英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

keen (v.)[keen 词源字典]: "lament," 1811, from Irish caoinim "I weep, wail, lament," from Old Irish coinim "I wail." Related: Keened; keening. As a noun from 1830.[keen etymology, keen origin, 英语词源]
keenly (adv.): Old English cenlice; see keen (adj.) + -ly (2).
keenness (n.): 1520s, from keen (adj.) + -ness.
keep (v.): late Old English cepan "to seize, hold," also "to observe," from Proto-Germanic *kopijan, but with no certain connection to other languages. It possibly is related to Old English capian "to look," from Proto-Germanic *kap- (cepan was used c. 1000 to render Latin observare), which would make the basic sense "to keep an eye on."
The word prob. belongs primarily to the vulgar and non-literary stratum of the language; but it comes up suddenly into literary use c. 1000, and that in many senses, indicating considerable previous development. [OED]
Sense of "preserve, maintain" is from mid-14c. Meaning "to maintain in proper order" is from 1550s; meaning "financially support and privately control" (usually in reference to mistresses) is from 1540s. Related: Kept; keeping.
keep (n.): mid-13c., "care or heed in watching," from keep (v.). Meaning "innermost stronghold of a tower" is from 1580s, perhaps a translation of Italian tenazza, with a notion of "that which keeps" (someone or something); the sense of "food required to keep a person or animal" is attested from 1801. For keeps "completely, for good" is American English colloquial, from 1861.
keeper (n.): c. 1300 (late 13c. as a surname), "one who has charge of some person or thing, warden," agent noun from keep (v.). Sense of "one who carries on some business" is from mid-15c. Sporting sense (originally cricket) is from 1744. Meaning "something (or someone) worth keeping" is attested by 1999. Brother's keeper is from Genesis iv:9.
keepsake (n.): 1790, from keep (v.) + sake; on model of namesake; thus an object kept for the sake of the giver. As an adjective by 1839.
kef (n.): 1808, from Arabic kaif "well-being, good-humor." Specifically, state of dreaming intoxication produced by smoking cannabis; dolce far niente. In Morocco and Algeria, it was the name for Indian hemp.
keg (n.): 1630s, earlier kag (mid-15c.), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse kaggi "keg, cask," of unknown origin. Cognate with Swedish kagge, Norwegian kagg. Specific sense of "barrel of beer" is from 1945. U.S. student slang kegger "party featuring a keg of beer" attested by 1969.
keister (n.): "buttocks," 1931, perhaps transferred from underworld meaning "safe, strongbox" (1914), earlier "a burglar's toolkit that can be locked" (1881); probably from British dialect kist (northern form of chest) or its German cognate Kiste "chest, box." The connection may be via pickpocket slang sense of "rear trouser pocket" (1930s).
keld (n.): 1690s in northern dialect, but frequent in place names, from Old Norse kelda "a well, fountain, spring," also "a deep, still, smooth part of a river."
Kellogg: surname, attested from late 13c., literally "kill hog," a name for a butcher. The U.S. cereal company began in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1906, founded by W.K. Kellogg (business manager of the Battle Creek Sanatorium) as Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company.
Kelly: common Irish surname, from Old Irish ceallach "war." As a type of pool played with 15 balls, it is attested from 1898. Kelly green first recorded 1917.
keloid (n.): also cheloid, 1854, from French kéloïde, from Greek khele "crab claw, talon, cloven hoof" + -oides (see -oid). Related: Keloidal; cheloidal.
kelp (n.): 1660s, from Middle English culpe (late 14c.), of unknown origin. Kelper "native or inhabitant of the Falkland Islands" is attested from 1960.
kelpie (n.): 1747, Scottish, of unknown origin, perhaps related to Gaelic colpach "heifer, steer, colt;" colpa "cow, horse." The Lowland name of a demon in the shape of a horse that was reputed to haunt lakes and rivers and to delight in causing drownings. But unlike its equivalents in Danish (nøkken) and Icelandic (nykur), it occasionally was benevolent, especially to millers by keeping their streams running.
Kelvin: unit of absolute temperature scale, 1911, in honor of British physicist Sir William Thompson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).
kempt (adj.): "well-combed, neat," late 14c., from past tense of dialectal kemb, from Old English cemdan (see unkempt). A rare word after c. 1500; any modern use probably is a whimsical back-formation from unkempt.
ken (v.): "to know," Scottish dialect, from Old English cennan "make known, declare, acknowledge" (in late Old English also "to know"), originally "make to know," causative of cunnan "to become acquainted with, to know" (see can (v.)). Cognate with German kennen, Danish kjende, Swedish känna. Related: Kenned; kenning.
ken (n.2): "house where thieves meet," 1560s, vagabonds' slang, probably a shortening of kennel.