- pendulum
- \ \ [17] A pendulum is etymologically simply something that ‘hangs’. It is a noun use of the neuter form of the Latin adjective pendulus ‘hanging’ (source of English pendulous [18]).\ \ This was a derivative of the verb pendēre ‘hang’, which has contributed a wide range of words to English, among them penchant [17], pendant [14], pendent [15], pending [17], and penthouse, and derived forms such as append [15], appendix [16], depend, impend [16], perpendicular [14], and suspend.\ \ Cf.⇒ APPEND, APPENDIX, DEPEND, IMPEND, PENCHANT, PENDANT, PENDENT, PENTHOUSE, PERPENDICULAR, SUSPEND
Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.