quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- craft (v.)



[craft 词源字典] - Old English cræftan "to exercise a craft, build," from the same source as craft (n.). Meaning "to make skilfully" is from early 15c., obsolete from 16c., but revived c. 1950s, largely in U.S. advertising and commercial senses. Related: Crafted; crafting.[craft etymology, craft origin, 英语词源]
- craftsman (n.)




- mid-14c., craftes man, originally "a member of a craft guild," from genitive of craft (n.) + man (n.1). Written as one word from late 14c. Old English had cræftiga in this sense. Related: Craftsmanship.
- crafty (adj.)




- mid-12c., crafti, from Old English cræftig "strong, powerful," later "skillful, ingenious," degenerating by c. 1200 to "cunning, sly" (but through 15c. also "skillfully done or made; intelligent, learned; artful, scientific") from craft (n.) + -y (2). Related: Craftily; craftiness.
- crag (n.)




- early 14c.; as a place-name element attested from c. 1200, probably from a Celtic source akin to Old Irish crec "rock," and carrac "cliff," Welsh craig "rock, stone," Manx creg, Breton krag.
- craggy (adj.)




- mid-15c.; see crag + -y (2). Related: Cragginess.
- cram (v.)




- Old English crammian "press something into something else," from Proto-Germanic *kram-/*krem- (cognates: Old High German krimman "to press, pinch," Old Norse kremja "to squeeze, pinch"), from PIE root *ger- "to gather" (see gregarious). Meaning "study intensely for an exam" originally was British student slang first recorded 1803. Related: Crammed; cramming.
- cramp (n.1)




- "muscle contraction," late 14c., from Old French crampe, from a Frankish or other Germanic word (compare Old High German krapmhe "cramp, spasm," related to kramph "bent, crooked"), from a Proto-Germanic root forming many words for "bent, crooked," including, via French, crampon. Writer's cramp is first attested 1842 as the name of a physical affliction of the hand, in reference to translations of German medical papers (Stromeyer); also known as scrivener's palsy.
- cramp (n.2)




- "metal bar bent at both ends," early 15c., from Middle Dutch crampe or Middle Low German krampe, both from the same Proto-Germanic root that yielded cramp (n.1). Metaphoric sense of "something that confines or hinders" first recorded 1719.
- cramp (v.1)




- "to contract" (of muscles), early 15c., from cramp (n.1). Related: Cramped; cramping.
- cramp (v.2)




- "to bend or twist," early 14c., from cramp (n.2) and Old French crampir. Later "compress forcibly" (1550s), and, figuratively, "to restrict" (1620s). Related: Cramped; cramping.
- crampon (n.)




- "metal bar bent at the ends for fastening," c. 1300, from Old French crampoun, from Germanic (see cramp (n.1); also compare cramp (n.2)).
- cranberry (n.)




- 1640s, American English adaptation of Low German kraanbere, from kraan "crane" (see crane (n.)) + Middle Low German bere "berry" (see berry). Perhaps so called from a resemblance between the plants' stamens and the beaks of cranes.
Upon the Rocks and in the Moss, grew a Shrub whose fruit was very sweet, full of red juice like Currans, perhaps 'tis the same with the New England Cranberry, or Bear-Berry, (call'd so from the Bears devouring it very greedily;) with which we make Tarts. ["An Account of Several Late Voyages & Discoveries," London, 1694]
German and Dutch settlers in the New World apparently recognized the similarity between the European berries (Vaccinium oxycoccos) and the larger North American variety (V. macrocarpum) and transferred the name. In England, they were marshwort or fenberries, but the North American berries, and the name, were brought over late 17c. The native Algonquian name for the plant is represented by West Abenaki popokwa. - crane (n.)




- Old English cran "large wading bird," common Germanic (cognates: Old Saxon krano, Old High German krano, German Kranich, and, with unexplained change of consonant, Old Norse trani), from PIE *gere-no-, suffixed form of root *gere- (2) "to cry hoarsely," also the name of the crane (cognates: Greek geranos, Latin grus, Welsh garan, Lithuanian garnys "heron, stork"). Thus the name is perhaps an echo of its cry in ancient ears. Metaphoric use for "machine with a long arm" is first attested late 13c. (a sense also in equivalent words in German and Greek).
- crane (v.)




- "to stretch (the neck)," 1799, from crane (n.). Related: Craned; craning.
- cranial (adj.)




- 1779, from Modern Latin cranium, from Greek kranion "skull" (see cranium) + -al (1).
- cranio-




- word-forming element meaning "of the brain," from Latinized comb. form of Greek kranion "skull" (see cranium).
- craniotomy (n.)




- 1817, from cranio- + -tomy.
- cranium (n.)




- early 15c., craneum, from Medieval Latin cranium "skull," from Greek kranion "skull, upper part of the head," related to kara (poetic kras) "head," from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn, head" (see horn (n.)). Strictly, the bones which enclose the brain.
- crank (n.)




- "handle for turning a revolving axis," Old English *cranc, implied in crancstæf "a weaver's instrument," crencestre "female weaver, spinster," from Proto-Germanic base *krank-, and related to crincan "to bend, yield" (see crinkle, cringe). English retains the literal sense of the ancient root, while German and Dutch krank "sick," formerly "weak, small," is from a figurative use. The 1825 supplement to Jamieson's Scottish dictionary has crank "infirm, weak, etc."
The sense of "an eccentric person," especially one who is irrationally fixated, is first recorded 1833, said to be from the crank of a barrel organ, which makes it play the same tune over and over; but more likely a back-formation from cranky (q.v.). Meaning "methamphetamine" attested by 1989. - crank (v.)




- 1590s, "to zig-zag," from crank (n.). Meaning "to turn a crank" is first attested 1908, with reference to automobile engines. Related: Cranked; cranking.