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Origin and history of sandy

sandy(adj.)

Middle English sandie, "consisting mainly of sand, abounding in sand," from Old English sandig "of the nature of sand;" see sand (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "of yellowish-red hue" (in reference to hair) is from 1520s.

Sandy(n.)

late 15c. as a nickname for Alexander; it is a diminutive or familiar variant of the nickname Saunder, which is preserved in surnames, as in Clerk Saunders of the old Border ballad. As the typical name for a Scotsman (especially a Lowlander) from 1785; in that use also punning on the hair-color sense of sandy (adj.). Also Sawney.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to sandy

Alexander

masc. proper name, from Latin, from Greek Alexandros "defending men," from alexein "to ward off, keep off, turn (something) away, defend, protect" + anēr (genitive andros) "man" (from PIE root *ner- (2) "man"). The first element perhaps is related to Greek alke "protection, help, strength, power, courage," alkimos "strong;" and cognate with Sanskrit raksati "protects," Old English ealgian "to defend."

As a kind of cocktail recipe featuring crème de cacao and cream, Alexander is attested from 1913; the reason for the name is unclear.

sand(n.)

"water-worn detritus finer than gravel; fine particles of rocks (largely crystalline rocks, especially quartz); the material of the beach, desert, or sea-bed;" Old English sand, from Proto-Germanic *sandam (source also of Old Norse sandr, Old Frisian sond, Middle Dutch sant, Dutch zand, German Sand), cognate with Greek psammos "sand;" Latin sabulum "coarse sand" (which is the source of Italian sabbia, French sable). This was said to be from a suffixed form of a PIE root *bhes- "to rub," but de Vaan says the Latin is from a substrate word and Beekes suggests for the origin of psammos "Pre-Greek *sam- 'sand, mud'."

Historically, the line between sand and gravel was not distinct. A general Germanic word but it is not attested in Gothic, which used in this sense malma, related to Old High German melm "dust" and the first element of the Swedish city name Malmö (the second element meaning "island"), and to Latin molere "to grind."

Sand has been a figure of innumerability or instability since Old English. In compounds, often it indicates "of the shore, found on sandy beaches." The old U.S. colloquial sense of "grit, endurance, pluck" is by 1867, especially in have sand in (one's) craw. Sands "tract or region composed of sand," is by mid-15c.