mid-12c., "authorized representative of the Pope," from Old French legat and directly from Latin legatus "ambassador, envoy," originally "provided with a commission," past participle of legare "send as a deputy, send with a commission, charge, bequeath," possibly literally "engage by contract" and related to lex (genitive legis) "contract, law," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather." General sense of "ambassador, delegate, messenger of a state or authority" is from late 14c. in English. Related: Legator; legatee; legatine.

"earlier in time," mid-12c., comparative of forme "first, earliest in time or order," from Old English forma "first," from Proto-Germanic *fruma-, *furma-, from PIE *pre-mo-, suffixed (superlative) form of root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before, first." Probably patterned on formest (see foremost); it is an unusual case of a comparative formed from a superlative (the Old English -m is a superlative suffix). As "first of two," 1580s.

masc. proper name, popular in England and Scotland by mid-12c. (Pope Gregory I sent the men who converted the English to Christianity), nativization of Late Latin Gregorius, literally "wakeful" (equivalent to Latin Vigilantius), from Greek gregorios, a derivative of gregoros "to be watchful," from PIE root *ger- (2) "to be awake" (source also of Sanskrit jagarti "he is awake," Avestan agarayeiti "wakes up, rouses"). At times confused with Latin gregarius (see gregarious).

mid-12c., "protect or defend from harm," from Old French covrir "to cover, protect, conceal, dissemble" (12c., Modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperire "to cover over, overwhelm, bury," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + operire "to close, cover," from PIE compound *op-wer-yo-, from *op- "over" (see epi-) + root *wer- (4) "to cover."

Sense of "to hide or screen" is from c. 1300, that of "to put something over (something else)" is from early 14c. Sense of "spread (something) over the entire extent of a surface" is from late 14c. Military sense of "aim at" is from 1680s; newspaper sense first recorded 1893; use in U.S. football dates from 1907. Betting sense "place a coin of equal value on another" is by 1857. Of a horse or other large male animal, as a euphemism for "copulate with" it dates from 1530s.

Meaning "to include, embrace, comprehend" is by 1868. Meaning "to pass or travel over, move through" is from 1818. Sense of "be equal to, be of the same extent or amount, compensate for" is by 1828. Sense of "take charge of in place of an absent colleague" is attested by 1970.

mid-12c. priden, in the reflexive sense "congratulate (oneself), be proud, indulge in self-esteem;" c. 1200 as "be arrogant, act haughtily," from pride (n.). Middle English also had a verb prouden, from the adjective, and Old English had prytan, prydan "be or become arrogant or haughty." Related: Prided; priding.

mid-12c., pes, "freedom from civil disorder, internal peace of a nation," from Anglo-French pes, Old French pais "peace, reconciliation, silence, permission" (11c., Modern French paix), from Latin pacem (nominative pax) "compact, agreement, treaty of peace, tranquility, absence of war" (source of Provençal patz, Spanish paz, Italian pace), from PIE root *pag- "to fasten" (which is the source also of Latin pacisci "to covenant or agree;" see pact), perhaps on the notion of "a binding together" by treaty or agreement.

It replaced Old English frið, also sibb, which also meant "happiness." The modern spelling is from 1500s, reflecting vowel shift.

It is attested from mid-13c. as "friendly relations between people." The sense of "spiritual peace of the heart, soul or conscience, freedom from disturbance by the passions" (as in peace of mind) is from c. 1200. The sense of "state of quiet or tranquility" is by 1300, as is the meaning "absence or cessation of war or hostility." Specifically as "treaty or agreement made between conflicting parties to refrain from further hostilities," c. 1400.

Used in various greetings from c. 1300, from Biblical Latin pax, Greek eirēnē, which translators took to render Hebrew shalom, properly "safety, welfare, prosperity." As a type of hybrid tea rose (developed 1939 in France by François Meilland), so called from 1944.

The Native American peace pipe, supposedly smoked as the accompaniment of a treaty, is recorded by 1760. Peace-officer "civil officer whose duty it is to preserve public peace" is attested from 1714. Peace offering "offering that procures peace or reconciliation, satisfaction offered to an offended person" is from 1530s. Phrase peace with honor dates to 1607 (in "Coriolanus"). The U.S. Peace Corps was set up March 1, 1962. Peace sign, in reference to both the hand gesture and the graphic, is attested from 1968.

Middle English tigre, "large, beautifully striped carnivorous cat living in distant places or mentioned by ancient naturalists," from Old English tigras (plural), also in part from Old French tigre "tiger" (mid-12c.), both from Latin tigris "tiger," from Greek tigris, which is possibly from an Iranian source akin to Old Persian tigra- "sharp, pointed," Avestan tighri- "arrow," in reference to its springing on its prey, "but no application of either word, or any derivative, to the tiger is known in Zend." [OED, 1989].

In reference to tiger-like persons from c. 1500. The meaning "shriek or howl at the end of a cheer" is recorded from 1845, American English, and is variously explained. For adjectives tigerish, tiger-like, tigerly (rare), tigerous (rare, obsolete), tigery have been tried. Tigerine (1650s) is especially in reference to colors.

Tiger's-eye "yellowish-brown quartz as an ornamental stone" is so called by 1886. The tiger-lily (1824) is so called for its orange and black flowers; the tiger beetle (1826) for its aggressive predation.

mid-12c., tunice, "ancient garment like a shirt or short gown, often worn as an undergarment," from Old French tunique (12c.) or directly from Latin tunica "undergarment worn by either sex" (source of Spanish tunica, Italian tonica, Old High German tunihha), probably from a Semitic source (compare Hebrew kuttoneth "coat," Aramaic kittuna). Compare chitin, from a Greek name for a similar garment, also probably from a Semitic source.

The borrowing from Old French replaced Old English tunece, directly from Latin. In antiquity worn by either sex. In reference to modern costume from 1660s, extended as a general term to all garments worn depending from the neck; especially as a women's garment from mid-18c. A fine, thin, or delicate example is a tunicle.

mid-12c., from Old French guile "deceit, wile, fraud, ruse, trickery," probably from Frankish *wigila "trick, ruse" or a related Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *wih-l- (source also of Old Frisian wigila "sorcery, witchcraft," Old English wig "idol," Gothic weihs "holy," German weihen "consecrate"), from PIE root *weik- (2) "consecrated, holy."

mid-12c., "person of ribald speech;" c. 1300, "person fond of chiding abusive language," especially a shrewish woman [Johnson defines the noun as "A clamourous, rude, mean, low, foul-mouthed woman"], from Old Norse skald "poet" (see skald).

The sense evolution might reflect the fact that Germanic poets (like their Celtic counterparts) were famously feared for their ability to lampoon and mock (as in skaldskapr "poetry," also, in Icelandic law books, "libel in verse").

The noun meaning "act of scolding" is by 1726 but seems not to have been in common use. In old law, common scold (Latin communis rixatrix) is from late 15c.

We have not sufficient adjudications to enable us to define this offence with certainty ; but probably a definition substantially correct is the following : A common scold is one, who, by the practice of frequent scolding, disturbs the repose of the neighborhood. [Joel Prentiss Bishop, "Commentaries on the Criminal Law," Boston, 1858]