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Origin and history of morpho-

morpho-

before vowels morph-, word-forming element of Greek origin meaning "form, shape," from Greek morphē "form, shape; beauty, outward appearance," a word of uncertain etymology.

Entries linking to morpho-

1839, colloquial mangling of hermaphrodite based on morpho-. An earlier mangling was mophrodite (1706); also see dyke.

morphogenesis(n.)

1863 in biology, "the production of the form or shape of an organism," from German (by 1844); see morpho- "form" + -genesis "birth, origin, creation." By 1958 in geology, "the formation of landscapes." Related: Morphogenetic.

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1824 in biology, "science of the outer form and inner structure of animals and plants," from German Morphologie (1817); see morpho- "shape" + -logy "study of." By 1869 in philology, "science of structure or forms in language." General sense of "shape, form, external structure or

late 13c., from Old French envie "envy, jealousy, rivalry" (10c.), from Latin invidia "envy, jealousy" (source also of Spanish envidia, Portuguese inveja), from invidus "envious, having hatred or ill-will," from invidere "to envy, hate," earlier "look at (with malice), cast an ev

1762, said to be a reference to John Montagu (1718-1792), 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was said to be an inveterate gambler who ate slices of cold meat between bread at the gaming table during marathon sessions rather than rising for a proper meal (this account of the origin dates t

c. 1300, gyrle "child, young person" (of either sex but most frequently of females), of unknown origin. One guess [OED] leans toward an unrecorded Old English *gyrele, from Proto-Germanic *gurwilon-, diminutive of *gurwjoz (apparently also represented by Low German gære "boy, gir

c. 1200, "state of being worthy," from Old French dignite "dignity, privilege, honor," from Latin dignitatem (nominative dignitas) "worthiness," from dignus "worth (n.), worthy, proper, fitting," from PIE *dek-no-, suffixed form of root *dek- "to take, accept." From c. 1300 as "a

late 14c., determinen, "to settle, decide upon; state definitely; fix the bounds of; limit in time or extent," also "come to a firm decision or definite intention" (to do something), from Old French determiner (12c.) and directly from Latin determinare "to enclose, bound, set lim

Middle English blessen, from Old English bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian "to consecrate by a religious rite, make holy, give thanks," from Proto-Germanic *blodison "hallow with blood, mark with blood," from *blotham "blood" (see blood (n.)). Originally a blood sprinkli

c. 1200, delit, "high degree of pleasure or satisfaction," also "that which gives great pleasure," from Old French delit "pleasure, delight, sexual desire," from delitier "please greatly, charm," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please," frequentative of delicere

c. 1300, sirgirie, "the work of a surgeon; medical treatment of an operative nature, such as cutting-operations, setting of fractures, etc.," from Old French surgerie, surgeure, contraction of serurgerie, from Late Latin chirurgia "surgery," from Greek kheirourgia, from kheirourg

1620s, "greatly troubled by uncertainties," from Latin anxius "solicitous, uneasy, troubled in mind" (also "causing anxiety, troublesome"), from angere, anguere "to choke, squeeze," figuratively "to torment, cause distress" (from PIE root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, pai

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