mid-14c., administracioun, "act of giving or dispensing;" late 14c., "management (of a business, property, etc.), act of administering," from Latin administrationem (nominative administratio) "aid, help, cooperation; direction, management," noun of action from past-participle stem of administrare "to help, assist; manage, control, guide, superintend; rule, direct," from ad "to" (see ad-) + ministrare "to serve, attend, wait upon," from minister "inferior, servant, priest's assistant" (see minister (n.)).

It is attested by early 15c. as "management of a deceased person's estate under a commission from authority." The sense of "management of public affairs" is from 1680s; hence, "executive power in a government" (1731), though in Britain later government was used in this sense. The meaning "a U.S. president's period in office" is recorded by 1796 in the writings of George Washington.

The administration of government, in its largest sense, comprehends all the operations of the body politic, whether legislative, executive, or judiciary; but in its most usual, and perhaps in its most precise, signification, it is limited to executive details, and falls peculiarly within the province of the executive department. ["The Federalist," No. 72 (Hamilton)]

mid-14c., amonesten "remind, urge, exhort, warn, give warning," from Old French amonester "urge, encourage, warn" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *admonestare, from Latin admonere "bring to mind, remind (of a debt);" also "warn, advise, urge," from ad "to," here probably with frequentative force (see ad-) + monere "to admonish, warn, advise," from PIE *moneie- "to make think of, remind," suffixed (causative) form of root *men- (1) "to think."

The -d- was restored, on the Latin model, in English as in French (Modern French admonester). The ending was influenced by words in -ish (such as astonish, abolish). Related: Admonished; admonishing. Latin also had commonere "to remind," promonere "to warn openly," submonere "to advise privately" (source of summon).

mid-14c., adopcioun, "action of taking (a child) as one's own; condition of being adopted," from Old French adopcion or directly from Late Latin adoptionem (nominative adoptio) "a taking as one's child," shorter form of adoptatio, noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin adoptare "chose for oneself, take by choice, select, adopt," especially "to take into a family, adopt as a child," from ad "to" (see ad-) + optare "choose, wish, desire" (from PIE root *op- (2) "to choose;" see option (n.)).

mid-14c., "hazardous;" late 14c., "occurring by chance" (senses now obsolete), from Old French aventuros "chance, accidental, fortuitous;" of persons, "devoted to adventure" (Modern French aventureux), from aventure (see adventure (n.)). In English the sense of "rash, risk-taking" is from c. 1400, thence "daring, fond of adventure" (mid-15c.). Related: Adventurously; adventurousness.

The adventurous man incurs risks from love of the novel, the arduous, and the bold, trusting to escape through the use of his bodily and mental powers; he would measure himself against difficult things. When this spirit does not go so far as to deserve the name of rashness or foolhardiness, it is considered a manly trait. [Century Dictionary]

"unfriendly opponent, enemy" (originally especially of Satan as the enemy of mankind), mid-14c., aduersere, from Anglo-French adverser (13c.), Old French adversarie (12c., Modern French adversaire) "hostile opponent, enemy," or directly from Latin adversarius "an opponent, rival, enemy," noun use of adjective meaning "opposite, hostile, contrary," literally "turned toward one," from adversus "turned against, turned toward, fronting, facing," figuratively "hostile, adverse, unfavorable," past participle of advertere "to turn toward," from ad "to" (see ad-) + vertere "to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed" (see versus). The Latin word is glossed in Old English by wiðerbroca.

mid-14c., "one whose profession is to plead cases in a court of justice," a technical term from Roman law, from Old French avocat "barrister, advocate, spokesman," from Latin advocatus "one called to aid (another); a pleader (on one's behalf), advocate," noun use of past participle of advocare "to call (as witness or adviser), summon, invite; call to aid; invoke," from ad "to" (see ad-) + vocare "to call," which is related to vox (genitive vocis) "voice" (from PIE root *wekw- "to speak").

Also in Middle English as "one who intercedes for another," and "protector, champion, patron." Feminine forms advocatess, advocatrice were in use in 15c.; advocatrix is from 17c. Old English glossed Latin advocatus with þingere (see thing).

mid-14c., "a plentiful flowing, an abundant supply," from Old French affluence, from Latin affluentia "affluence, abundance," literally "a flowing to," abstract noun from affluentem (nominative affluens) "flowing toward; abounding, rich, copious" (see affluent). The notion in the figurative Latin sense is of "a plentiful flow" of the gifts of fortune, hence "wealth, abundance of earthly goods," a sense attested in English from c. 1600. Latin affluentia is glossed in Ælfric's vocabulary (late Old English) by oferflowendnys.

"medieval chemistry; the supposed science of transmutation of base metals into silver or gold" (involving also the quest for the universal solvent, quintessence, etc.), mid-14c., from Old French alchimie (14c.), alquemie (13c.), from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic al-kimiya, from Greek khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"), all meaning "alchemy," and of uncertain origin.

Perhaps from an old name for Egypt (Khemia, literally "land of black earth," found in Plutarch), or from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," from khein "to pour," from PIE root *gheu- "to pour" [Watkins, but Klein, citing W. Muss-Arnolt, calls this folk etymology]. The word seems to have elements of both origins.

Mahn ... concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gr. khymeia was probably the original, being first applied to pharmaceutical chemistry, which was chiefly concerned with juices or infusions of plants; that the pursuits of the Alexandrian alchemists were a subsequent development of chemical study, and that the notoriety of these may have caused the name of the art to be popularly associated with the ancient name of Egypt. [OED]

The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the." The art and the name were adopted by the Arabs from Alexandrians and entered Europe via Arabic Spain. Alchemy was the "chemistry" of the Middle Ages and early modern times, involving both occult and natural philosophy and practical chemistry and metallurgy. After c. 1600 the strictly scientific sense went with chemistry, and alchemy was left with the sense "pursuit of the transmutation of baser metals into gold, search for the universal solvent and the panacea."

older form of Koran, mid-14c., from Old French alcoran, from Arabic al-quran "the Koran," literally "the Book," with the definite article (al-) taken in European languages as part of the name.

mid-14c., "the plant alkanet" or its root (which yields a red dye material and is used as a styptic), from Medieval Latin, from a diminutive of alcanna, from Arabic al-hinna (see henna). As the name of the plant itself, from 1560s.