英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

billy (n.)[billy 词源字典]: "club," 1848, American English, originally burglars' slang for "crowbar;" meaning "policeman's club" first recorded 1856, probably from nickname of William, applied to various objects (compare jack, jimmy, jenny).[billy etymology, billy origin, 英语词源]
bimbo (n.): 1919, "fellow, chap," from variant of Italian bambino "baby;" first attested in Italian-accented theater dialogue. Originally especially "stupid, inconsequential man, contemptible person;" by 1920 the sense of "floozie" had developed (popularized by "Variety" staffer Jack Conway, d.1928). Resurrection during 1980s U.S. political sex scandals led to derivatives including diminutive bimbette (1990) and male form himbo (1988).
bimetallic (adj.): also bi-metallic, "composed of two metals," 1864, from bi- + metallic. In economics, 1876, from French bimétalique (Cornuschi).
bimodal (adj.): also bi-modal, 1891, from bi- + modal. Related: Bimodality.
bimonthly (adj.): also bi-monthly, 1846, "happening once in two months, every two months," also "occurring twice a month," a hybrid from bi- + monthly.
bin (n.): "receptacle," Old English binne "basket, manger, crib," probably from Gaulish, from Old Celtic *benna, akin to Welsh benn "a cart," especially one with a woven wicker body. The same Celtic word seems to be preserved in Italian benna "dung cart," French benne "grape-gatherer's creel," Dutch benne "large basket," all from Late Latin benna "cart," Medieval Latin benna "basket." Some linguists think there was a Germanic form parallel to the Celtic one.
binary (adj.): "dual," mid-15c., from Late Latin binarius "consisting of two," from bini "twofold, two apiece, two-by-two" (used especially of matched things), from bis "double" (see bis-). Binary code in computer terminology was in use by 1952, though the idea itself is ancient. Binary star in astronomy is from 1802.
binate (adj.): "double," 1807, from Latin bini "two by two, twofold, two apiece" (see binary) + -ate (2).
binaural (adj.): "pertaining to both ears," 1861, from Latin bini "twofold, two apiece" (see binary) + aural. In reference to electronic recordings, from 1933.
bind (v.): Old English bindan "to tie up with bonds" (literally and figuratively), also "to make captive; to cover with dressings and bandages" (class III strong verb; past tense band, past participle bunden), from Proto-Germanic *bindan (cognates: Old Saxon bindan, Old Norse and Old Frisian binda, Old High German binten "to bind," German binden, Gothic bindan), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind" (see bend (v.)). Intransitive sense of "stick together" is from 1670s. Of books, from c. 1400.
bind (n.): "anything that binds," in various senses, late Old English, from bind (v.). Meaning "tight or awkward situation" is from 1851.
binder (n.): Old English bindere "one who binds" (see bind (v.)). Of various objects or products that bind, from early 16c.
bindery (n.): 1810, American English; see bind (v.) + -ery.
binding (n.): mid-13c., verbal noun from bind (v.). Meaning "thing that binds" is from c. 1300; "state of being bound" is from late 14c. Meaning "covering of a book" is recorded from 1640s.
bindle (n.): "tramp's bundle," c. 1900, perhaps from bundle (n.) or Scottish dialectal bindle "cord or rope to bind things." Related: Bindlestiff.
bine (n.): "climbing stem, flexible shoot of a shrub," 1727, from a dialectal form of bind (n.).
bing (n.): "heap or pile," 1510s, from Old Norse bingr "heap." Also used from early 14c. as a word for bin, perhaps from notion of "place where things are piled."
binge (n.): 1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Noted originally as a Northampton dialect word. Sense extended c. World War I to include eating as well as drinking. Related: Binged; binging.
bingo (n.): lotto-like game of chance, 1936; many theories about its origin, none satisfying; the most likely is bingo! as an exclamation of sudden realization or surprise (attested from 1923). Uncertain connection to the slang word for "brandy" (1690s); attested as "liquor" in American English, 1861. Thomas Chandler Haliburton ("Sam Slick") in "The Americans at Home" (1854) recounts a story of a drinking game in which the children's song about the farmer's dog was sung and when it came time to spell out the name, every participant had to take a letter in turn, and anyone who missed or flubbed had to drink.
binnacle (n.): "wooden box for a ship's compass," c. 1750, corruption of bittacle (1620s), which is probably from Spanish bitacula or Portuguese bitacola, both from Latin habitaculum "little dwelling place," from habitare "to inhabit" (see habit).