Question

Use a dictonary to find the origin of each of the following words.

1.gerrymander
2.eavesdrop
3.jumbo
4.boycott
5.disaster

Answer 1

Here are concise dictionary-style origins (etymologies) for each word:

1. gerrymander
- Origin: Named after Elbridge Gerry (U.S. governor of Massachusetts) + -mander (from “salamander” in a cartoon).
- First used: 1812, after a redistricting bill signed by Governor Gerry; a political cartoon likened one district to a salamander, producing the coinage “Gerry-mander.”
- Sense: to draw political districts unfairly to benefit a party/candidate.

2. eavesdrop
- Origin: from eaves + drop (the drops of water falling from the eaves of a roof). Middle English evesdroppe referred to the area beneath the eaves.
- Development: By extension, an “eavesdropper” was someone who stood in that area to overhear conversations; the verb sense “to listen secretly” developed thereafter (early modern English).
- Sense: to secretly listen to others’ conversations.

3. jumbo
- Origin: From the name “Jumbo,” a famous 19th-century elephant in the London Zoo (later purchased by P. T. Barnum). The personal name’s deeper origin is uncertain — perhaps from a West African word (e.g., Swahili jumbe ‘chief’ or similar).
- First used as common noun/adjective: late 19th century, meaning very large.
- Sense: very large; huge.

4. boycott
- Origin: From the surname of Captain Charles Boycott, a land agent in Ireland who was socially and economically ostracized by tenants in 1880.
- Coined: 1880, during the Irish Land War—his name became the verb meaning to ostracize or refuse dealings with someone.
- Sense: to refuse commercial or social relations as a protest.

5. disaster
- Origin: via Middle French/Italian (desastre) from Latin dis- (“bad, apart”) + astrum/astron (“star”) — from Greek astron “star.”
- Original sense: “ill-starred event” (bad influence of the stars); came to mean calamity or great misfortune.
- Usage: Middle English onward (via Romance languages).