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

goober --- peanut, 1833, Amer.Eng., of African origin, perhaps Bantu (cf. Kikongo and Kimbundu nguba "peanut").

good (adj.) --- O.E. god (with a long "o") "having the right or desirable quality," from P.Gmc. *gothaz (cf. O.N. goðr, Du. goed, Ger. gut, Goth. goþs), originally "fit, adequate, belonging together," from PIE base *ghedh- "to unite, be associated, suitable" (cf. O.C.S. godu "pleasing time," Rus. godnyi "fit, suitable," O.E. gædrian "to gather, to take up together"). Irregular comparatives (better, best) reflect a widespread pattern, cf. L. bonus, melior, optimus. First record of good day is from c.1205. Goods "property" first recorded c.1280, but singular in the same sense was in O.E. The good neighbours is Scot. euphemism for "the fairies" (1588). Good-for-nothing is from 1711; good-looking is from 1780; good-natured first recorded 1577. Good sport is from 1917; good to go is attested from 1989.

Good Friday --- c.1290, from good in sense of "holy" (e.g. the good book "the Bible," 1896), also, esp. of holy days or seasons observed by the church (c.1420); it was also applied to Christmas and Shrove Tuesday.

good-bye --- 1591, from godbwye (1573), itself a contraction of God be with ye, infl. by good day, good evening, etc.

goody --- something tasty, 1745, from good; adj. use for "sentimentally proper" is 1830. Goody also used since 1559 as a shortened form of goodwife, a term of civility applied to a married woman in humble life; hence Goody Two-shoes, name of heroine in 1760s children's story who exulted upon acquiring a second shoe.

goof --- 1916, Amer.Eng., "stupid person," perhaps a variant of Eng. dial. goff "foolish clown" (1869), from 16c. goffe, probably from M.Fr. goffe "awkward, stupid," of uncertain origin. Or Eng. goffe may be from M.E. goffen "speak in a frivolous manner," possibly from O.E. gegaf "buffoonery," and gaffetung "scolding." Sense of "a blunder" is c.1954, probably infl. by gaffe. The verbal meaning "waste time" is 1932; the verb meaning "make a mistake" is from 1941. Goof off "loaf" is also from 1941. Adj. goofy is attested from 1921. The Disney character of that name began life as Dippy Dawg c.1929. Goofball "narcotic" is from 1938; as an intensive of goof, it dates from 1959.

google (v.) --- to search (something) on the Google search engine, 2000 (do a google on was used by 1999). The domain google.com was registered in 1997. A verb google was an early 20c. cricket term in ref. to a type of breaking ball.

googol --- 1940, in "Mathematics and the Imagination," a layman's book on mathematics written by U.S. mathematicians Edward Kasner (1878-1955) and James R. Newman, the word supposedly coined a year or two before by Kasner's 9- (or 8-) year-old nephew (unnamed in the book's account of the event), when asked for a name for an enormous number. Perhaps influenced by comic strip character Barney Google.

goo-goo --- amorous, 1900, perhaps connected with goggle, since the earliest reference is in goo-goo eyes. The sense of "baby-talk" is from 1863. Use in ref. to politics began 1890s, and seems to be a shortening of Good Government as a movement to clean up municipal corruption in Boston, New York, etc. It soon was extended to mean "naive political reformer."

gook --- 1899, U.S. military slang for "Filipino" during the insurrection there, probably from a native word, or imitative of the babbling sound of their language to American ears (cf. barbarian). The term goo-goo eyes "soft, seductive eyes" was in vogue c.1900 and may have contributed to this somehow. Extended over time to "Nicaraguan," "any Pacific Islander" (World War II), "Korean" (1950s), "Vietnamese" and "any Asian" (1960s).

goombah --- from dialectal pronunciation of It. compare "companion, godfather."

goon --- 1921, "stupid person," from gony "simpleton" (c.1580), of unknown origin, but applied by sailors to the albatross and similar big, clumsy birds (1839); sense of "hired thug" first recorded 1938 (in ref. to union "beef squads" used to cow strikers in the Pacific northwest), probably from Alice the Goon, slow-witted and muscular (but gentle-natured) character in "Thimble Theater" comic strip (starring Popeye) by E.C. Segar (1894-1938). She also was the inspiration for British comedian Spike Milligan's "The Goon Show." What are now "juvenile delinquents" were in the 1940s sometimes called goonlets.

goose --- a large waterfowl proverbially noted, I know not why, for foolishness [Johnson], O.E. gos, from P.Gmc. *gans- "goose" (cf. O.Fris. gos, O.N. gas, O.H.G. gans, Ger. Gans "goose"), from PIE *ghans- (cf. Skt. hamsah, masc., hansi, fem., "goose swan;" Gk. khen; L. anser; Pol. ges "goose;" Lith. zasis "goose;" O.Ir. geiss "swan"), probably imitative of its honking. Sp. ganso "goose" is from a Gmc. source. Loss of "n" sound is normal before "s." Plural form geese is an example of i-mutation. Meaning "simpleton" is from 1547. The verbal meaning "jab in the rear" (c.1880) is possibly from resemblance of the upturned thumb to a goose's beak. To cook one's goose first attested 1845, of unknown origin; attempts to connect it to Swedish history and Gk. fables have been unconvincing. Goose egg "zero" first attested 1866 in baseball slang. Goose bumps (1933) was earlier goose flesh (c.1810) and goose skin (1785). The goose that laid the golden egg is from Aesop. Goose step (1806) originally was a military drill to teach balance; "to stand on each leg alternately and swing the other back and forth" (which, presumably, reminded someone of a goose's way of walking); in reference to "marching without bending the knees" (as in Nazi military reviews) it apparently is first recorded 1916.

gooseberry --- c.1532, perhaps from Ger. Krausebeere or Kräuselbeere, related to M.Du. croesel "gooseberry," and to Ger. kraus "crispy, curly." Under this theory, gooseberry would be folk etymology. But OED editors find no reason to prefer this to a literal reading, because "the grounds on which plants and fruits have received names associating them with animals are so commonly inexplicable, that the want of appropriateness in the meaning affords no sufficient ground for assuming that the word is an etymological corruption."

GOP --- U.S. Republican Party, 1884, an abbreviation of Grand Old Party. The Republicans were so called from 1876; the Democratic Party also was referred to occasionally as grand old party, with lower-case letters, in 1870s-80s.

gopher --- 1812, Amer.Eng., perhaps an Anglicization of Louisiana Fr. gaufre "honeycomb, waffle," said to have been used by Fr. settlers of small mammals on analogy of the structure of their burrows, from O.Fr. gaufre, of Frank. origin. The rodent was the nickname of people from Arkansas (1845) and later Minnesota (1872). The gopherwood tree of the Bible (used by Noah to make the ark, Gen. vi:14) is unrelated; it is from Heb. gofer, perhaps meaning the cypress.

Gordian knot --- 1561, tied by Gordius, king of Phrygia in Asia Minor, who predicted the one to loosen it would rule Asia. Instead, Alexander the Great cut the Gordian knot with his sword; hence the extended sense (1579 in Eng.) "solve a difficult problem in a quick, dramatic way."

gore (n.) --- O.E. gor "dirt, dung, shit," a Gmc. word (cf. M.Du. goor "filth, mud;" O.N. gor "cud;" O.H.G. gor "animal dung"), of uncertain origin. Sense of "clotted blood" (especially shed in battle) developed by 1563.

gore (v.) --- c.1400, from Scottish gorren "to pierce, stab," origin unknown, perhaps related to O.E. gar "spear" (see gar), which is certainly the source of the third meaning of Mod.Eng. gore, "triangular piece of ground" (O.E. gara), hence also "front of a skirt" (c.1250), and "triangular piece of cloth" (c.1325).

gorge (n.) --- 1362, from O.Fr. gorge "throat, bosom," from L.L. gurges "gullet, throat, jaws," related to L. gurgulio "gullet." Transferred sense of "deep, narrow valley" was in O.Fr. The verbal meaning "eat greedily" (c.1300) is from O.Fr. gorger, from gorge.

gorgeous --- c.1495, from M.Fr. gorgias "elegant, fashionable," perhaps lit. "necklace" (and thus "fond of jewelry"), from O.Fr. gorge "bosom, throat," also "something adorning the throat."

gorget --- armor for the throat, 1470, from O.Fr. gorgete, dim. of gorge "throat."

Gorgon --- 1398, any of the three hideous sisters in Gk. legend, whose look turned beholders to stone (Madusa was one of them), from Gk. Gorgo (pl. Gorgones), from gorgos "terrible." Transferred sense of "terrifyingly ugly person" is from 1529.

gorgonzola --- type of blue cheese, 1878, named for Gorgonzola, village near Milan, where it was first made.

gorilla --- 1847, applied to the apes (Troglodytes gorills) by U.S. missionary Thomas Savage, from Gk. gorillai, pl. of name given to wild, hairy people in Gk. translation of Carthaginian navigator Hanno's account of his voyage along the N.W. coast of Africa, c.500 B.C.E. Allegedly an African word.

gorse --- O.E. gors, from P.Gmc. *gurst- (cf. O.H.G. gersta, M.Du. gherste, Ger. gerste "barley"), from PIE *ghrzd- "roughness" (cf. L. hordeum "barley").

gory --- blood-soaked, c.1480, from gore (n.).

gosh --- 1757, altered pronunciation of God. Probably from by gosse (mid-16c.).

goshawk --- O.E. goshafoc, lit. "goose-hawk," from gos "goose" + hafoc "hawk" (cf. O.N. gashaukr).

Goshen --- from the Bible, fertile land settled by the Israelites in Egypt; light shone there during the plague of darkness [Gen. xxxxv:10].

gosling --- c.1275, from O.N. gæslingr, from gos "goose" + dim. suffix. replaced O.E. gesling. The modern word may be a M.E. formation from M.E. gos "goose."

gospel --- O.E. godspel "good news," from god "good" + spel "story, message," translation of L. bona adnuntiatio, itself a translation of Gk. euangelion "reward for bringing good news." First element of the O.E. word had a long "o," but it shifted under mistaken assoc. with God. Gospel-gossip was Addison's word ("Spectator," 1711) for "one who is always talking of sermons, texts, etc."

gossamer --- c.1325, "spider threads spun in fields of stubble in late fall," apparently from gos "goose" + sumer "summer" (cf. Swed. sommertrad "summer thread"). The reference might be to a fancied resemblance of the silk to goose down, or because geese are in season then. The Ger. equivalent mädchensommer (lit. "girls' summer") also has a sense of "Indian summer," and the Eng. word may originally have referred to a warm spell in autumn before being transferred to a phenomenon especially noticable then. Meaning "anything light or flimsy" is from c.1400. The adj. sense "filmy" is attested from 1802.

gossip --- O.E. godsibb "godparent," from God + sibb "relative" (see sibling). Extended in M.E. to "any familiar acquaintance" (1362), especially to woman friends invited to attend a birth, later to "anyone engaging in familiar or idle talk" (1566). Sense extended 1811 to "trifling talk, groundless rumor." The verb meaning "to talk idly about the affairs of others" is from 1627.

gotcha --- 1932, colloquial pronunciation of "(I have) got you."

goth --- see gothic.

Gotham --- New York City, first used by Washington Irving, 1807, based on "Merrie Tales of the Mad Men of Gotham" (1460), a collection of legendary stories of English villagers alternately wise and foolish. There is a village of this name in Nottinghamshire, originally Gatham (1086), O.E., "Enclosure (lit. 'homestead') where goats are kept." It is unknown if this was the place intended.

gothic --- of the Goths, Gmc. people who lived in Eastern Europe c. 100 A.D. (O.E. Gota, L.L. Goth, Gk. Gothoi), from Goth. gutþiuda "Gothic people," the first element cognate with O.N. gotar "men." "The sense 'men' is usually taken to be the secondary one, but as the etymology of the word is unknown, this is uncertain" [Gordon]. The unhistorical -th- in Eng. is from L.L. Used in sense of "savage despoiler" (1663) in reference to their sack of Roman cities, 5c. (see vandal). Gothic was used by scholars to mean "Germanic, Teutonic" (1647), hence its evolution as a term for the art style that emerged in northern Europe in the Middle Ages, and the early 19c. literary style that used medieval settings to suggest horror and mystery. The word was revived 1983 as the name for a style of music and the associated youth culture; abbreviated form goth is attested from 1986. Gothic revival in reference to architecture and decorating first recorded 1869 in writing of C.L. Eastlake.

Götterdämmerung --- from Ger., lit. "twilight of the gods," used by Wagner as the title of the last opera in the Ring cycle; used in Eng. from 1909 in the fig. sense of "complete overthrow" of something.

gouache --- 1882, from Fr., from It. guazzo "water color," originally "spray, pool," from L. aquatio "watering, watering place."

Gouda --- type of cheese, 1885, named for a town in Holland.

gouge (n.) --- 1350, from O.Fr. gouge, from L.L. gubia, alteration of gulbia "hollow beveled chisel," probably from Gaulish (cf. O.Ir. gulban "prick, prickle," Welsh gylfin "beak"). The verb is 1570, from the noun. Meaning "swindle" is Amer.Eng. colloquial from 1826 (implied in plural n. gougers).

goulash --- 1866, from Hungarian gulyashus, from gulyas "herdsman" + hus "meat." In Hung., "beef or lamb soup made by herdsmen while pasturing."

gourd --- 1303, from Anglo-Fr. gourde, from O.Fr. coorde, ultimately from L. cucurbita, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to cucumis "cucumber."

gourmand --- 1491, "glutton," from M.Fr. gourmant "glutton," originally an adj., "gluttonous," of uncertain origin. Not connected with gourmet. Meaning "one fond of good eating" is from 1758.

gourmet --- 1820, from Fr. gourmet, altered (by infl. of M.Fr. gourmant "glutton") from O.Fr. grommes (pl.) "wine-tasters, wine merchant's servants," of uncertain origin.

gout --- c.1290, from O.Fr. gote "gout, drop," from L. gutta "a drop," in M.L. "gout," of unknown origin. The disease was thought to be caused by drops of viscous humors seeping from the blood into the joints, which turned out to be close to the truth.

govern --- 1297, from O.Fr. governer "govern," from L. gubernare "to direct, rule, guide," originally "to steer," from Gk. kybernan "to steer or pilot a ship, direct" (the root of cybernetics). The -k- to -g- sound shift is perhaps via the medium of Etruscan. Governess "female ruler" is 1483, shortening of governouresse "a woman who rules;" in the sense of "a female teacher in a private home" it is attested from 1712. Government is first attested 1553, from O.Fr. governement (replacing M.E. governance); governor (c.1300) is from L. gubernatorem (nom. gubernator) "director, ruler, governor," originally "steersman, pilot." Gubernatorial (1734, chiefly in Amer.Eng.) preserves the L. form.

gow --- 1915, "opium," from Cantonese yao-kao "opium," lit. "sap;" used as such by Raymond Chandler, etc.; by 1950s meaning had expanded to "pictures of nude or scantily clad women," hence gow job "flashy girl," which in teenager slang came to also mean "hot rod."

gown --- c.1300, from O.Fr. goune, from L.L. gunna "leather garment, skin, hide," of unknown origin. Used by St. Boniface (8c.) for a fur garment permitted for old or infirm monks. Klein writes it is probably "a word adopted from a language of the Apennine or the Balkan Peninsula." O.E.D. points to Byzantine Gk. gouna, a word for a coarse garment sometimes made of skins. In 18c., gown was the common word for what is now usually styled a dress. It was maintained more in Amer.Eng. than in Britain, but was somewhat revived 20c. in fashion senses and in comb. forms (e.g. bridal gown, nightgown). Meaning "flowing robe worn as a badge of office or authority" is from 1377, on image of the Roman toga. As collective singular for "residents of a university" (1659) it is now usually opposed to town.

goy --- gentile, non-Jew (pl. goyim), 1835, from Heb. goy "people, nation;" in Mishnaic and Modern Heb., also "gentile."

grab --- 1589, from M.Du. or M.L.G. grabben "to grab," from P.Gmc. *grab (cf. O.H.G. garba "sheaf," lit. "that which is gathered up together"), from PIE *gherebh- "to seize" (cf. Skt. grbhnati "seizes," O.Pers. grab- "seize" as possession or prisoner, O.C.S. grabiti "to seize, rob," Lith. grebiu "to rake"). First record of grab-bag "miscellaneous mixture" is 1855, originally a carnival game.

grace --- c.1175, "God's favor or help," from O.Fr. grace "pleasing quality, favor, good will, thanks," from L. gratia "pleasing quality, good will, gratitude," from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from PIE base *gwer- "to praise, welcome" (cf. Skt. grnati "sings, praises, announces," Lith. giriu "to praise, celebrate," Avestan gar- "to praise"). Sense of "virtue" is c.1330, that of "beauty of form or movement, pleasing quality" is c.1340. In classical sense, "one of the three sister goddesses (L. Gratiæ, Gk. Kharites), bestowers of beauty and charm," it is first recorded in Eng. 1579 in Spenser. The short prayer that is said before or after a meal (c.1225, until 16c. usually graces) is in the sense of "gratitude." Verb meaning "to show favor" (c.1440) led to that of "to lend or add grace to something" (1586, e.g. grace us with your presence), which is the root of the musical sense in grace notes (1657). Gracious as an exclamation (1713) is short for gracious God, etc.

grackle --- 1772, from genus name Gracula, Mod.L. fem. from L. graculus "jackdaw, European crow," perhaps of imitative origin.

gradation --- 1538, from L. gradationem (nom. gradatio) "ascent by steps, climax," from gradus "step, degree" (see grade).

grade (n.) --- 1511, from Fr. grade "grade, degree," from L. gradus "step, degree," replacing M.E. gree "step, degree in a series," from O.Fr. grei "step," from L. gradus, related to gradi "to walk, step, go," from PIE *ghredh- (cf. Lith. gridiju "to go, wander," O.C.S. gredo "to come," O.Ir. in-greinn "he pursues," and second element in congress, progress, etc.). The verb is 1659, from the noun. Railway sense is from 1835. Meaning "division of a school curriculum equivalent to one year" is from 1835; that of "letter-mark indicating assessment of a student's work" is from 1886.

gradient (n.) --- steep slope of a road or railroad, 1835, principally in Amer.Eng., from grade (q.v.) by analogy of quotient, etc.

gradual --- 1541, from M.L. gradualis, from L. gradus "step" (see grade).

graduate (n.) --- 1479, from M.L. graduatus, pp. of graduari "to take a degree," from L. gradus "step, grade" (see grade). The abbreviated form grad is attested from 1871. The verb is 1588 (trans.), 1807 (intrans.).

Gradus ad Parnassum --- L., lit. "A Step to Parnassus," mountain sacred to Apollo and the Muses, title of a dictionary of prosody used in Eng. public schools for centuries as a guide to Roman poetry. First printed at Cologne, 1687; first London edition 1691.

Grady --- surname and male proper name, from Ir. Grada "noble."

graffiti --- 1851, for ancient wall inscriptions found in the ruins of Pompeii, from It. graffiti, pl. of graffito "a scribbling," a dim. formation from graffio "a scratch or scribble," from graffiare "to scribble." Sense extended 1877 to recently made crude drawings and scribbling.

graft (1) --- shoot inserted into another plant, 1483, from O.Fr. grafe "graft, stylus," from L. graphium "stylus," from Gk. grapheion "stylus," from graphein "write." So called on resemblance of a stylus to the pencil-shaped shoots used in grafting. The terminal -t- in the Eng. word is not explained.

graft (2) --- corruption, 1859 (as a verb), Amer.Eng., perhaps from graft (1) via Brit. slang sense of "one's occupation" (1853), which seems to be from the word's original sense of "digging" (see graft (1)).

Graham --- crackers, etc., from unsifted whole-wheat flour, 1834, Amer.Eng., from Sylvester Graham (1794-1851), U.S. dietetic reformer and temperance advocate. The family name is attested from 1127, an Anglo-Norm. form of the place name Grantham (Lincolnshire).

grail --- c.1330, from O.Fr. graal "cup," earlier "flat dish," from M.L. gradalis "a flat dish or shallow vessel," perhaps ult. from L. crater "bowl," from Gk. krater "bowl, especially for mixing wine with water." Holy Grail is M.E. Sangreal (Saint graal), grafted awkwardly onto the Celtic Arthurian legends 12c. by Church scribes in place of some pagan Otherworldly object. It was said to be the cup into which Joseph of Arimathea received the last drops of blood of Christ (according to the writers who picked up the thread of Chrétien de Troyes' "Perceval") or the dish from which Christ ate the Last Supper (Robert de Boron), and was ultimately identified as both (e.g. "þe dische wiþ þe blode," 14c.).

grain --- c.1202, from O.Fr. grein, from L. granum "seed" (see corn). As collective sing. meaning "seed of wheat and allied grasses used as food," it is attested from c.1315. Extended in M.E. to other objects (e.g. salt, sand). Used of wood (1565), from the arrangement of fibers, which resemble seeds. Hence, against the grain (1650), a metaphor from carpentry: cutting across the fibers of the wood is more difficult than cutting along them.

-gram --- suffix from telegram (1857), first abstracted 1979 (in Gorillagram, a proprietary name in U.S.), and put to wide use in forming new words, such as stripagram (1981). The construction violates Gk. grammar, as an adv. could not properly form part of a compound noun.

gram --- 1797, from Fr. gramme, from L.L. gramma "small weight," from Gk. gramma "small weight," originally "letter of the alphabet," from stem of graphein "to draw, write." Adopted into Eng. about two years before it was established in Fr. as a unit in the metric system by law of 19 frimaire, year VIII (1799).

gramercy --- exclamation of thanks or surprise, c.1300, from O.Fr. grand-merci "great thanks."

grammar --- 1176, gramarye, from O.Fr. grammaire "learning," especially Latin and philology, from L. grammatica, from Gk. grammatike tekhne "art of letters," with a sense of both philology and literature in the broadest sense, from gramma "letter," from stem of graphein "to draw or write." Restriction to "rules of language" is a post-classical development, but as this type of study was until 16c. limited to Latin, M.E. gramarye also came to mean "learning in general, knowledge peculiar to the learned classes" (c.1320), which included astrology and magic; hence the secondary meaning of "occult knowledge" (c.1470), which evolved in Scottish into glamour (q.v.). A grammar school (1387) was originally "a school in which the learned languages are grammatically taught" [Johnson, who also has grammaticaster "a mean verbal pedant"]. In U.S. (1860) the term was put to use in the graded system for "a school between primary and secondary, where English grammar is taught."

Grammy --- statuette awarded by the American National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 1959, from the gram- in gramophone, on the model of Emmy.

Gramophone --- 1887, trademark by German-born U.S. inventor Emil Berliner (1851-1929), an inversion of phonogram (1884) "the tracing made by a phonograph needle," coined from Gk. phone "voice, sound" (see fame) + gramma "something written." Berliner's machine used a flat disc and succeeded with the public. Edison's phonograph used a cylinder and did not. Despised by linguistic purists (Weekley calls gramophone "An atrocity formed by reversing phonogram") who tried to at least amend it to grammophone, it was replaced by record player after mid-1950s.

grampus --- 1529, from Anglo-Fr. grampais, altered (by infl. of grand) from O.Fr. graspeis, from M.L. craspicis, lit. "fat fish," from L. crassus "thick" + piscis "fish."

granary --- 1570, from L. granarium, from granum "grain" (see grain).

grand --- 1125, from Anglo-Fr. graunt, from O.Fr. grant, grand, from L. grandis "big, great," also "full-grown" (cognate with Gk. brenthueothai "to swagger"). It supplanted magnus in Romance languages; in Eng. with a special sense of "imposing." The connotations of "moral greatness, sublimity," etc., were in Latin. As a general term of admiration, 1816. The noun meaning "thousand dollars" is first recorded in Amer.Eng. underworld slang, 1915, from the adj. The Grand Canyon was so called 1871 by Maj. John Wesley Powell, scientific adventurer, who explored it; earlier it had been known as Big Canyon.