Favorite words

Introductory etymology activity: Pick 4 words you think are cool. They could be short or long, familiar or weird. Search for and use an online dictionary (bettter yet an online "etymological" dictionary) to find out the origin of the words. Post your results here or on your own blog. Be sure to summarize (highlights from what you've found) or synthesize (rewrite what you found) in your own words. Nobody wants to read a bunch of dictionary entries cut and pasted into a post.

For example, using http://www.etymonline.com/ I looked up the word "bear" and found:
bear (n.)
O.E. bera "bear," from P.Gmc. *beron "the brown one" (cf. O.N. björn, Ger. Bär). Both Gk. arktos and L. ursus retain the PIE root word for "bear" (*rtko), but it has been ritually replaced in the northern branches because of hunters' taboo on names of wild animals (cf. the Ir. equivalent "the good calf," Welsh "honey-pig," Lith. "the licker," Rus. medved "honey-eater"). Others connect the Gmc. word with L. ferus "wild," as if it meant "the wild animal (par excellence) of the northern woods.".....[and so on]

but what I would post is shorter and (hopefully) more interesting:
BEAR -- from Old English bera or Germanic beron meaning the brown one. In other languages the root-word translates literally as the good calf, the honey-pig, the licker, or the honey-eater.