Word origins

• CagleyA surname from German.
• -caineA synthetic alkaloid used as a local anesthetic.
• CalerA surname from German.
• CamenzindA surname from German [in turn from Alemannic German].
• cameralismThe theories and practices of the cameralists.
• cameralistA public administrative servant of continental rulers of the 17th and 18th centuries who was a mercantilist and advocated economic policies tending to strengthen the position of the ruler.
• cannon fodderMilitary forces considered to be expendable.
• canoodleTo caress, fondle, or pet (someone); also, to have sexual intercourse with (someone); to make love with.
• CanoyA surname.
• CanupA surname from German.
• capsicineA volatile alkaloid extracted from Capsicum annuum or from capsaicin. It has been known to be used in the manufacture of fizzy beverages.
• carthounA type of early cannon.
• CasebeerA surname from German.
• categorical imperativeA fundamental ethical principle intended as a guide for determining whether any contemplated action is morally right, based on the concept that an action is good or bad in and of itself regardless of what the actor's aims or preferences are.
• cathectTo focus one's emotional energies on someone or something.
• cat's silvermica
• cauldron battlebattle of encirclement
• centgraveThe overseer of a hundred (zent) in medieval France and Germany.
• Central GermanOne of two major dialect groups of the High German language which is spoken primarily in central Germany, Luxembourg, easternmost Belgium, and southeastern Limburg (in the Netherlands); distinguished from Upper German by the preservation of Proto-Germanic *-pp- and *-mp-.
• chain smokerOne who smokes continuously, by lighting one cigarette when they finish another, as in a chain.
• chaoskampfA battle between a deity and primordial chaos, especially in ancient Near Eastern mythology and/or religion.
• character pieceA musical composition that expresses a specific mood or non-musical idea.
• CheelyA surname from German.
• ChiemgauerA regional currency used in Prien am Chiemsee, Bavaria, Germany, pegged to the euro and intended to promote local commerce and non-profits.
• chisleyHaving a mixture of small pebbles or gravel.
• cholereticStimulating the production of bile by the liver.
• ChristingleA small Christmas gift for children symbolizing Jesus Christ as the “light” of the world. A typical modern Christingle is made of an orange with sweets skewered into it, a candle inserted into the top, and a red ribbon wrapped round it.
• ChristkindA personification of the baby Jesus who, in German-speaking parts of Europe, takes the place of Santa Claus
• ChristkindlA Christmas decoration in the shape of an infant Jesus.
• ChristkindlmarktA Christmas market (Kris Kringle Mart).
• ChristliebA surname from German.
• Christmas treeAn evergreen tree (usually a conifer), or an artificial tree made to resemble this, which is typically decorated with lights and ornaments and often an angel or star at its tip, and used as a decoration during the Christmas holiday season.
• ChristogramA monogram that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbol, such as the chi-rho.
• chylocaulousHaving fleshy / succulent stems
• city stateA sovereign city, as in Ancient Greece, often part of a league of such cities.
• class consciousnessAn individual's awareness of their relative place within the class system of society.
• class enemyThe enemy of a class, in particular the working class.
• claviatureA keyboard, especially of a musical instrument.
• clerisyAn elite group of intellectuals; learned people, the literati.
• ClonchA surname from German.
• CluttsA surname from German.
• cobra effectThe phenomenon where an attempted solution to a problem has an unintended consequence that makes the original problem worse.
• CochenourA surname from German.
• Coffin TextsA corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts of the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom consisting of spells to assist the journey of the dead into the afterlife, written on coffins and developed from the earlier Pyramid Texts.
• coitus interruptussexual intercourse interrupted by withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation
• cold duckA sparkling red wine, often made by blending champagne with red wine, sometimes with additional flavorings added.
• cold feetA feeling of nervousness or anxiety causing one to reconsider a decision about an upcoming event.
• ColglazierA surname from German.
• command economyA planned economy in which the government (or some other central authority) is solely responsible for resource allocation, distribution and the setting of prices, with little to no market influence.
• ComornKomárom
• competence-competenceBeing able to decide whether a jurisdictional entity has the power to hear a case.
• CompherA surname from German.
• compromiselessUncompromising; uncompromisable.
• compulsion neurosisA psychiatric disorder characterised by recurrent compulsions or compulsive ideas; obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• concertmistressA female concertmaster.
• Confessing ChurchA movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German Evangelical Church.
• Congreve matchSynonym of phosphorus match, a strike-anywhere friction match.
• ConkelA surname.
• consistorialrathcouncillor of the consistory
• constativePertaining to an utterance relaying information and likely to be regarded as true or false.
• contraproductiveCounterproductive.
• converbA non-finite verb form that serves to express adverbial subordination.
• CoonerA surname from German.
• copper-nickelcupronickel
• CordtsA surname.
• cormogenyThe study of the evolution of the forms of nationalities, ethnicities, races, etc. by observing the supposed ontogenic recapitulation of that phylogeny.
• cormophylyThe direct study of the evolution of the forms of nationalities, ethnicities, races, etc. rather than observation of its supposed ontogenic recapitulation.
• County Palatinate of the RhineA former German state of the Holy Roman Empire.
• CourishCuronian; of, from, or pertaining to Courland
• CourlandishCuronian; of, from, or pertaining to Courland
• coventrateTo devastate by heavy bombing.
• CragleA surname from German.
• crambambuliA drink of rum mixed with sugar and set alight before drinking.
• craniopagusA pair of conjoined twins joined at the head.
• creachan incursion for plunder, raid, forray
• creative destructionThe process of industrial mutation that continually revolutionizes the economic structure from within.
• CregerA surname.
• crepsCrepitations.
• CrevistonA surname.
• CrihfieldA surname from German.
• CrissingerA surname from German.
• critical theoryThe examination and critique of society and literature, drawing from knowledge across social science and the humanities; (in particular) the original ideas developed by the Frankfurt School.
• cross-boneThe sacrum.
• cross-dressingThe wearing of clothing which society considers appropriate for the opposite sex rather than the wearer's sex.
• crouponA cowhide with the belly and neck removed.
• crowberryEmpetrum; a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit.
• crownlandIn Austria-Hungary, any of the provinces, or largest administrative divisions of the monarchy.
• CrueyA surname.
• crumhornAny of several related simple woodwind instruments having a bent horn
• CryderA surname from German.
• CrydermanA surname from German.
• CuddebackA surname from German.
• cultural BolshevikSomeone accused of cultural Bolshevism.
• cultural BolshevismCulture, and art in particular, that the Nazi party considered to be undesirable or degenerate (entartet) and undermining (zersetzen) the völkisch ideology and party line.
• culture warA political struggle for control over cultural institutions.
• cupronickelAn alloy of copper containing from 10 to 40% nickel.
• currywurstA German national dish consisting of hot pork sausage cut into slices and seasoned with curry ketchup.
• CyphertA surname from German.
• cytoblastThat part of a cell (especially the nucleus) in which its development takes place
• Dahl's lawA voicing dissimilation rule in some Northeast Bantu languages.