c. 1400, "to loathe, regard with repugnance, dislike intensely," literally "to shrink back with horror or dread," from Latin abhorrere "shrink back from, have an aversion for, shudder at," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + horrere "tremble at, shudder," literally "to bristle, be shaggy" (from PIE *ghers- "start out, stand out, rise to a point, bristle;" see horror).

Formerly also "fill (someone) with horror or loathing" (16c.). In Latin it was less intense: "be remote from, vary from, differ from, be out of harmony with." Related: Abhorred; abhorring.

c. 1400, "humbleness, low state, meanness of spirit, abject situation, groveling humility," from Old French abjection (14c.), from Latin abiectionem (nominative abiectio) "dejection, despondency," literally "a throwing away, a casting off," noun of action from past-participle stem of abicere "to throw away, cast off; degrade, humble, lower," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + iacere "to throw" (past participle iactus; from PIE root *ye- "to throw, impel").

c. 1400, "humble, lowly, poor; of low quality; menial," from Latin abiectus "low, crouching; common, mean, contemptible; cast down, dispirited," past participle of abicere "to throw away, cast off; degrade, humble, lower," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + iacere "to throw" (past participle iactus; from PIE root *ye- "to throw, impel").

The figurative sense of "downcast, brought low, hopeless," is by 1510s. Also in Middle English "cast off, rejected, expelled, outcast," a sense now obsolete. Abject formerly also was a verb in English, "to cast out, expel; to degrade, humiliate" (15c.-17c.). As a noun, "base or servile person," 1530s. Related: Abjectly; abjectness.

c. 1400, "a withdrawal from worldly affairs, asceticism," from Old French abstraction (14c.), from Late Latin abstractionem (nominative abstractio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin abstrahere "to drag away, detach, pull away, divert;" also figuratively, from assimilated form of ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + trahere "to draw" (from PIE root *tragh- "to draw, drag, move;" see tract (n.1)). Meaning "idea of something that has no actual existence" is from 1640s.

c. 1400, "affording access, capable of being approached or reached," from Old French accessible and directly from Late Latin accessibilis, verbal adjective from Latin accessus "a coming near, an approach; an entrance," from accedere "approach, go to, come near, enter upon" (see accede). The meaning "easy to reach" is from 1640s; of art or writing, "able to be readily understood," by 1961 (a word not needed before writing or art often deliberately was made not so). Related: Accessibility.

"answerable," literally "liable to be called to account," c. 1400 (mid-14c. in Anglo-French), from Old French acontable; see account (v.) + -able. Related: Accountably.

c. 1400, "active or secular life," from Old French activité, from Medieval Latin activitatem (nominative activitas), a word in Scholastic philosophy, from Latin activus "active" (see active). The meaning "state of being active, briskness, liveliness" is recorded from 1520s; that of "capacity for acting on matter" is from 1540s. As "an educational exercise," by 1923.

c. 1400, actifli, activeli, "secularly," from active + -ly (2). Meaning "vigorously" is early 15c.

c. 1400, "anything added, an increase or increment," from Latin additamentum "an increase," from past-participle stem of addere "to add" (see add).

c. 1400, "bring together in a sum or mass," from Latin aggregatus, past participle of aggregare "attach, join, include; collect, bring together," literally "bring together in a flock," from assimilated form of ad "to" (see ad-) + gregare "to collect into a flock, gather," from grex (genitive gregis) "a flock" (from PIE root *ger- "to gather"). The intransitive meaning "come together in a sum or mass" is from 1855. Related: Aggregated; aggregating.