英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Brownian movement (n.)[Brownian movement 词源字典]: 1871, for Scottish scientist Dr. Robert Brown (1773-1858), who first described it.[Brownian movement etymology, Brownian movement origin, 英语词源]
brownie (n.): "benevolent goblin supposed to haunt old farmhouses in Scotland," 1510s, diminutive of brown "a wee brown man" (see brown (adj.)). The name for the junior branch of the Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is 1916, in reference to uniform color. Brownie point (1963) is sometimes associated with Brownie in the Scouting sense but is perhaps rather from brown-nose.
Browning: one of a range of U.S.-made weapons, 1905, named for inventor, John M. Browning (1855-1926) of Utah.
brownstone (n.): "dark sandstone," 1858, from brown (adj.) + stone (n.). As "house or building fronted with brownstone" from 1948.
browse (v.): mid-15c., "feed on buds," from Middle French brouster, from Old French broster "to sprout, bud," from brost "young shoot, twig," probably from Proto-Germanic *brust- "bud, shoot," from PIE *bhreus- "to swell, sprout" (see breast (n.)). Lost its final -t in English on the mistaken notion that the letter was a past participle inflection. Figurative extension to "peruse" (books) is 1870s, American English. Related: Browsed; browsing.
browser (n.): 1845, "animal which browses," agent noun from browse (v.). In the computer sense by 1982.
The first browser was invented at PARC by Larry Tesler, now a designer at Apple Computer. Tesler's first Smalltalk browser was a tree-structured device. It enabled programmers to hunt quickly for items in a Smalltalk dictionary. ["InfoWorld" magazine, vol. v., no. 4, Jan. 24, 1983]
Bruce: a Norman surname, but etymology from Brix (place in La Manche, Normandy) is now considered doubtful ["Dictionary of English Surnames"]. Originated in Britain with Robert de Bruis, a baron listed in the Domesday Book. His son, a friend of David I, king of Scotland, was granted by him in 1124 the lordship of Annandale, and David's son, Robert, founded the Scottish House of Bruce. As a given name for U.S. males, most popular for boys born c. 1946-1954.
brucellosis (n.): 1930, Modern Latin, named for Scottish physician Sir David Bruce (1855-1931), who discovered the bacteria that caused it (1887).
bruin (n.): "bear," late 15c., from Middle Dutch Bruin, name of the bear in "Reynard the Fox" fables; literally "brown;" cognate with Old English brun (see brown (adj.)).
bruise (v.): Old English brysan "to crush, bruise, pound," from Proto-Germanic *brusjan, from PIE root *bhreu- "to smash, cut, break up" (cognates: Old Irish bronnaim "I wrong, I hurt;" Breton brezel "war," Vulgar Latin brisare "to break"). Merged by 17c. with Anglo-French bruiser "to break, smash," from Old French bruisier "to break, shatter," perhaps from Gaulish *brus-, from the same PIE root. Related: Bruised; bruising.
bruise (n.): 1540s, from bruise (v.).
bruiser (n.): "a pugilist," 1744, agent noun from bruise (v.).
bruit (v.): "to report," 1520s, from bruit (n.) "rumor, tiding, fame, renown" (mid-15c.), from French bruit (n.), from bruire "to make noise, roar," which is of uncertain origin. Related: Bruited; bruiting.
brulee (adj.): from French brûlée "burned," from brûler, from Old French brusler (11c.); see broil (v.1). Crème brûlée was known in English by various names from early 18c., including a translated burnt cream.
brumal (adj.): "belonging to winter," 1510s, from Latin brumalis, from bruma "winter" (see brume). The Latin word also is the ultimate source of Brumaire, second month (Oct. 22-Nov. 20) in calendar of the French Republic, literally "the foggy month," coined 1793 by Fabre d'Eglantine from French brume "fog" (see brume).
brume (n.): "fog, mist," 1808, from French brume "fog" (14c.), in Old French, "wintertime," from Latin bruma "winter," perhaps with an original sense "season of the shortest day," from *brevima, contracted from brevissima, superlative of brevis "short" (see brief (adj.)).
brummagem (adj.): "cheap and showy," 19c., from a noun, from the vulgar pronunciation of Birmingham, England, in reference to articles mass-manufactured there. The word also recalls Birmingham's old reputation for counterfeiting.
brunch: 1896, British student slang merger of breakfast and lunch.
To be fashionable nowadays we must 'brunch'. Truly an excellent portmanteau word, introduced, by the way, last year, by Mr. Guy Beringer, in the now defunct Hunter's Weekly, and indicating a combined breakfast and lunch. ["Punch," Aug. 1, 1896]
brunet (n.): "dark-complexioned person," 1887, from French brunet, diminutive of brun "brown," which is from a Germanic source (see brown (adj.)).
brunette (adj.): 1660s, from French brunette (masc. brunet), from Old French brunet "brownish, brown-haired, dark-complexioned," fem. diminutive of brun "brown" (12c.), of West Germanic origin (see brown (adj.)). As a noun, "woman of a dark complexion," from 1710. The metathesized form, Old French burnete, is the source of the surname Burnett. Burnete also was used of a wool-dyed cloth of superior quality, originally dark brown.