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Origin and history of Scandinavian

Scandinavian(adj.)

1784; see Scandinavia + -ian. As a noun, from 1766 of the languages, 1830 of the people; by 1959 in reference to styles of furniture and decor. In U.S. colloquial use sometimes Scandihoovian, Scandiwegan, etc. (OED dates both of those to 1929, used in sea slang, "generally in mild contempt"). Alternative adjective Scandian (1660s) is from Latin Scandia.

also from 1784

Entries linking to Scandinavian

Scandinavia

1765, from Late Latin Scandinavia (Pliny), Skandinovia (Pomponius Mela), name of a large and fruitful island vaguely located in northern Europe, a mistake (with unetymological -n-) for Scadinavia, which is from a Germanic source (compare Old English Scedenig, Old Norse Skaney "south end of Sweden"), from Proto-Germanic *skadinaujo "Scadia island." The first element is of uncertain origin; the second element is from *aujo "thing on the water" (from PIE root *akwā- "water;" see aqua-). It might have been an island when the word was formed; the coastlines and drainage of the Baltic Sea changed dramatically after the melting of the ice caps.

-ian

variant of suffix -an (q.v.), with connective -i-. From Latin -ianus, in which the -i- originally was from the stem of the word being attached but later came to be felt as connective. In Middle English frequently it was -ien, via French.

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    aloft
    "on high, in the air," c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse a lopt "up above," literally "up in the air,...Scandinavian -pt- was pronounced as -ft-. The Old English equivalent was on þa lyft....
    Norman
    c. 1200, "an inhabitant of Normandy; one of the mixed Scandinavian-Frankish people who conquered England in 1066," late Old...English, from Old French Normanz, plural of Normand, Normant, literally "North man," from a Scandinavian word meaning "northman..." (see Norse), in reference to the Scandinavian warriors who overran and occupied the region of France south of the English...
    jade
    Barnhart and Century Dictionary suggests a variant of yaid, yald "whore," literally "mare" (c. 1400), from a Scandinavian...But OED finds the assumption of a Scandinavian connection "without reason."...
    gab
    loquacity, idle talk" (mid-13c.), also "falsehood, deceit," originally "a gibe, a taunt" (c. 1200), mid-13c., probably from a Scandinavian...gabb "mocking, mockery," and in part from Old French gap, gab "joke, jest; bragging talk," which also is probably from Scandinavian...
    gawk
    Perhaps [Watkins] from gaw, a survival from Middle English gowen "to stare" (c. 1200), from a Scandinavian source akin to...Liberman finds this untenable and writes that its history is entangled with that of gowk "cuckoo," which is from Scandinavian...
    Bronx
    at New Amsterdam in 1639, and whose name is perpetuated in Bronx Borough, Bronx Park, Bronxville — in New York — was a Scandinavian...[John Oluf Evjen, "Scandinavian immigrants in New York, 1630-1674," Minneapolis, 1916] The derisive Bronx cheer ("made by...
    Danish
    "of or pertaining to Denmark or the Danes," 14c., replacing Old English Denisc "people of Denmark" (also including the Norse), with vowel change as in Dane (q.v.). As a noun, "the language of the Danes," from early 15c. Danish pastry is by 1934; shortened form danish is by 1963.
    Viking
    Scandinavian pirate, 1801, vikingr, in "The History of the Anglo-Saxons" by English historian Sharon H. Turner; he suggested the second element might be connected to king: But this later was dismissed as incorrect. The form viking is attested in 1820, in Jamieson's notes to "The
    berserk
    1844, from berserk (n.) "Norse warrior" (by 1835), an alternative form of berserker, a word which was introduced (as berserkar) by Sir Walter Scott in "The Pirate" (1822), from Old Norse berserkr (n.) "raging warrior of superhuman strength." It is probably from *ber- "bear" + ser

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