to make good 'make right' is from early 15c.
īut the phrase also was in use in a schoolwork context at the time. Mosby's book - be prepared to surmount obstacles before you encounter them - equipped with the power to 'make the grade' in life's climb. 1400), make a book 'arrange a series of bets' (1828), make hay 'to turn over mown grass to expose it to sun.' Make the grade is 1912, perhaps from the notion of railway engines going up an incline. 1500) 'to write Latin compositions.' This broader usage survives in some phrases, such as make water 'to urinate' (c. Formerly used in many places where specific verbs now are used, such as to make Latin (c. Meaning 'to arrive at' (a place), first attested 1620s, originally was nautical. It gradually replaced the main Old English word, gewyrcan (see work (v.)). Old English macian 'to give being to, give form or character to, bring into existence construct, do, be the author of, produce prepare, arrange, cause behave, fare, transform,' from West Germanic *makōjanan 'to fashion, fit' (source also of Old Saxon makon, Old Frisian makia 'to build, make,' Middle Dutch and Dutch maken, Old High German mahhon 'to construct, make,' German machen 'to make'), from PIE root *mag- 'to knead, fashion, fit.' If so, sense evolution perhaps is via prehistoric houses built of mud.
