quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- burnable (adj.)



[burnable 词源字典] - 1610s, a hybrid from burn (v.) + -able.[burnable etymology, burnable origin, 英语词源]
- burner (n.)




- late 13c., also as a surname, Brenner, "person who makes bricks," agent noun from burn (v.)). As a name for a part of a lamp where the flame is applied, from 1790. Of gas-cooking stoves, by 1885.
- burning (adj.)




- Old English in the literal sense; c. 1300 figurative, present participle adjective from burn (v.)). Burning question matches French question brûlante, German brennende Frage. Burning bush is from Exodus III. Burning glass is attested from 1560s.
- burnish (v.)




- early 14c., from Old French burniss- present participle stem of burnir, metathesis of brunir "to shine, gleam, sparkle" (trans.), "to polish, make sparkle, make bright, shine," from brun "brown; polished," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German brun, Old Norse brunn "bright, polished; brown;" see brown (adj.)). The connection to "brown" might be explained if the original objects in mind were wooden ones. Related: Burnished; burnishing.
- burnout (n.)




- also burn-out, "drug user," by 1972, slang, from the verbal phrase, from burn (v.) + out (adv.). Meaning "mental exhaustion from continuous effort" is from 1975.
- burnsides (n.)




- style of facial hair consisting of side whiskers and a mustache (but clean-shaven chin), 1875 (singular; plural form from 1878; many early uses are in college and university magazines), a reference to U.S. Army Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-1881) of Civil War fame, who wore them and inspired the style. Compare sideburns.
- burnt (adj.)




- past participle adjective from alternative past participle of burn (v.). Burnt offering (late 14c.) is biblical (see Ex. xx:24, Mark xii:33).
- burp




- 1932, noun and verb, American English, apparently imitative. The transitive sense of the verb is first recorded 1940. Related: Burped; burping. Burp gun attested from 1945.
- burqua (n.)




- see burka.
- burr (n.)




- "rough sound of the letter -r-" (especially that common in Northumberland), 1760, later extended to "northern accented speech" in general. Possibly the sound of the word is imitative of the speech peculiarity itself, or it was adapted from one of the senses of bur (q.v.), perhaps from the phrase to have a bur in (one's) throat (late 14c.), which was a figure of speech for "feel a choking sensation, huskiness." OED says the Scottish -r- is a lingual trill, not a true burr.
- burrito (n.)




- Mexican food dish, 1934, from Spanish, literally "little burro" (see burro).
- burro (n.)




- "donkey," 1800, from Spanish burrico "donkey," from Late Latin burricus "small, shaggy horse," probably from burrus "reddish-brown," from Greek pyrros "flame-colored, yellowish-red," from pyr (genitive pyros) "fire," from PIE root *paəwr- "fire" (see fire (n.)). Or, for its shaggy hair, from Late Latin burra "wool."
- burrow (n.)




- "rabbit-hole, fox-hole, etc.," c. 1300, borewe, from Old English burgh "stronghold, fortress" (see borough); influenced by bergh "hill," and berwen "to defend, take refuge."
- burrow (v.)




- c. 1600, "to place in a burrow, from burrow (n.). Figuratively (such as to burrow (one's) head) by 1862. Intransitive sense, "to bore one's way into, penetrate" is from 1610s, originally figurative (literal sense, of animals, attested by 1771). Related: Burrowed; borrowing.
- burry (adj.)




- mid-15c., "full of burs;" see bur + -y (2).
- bursa (n.)




- by 1788 as an English word in physiology, shortened from medieval Latin bursa mucosa "mucus pouch," from Medieval Latin bursa "bag, purse," from Late Latin bursa, variant of byrsa "hide," from Greek byrsa "hide, skin, wineskin, drum," which is of unknown origin; compare purse (n.).
- bursar (n.)




- "treasurer of a college," 1580s, from Anglo-Latin burser "treasurer" (13c.), from Medieval Latin bursarius "purse-bearer," from bursa (see purse (n.)). Related: Bursarial.
- bursary (n.)




- "treasury," 1690s, from Medieval Latin bursaria "treasurer's room," from bursarius (see bursar).
- bursitis (n.)




- 1834, "inflammation of the bursa;" also see -itis.
- burst (v.)




- Old English berstan (intransitive) "break suddenly, shatter under pressure" (class III strong verb; past tense bærst, past participle borsten), from a West Germanic metathesis of Proto-Germanic *brest- (cognates: Old Saxon brestan, Old Frisian bersta, Middle Dutch berstan, Low German barsten, Dutch barsten, Old High German brestan, German bersten "to burst"), from PIE root *bhres- "to burst, break, crack."
The forms reverted to brest- in Middle English from influence of Old Norse brestan/brast/brosten, from the same Germanic root, but it was re-metathesized late 16c. and emerged in the modern form, though brast was common as past tense through 17c. and survives in dialect.
Of extended or distended surfaces from 1530s. Figuratively, in reference to being over-full of excitement, anticipation, etc., from 1630s. Transitive sense ("to cause to break") is from late 13c. Meaning "to issue suddenly and abundantly" is from c. 1300 (literal), mid-13c. (figurative). Meaning "break into sudden activity or expression" is from 1680s. Related: Bursting.