flummox (v.)

1837, cant word, also flummux, of uncertain origin, probably risen out of a British dialect (OED finds candidate words in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, southern Cheshire, and Sheffield). "The formation seems to be onomatopœic, expressive of the notion of throwing down roughly and untidily" [OED]. Related: Flummoxed; flummoxing.

also from 1837

Trends of flummox

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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perplex

1590s, "embarrass, puzzle, bewilder, fill (someone) with uncertainty," evidently a back-formation from perplexed, a variant of the adjective perplex (late 14c.), "perplexed, puzzled, bewildered," from Latin perplexus "involved, confused, intricate;" but Latin had no corresponding

stick

"piece of wood, generally rather long and slender," Middle English stikke, from Old English sticca "twig or slender branch from a tree or shrub," also "rod, peg, spoon," from Proto-Germanic *stikkon- "pierce, prick" (source also of Old Norse stik, Middle Dutch stecke, stec, Old H

get

c. 1200, from Old Norse geta (past tense gatum, past participle getenn) "to obtain, reach; to be able to; to beget; to learn; to be pleased with," a word of very broad meaning, often used almost as an auxilliary verb, also frequently in phrases (such as geta rett "to guess right"

gravel

"stone in small, irregular fragments," early 13c., from Old French gravele "sand, gravel; sea-shore; sandy bed of a river," diminutive of grave "sand, seashore" (Modern French grève), possibly from Celtic *graw- (compare Welsh gro "coarse gravel," Breton grouan, Cornish grow "gra

confuse

1550s in a literal sense "mix or mingle things or ideas so as to render the elements indistinguishable;" from mid-18c. in the active, figurative sense of "perplex the mind or ideas of, discomfit in mind or feeling," but not in general use until after c. 1800. From 1862 as "errone

peso

"Spanish coin, the Spanish dollar," also a coin in various Spanish-American nations, 1550s, from Spanish peso, literally "a weight," from Medieval Latin pensum, properly past participle of Latin pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh; pay" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw,

pose

late 14c., posen, "suggest (something is so), suppose, assume; grant, concede," from Old French poser "put, place, propose," a term in debating, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, rest, cease, pause" (source also of Italian posare, Spanish posar; see pause (v.)). The Late Latin ve

abet

late 14c., "urge on, incite" (implied in abetting), from Old French abeter "to bait, to harass with dogs," literally "to cause to bite," from a- "to" (see ad-) + beter "to bait." This verb is probably from Frankish or some other Germanic source (perhaps Low Franconian betan "inci

beat

Old English beatan "inflict blows on, strike repeatedly, thrash" (class VII strong verb; past tense beot, past participle beaten), from Proto-Germanic *bautan (source also of Old Norse bauta, Old High German bozan "to beat"), from PIE root *bhau- "to strike." Past tense form beat

beta

second letter of the Greek alphabet, c. 1300, from Greek, from Hebrew/Phoenician beth (see alphabet); used to designate the second of many things. Beta radiation is from 1899 (Rutherford). Beta particle is attested from 1904. Beta male, pejorative term for a risk-avoidant, non-co

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updated on September 28, 2017

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