英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

forsooth (adv.)[forsooth 词源字典]: Old English forsoð "indeed, in truth, verily," from for-, perhaps here with intensive force (or else the whole might be "for a truth"), + soð "truth" (see sooth). Regarded as affected in speech by c. 1600.[forsooth etymology, forsooth origin, 英语词源]
forswear (v.): Old English forswerian "swear falsely" (intransitive), also "abandon or renounce on oath" (transitive), from for- "completely" + swerian "to swear" (see swear (v.)). Related: Forswore; forsworn; forswearing.
forsworn (adj.): from Old English forsworen, "perjured," past participle of forswerian "to swear falsely" (see forswear).
forsythia (n.): 1814, coined 1805 in Modern Latin as a genus name in honor of William Forsyth (1737-1804), Scottish horticulturalist who brought the shrub from China. The family name is from Gaelic Fearsithe "man of peace."
fort (n.): mid-15c., "fortified place, stronghold," from Old French fort "fort, fortress; strong man," noun use of adjective meaning "strong, stout, sturdy; hard, severe, difficult; hard to understand; dreadful, terrible; fortified" (10c.), from Latin fortis "strong, mighty; firm, steadfast; brave, spirited," from Old Latin forctus, possibly from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high, elevated," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts (see barrow (n.2)). Or possibly from *dher- (2) "to hold firmly, support." Figurative use of hold the fort attested from 1590s.
Fort Sumter: military installation in South Carolina, U.S., begun in 1827, named for U.S. Revolutionary War officer and Congressman Thomas Sumter (1734-1832), "The Carolina Gamecock." The family name is attested from 1206, from Old French sommetier "driver of a pack horse" (see sumpter). The U.S. Civil War is held to have begun with the firing of rebel batteries on the government-held fort on April 12, 1861.
forte (n.): 1640s, fort, from French fort "strong point (of a sword blade)," from Middle French fort "fort, fortress" (see fort). Meaning "strong point of a person, that in which one excels," is from 1680s. Final -e- added 18c. in imitation of Italian forte "strong."
forte (adj.): music instruction, "loud, loudly," from Italian forte, literally "strong," from Latin fortis "strong" (see fort). Opposed to piano.
forth (adv.): Old English forð "forward, onward, further; continually;" as a preposition, "during," perfective of fore, from Proto-Germanic *furtha- "forward" (cognates: Old Frisian, Old Saxon forth "forward, onward," Old Norse forð, Dutch voort, German fort), from extended form of PIE root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per). The construction in and so forth was in Old English.
forthcoming (adj.): "about to happen or appear," late 15c., present participle adjective from Middle English forthcomen, from Old English forðcuman "to come forth, come to pass;" see forth + come (v.). Meaning "informative, responsive" is from 1835. A once-common verb formation; English also had forthbring, forthcall, forthdo, forthgo, forthpass, forthset, all now obsolete.
forthright (adj.): Old English forðriht "direct, plain;" see forth + right (adj.). Compare downright. Related: Forthrightly; forthrightness. As an adverb, Old English forðrihte "straightway, at once; plainly."
forthwith (prep.): c. 1200, from forth + with. The Old English equivalent was forð mid. As an adverb, early 14c.
forties (n.): 1843 as the years of someone's life between 40 and 49; from 1840 as the fifth decade of years in a given century. See forty. Also a designation applied in various places and times to certain oligarchies, ruling classes, or governing bodies.
It is well known that society in the island [Guernsey] is, or perhaps we ought to say, for many years was, divided into two sets, called respectively the Sixties and the Forties, the former composed of the old families and those allied to them, the latter of families of newly-acquired wealth and position. ["The Dublin Review," October 1877]
Roaring Forties are rough parts of the ocean between 40 and 50 degrees latitude.
fortieth (adj.): c. 1200, fowertiþe, from Old English feowertigoða, from feowertig (see forty) + -th (1). Compare Old Norse fertugonde, Swedish fyrationde, Danish fyrretyvende.
fortification (n.): early 15c., "a strengthening," also "defensive earthworks; a tower" (mid-15c.), from Old French fortification "strengthening, fortification," from Late Latin fortificationem (nominative fortificatio) "a strengthening, fortifying," noun of action from past participle stem of fortificare "to make strong" (see fortify).
fortify (v.): early 15c., "increase efficacy" (of medicine); mid-15c., "provide (a town) with walls and defenses," from Old French fortifiier (14c.) "to fortify, strengthen," from Late Latin fortificare "to strengthen, make strong," from Latin fortis "strong" (see fort) + facere "to make" (see factitious). Sense of "to strengthen mentally or morally" is from late 15c. Meaning "add liquor or alcohol" is from 1880; meaning "add nutrients to food" is from 1939. Related: Fortified; fortifying.
fortissimo (adj.): 1724, from Italian fortissimo, superlative of forte "loud, strong," from Latin fortis "strong" (see fort).
fortitude (n.): early 15c., from Middle French fortitude, from Latin fortitudo "strength, force, firmness, manliness," from fortis "strong, brave" (see fort).
fortitudinous (adj.): "capable of endurance," 1752, from Latin fortitudinem (nominative fortitudo) "strength, firmness" (see fortitude) + -ous. Related: Fortitudinously.
fortnight (n.): "period of two weeks," 17c. contraction of Middle English fourteniht, from Old English feowertyne niht, literally "fourteen nights," preserving the ancient Germanic custom of reckoning by nights (mentioned by Tacitus in "Germania" xi). Related: Fortnightly.