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Origin and history of Nike

Nike

Greek goddess of victory (identified by the Romans with their Victoria), literally "victory, upper hand" (in battle, in contests, in court), probably connected with neikos "quarrel, strife," neikein "to quarrel with," a word of uncertain etymology and perhaps a pre-Greek word. As the name of a type of U.S. defensive surface-to-air missiles, attested from 1952. The brand of athletic shoes and apparel, based near Portland, Oregon, has been so known since 1971, named for the Greek goddess, having been founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports.

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Berenice

fem. proper name, from Latin Berenice, from Macedonian Greek Berenikē (classical Greek Pherenikē), literally "bringer of victory," from pherein "to bring" (from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry") + nikē "victory" (see Nike).

The constellation Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices) is from the story of the pilfered amber locks of the wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, c. 248 B.C.E., which the queen cut off as an offering to Venus. The constellation features a dim but visible star cluster; Ptolemy (the astronomer) regarded it as the tuft of fur at the end of Leo's tail, but German cartographer Caspar Vopel put it on his 1536 globe as Berenice's Hair, and it endured. Berenice's Hair is also sometimes incorrectly given as an old name of the star Canopus, based on Holland's mistranslation of Pliny in 1601.

Eunice

fem. proper name, from Latinized form of Greek Eunikē, literally "victorious," from eu "good, well" (see eu-) + nikē "victory" (see Nike).

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nice
late 13c., "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + stem of scire "to
forget
Old English forgietan "lose the power of recalling to the mind; fail to remember; neglect inadvertently," from for-, used here probably with privative force, "away, amiss, opposite" + gietan "to grasp" (see get (v.)). To "un-get," hence "to lose" from the mind. A common Germanic
dodge
1560s, "go this way and that in speech or action," a sense now obsolete; from 1680s as "start suddenly aside, shift suddenly," as to evade a blow;" 1704 as "to move to and fro, shift about;" origin and sense evolution obscure. Perhaps it is from or akin to Scottish and Northern E
ragamuffin
mid-14c., "demon;" late 14c., "a ragged lout," also in surnames (Isabella Ragamuffyn, 1344), from Middle English raggi "ragged" ("rag-y"?) + "fanciful ending" [OED], or else perhaps second the element is Middle Dutch muffe "mitten." Or, as Johnson has it, "From rag and I know not
concord
early 14c., "agreement between persons, union in opinions or sentiment, state of mutual friendship, amiability," from Old French concorde (12c.) "concord, harmony, agreement, treaty," from Latin concordia "agreement, union," from concors (genitive concordis) "of the same mind," l
depression
c. 1400 as a term in astronomy, "angular distance of a star below the horizon," from Old French depression (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin depressionem (nominative depressio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin deprimere "to press down, depress" (see depres
jubilee
late 14c., in the Old Testament sense, from Old French jubileu "jubilee; anniversary; rejoicing" (14c., Modern French jubilé), from Late Latin iubilaeus "the jubilee year," originally an adjective, "of the jubilee," from Greek iabelaios, from iobelos, from Hebrew yobhel "jubilee,
industry
late 15c., "cleverness, skill," from Old French industrie "activity; aptitude, experience" (14c.) or directly from Latin industria "diligence, activity, zeal," noun use of fem. of industrius "active, diligent," from early Latin indostruus "diligent," from indu "in, within" (from
cirrhosis
"chronic inflammation of connective tissue," originally and especially of the liver, 1827, coined in Modern Latin by French physician René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec with -osis and Greek kirros "red-yellow, yellow-brown, tawny," which is of unknown origin. The form is erroneous,
look
Old English locian "use the eyes for seeing, gaze, look, behold, spy," from West Germanic *lokjan (source also of Old Saxon lokon "see, look, spy," Middle Dutch loeken "to look," Old High German luogen, German dialectal lugen "to look out"), a word of unknown origin. Breton lagud

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