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Origin and history of pour

pour(v.)

"to cause (liquid or granular substance) to flow or stream either out of a vessel or into one," c. 1300, of unknown origin. Not in Old English; perhaps from Old French (Flanders dialect) purer "to sift (grain), pour out (water)," from Latin purare "to purify," from purus "pure" (see pure). Replaced Old English geotan. Intransitive sense of "to flow, issue forth in a stream" is from 1530s. Related: Poured; pouring; pourable. As a noun from 1790, "a pouring stream."

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to pour

pouring(adj.)

"raining heavily," c. 1600, present-participle adjective from pour (v.).

pure(adj.)

mid-13c., of gold, "unalloyed;" c. 1300 "unmixed, unadulterated; homogeneous," also "total, complete, absolute; bare, mere," also "sexually pure, virgin, chaste" (late 12c. as a surname, and Old English had purlamb "lamb without a blemish"), from Old French pur "pure, simple, absolute, unalloyed," figuratively "simple, sheer, mere" (12c.), from Latin purus "clean, clear; unmixed; unadorned; chaste, undefiled."

This is conjectured to be from PIE root *peue- "to purify, cleanse" (source also of Latin putus "clear, pure;" Sanskrit pavate "purifies, cleanses," putah "pure;" Middle Irish ur "fresh, new;" Old High German fowen "to sift").

It replaced Old English hlutor. The meaning "free from moral corruption" is recorded from mid-14c. In reference to bloodlines, attested from late 15c. In music, "mathematically perfect," by 1872.

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pelt
"to strike repeatedly" (with something), c. 1500, a word of unknown origin; according to one old theory it is perhaps from early 13c. pelten "to strike," a variant of pilten "to thrust, strike," from an unrecorded Old English *pyltan, from Medieval Latin *pultiare, from Latin pul
stream
Middle English strem "course of water, current of a stream, body of water flowing in a natural channel," from Old English stream, from Proto-Germanic *strauma- (source also of Old Saxon strom, Old Norse straumr, Danish strøm, Swedish ström, Norwegian straum, Old Frisian stram, Du
swarm
"cloud of honey-bees or other insects moving in a mass," Old English swearm "swarm of bees; multitude," from Proto-Germanic *swarmaz (source also of Old Saxon, Middle Low German swarm, Danish sværm "a swarm," Swedish svärm, Middle Dutch swerm, Old High German swaram, German Schwa
libation
god," from Latin libationem (nominative libatio) "a drink-offering," noun of action from past-participle stem of libare "pour...out (an offering)," perhaps from PIE *lehi- "to pour out, drip" (source of Greek leibein "to pour, make a libation")....flow" (source also of Sanskrit riyati "to let run;" Greek aleison "a cup for wine, goblet;" Lithuanian lieju, lieti "to pour...;" Czech liti, leji, Old Polish lić "to pour")....
profuse
Latin profusus "spread out, lavish, extravagant," literally "poured forth," past-participle adjective from profundere "pour...forth," from pro "forth" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward") + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu-..."to pour")....
refund
early 15c., refounden, refunden, "to pass on, transmit;" also "to return" (earlier "to pour back," late 14c.); from Old French...refunder, refounder, refondre "restore" and directly from Latin refundere "give back, restore, return," literally "pour...back, flow back," from re- "back" (see re-) + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour")....
effusion
directly from Latin effusionem (nominative effusio) "a pouring forth," noun of action from past participle stem of effundere "pour...forth, spread abroad; to lavish, squander, waste," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + fundere "to pour" (from...nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour")....
render
late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, say again, recite; translate," from Old French rendre "give back, present, yield" (10c.) and Medieval Latin rendere, from Vulgar Latin *rendere, a variant of Latin reddere "give back, return, restore," from red- "back" (see re-) + combining fo
gush
c. 1400, "to rush out suddenly and forcefully" (of blood, water, etc.), probably formed imitatively in English or from Low German, or from or based on Old Norse gusa "to gush, spurt," from PIE *gus-, from root *gheu- "to pour," and thus related to geyser. Metaphoric sense of "spe
prod
1530s, "to poke with a stick," of uncertain origin; possibly [Barnhart, Century Dictionary] a variant of brod, from Middle English brodden "to goad," from Old Norse broddr "shaft, spike" (see brad), or perhaps imitative [OED]. Compare dialectal prog "pointed instrument for poking

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