英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

clumsy (adj.)[clumsy 词源字典]: 1590s, "acting as if benumbed," alteration of Middle English clumsid "numb with cold" (14c.), past participle of clumsen "to benumb, stiffen or paralyze with cold or fear," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse klumsa "make speechless, palsy; prevent from speaking," intensive of kluma "to make motionless." For insertion of -s-, see flimsy.

Not in general use until 18c., with senses "manifesting awkwardness; so made as to be unwieldy." Related: Clumsily; clumsiness. Compare Swedish dialectal klummsen "benumbed with cold," Norwegian klumsad (past participle) "speechless, palsied by a spasm or by fear or witchery;" German verklammen "grow stiff or numb with cold." Also compare clumse (n.) "a stupid fellow."[clumsy etymology, clumsy origin, 英语词源]
clung: Old English clungen, past tense and past participle of cling.
clunk (v.): 1796, "to make the sound of a cork being pulled from a bottle;" imitative. This was the main sense through most of 19c. Meaning "to hit, strike" is attested from 1940s. Related: Clunked; clunking.
clunker (n.): "anything inferior," 1940s, agent noun from clunk (v.), probably in imitation of the sounds made by old machinery. Specific sense of "old car" was in use by 1951 (clunk in the sense "old worn-out machine" is from 1940s).
clunky (adj.): "blocky, ungraceful," by 1968 (when it was the name of a style of women's shoe), from clunk + -y (2). Related: Clunkily; clunkiness.
cluster (n.): Old English clyster "cluster," probably from the same root as clot (n.). Of stars, from 1727. Cluster-bomb attested from 1967.
cluster (v.): late 14c. (transitive), from cluster (n.). Intransitive sense from 1540s. Related: Clustered; clustering.
clusterfuck (n.): "bungled or confused undertaking," 1969, U.S. military slang, from cluster + fuck, probably in the "bungle" sense. Earlier the compound meant "orgy" (1966).
clutch (v.): Old English clyccan "bring together, bend (the fingers), clench," from PIE *klukja- (cognates: Swedish klyka "clamp, fork;" related to cling). Meaning "to grasp" is early 14c.; that of "to seize with the claws or clutches" is from late 14c. Sense of "hold tightly and close" is from c. 1600. Influenced in meaning by Middle English cloke "a claw." Related: Clutched; clutching.
clutch (n.3): "a brood, a nest" in reference to chickens, eggs, 1721, from clekken "to hatch" (c. 1400). Said by OED to be apparently a southern England dialect word. Compare batch/bake. Probably from a Scandinavian source (such as Old Norse klekja "to hatch"), perhaps of imitative origin (compare cluck (v.)).
clutch (n.1): "a claw, grip, grasp," c. 1300, from cloche "claw," from cloke (c. 1200), related to clucchen, clicchen (see clutch (v.)). Meaning "grasping hand" (1520s) led to that of "tight grasp" (1784). Related: Clutches.
clutch (n.2): movable mechanical part for transmitting motion, 1814, from clutch (v.), with the "seizing" sense extended to "device for bringing working parts together." Originally of mill-works, first used of motor vehicles 1899. Meaning "moment when heroics are required" is attested from 1920s.
clutter (v.): 1550s, "to collect in heaps," variant of clotern "to form clots, to heap on" (c. 1400); related to clot (n.). Sense of "to litter" is first recorded 1660s. Related: Cluttered; cluttering.
clutter (n.): 1570s, "things lying in heaps or confusion," from clutter (v.); the "litter" sense is from 1660s.
Clyde: masc. proper name, from the family name, from the region of the Clyde River in Scotland (see Clydesdale). Most popular in U.S. for boys c. 1890-1910, falling off rapidly thereafter, hence probably its use in 1940s teenager slang for "a square, one not versed in popular music or culture."
Clydesdale: "breed of heavy draught horses," 1786, so called because they were bred in the valley of the Clyde in Scotland. The river name is perhaps literally "cleansing," from a Celtic root akin to Latin cloaca (see cloaca).
clyster (n.): from French clystère (Old French clistre, 13c.) or directly from Latin clyster, from Greek klyster, from klyzein "to wash out" (see cloaca).
Clytaemnestra: also Clytemnestra, wife and murderess of Agamemnon, from Greek Klytaimnestra, from klytos "celebrated, heard of" (see loud) + mnester "wooer, suitor," literally "willing to mind, mindful of," related to mnasthai "to remember," from PIE root *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)).
cn-: consonant group used in Old English (the Clark Hall dictionary has 82 entries under cn-) but in Middle English all lost or turned to kn-. Also common in Greek, and retained in the spelling of some English words from Greek but not now admitted in speech, the n- only being sounded.
Cnidaria (n.): phylum of stinging invertebrates, from Latinized form of Greek knide "nettle," from stem of knizein "to scratch scrape," + abstract noun ending -ia. Related: Cnidarian.