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Origin and history of bonhomie

bonhomie(n.)

"frank and simple good nature," 1803, from French bonhomie "good nature, easy temper," from bonhomme "good man" (with unusual loss of -m-), from bon "good" (see bon) + homme "man," from Latin homo "man" (see homunculus). The native equivalent to bonhomme is goodman. Bonhomme as "member of an order of begging friars" is from 1620s.

also from 1803

Entries linking to bonhomie

bon(adj.)

French, literally "good" (adj.), from Latin bonus "good" (see bonus). It has crossed the Channel in phrases such as bon appétit, literally "good appetite" (1860); bon-ton "good style" (1744); bon mot (1735), etc. Compare boon, bonhomie.

goodman(n.)

"man of the house, master, husband," late Old English, from good (adj.) + man (n.). In 17c.-18c. also a familiar form of address and nearly equivalent to mister.

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homunculus
"tiny human being produced artificially," 1650s, from Latin homunculus (plural homunculi), literally "little person," with -culus, diminutive suffix, + homo (genitive hominis), which technically meant "male human," but it also was used with a sense "the human race, mankind;" whil
duplicity
"deceptiveness, character or practice of speaking differently of the same thing or acting differently at different times or to different persons," early 15c., from Old French duplicite (13c.), from Late Latin duplicitatem (nominative duplicitas) "doubleness," in Medieval Latin "a
point
c. 1200, pointe, "minute amount, single item in a whole; sharp end of a sword, etc.," a merger of two words, both ultimately from Latin pungere "to prick, pierce," from a nasalized form of PIE root *peuk- "to prick." The Latin neuter past participle punctum was used as a noun, me
oligarchy
"form of government in which supreme power is vested in a small exclusive class," 1570s, from French oligarchie (14c.), from Latinized form of Greek oligarkhia "government by the few," from stem of oligos "few, small, little" (a word of uncertain origin) + -arkhia, from arkhein "
Semite
1847, "a Jew, Arab, Assyrian, or Aramaean" (an apparently isolated use from 1797 refers to the Semitic language group), back-formation from Semitic or else from French Sémite (1845), from Modern Latin Semita, from Late Latin Sem, Greek Sēm "Shem," one of the three sons of Noah (G
communication
early 15c., communicacioun, "act of communicating, act of imparting, discussing, debating, or conferring," from Old French comunicacion (14c., Modern French communication) and directly from Latin communicationem (nominative communicatio) "a making common, imparting, communicating
reflection
late 14c., refleccioun, reflexioun, reflectioun, of surfaces or bodies, "the action of throwing back light or heat," from Old French reflexion, refleccion, and directly from Late Latin reflexionem (nominative reflexio) "a reflection," literally "a bending back," noun of action fr
substitution
late 14c., substitucion, "appointment of a subordinate or successor" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French substitucion, substitution or directly from Late Latin substitutionem (nominative substitutio) "a putting in place of (another)," noun of action from past-participle stem
tangle
mid-14c., tanglen, "encumber, enmesh, knit together confusedly," a shortening of entangle in some cases, in others probably a nasalized variant of tagilen "to involve in a difficult situation, entangle," from a Scandinavian source (compare dialectal Swedish taggla "to disorder,"
burgeon
early 14c., "grow, sprout, blossom," from Anglo-French burjuner, Old French borjoner "to bud, sprout," from borjon "a bud, shoot, pimple" (Modern French bourgeon), a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *burrionem (nominative *burrio), from Late Latin burra "flock

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