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Origin and history of vamoose

vamoose(v.)

"decamp, be off," slang, 1834, from Spanish vamos "let us go," from Latin vadamus, first person plural indicative or subjunctive of vadere "to go, to walk, go hastily" (according to Watkins from PIE root *wadh- (2) "to go;" see wade (v.)).

also from 1834

Entries linking to vamoose

wade(v.)

Middle English waden, "go, advance, make one's way;" by c. 1200 specifically as "walk into or through water" (or any substance which impedes the free motion of limbs); from Old English wadan "to go forward, proceed, move, stride, advance" (the modern sense perhaps represented in oferwaden "wade across"), from Proto-Germanic *wadanan (source also of Old Norse vaða, Danish vade, Old Frisian wada, Dutch waden, Old High German watan, German waten "to wade").

This is reconstructed to be from PIE root *wadh- (2) "to go," found only in Germanic and Latin (source also of Latin vadere "to go," vadum "shoal, ford," vadare "to wade"). Italian guado, French gué "ford" are Germanic loan-words.

Originally a strong verb (past tense wod, past participle wad); it has been weak since 16c. The figurative sense of "go into, move or make way with difficulty and labor" (of action, battle, etc.) is recorded from late 14c., also in reference to reading a long, tedious book. Related: Waded; wading; wadable.

Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,
[Gray's "Elegy"]
evade(v.)

1510s, "escape," from French evader, from Latin evadere "to escape, get away," from assimilated form of ex "away" (see ex-) + vadere "to go, walk" (see vamoose). Special sense of "escape by trickery" is from 1530s. Related: Evaded; evading.

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skip
c. 1300, skippen, "spring lightly; go with a leap or bound; take light, dancing steps," also "jump over," probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse skopa "to take a run," from Proto-Germanic *skupan (source also of Old Swedish skuppa, dialectal Swedish skimpa, skopa "
leave
Old English læfan "to allow to remain in the same state or condition; to let remain, allow to survive; to have left (of a deceased person, in reference to heirs, etc.); to bequeath (a heritage)," from Proto-Germanic *laibjanan (source also of Old Frisian leva "to leave," Old Saxo
skinflint
"miser, one who makes use of contemptible economy to keep money," c. 1700 ("Dictionary of the Canting Crew"), slang ; literally "kind of person who would skin a flint to save or gain something," from skin (v.) + flint. Flay-flint in same sense is from 1670s. Among the 18c. slang
spirit
mid-13c., "life, the animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Anglo-French spirit, Old French espirit "spirit, soul" (12c., Modern French esprit) and directly from Latin spiritus "a breathing (of respiration, also of the wind), breath;" also "breath of a god," hence
conscience
c. 1200, "faculty of knowing what is right," originally especially to Christian ethics, later "awareness that the acts for which one feels responsible do or do not conform to one's ideal of right," later (late 14c.) more generally, "sense of fairness or justice, moral sense." Thi
pamphlet
"small, unbound treatise," late 14c., pamflet, "brief written text; poem, tract, small book," from Anglo-Latin panfletus, which probably is a popular short form of "Pamphilus, seu de Amore" ("Pamphilus, or about Love"), a short 12c. Latin love poem popular and widely copied in th
cemetery
"burial ground, place set aside for burial of the dead," late 14c., cimiterie, from Old French cimetiere "graveyard" (12c.), from Medieval Latin cemeterium, Late Latin coemeterium, from Greek koimeterion "sleeping place, dormitory," from koiman "to put to sleep," keimai "I lie do
pregnant
["convincing, weighty, pithy, full of meaning"] late 14c., "cogent, convincing, compelling" (of evidence, an argument, etc.); c. 1400 as "full of meaning;" from Old French preignant "pregnant, pithy, ready capable," which is probably from Latin praegnans "with child, pregnant, fu
forlorn
mid-12c., forloren "disgraced, depraved," past participle of obsolete forlesan "be deprived of, lose, abandon," from Old English forleosan "to lose, abandon, let go; destroy, ruin," from for- "completely" + leosan "to lose" (from Proto-Germanic *lausa-, from PIE root *leu- "to lo
suffrage
late 14c., "prayer," especially "intercessory prayers or pleas on behalf of another," from Old French sofrage "plea, intercession" (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin suffragium, from Latin suffragium "support, ballot, vote cast in an assembly; right of voting; a voting table

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