Etymological Dictionary of Modern English (A-K)

This is an "unaltered" republication of Ernest Weekley's 1921 work, now published in two volumes.
Professor Weekley taught French and was head of the modern languages department at University College, Nottingham. He referred to his students as "gentlemen", although this was evidently with sarcasm. [iv] The Preface, written in 1920, remains one of the best descriptions of the difficulties (and rewards) of rooting through the "dim regions" of word-forms [vi]. Express note and leave-taking is made of the fact that much of the scholarly tracing is speculation, even "fraud" [xii]. For example, the origins of "Bachelor" are speculative.

As a poet, have found this useful when making word choices-- words have fascinating histories.