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curb: curb: [15] Ultimately, curb and curve are the same word. Latin curvāre ‘bend’ passed into Old French as courber, which Middle English borrowed as courbe ‘bend’. This seems to have formed the basis of a noun courbe or curb, which was originally used for a strap to restrain a horse, the underlying meaning perhaps being that pulling on the strap ‘bent’ the horse’s neck, thereby restraining it.

The sense ‘enclosing framework’ began to emerge in the early 16th century, perhaps mainly through the influence of the French noun courbe, which meant ‘curved piece of timber, iron, etc used in building’. Its chief modern descendant is ‘pavement edge’, a 19th-century development, which has generally been spelled kerb in British English.
=> circle, crown, curve
disturb: disturb: see trouble
masturbate: masturbate: see manual
suburb: suburb: see urban
turban: turban: see tulip
turbid: turbid: see trouble
turbine: turbine: [19] Latin turbō denoted ‘whirl’, ‘whirling thing’, or ‘whirlwind’, and also ‘spinning-top’ (it was related to turba ‘disturbance, crowd’, source of English disturb, trouble, etc). From it around 1824 was coined French turbine, applied originally to a revolving wheel on an axis, driven by water-pressure. It was borrowed into English in the early 1840s.
=> disturb, trouble
turbot: turbot: [13] The turbot is etymologically the ‘thorn-flatfish’. Its name comes via Old French turbot from Old Swedish törnbut ‘turbot’. This was a compound noun formed from törn ‘thorn’ (a relative of English thorn) and but ‘flatfish’, a borrowing from Middle Low German but which probably denoted etymologically ‘stumpy’, and also supplied the final syllable of English halibut [15]. The name presumably alludes to the bony nodules on the fish’s back.
=> halibut, thorn
turbulent: turbulent: see trouble
urban: urban: [17] Urban comes from Latin urbānus, a derivative of urbs ‘city’ (a word of unknown origin). It was preceded into English by urbane [16], which is essentially the same word, but came via Old French urbaine. It was originally used as urban is now, but after urban arrived it gradually took the metaphorical path to ‘smooth, sophisticated’. The derivatives suburb and suburban date from the 14th and 17th centuries respectively; and suburbia was coined in the 1890s.
=> suburban, urbane
blurb (n.): used by U.S. scholar Brander Matthews (1852-1929) in 1906 in "American Character;" popularized 1907 by U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess (1866-1951). Originally mocking excessive praise printed on book jackets.
Gelett Burgess, whose recent little book, "Are You a Bromide?" has been referred to above, then entertained the guests with some characteristic flashes of Burgessian humor. Referring to the word "blurb" on the wrapper of his book he said: "To 'blurb' is to make a sound like a publisher. The blurb was invented by Frank A. Munsey when he wrote on the front of his magazine in red ink 'I consider this number of Munsey's the hottest pie that ever came out of my bakery.' ... A blurb is a check drawn on Fame, and it is seldom honored.["] ["Publishers' Weekly," May 18, 1907]
bourbon (n.): type of American corn whiskey, 1846, from Bourbon County, Kentucky, where it first was made, supposedly in 1789. Bourbon County was organized 1785, one of the nine established by the Virginia legislature before Kentucky became a state. The name reflects the fondness felt in the United States for the French royal family, and especially Louis XVI, in gratitude for the indispensable support he had given to the rebel colonists. See Bourbon.
Bourbon: line of French kings (who also ruled in Naples and Spain), of whom it was proverbially said, "they learn nothing and forget nothing." The royal family ruled in France 1589-1792 and 1815-1848; its name is from Bourbon l'Archambault, chief town of a lordship in central France, probably from Borvo, name of a local Celtic deity associated with thermal springs, whose name probably is related to Celtic borvo "foam, froth."
burble (v.): "make a bubbling sound," c. 1300, imitative. Related: Burbled; burbling.
conurbation (n.): 1915, from Latin com- "with, together" (see com-) + urbs "city" + -ation. Coined by Scottish biologist and urban planner Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) in "Cities in Evolution."
curb (n.): late 15c., "strap passing under the jaw of a horse" (used to restrain the animal), from Old French courbe (12c.) "curb on a horse," from Latin curvus, from curvare "to bend" (see curve (v.)). Meaning "enclosed framework" is from 1510s, probably originally with a notion of "curved;" extended to margins of garden beds 1731; to "margin of stone between a sidewalk and road" 1791 (sometimes spelled kerb). Figurative sense of "a check, a restraint" is from 1610s.
curb (v.): 1520s, of horses, "to lead to a curb," from curb (n.). Figurative use from 1580s. Related: Curbed; curbing.
curbstone (n.): 1791, from curb (n.) + stone (n.).
disturb (v.): c. 1300, "to stop or hinder," from Old French destorber (Old North French distourber) and directly from Latin disturbare "throw into disorder," from dis- "completely" (see dis-) + turbare "to disorder, disturb," from turba "turmoil" (see turbid).

Meaning "to frighten" is late 13c.; that of "to stir up, agitate" is c. 1300. Related: Disturbed; disturbing; disturbingly. Middle English also had distourbler (n.) "one who disturbs or incites" (late 14c.).
disturbance (n.): late 13c., "mental distress," from Old French destorbance (12c., Old North French distorbance), from destourber, from Latin disturbare (see disturb). Meaning "public disturbance" is c. 1300; that of "destruction of peace or unity" is late 14c.
disturbed (adj.): past participle adjective from disturb. Meaning "emotionally or mentally unstable" is from 1904.
exurb (n.): "the outer, prosperous ring of the suburbs," 1955, American English, from exurban (adj.), by 1838 (it seems to have arisen in the writings of the reform movement opposed to urban cemeteries), from ex- + urban, on model of suburban. Related: Exurbanite; exurbia.
furbelow (n.): "puffed flounce, plaited border," c. 1700, folk-etymology alteration (as if fur below) of falbala, from French falbala (17c., cognate with Provençal farbello), from Italian falda "fold, flap, pleat," from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *faldan, from PIE *pel- (3) "to fold" (see fold (v.)). As a verb from 1701.
furbish (v.): late 14c. (implied mid-13c. in surname Furbisher), from Old French forbiss-, present participle stem of forbir "to polish, burnish; mend, repair" (12c., Modern French fourbir), from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *furbjan "cause to have a (good) appearance" (compare Old High German furban "to polish"), from PIE *prep- "to appear," which is perhaps identical with *kwrep- "body, appearance" (see corporeal). Related: Furbished; furbishing. The Old English cognate of the Germanic verbs, feormian (with intrusive -m-) meant "clean, rub bright, polish."
imperturbable (adj.): c. 1500, from Middle French imperturbable and directly from Late Latin imperturbabilis "that cannot be disturbed" (Augustine), from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + *perturbabilis, from Latin perturbare "to confuse, disturb" (see perturb). Related: Imperturbably; imperturbability.
interurban (adj.): 1883, from inter- + urban.
masturbate (v.): 1839, back-formation from masturbation, or else from Latin masturbatus, past participle of masturbari. Related: Masturbated; masturbating.
masturbation (n.): 1711 (earlier as mastupration, 1620s), from French masturbation and directly from Modern Latin masturbationem (nominative masturbatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin masturbari "to masturbate." The long-standing speculation is that this Latin word is altered (probably by influence of turbare "to stir up") from *manstuprare, from manu, ablative of manus "hand" (see manual) + stuprare "defile" (oneself), from stuprum "defilement, dishonor," related to stupere "to be stunned, stupefied" (see stupid). But perhaps the first element represents an unattested *mazdo- "penis" [OED]. An earlier technical word for this was Onanism. Related: Masturbational.
masturbator (n.): 1818, agent noun from Latin source of masturbate (q.v.). Related: Masturbatory.
perturb (v.): late 14c., from Old French perturber "disturb, confuse" (14c.) and directly from Latin perturbare "to confuse, disorder, disturb," especially of states of the mind, from per- "through" (see per) + turbare "disturb, confuse," from turba "turmoil, crowd" (see turbid). Related: Perturbed; perturbing.
perturbate (adj.): 1560s, from Latin perturbatus "troubled, disturbed, agitated," past participle of perturbare (see perturb).
perturbation (n.): late 14c., from Old French perturbacion "disturbance, confusion" (14c.) and directly from Latin perturbationem (nominative perturbatio) "confusion, disorder, disturbance," noun of action from past participle stem of perturbare (see perturb).
perturbed (adj.): 1510s, past participle adjective from perturb (v.).
purblind (adj.): c. 1300, pur blind "entirely blind," as a noun, "a blind person," later "partially blind, blind in one eye" (late 14c.), the main modern sense, from blind (adj.). The first element is sometimes explained as pure (adj.), or as the Anglo-French perfective prefix pur- (see pur-). Sense of "dull" first recorded 1530s.
refurbish (v.): 1610s, from re- "again" + furbish, on model of French refourbir. Related: Refurbished; refurbishing.
rurban (adj.): 1918, a blend of rural and urban coined in reference to areas that have elements of both.
sourball (n.): 1900 as "constantly grumbling person;" 1914 as a type of candy; from sour (adj.) + ball (n.1).
suburb (n.): early 14c., "area outside a town or city," whether agricultural or residential but most frequently residential, from Old French suburbe "suburb of a town," from Latin suburbium "an outlying part of a city" (especially Rome), from sub "below, near" (see sub-) + urbs (genitive urbis) "city" (see urban). Glossed in Old English as underburg. Just beyond the reach of municipal jurisdiction, suburbs had a bad reputation in 17c. England, especially those of London, and suburban had a sense of "inferior, debased, licentious" (as in suburban sinner, slang for "loose woman, prostitute"). By 1817, the tinge had shifted to "of inferior manners and narrow views." Compare also French equivalent faubourg.
[T]he growth of the metropolis throws vast numbers of people into distant dormitories where ... life is carried on without the discipline of rural occupations and without the cultural resources that the Central District of the city still retains. [Lewis Mumford, 1922]
suburban (adj.): 1620s, from suburb + -an. Somewhat earlier were suburbian, suburbial (c. 1600). Latin had suburbanus "near the city" (of Rome), and in Church Latin suburbicarian was applied to the six diocese near Rome.
suburbanite (n.): 1862, from suburban + -ite (1). Middle English used suburban (n.) in this sense (mid-14c.). An Old English word for "suburbanites" was underburhware.
suburbanization (n.): 1898, noun of action from suburbanize. Also suburbanisation.
suburbanize (v.): 1888 (implied in suburbanized), from suburban + -ize. Related: Suburbanizing. Also suburbanise.
suburbia (n.): 1876, from suburb + -ia, perhaps on the model of utopia.
turban (n.): 1560s, from Middle French turbant (15c.), from Italian turbante (Old Italian tolipante), from Turkish tülbent "gauze, muslin, tulle," from Persian dulband "turban." The change of -l- to -r- may have taken place in Portuguese India and thence been picked up in other European languages. A men's headdress in Muslim lands, it was popular in Europe and America c. 1776-1800 as a ladies' fashion. Related: Turbaned.
turbid (adj.): 1620s, from Latin turbidus "muddy, full of confusion," from turbare "to confuse, bewilder," from turba "turmoil, crowd," probably from Greek tyrbe "turmoil, tumult, disorder," from PIE *(s)twer- (1) "to turn, whirl" (see storm (n.)). Related: Turbidly; turbidness.
turbidity (n.): 1782, from Medieval Latin turbiditas, from Latin turbidus (see turbid). Turbidity current is from 1939.
turbine (n.): 1838, from French turbine (19c.), from Latin turbinem (nominative turbo) "spinning top, eddy, whirlwind, that which whirls," related to turba "turmoil, crowd" (see turbid). Originally applied to a wheel spinning on a vertical axis driven by falling water. Turbo in reference to gas turbine engines is attested from 1904.
turbo-: word-forming element, abstracted c. 1900 from turbine; influenced by Latin turbo "spinning top." E.g. turbocharger (1934), aeronautic turboprop (1945, with second element short for propeller); turbojet (1945).
turbot (n.): large, edible flatfish, c. 1300, from Old French turbut (12c., Modern French turbot), probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Swedish törnbut, from törn "thorn" + but "flatfish;" see halibut). But OED says of uncertain origin and speculates on a connection to Latin turbo "spinning top."
turbulence (n.): early 15c., from Late Latin turbulentia "trouble, disquiet," from Latin turbulentus (see turbulent). In reference to atmospheric eddies that affect airplanes, by 1918. Related: Turbulency.