types were founded on the continent, did not have a þ, so they substituted y as the letter that looked most like it. But in such usages it was not pronounced "y." Ye for the (and yt for that) continued in manuscripts through 18c. Revived 19c. as a deliberate antiquarianism; the Ye Olde _____ construction was being mocked by 1896.

ye (pron.) --- O.E. ge, nom. pl. of 2nd pers. pronoun þu (see thou); cognate with O.Fris. ji, O.S. gi, M.Du. ghi, Du. gij. Altered, by influence of we, from an earlier form that was similar to Goth. jus "you (pl.)" (see you). Cognate with Lith. jus, Skt. yuyam, Avestan yuzem, Gk. hymeis. The -r- in O.N. er, Ger. ihr probably is from infl. of the 1st pers. pl. pronouns (O.N. ver, Ger. wir).

yea --- O.E. gea (W.Saxon), ge (Anglian) "so, yes," an affirmative word in Gmc., cognate with Ger., Dan., Norw., Sw. ja. Spelling yeah first recorded 1905.

yean --- O.E. eanian "to bring forth" (young), especially in ref. to sheep or goats, from P.Gmc. *agwnojanan (cf. Du. oonen), perhaps from PIE *agwhnos "lamb" (cf. Gk. amnos "lamb," L. agnus, O.C.S. agne, O.Ir. van, Welsh oen). Yeanling "young lamb, kid" is recorded from 1637.

year --- O.E. gear (W.Saxon), ger (Anglian) "year," from P.Gmc. *jæram "year" (cf. O.S., O.H.G. jar, O.N. ar, Dan. aar, O.Fris. ger, Du. jaar, Ger. Jahr, Goth. jer "year"), from PIE *yer-o-, from base *yer-/*yor- "year, season" (cf. Avestan yare (nom. sing.) "year;" Gk. hora "year, season, any part of a year," also "any part of a day, hour;" O.C.S. jaru, Boh. jaro "spring;" L. hornus "of this year;" O.Pers. dušiyaram "famine," lit. "bad year"). Probably originally "that which makes [a complete cycle]," and from verbal root *ei- meaning "to do, make." Yearling is first attested 1465; yearly is O.E. gearlic (cf. Ger. jährlich).

yearbook --- 1588, "book of reports of cases in law-courts for that year," from year + book. Meaning "book of events and statistics of the previous year" is recorded from 1710. Sense of "graduating class album" is attested from 1926, Amer.Eng.

yearn --- O.E. geornan (Mercian), giernan (W.Saxon), giorna (Northumbrian), from P.Gmc. *gernijanan (cf. Goth. gairnjan "to desire," Ger. begehren "to desire"), from base *gernaz (cf. O.H.G. gern, O.N. gjarn "desirous," O.E. georn "eager, desirous," Ger. gern "gladly, willingly"), from PIE base *gher- "to like, want" (see hortatory).

yeast --- O.E. gist "yeast," common W.Gmc. source (cf. M.H.G. gest, Ger. Gischt "foam, froth," O.H.G. jesan, Ger. gären "to ferment"), from PIE *jes- "boil, foam, froth" (cf. Skt. yasyati "boils, seethes," Gk. zein "to boil," Welsh ias "seething, foaming").

yegg --- thief, burglar, especially "safecracker," 1903, underworld slang, of unknown origin, said to be from John Yegg, a Swedish tramp, or from Ger. Jäger "huntsman."

yell (v.) --- O.E. gellan (Mercian), giellan (W.Saxon), class III strong verb (past tense geal, pp. gollen), from P.Gmc. *gelnanan (cf. O.N. gjalla "to resound," M.Du. ghellen, Du. gillen, O.H.G. gellan, Ger. gellen "to yell"), extended form of root of O.E. galan "to sing" (source of the -gale in nightingale); from PIE *ghel- "to cry out, shout, sing." The noun is c.1375 in Scot., from the verb.

yellow --- O.E. geolu, geolwe, from P.Gmc. *gelwaz (cf. O.S., O.H.G. gelo, M.Du. ghele, Du. geel, M.H.G. gel, Ger. gelb, O.N. gulr, Swed. gul "yellow"), from PIE *ghel-/*ghol- "yellow, green" (see Chloe). The verb meaning "to become yellow" is O.E. geoluwian. Adj. meaning "light-skinned" (of blacks) first recorded 1808. Applied to Asiatics since 1787, though the first recorded reference is to Turkish words for inhabitants of India. Yellow peril translates Ger. die gelbe gefahr. Sense of "cowardly" is 1856, of unknown origin; the color was traditionally associated rather with treachery. Yellow-bellied "cowardly" is from 1924, probably a rhyming reduplication of yellow; earlier yellow-belly was a sailor's name for a half-caste (1867) and a Texas term for Mexican soldiers (1842, based on the color of their uniforms). Yellow dog "mongrel" is attested from c.1770; slang sense of "contemptible person" first recorded 1881.

yellow journalism --- sensational chauvinism in the media, 1898, Amer.Eng. from newspaper agitation for war with Spain; originally "publicity stunt use of colored ink" (1895) in ref. to the popular Yellow Kid"character (his clothes were yellow) in Richard Outcault's comic strip "Shantytown" in the "New York World."

yellow ribbon --- The American folk custom of wearing or displaying a yellow ribbon to signify solidarity with loved ones or fellow citizens at war originated during the U.S. embassy hostage crisis in Iran in 1979. It does not have a connection to the American Civil War, beyond the use of the old British folk song "Round Her Neck She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" in the John Wayne movie of the same name, with a Civil War setting, released in 1949. The story of a ribbon tied to a tree as a signal to a convict returning home that his loved ones have forgiven him is attested from 1959, but the ribbon in that case was white. The ribbon color seems to have changed to yellow first in a version retold by newspaper columnist Pete Hamill in 1971. The story was dramatized in June 1972 on ABC-TV (James Earl Jones played the ex-con). Later that year, Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown copyrighted the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," which became a pop hit in early 1973 and sparked a lawsuit by Hamill, later dropped. In 1975, the wife of a Watergate conspirator put out yellow ribbons when her husband was released from jail, and news coverage of that was noted and remembered by Penne Laingen, whose husband was U.S. ambassador to Iran in 1979 and one of the Iran hostages taken in the embassy on Nov. 4. Her yellow ribbon in his honor was written up in the Dec. 10, 1979, "Washington Post." When the hostage families organized as the Family Liaison Action Group (FLAG), they took the yellow ribbon as their symbol. The ribbons revived in the 1991 Gulf War and again during the 2003 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

yelp --- O.E. gelpan (Anglian), gielpan (W.Saxon) "to boast," from P.Gmc. *gelpanan (cf. O.S. galpon, O.N. gjalpa "to yelp," O.N. gjalp "boasting," O.H.G. gelph "outcry"), from PIE base *ghel- "to cry out." The noun (O.E. gielp) originally meant "boasting;" meaning "quick, sharp bark or cry" is attested from c.1500.

Yemen --- southwestern region of Arabia, from Arabic Yemen, lit. "the country of the south," from yaman "right side" (i.e., south side, if one is facing east). The right side regarded as auspicious, hence Arabic yamana "he was happy," lit. "he went to the right," and hence the L. name for the region in Roman times, Arabia Felix, lit, "Happy Arabia."

yen (1) --- Japanese monetary unit, 1875, from Japanese yen, from Chinese yuan "round, round object, circle, dollar."

yen (2) --- sharp desire, hunger, 1906, earlier yin "intense craving for opium" (1876), from Chinese (Cantonese) yan "craving," or from a Beijing dialect word for "smoke." Reinforced in Eng. by influence of yearn.

yenta --- gossip, busybody, 1923, from Yente Telebende, comic strip gossip in 1920s-30s writing of Yiddish newspaper humorist B. Kovner (pen-name of Jacob Adler) in the "Jewish Daily Forward." It was a common Yiddish fem. proper name, alt. from Yentl and said to be ult. from It. gentile "kind, gentle," earlier "noble, high-born" (see gentle).

yeoman --- c.1300, "attendant in a noble household," of unknown origin, perhaps a contraction of O.E. iunge man "young man," or from an unrecorded O.E. *geaman, equivalent of O.Fris. gaman "villager," from O.E. -gea "district, village," cognate with O.Fris. ga, ge, from P.Gmc. *gaujan. Sense of "commoner who cultivates his land" is recorded from 1411; also the third order of fighting men (1375, below knights and squires, above knaves), hence yeomen's service "good, efficient service" (1602). Meaning "naval petty officer in charge of supplies" is first attested 1669. Yeowoman first recorded 1852: "Then I am yeo-woman O the clumsy word!" [Tennyson, "The Foresters"]

yep --- 1891, variant of yes, altered for emphasis, or possibly infl. by nope.

yes --- O.E. gise, gese "so be it!," probably from gea, ge "so" (see yea) + si "be it!," third pers. imperative of beon "to be" (see be). Originally stronger than simple yea. Used in Shakespeare mainly as an answer to negative questions. Yes-man is first recorded 1912, Amer.Eng.

yeshiva --- Orthodox Jewish college or seminary, 1851, from Heb. yesibah "academy," lit. "a sitting," from yashav "to sit."

yesterday --- O.E. geostran dæg, from dæg "day" + geostran "yesterday," from P.Gmc. *gestra- (cf. O.H.G. gestaron, Ger. gestern "yesterday," O.N. gær "tomorrow, yesterday," Goth. gistradagis "tomorrow"), originally "the other day" (reckoned from "today," either backward or forward), from PIE *ghes (cf. Skt. hyah, Avestan zyo, Pers. di, Gk. khthes, L. heri, O.Ir. indhe, Welsh doe "yesterday;" L. hesternus "of yesterday").

yesteryear --- coined 1870 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti from yester(day) + year to translate Fr. antan (from V.L. *anteannum "the year before") in a refrain by François Villon: Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan? which Rossetti rendered "But where are the snows of yesteryear?"

yet --- O.E. get, gieta "till now, thus far, earlier, at last, also," an Anglo-Frisian word (cf. O.Fris. ieta, M.H.G. ieuzo), of unknown origin. The meaning in other Gmc. languages is expressed by descendants of P.Gmc. *noh- (cf. Ger. noch), from PIE *nu-qe- "and now."

yeti --- 1937, from Sherpa (Tibetan) yeh-teh "small manlike animal."

yew --- O.E. iw, eow "yew," from P.Gmc. *iwa-/*iwo- (cf. M.Du. iwe, Du. ijf, O.H.G. iwa, Ger. Eibe, O.N. yr), from PIE *ei-wo- (cf. O.Ir. eo, Welsh ywen "yew"), perhaps a suffixed form of *ei- "reddish, motley, yellow." OED says Fr. if, Sp. iva, M.L. ivus are from Gmc. (and says Du. ijf is from Fr.); others posit a Gaul. ivos as the source of these. Lith. jeva likewise is said to be from Gmc. It symbolizes both death and immortality, being poisonous as well as long-lived.

Yggdrasil --- great tree of the universe, 1770, from O.N. ygdrasill, apparently from Yggr, a name of Odin + drasill "horse."

Yid --- generally derogatory term for a Jew, 1874, back-formation from Yiddisher (1859); see Yiddish.

Yiddish --- 1875, from Yiddish yidish, from M.H.G. jüdisch "Jewish" (in phrase jüdisch deutsch "Jewish-German"), from jude "Jew," from O.H.G. judo, from L. Judaeus (see Jew). The Eng. word has been re-borrowed in Ger. as jiddisch.

yield (v.) --- O.E. geldan (Anglian), gieldan (W.Saxon) "to pay" (class III strong verb; past tense geald, p.p. golden), from P.Gmc. *geldanan "pay" (cf. O.S. geldan "to be worth," O.N. gjaldo "to repay, return," M.Du. ghelden, Du. gelden "to cost, be worth, concern," O.H.G. geltan, Ger. gelten "to be worth," Goth. fra-gildan "to repay, requite"), perhaps from PIE *ghel-to- "I pay," found only in Balto-Slavic and Gmc., unless O.C.S. zledo, Lith. geliuoti are Gmc. loan-words. Sense developed in Eng. via use to translate L. reddere, Fr. rendre, and had expanded by c.1300 to "repay, return, render (service), produce, surrender." Related to M.L.G. and M.Du. gelt, Du. geld, Ger. Geld "money." Earliest Eng. sense survives in financial "yield from investments." The noun is O.E. gield "payment, sum of money;" extended sense of "production" (as of crops) is first attested c.1440. Yielding in sense of "giving way to physical force" is recorded from 1665.

yikes --- 1971, exclamation of alarm or surprise; perhaps from yoicks, a call in fox-hunting, attested from c.1770. Yike "a fight" is slang attested from 1940, of uncertain connection.

yin --- 1671, from Chinese (Mandarin) "female, night, lunar."

yip --- 1903, possibly from dial. yip "to cheep like a bird" (early 19c.), from M.E. yippen (1440), of imitative origin.

yippee --- interjection of pleasure, etc., 1920.

Yippie --- 1968, acronym from fictitious "Youth International Party," modeled on hippie.

yo --- as a greeting, 1859, but the word is attested as a sailor's or huntsman's utterance since c.1420. Modern popularity dates from World War II (when, it is said, it was a common response at roll calls) and seems to have been most intense in Philadelphia.

yob --- a youth, 1859, back-slang from boy.

yodel --- 1827, from Ger. jodeln, from dial. Ger. jo, an exclamation of joy, of imitative origin.

yoga --- 1820, from Hindi yoga, from Skt. yoga-s, lit. "union, yoking" (with the Supreme Spirit), from PIE base *yeug- "to join" (see jugular). Yogi (1619) is from Hindi yogi, from Skt. yoga-s.

yogh --- M.E. letter, c.1300; see Y. The name probably is identical with yoke (M.E. yogh) and so called because yoke began with a yogh.

yogi --- one who practices yoga, 1619, from Hindi yogi, from Skt. yoga- (see yoga).

yogurt --- 1625, a mispronunciation of Turk. yogurt, in which the -g- is a "soft" sound, in many dialects closer to an Eng. "w." The root yog means roughly "to condense" and is related to yogun "intense," yogush "liquify" (of water vapor), yogur "knead."

yoke (n.) --- O.E. geoc "yoke," earlier geoht "pair of draft animals," from P.Gmc. *yukam (cf. O.S. juk, O.N. ok, Dan. aag, M.Du. joc, Du. juk, O.H.G. joh, Ger. joch, Goth. juk "yoke"), from PIE *jugom "joining" (see jugular). Figurative sense of "heavy burden, oppression, servitude" was in O.E. The verb is from O.E. geocian.

yokel --- 1812, perhaps from dial. Ger. Jokel, disparaging name for a farmer, originally dim. of Jakob. Or perhaps from Eng. yokel, dialectal name for "woodpecker."

yolk --- O.E. geolca, geoloca "yolk," lit. "the yellow part," from geolu "yellow" (see yellow). Formerly also spelled yelk.

Yom Kippur --- Jewish holiday, 1854, from Mishnaic Heb. yom kippur (in Biblical Heb., yom kippurim), lit. "day of atonement," from yom "day" + kippur "atonement, expiation."

yon --- O.E. geon (adj.) "that (over there)," perhaps from P.Gmc. *jenaz (cf. O.Fris. jen, O.N. enn, O.H.G. ener, M.Du. ghens, Ger. jener, Goth. jains "that, you"). Outside Gmc., cognates include Skt. ena-, third person pronoun, anena "that;" O.C.S. onu "he;" Lith. ans "he."

yond --- O.E. geond (adv., prep.) "beyond, yonder," rel. to geon (see yon).

yonder --- c.1300, from O.E. geond (see yond) + comp. suffix -er. Now replaced except in poetic usage by ungrammatical that.

yoni --- 1799, from Skt., "female sexual principle as an object of veneration," lit. "vulva, womb."

yoo-hoo --- exclamation to call attention, 1924.

yore --- O.E. geara (adv.) "of yore," originally genitive plural of gear (see year), and used without of.

York --- city in n. England, O.E. Eoforwic, earlier Eborakon (c.150), an ancient Celtic name, probably meaning "Yew-Tree Estate," but Eburos may also be a personal name. Yorkshire pudding is recorded from 1747; Yorkshire terrier first attested 1872; short form Yorkie is from 1950.

Yosemite --- from Southern Sierra Miwok /yohhe'meti/ "they are killers." "[E]vidently a name given to the Indians of the valley by those outside it." [Bright]

you --- O.E. eow, dat. and acc. pl. of þu (see thou), objective case of ge, "ye" (see ye), from W.Gmc. *iuwiz (cf. O.N. yor, O.S. iu, O.Fris. iuwe, M.Du., Du. u, O.H.G. iu, iuwih, Ger. euch), from PIE *ju. Pronunciation of you and the nom. form ye gradually merged from 14c.; the distinction between them passed out of general usage by 1600. Widespread use of Fr. in England after 12c. gave Eng. you the same association as Fr. vous, and it began to drive out sing. nom. thou, originally as a sign of respect (similar to the "royal we") when addressing superiors, then equals and strangers, and ultimately (by c.1575) becoming the general form of address. For a more thorough discussion of this, go here. Words for "you" in Japanese include anata (formal, used by a wife when addressing her husband), kimi (intimate, used among friends) or the rougher omae (oh-MAI-aye), used when talking down to someone or among male friend showing their manliness. Dial. you-uns, for you-ones, first noted 1810 in Ohio.

young (adj.) --- O.E. geong "youthful, young," from P.Gmc. *jungas (cf. O.S., O.Fris. jung, O.N. ungr, M.Du. jonc, Du. jong, O.H.G., Ger. jung, Goth. juggs), from PIE *juwngkos, from PIE base *yeu- "vital force, youthful vigor" (cf. Skt. yuva "young," L. juvenis "young," Lith. jaunas, O.C.S. junu, Rus. junyj "young," O.Ir. oac, Welsh ieuanc "young"). The noun meaning "young animals collectively, offspring" is first attested 1484. Youngster is first attested 1589 (earlier was youngling, from O.E. geongling). From c.1830-1850, Young France, Young Italy, etc., loosely applied to "republican agitators" in various monarchies; also, esp. in Young England, Young America, used generally for "typical young person of the nation." For Young Turk, see Turk.



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