英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

at (prep.)[at 词源字典]: Old English æt, from Proto-Germanic *at (cognates: Old Norse, Gothic at, Old Frisian et, Old High German az), from PIE *ad- "to, near, at" (cognates: Latin ad "to, toward" Sanskrit adhi "near;" see ad-).

Lost in German and Dutch, which use their equivalent of to; in Scandinavian, however, to has been lost and at fills its place. In choosing between at church, in church, etc. at is properly distinguished from in or on by involving some practical connection; a worshipper is at church; a tourist is in the church.

The colloquial use of at after where ("where it's at") is attested from 1859. At last is recorded from late 13c.; adverbial phrase at least was in use by 1775. At in Middle English was used freely with prepositions (as in at after, which is in Shakespeare), but this has faded with the exception of at about, which was used in modern times by Trollope, Virginia Woolfe, D.H. Lawrence, and Evelyn Waugh, but nonetheless is regarded as a sign of incompetent writing by my copy editor bosses.[at etymology, at origin, 英语词源]
at all: "in any way," mid-14c., originally used only affirmatively (as in I Sam. XX:6 in KJV: "If thy father at all misse me"); now it is overwhelmingly used only in the negative or in interrogatory expressions, or in literary attempts at Irish dialect.
at bay: late 14c., originally often at the bay; see bay (n.3). Figurative use, of human beings in difficulties, is from c. 1400. The expression reflects the former more widespread use of at. Earlier the expression be at abai was used of the hunted animal, "be unable to escape," c. 1300, from French.
at-: assimilated form of ad- "to, toward, before" before stems beginning in -t-; see ad-.
at-bat (n.): "baseball player's turn at the plate," 1912, originally a column heading in statistics tables.
at-home (n.): "reception of visitors," 1745, from phrase at home.
Atalanta: in Greek mythology the daughter of king Schoeneus, famous for her swiftness, Latin, from Greek Atalante, fem. of atalantos "having the same value (as a man)," from a- "one, together" + talanton "balance, weight, value" (compare talent).
ataractic (adj.): 1941, from Greek ataraktos "not disturbed" (see ataraxia) + -ic.
ataraxia (n.): also Englished as ataraxy, "calmness, impassivity," c. 1600, from Modern Latin, from Greek ataraxia "impassiveness," from a-, privative prefix, + tarassein (Attic tarattein) "to disturb, confuse," from PIE root *dher- (1) "to make muddy, darken."
atavic (adj.): "pertaining to a remote ancestor," 1866, from Latin atavus "ancestor" (see atavism) + -ic.
atavism (n.): 1833, from French atavisme, attested by 1820s, from Latin atavus "ancestor, forefather," from at- perhaps here meaning "beyond" + avus "grandfather," from PIE *awo- "adult male relative other than the father" (see uncle).
atavistic (adj.): "pertaining to atavism," 1847; see atavism + -ic.
ataxia (n.): also anglicized as ataxy, "irregularity of bodily functions," 1610s, "confusion, disorder," medical Latin, from Greek ataxia, from a-, privative prefix, + taxis "arrangement, order," from stem of tassein "to arrange" (see tactics). Pathological sense is attested from 1660s.
ataxic (adj.): 1853, from ataxia + -ic.
atchoo: imitative of the sound of sneezing, first attested 1873, as atcha (a-tschoo is from 1878).
ate: past tense of eat (q.v.).
Ate: Greek goddess of infatuation and evil, from ate "infatuation, bane, ruin, mischief," which is of uncertain origin.
atelectasis (n.): "incomplete expansion of the lungs," 1836, medical Latin, from Greek ateles "imperfect, incomplete," literally "without an end," (from a-, privative prefix, + telos "completion") + ektosis "extention." Related: Atelectatic.
atelier (n.): 1840, from French atelier "workshop," from Old French astelier "(carpenter's) workshop, woodpile" (14c.), from astele "piece of wood, a shaving, splinter," probably from Late Latin hastella "a thin stick," diminutive of hasta "spear, shaft" (see yard (n.2)).
atemporal (adj.): 1870, from a- "not" + temporal. Related: Atemporally.