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Origin and history of Vichy

Vichy(adj.)

in reference to collaborationist government of France, 1940, from the name of the city in department of Allier in central France, famous for mineral springs (Vichy-water is attested in English by 1858). It was seat 1940-44 of the French government formed under Nazi occupation and headed by Pétain. The place name is of uncertain origin.

also from 1940

Entries linking to Vichy

vichyssoise(n.)

1939, French, in full crême vichyssoise glacée, literally "iced cream (soup) of Vichy" (see Vichy).

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    collaboration
    a bad sense, "traitorous cooperation with an occupying enemy," it is recorded from 1940; earliest references are to the Vichy...
    worry wart
    1930, from newspaper comic "Out Our Way" by U.S. cartoonist J.R. Williams (1888-1957), in which Worry Wart is attested by 1929. Worry Wart was a generic nickname or insult for any character who caused others to worry, which is the inverse of the current colloquial meaning. For ex
    compassion
    "feeling of sorrow or deep tenderness for one who is suffering or experiencing misfortune," mid-14c., compassioun, literally "a suffering with another," from Old French compassion "sympathy, pity" (12c.), from Late Latin compassionem (nominative compassio) "sympathy," noun of sta
    amen
    Old English, from Late Latin amen, from Ecclesiastical Greek amen, from Hebrew amen "truth," used adverbially as an expression of agreement (as in Deuteronomy xxvii.26, I Kings i.36), from Semitic root a-m-n "to be trustworthy, confirm, support." Compare similar use of Modern Eng
    inimical
    1640s, from Late Latin inimicalis "hostile," from Latin inimicus "unfriendly; an enemy" (see enemy). Inimical expresses both feeling and action, generally in private affairs. Hostile also expresses both feeling and action, but applies especially to public affairs: where it appli
    threshold
    Old English þrescold, þærscwold, þerxold, etc., "door-sill, point of entering," a word of uncertain origin and probably much altered by folk-etymology. The first element probably is related to Old English þrescan (see thresh), either in its current sense of "thresh" or with its o
    bead
    mid-14c., bede, "prayer bead," from Old English gebed "prayer," with intensive or collective prefix *ge- + Proto-Germanic *bidam "entreaty." This reconstructed word is also the source of Middle Dutch bede, Old High German beta, German bitte, Gothic bida "prayer, request," which a
    th
    A sound found chiefly in words of Old English, Old Norse or Greek origin, unpronounceable by Normans and many other Europeans. In Greek, the sound corresponds etymologically to Sanskrit -dh- and English -d-; and it was represented graphically by -TH- and at first pronounced as a
    procrastination
    "a putting off to a future time; dilatoriness," 1540s, from French procrastination (16c.) and directly from Latin procrastinationem (nominative procrastinatio) "a putting off from day to day," noun of action from past-participle stem of procrastinare "put off till tomorrow, defer
    gloss
    "glistening smoothness, luster," 1530s, probably from Scandinavian (compare Icelandic glossi "a spark, a flame," related to glossa "to flame"), or obsolete Dutch gloos "a glowing," from Middle High German glos; probably ultimately from the same source as English glow (v.). Superf

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