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grease (n.)[grease 词源字典]: "oily fat of land animals," c. 1300, from Anglo-French grece, Old French gresse, craisse "grease, fat" (Modern French graisse), from Vulgar Latin *crassia "(melted) animal fat, grease," from Latin crassus "thick, solid, fat" (source also of Spanish grasa, Italian grassa). Grease paint, used by actors, attested from 1880. Grease monkey "mechanic" is from 1920.[grease etymology, grease origin, 英语词源]
grease (v.): mid-14c., "smear, lubricate, or anoint with grease or fat," from grease (n.). Sense of "ply with bribe or protection money" is 1520s, from notion of grease the wheels "make things run smoothly" (mid-15c.). To grease (someone's) palm is from 1580s. Expression greased lightning, representing something that goes very fast, is American English, by 1832.
greaser (n.): early 14c. (as a surname), "one who smears salve on a sheep," agent noun from grease (v.). As a contemptuous American English slang for "native Mexican or Latin American," first attested 1848, a term from the Mexican-American War; supposedly so called from unclean appearance, but contemporary sources sometimes explain it otherwise: an 1848 account of the war defines it as "friendly Mexican," and adds:
It may here be necessary to explain, as the terms are frequently made use of, that mocho is a low Spanish word for a foot-soldier, and the term greaser we suppose is a corruption of word grazier, the class of péons or labourers of the country. [Samuel C. Ried Jr., "The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers," Philadelphia, 1848]
Greaseball in same sense is from 1934 (earlier it was World War I slang for "an army cook," and from 1922 for "mechanic").
greasy (adj.): 1510s, from grease (n.) + -y (2). Related: Greasily; greasiness. Greasy spoon "small, cheap restaurant; dirty boarding-house" is from 1906.
great (adj.): Old English great "big, tall, thick, stout, massive; coarse," from West Germanic *grautaz "coarse, thick" (cognates: Old Saxon grot, Old Frisian grat, Dutch groot, German groß "great"). If the original sense was "coarse," it is perhaps from PIE root *ghreu- "to rub, grind," but "the connextion is not free from difficulty" [OED]. It took over much of the sense of Middle English mickle, and itself now is largely superseded by big and large except in reference to non-material things.

In the sense of "excellent, wonderful" great is attested from 1848. Great White Way "Broadway in New York City" is from 1901, in reference to brilliant street illumination. The Great Lakes of North America so called from 1747. Great Spirit "high deity of the North American Indians," 1703, originally translates Ojibwa kitchi manitou. The Great War originally (1887) referred to the Napoleonic Wars, later (1914) to what we now call World War I (see world).
"The Great War" -- as, until the fall of France, the British continued to call the First World War in order to avoid admitting to themselves that they were now again engaged in a war of the same magnitude. [Arnold Toynbee, "Experiences," 1969]
Also formerly with a verb form, Old English greatian "to become enlarged," Middle English greaten "to become larger, increase, grow; become visibly pregnant," which became archaic after 17c.
Great Britain: c. 1400, Grete Britaigne "the land of the Britons before the English conquest" (as opposed to Brittany), also "England and Wales;" see great (adj.) + Britain.
great-: word-forming element denoting "kinship one degree further removed," early 15c. (in great uncle), from great (adj.), based on similar use of French grand (see grand-). An Old English way of saying "great-grandfather" was þridda fæder, literally "third father;" in early Middle English furþur ealdefader was used (12c.).
great-aunt (n.): 1650s, from great- + aunt.
great-grandfather (n.): 1510s, from great- + grandfather.
great-grandmother (n.): 1520s, from great- + grandmother.
great-hearted (adj.): "of noble courage," late 14c., from great (adj.) + hearted.
great-uncle (n.): mid-15c., from great- + uncle.
greatcoat (n.): "large, heavy overcoat," 1660s, from great (adj.) + coat (n.).
greater: Old English gryttra, Anglian *gretra; comparative of great.
greatest (adj.): early 13c., superlative of great.
greatly (adv.): c. 1200, from great + -ly (2). Similar formation in Middle Dutch grotelike, Dutch grootelijks.
greatness (n.): late Old English gretnys "thickness, coarseness, stoutness;" see great + -ness. Meaning "eminence" is early 14c.
greave (n.): "metal armor to protect the front of the leg below the knee," c. 1300, from Old French greve "shin, armor for the leg" (12c.), of unknown origin. [Klein suggests it ultimately is from Egyptian Arabic gaurab "stocking, apparel for the leg."]
greaves (n.): mid-14c., plural of greave.
grebe (n.): diving bird, 1766, from French grèbe (16c.), of unknown origin, possibly from Breton krib "a comb," since some species are crested.