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Origin and history of amt

amt(n.)

territorial division in Denmark and Norway, from Danish amt, from German Amt "office," from Old High German ambaht, a word of Celtic origin related to Gallo-Roman ambactus "servant" (see ambassador).

Entries linking to amt

ambassador(n.)

late 14c., also embassador, "diplomatic emissary of a ruler in the court of another," from Old French embassator, ambassateor, which comes via Provençal or Old Spanish from Latin ambactus "a servant, vassal," from Celtic amb(i)actos "a messenger, servant" (from PIE root *ambhi- "around" + *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move").

Compare embassy. Forms in am- and em- were used indiscriminately in English 17c.-18c. Until 1893 the United States sent and received none, having only ministers (often called ambassadors), who represented the state, not the sovereign.

Amish(adj.)

1844, American English, from the name of Jacob Amman, 17c. Swiss Mennonite preacher who founded the sect. The surname is a contraction of Old High German ambahtman, title of an official in the German Swiss cantons, from ambet "office" (German Amt; see amt, a Celtic borrowing related to the beginning of ambassador) + man "man." Originally also spelled Omish, which reflects the pronunciation in Pennsylvania German dialect. As a noun, by 1884. Other early names for the sect were Ammanite and, in a European context, Upland Mennonite.

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    Trends of amt

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    militia
    1580s, "system of military discipline," from Latin militia "military service, warfare," from miles "soldier" (see military (adj.)). The sense of "citizen army" (as distinct from professional soldiers) is first recorded 1690s, perhaps from a sense in French cognate milice. Histori
    romance
    c. 1300, romaunce, "a story, written or recited, in verse, telling of the adventures of a knight, hero, etc.," often one designed principally for entertainment, from Old French romanz "verse narrative" (Modern French roman), also "the vulgar language." It was originally an adverb
    orange
    late 14c., in reference to the fruit of the orange tree (late 13c. as a surname), from Old French orange, orenge (12c., Modern French orange), from Medieval Latin pomum de orenge, from Italian arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), an alteration of Arabic naranj, from P
    war
    late Old English wyrre, werre "large-scale military conflict," from Old North French werre "war" (Old French guerre "difficulty, dispute; hostility; fight, combat, war;" Modern French guerre), from Frankish *werra, from Proto-Germanic *werz-a- (source also of Old Saxon werran, Ol
    ghost
    Old English gast "breath; good or bad spirit, angel, demon; person, man, human being," in Biblical use "soul, spirit, life," from Proto-West Germanic *gaistaz (source also of Old Saxon gest, Old Frisian jest, Middle Dutch gheest, Dutch geest, German Geist "spirit, ghost"). This i
    prayer
    c. 1300, preiere, "earnest request, entreaty, petition," also "the practice of praying or of communing with God," from Old French prier "prayer, petition, request" (12c., Modern French prière), from Medieval Latin precaria "petition, prayer," noun use of Latin adjective precaria,
    delegate
    late 15c., "person appointed and sent by another or others with power to transact business as a representative," from the past-participle adjective (early 15c.), from Old French delegat or directly from Latin delegatus, past participle of delegare "to send as a representative," f
    resolve
    late 14c., resolven, "melt, dissolve, reduce to liquid; separate into component parts; alter, alter in form or nature by application of physical process," " intransitive sense from c. 1400; from Old French resolver or directly from Latin resolvere "to loosen, loose, unyoke, undo;
    chronicle
    c. 1300, cronicle, "historical account of facts or events in the order of time," from Anglo-French cronicle, from Old French cronique "chronicle" (Modern French chronique), from Latin chronica (neuter plural mistaken for fem. singular), from Greek ta khronika (biblia) "the (books
    pistachio
    1590s, "nut of the pistachio tree," from Italian pistacchio, from Latin pistacium "pistachio nut," from Greek pistakion "pistachio nut," from pistakē "pistachio tree," from Persian pistah "pistachio." Borrowed earlier in English as pystace, pistace (mid-15c.), from Old French pis

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