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Origin and history of limpsy

limpsy(adj.)

also limsy, 1825, a colloquial New England form of limp (adj.). For the formation, compare cutesy, flimsy, tricksy, tipsy. Also compare whimsy, older drowsy.

also from 1825

Entries linking to limpsy

cutesy(adj.)

"artificially or annoyingly cute," by 1968, from cute (adj.); for the insertion of -s-, compare limpsy.

drowsy(adj.)

"inclined to sleep, sleepy," 1520s, probably ultimately from Old English drusan, drusian "sink," also "become languid, slow, or inactive" (related to dreosan "to fall;" see dreary). There is no record of it in Middle English. Related: Drowsily; drowsiness.

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limp
"move with a halting or jerky step," 1560s, of unknown origin, not found in Old or Middle English; perhaps related to Middle English lympen "to fall short" (c. 1400), which probably is from Old English lemphealt "halting, lame, limping," the first element of which is itself obscu
treadmill
invented (and named) 1822; originally an instrument of prison discipline; from tread (v.) + mill (n.1). Treadwheel as a similar method of driving machinery is from 1570s. As a corrective punishment, the discipline of the stepping mill has had a most salutary effect upon the pris
Beelzebub
Old English Belzebub, Philistine god worshipped at Ekron (II Kings i.2), from Latin, used in Vulgate for New Testament Greek beelzeboub, from Hebrew ba'al-z'bub "lord of the flies," from ba'al "lord" (see Baal) + z'bhubh "fly." The deity is said to have been worshipped as having
inchoate
"recently or just begun," 1530s, from Latin inchoatus, past participle of inchoare, alteration of incohare "commence, begin," probably originally "to hitch up," traditionally derived from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + a verb from cohum "strap (fastened to the oxen's yoke),"
dandy
"man who draws attention by unusual finery of dress and fastidiousness manners, a fop," c. 1780, of uncertain origin; attested earliest in a Scottish border ballad: I've heard my granny crack O' sixty twa years back When there were sic a stock of Dandies O etc. In that regi
bedlam
"scene of mad confusion," 1660s, from colloquial pronunciation of Bethlehem, short for "Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem" in London, which was founded 1247 as a priory, mentioned as a hospital by 1330 and as a lunatic hospital by 1402. It was converted to a civic lunatic asylu
cybernetics
"theory or study of communication and control," coined 1948 by U.S. mathematician Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), with -ics + Latinized form of Greek kybernetes "steersman" (metaphorically "guide, governor"), from kybernan "to steer or pilot a ship, direct as a pilot," figuratively "
concept
"a general notion, the immediate object of a thought," 1550s, from Medieval Latin conceptum "draft, abstract," in classical Latin "(a thing) conceived," from concep-, past-participle stem of concipere "to take in and hold; become pregnant," from con-, here perhaps an intensive pr
ether
late 14c., "upper regions of space," from Old French ether (12c.) and directly from Latin aether "the upper pure, bright air; sky, firmament," from Greek aithēr "upper air; bright, purer air; the sky" (opposed to aēr "the lower air"), from aithein "to burn, shine," from PIE *aidh
insight
c. 1200, innsihht, "sight with the 'eyes' of the mind, mental vision, understanding from within," from in (prep.) + sight (n.). But the meaning often seems to be felt as "sight into" (something else), and so the sense shifted to "penetrating understanding into character or hidden

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