O.E. *wæst "growth," hence, perhaps, "where the body grows," from P.Gmc. *wahs-tu- (cf. O.E. wæstm, O.N. vaxtr, Swed. växt, O.H.G. wahst "growth, increase," Goth. wahstus "stature," O.E. weaxan "to grow" see wax (v.)), from PIE *wegs-, extended form of base *aug- "to increase" (see augment). Meaning "portion of a garment that covers the waist" (but, due to fashion styles, often is above or below it) is from 1650. Waistcoat is attested from 1519. Waistline is attested from 1896.
wail (v.)
early 14c., from O.N. væla "to lament," from væ "woe" (see woe). Of jazz musicians, "to play very well," attested from 1955, Amer.Eng. slang (wailing "excellent" is attested from 1954). The noun is recorded from c.1400.
merry
O.E. myrige "pleasing, agreeable," from P.Gmc. *murgijaz, which probably originally meant "short-lasting" (cf. O.H.G. murg "short," Goth. gamaurgjan "to shorten"). Connection to "pleasure" is likely via notion of "making time fly" (cf. Ger. Kurzweil "pastime," lit. "a short time;" O.N. skemta "to amuse," from skamt, neut. of skammr "short"). The only exact cognate for meaning outside Eng. was in M.Du. (cf. M.Du. mergelijc "joyful"). For vowel evolution, see bury.
"Bot vchon enle we wolde were fyf, þe mo þe myryer." [c.1300]
The word had much wider senses in M.E., e.g. "pleasant-sounding" (of animal voices), "fine" (of weather), "handsome" (of dress), "pleasant-tasting" (of herbs). Merry-making is attested from 1714; merry-man "companion or follower of a knight, outlaw, etc." is attested from c.1386. The first record of merry-go-round is from 1729. Merry-bout "an incident of sexual intercourse" was low slang from 1780. Merry-begot "illegitimate" (adj.), "bastard" (n.) is from 1785. Merrie England (now frequently satirical or ironic) is 14c. meri ingland, originally in a broader sense of "bountiful, prosperous." Merry Monday was 16c. term for "the Monday before Shrove Tuesday" (Mardi Gras).
paradise
late 12c., "Garden of Eden," from O.Fr. paradis, from L.L. paradisus, from Gk. paradeisos "park, paradise, Garden of Eden," from an Iranian source, cf. Avestan pairidaeza "enclosure, park" (Mod.Pers. and Arabic firdaus "garden, paradise"), compound of pairi- "around" + diz "to make, form (a wall)." The first element is cognate with Gk. peri- "around, about" (see peri-), the second is from PIE base *dheigh- "to form, build" (see dough). The Gk. word, originally used for an orchard or hunting park in Persia, was used in Septuagint to mean "Garden of Eden," and in New Testament translations of Luke xxiii.43 to mean "heaven" (a sense attested in Eng. from c.1200). Meaning "place like or compared to Paradise" is from c.1300.
tail (n.1)
"hindmost part of an animal," O.E. tægl, tægel, from P.Gmc. *tagla- (cf. O.H.G. zagal, Ger. Zagel "tail," dialectal Ger. Zagel "penis," O.N. tagl "horse's tail"), from PIE *doklos, from base *dek- "something long and thin" (referring to such things as fringe, lock of hair, horsetail; cf. O.Ir. dual "lock of hair," Skt. dasah "fringe, wick"). The primary sense, at least in Gmc., seems to have been "hairy tail," or just "tuft of hair," but already in O.E. the word was applied to the hairless "tails" of worms, bees, etc. Another O.E. word for "tail" was steort (see stark). Meaning "reverse side of a coin" is from 1680s; that of "backside of a person, buttocks" is recorded from c.1300; slang sense of "pudenda" is from mid-14c.; that of "woman as sex object"
¥