Online Etymology Dictionary

[MadClikr]

Here's a fun Web site I just came across: http://www.etymonline.com/

For example, we have:

community

late 14c., from O.Fr. comunité "community, commonness, everybody" (Mod.Fr. communauté), from L. communitatem (nom. communitas) "community, fellowship," from communis "common, public, general, shared by all or many," (see common). Latin communitatem "was merely a noun of quality ... meaning 'fellowship, community of relations or feelings,' but in med.L. it was, like universitas, used concretely in the sense of 'a body of fellows or fellow-townsmen' " [OED]. An O.E. word for "community" was gemænscipe "community, fellowship, union, common ownership," probably composed from the same PIE roots as communis. Community service as a criminal sentence is recorded from 1972, Amer.Eng. Community college is recorded from 1959.

gala

1620s, "festive dress or attire," from Fr. en gala, perhaps from O.Fr. gale "merriment," from galer "make merry" (see gallant). Klein suggests the French word is from It. gala (as in phrase vestido de gala "robe of state"), perhaps from Arabic khil'a "fine garment given as a presentation." Sense of "festive occasion" (characterized by display of finery) first recorded 1777.

[Trudy in Illinois]

Ohhhhhhhh!!!!! guess who just loves this dictionary!!!??

[MadClikr]