DISDAIN is a verb meaning to consider unworthy of one's consideration. It comes from the late 14th century and the old French word "desdeigner", meaning to scorn or refuse.
ATROPHY is a verb meaning to deteriorate or shrink. It comes from the French word, in the 1590's, "atrophie" and the Greek word "atrophia", a noun of state from "atrophos" meaning ill-fed.
QUAGMIRE, a noun meaning a bad or complex problem or situation. The word originate in the 1570's. The part "quag" means bog or marsh, and "mire" is self-defined. This extended sense of "difficult situation" was first recorded in 1775.
ATONE, a verb meaning to make amends, is a contraction of the words "at" and "one. The word was modeled by the Latin word "adunare" meaning "unite".
OBSTINATE (my word), originated from the mid-14th century from the Latin word "obstinatus" meaning "inflexible or stubborn".
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