permeable (adj.)

early 15c., "passable" (of an area); "penetrable" (of a building)," from Late Latin permeabilis "that can be passed through, passable," from Latin permeare "to pass through, go over," from per "through" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + meare "to pass," from PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move." Meaning "capable of being passed through without rupture or displacement" is from 1773, especially of substances permitting the passage of fluids. Related: Permeably.

also from early 15c.

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impermeable (adj.)

1690s, from French imperméable or directly from Late Latin impermeabilis, from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + permeabilis (see permeable). Related: Impermeability.

permeability (n.)

"property or state of being permeable," 1733, from permeable + -ity, or else from French perméabilité.

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adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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anecdote

1670s, "secret or private stories," from French anecdote (17c.) or directly from Medieval Latin anecdota, from Greek anekdota "things unpublished," neuter plural of anekdotos, from an- "not" (see an- (1)) + ekdotos "published," from ek- "out" (see ex-) + didonai "to give" (from P

journey

c. 1200, "a defined course of traveling; one's path in life," from Old French journée "a day's length; day's work or travel" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *diurnum "day," noun use of neuter of Latin diurnus "of one day" (from dies "day," from PIE root *dyeu- "to shine"). The French f

Munchkin

1900, coined by U.S. author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." He never explained how he got the word. The word most like it is perhaps mutchkin, an old Scottish measure of capacity for liquids, which was used by Scott. (It comes from Middle Dutch mutseken

harangue

"a public address; a formal, vehement, or passionate address;" also "any formal or pompous speech; a declamation; a tirade," mid-15c., arang, Scottish (in English from c. 1600), from French harangue "a public address" (14c.), from Old Italian aringo "public square, platform; pulp

coordinate

1640s, "of the same order, belonging to the same rank or degree," from Medieval Latin coordinatus, past participle of coordinare "to set in order, arrange," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see com-) + ordinatio "arrangement," from ordo "row, rank, series, arrangeme

number

c. 1300, "sum, aggregate of a collection," from Anglo-French noumbre, Old French nombre and directly from Latin numerus "a number, quantity," from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take." The meaning "written symbol or figure of arithmetic value" is from late 14c. The meaning "singl

literature

early 15c., "book-learning," from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera "alphabetic letter" also "an epistle, writing, document; literature, great books; science, learning" (see letter (n.1)). In

dub

"give a name to," originally "make a knight," from late Old English dubbian "knight by ceremonially striking with a sword" (11c.), a word perhaps borrowed from Old French aduber "equip with arms, adorn" (11c.) which is of uncertain origin, probably Germanic, but there are phoneti

prism

1560s, in geometry, "a solid whose bases or ends are any similar, equal, and parallel plane polygons, and whose sides are parallelograms" (not always triangular), from Late Latin prisma, from Greek prisma "a geometrical prism, trilateral column," (Euclid), literally "something sa

grail

c. 1300, gral, "the Holy Grail," from Old French graal, greal "Holy Grail; cup," earlier "large shallow dish, basin," from Medieval Latin gradalis, also gradale, grasale, "a flat dish or shallow vessel." The original form is uncertain; the word is perhaps ultimately from Latin cr

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updated on April 08, 2020

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