Memorize these and you could recognize 4.8% of all Word Origins clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a leotard | 6 | A 19th c. French acrobat gave his name to this 1-piece garment he designed & wore to show off his physique |
| 2 | Braille | 4 | In the 1800s he also developed a musical notation system for sightless musicians |
| 3 | Tobacco Road | 3 | This phrase for southern squalor came from the title of a 1932 Erskine Caldwell novel |
| 4 | the Amish | 3 | This religious sect living primarily in Ohio & southeast Pennsylvania gets its name from a 17th century Swiss Mennonite bishop |
| 5 | souvenir | 3 | A term for a keepsake or memento, it comes from the French for "to remember" |
| 6 | palace | 3 | Type of building named for Rome's Palatine Hill which had some |
| 7 | pachyderm | 3 | This word for an elephant or rhino comes from the Greek for "thick skin" |
| 8 | nicotine | 3 | This addictive substance in tobacco was named for a French ambassador who sent leaves back home |
| 9 | ketchup | 3 | This condiment gets its name from the Chinese for "pickled fish brine" |
| 10 | Diesel | 3 | An inventor, a Jetta propulsion system |
| 11 | corpulent | 3 | The Latin word for body gave us this adjective referring to a large, bulky one |
| 12 | chauvinism | 3 | This -ism named for a legendary soldier devoted to Napoleon can mean the belief that one's gender is superior |
| 13 | Australia | 3 | Natives of this country gave the wombat its name |
| 14 | an easel | 3 | The Dutch word for "donkey" or "ass" gave us this word for a support used by an artist |
| 15 | alphabet | 3 | This term for all the letters in a language comes from the names of 2 Greek letters |
| 16 | a loupe | 3 | (Kelly of the Clue Crew inspects a jewel.) Once a French term for an imperfect gem, it's now the name of the magnifying glass jewelers use to find fla... |
| 17 | white | 3 | Leuco- |
| 18 | Vaudeville | 2 | Theatrical genre whose name is derived from a French valley known for its songs, Vau-de-Vire |
| 19 | toast | 2 | The name of this breakfast food is from the Latin "torrere", to dry or parch |
| 20 | the pancreas | 2 | The name of this gland near the stomach literally means "all flesh" |
| 21 | the guillotine | 2 | This execution device was named for a French doctor who advocated its use, not its inventor |
| 22 | ten | 2 | December, decimal & decimate all come from the Latin word for this |
| 23 | tea | 2 | The name of this ever-popular beverage may be traced back to the Amoy dialect of Chinese |
| 24 | syntax | 2 | How words are put together to form phrases & sentences, it's from the Greek for "arrange together" |
| 25 | soccer | 2 | Sports whose name is derived from the phrase "association football" |
| 26 | sleep | 2 | "Hypno-", as in hypnotism, is from the Greek for this |
| 27 | skis | 2 | Popular sports equipment whose name is from Old Norse for "sticks of wood" |
| 28 | Sister | 2 | Sorority is derived from the Latin “soror”, which means this |
| 29 | shillelagh | 2 | This wooden club is named for the town in county Wicklow where it originated |
| 30 | shiatsu | 2 | The Shi in the name of this type of therapeutic massage is Japanese for "finger" |
| 31 | sesame | 2 | Valuable for its seeds & oil, this plant gets its name from the Akkadian samassamu |
| 32 | seltzer | 2 | A couple of sounds changed places & the German village of Selters became this fizzy liquid |
| 33 | secretary | 2 | Modern office job which began as a "secret" confidential officer in the Middle Ages |
| 34 | scald | 2 | Meaning to burn with hot liquid or steam, this word comes from calidus, Latin for "warm" |
| 35 | sassy | 2 | This adjective that means impudent or just plain rude is an alteration of "saucy" |
| 36 | Sandwich | 2 | John Montagu, 11th Earl of this, has opened restaurants in the U.S. bearing his yummy hereditary title |
| 37 | salt | 2 | The English word salary derives from the Latin "salarium", which was a payment of this seasoning to soldiers |
| 38 | Salmonella | 2 | This food poisoning bacteria was named for a veterinarian, not a fish |
| 39 | ritzy | 2 | Meaning elegant or fancy, it's from the name of a hotel chain founded by a Swiss businessman |
| 40 | regatta | 2 | Today it simply means a sailing race; in the Venetian dialect, it meant a gondola race |
| 41 | red | 2 | The adjective "ruddy" comes from the Old English "rudig", meaning this color |
| 42 | purgatory | 2 | From the Latin for "a place of cleansing", it's a place to cleanse your soul before entering heaven |
| 43 | Ponzi | 2 | It's the financial "scheme" named for the Italian swindler who made it famous in the 1920s |
| 44 | Pompadour | 2 | This popular hairstyle of the 18th century was named for the mistress of King Louis XV |
| 45 | platonic | 2 | This adjective for non-physical love derives from the name of an idealistic Greek philosopher |
| 46 | Plaster of Paris | 2 | A quick-setting gypsum cement named for the city where it was 1st made |
| 47 | petulant | 2 | Irritable or peevish, from the Latin "petere", to attack |
| 48 | petite | 2 | This 6-letter French word meaning small is often used to describe diminutive women |
| 49 | Pedigree | 2 | One's lineage, named because the lines on a genealogical chart look like a crane's foot or "pie de grue" |
| 50 | parliament | 2 | Parler, meaning "to talk", gave rise to this word for a type of legislature |