英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

mythic (adj.)[mythic 词源字典]: 1660s, from Late Latin mythicus "legendary," from Greek mythikos, from mythos (see myth).[mythic etymology, mythic origin, 英语词源]
mythical (adj.): 1670s; see mythic + -al (1).
mythological (adj.): 1610s, from Late Latin mythologicus, from Greek mythologikos "versed in legendary lore," from mythologia (see mythology). Related: Mythologically.
mythology (n.): early 15c., "exposition of myths," from Middle French mythologie and directly from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek mythologia "legendary lore, a telling of mythic legends; a legend, story, tale," from mythos "myth" (of unknown origin) + -logy "study." Meaning "a body of myths" first recorded 1781.
mythopoeic (adj.): "pertaining to the creation of myths," 1846, from Greek mytho-, comb. form of mythos (see myth) + poiein "to make, create" (see poet).
myxo-: before vowels myx-, word-forming element meaning "slime, mucus," from comb. form of Greek myxa "mucus; lamp wick" (see mucus).
meta: "short for meta key", 1980s: from meta-.
monkey puzzle: "An evergreen coniferous tree with branches covered in spirals of tough spiny leaf-like scales, native to Chile", Mid 19th century: said to be so named in response to a remark that an attempt to climb the tree would puzzle a monkey.
Maltese cross: "A cross with arms of equal length which broaden from the centre and have their ends indented in a shallow V-shape", So named because the cross was formerly worn by the Knights Hospitaller, who were based in Malta 1530–1798.
Monterey Jack: "A kind of cheese resembling Cheddar", From the name of Monterey County, California, where it was first made; the origin of Jack is unknown.
mesophyll: "The inner tissue (parenchyma) of a leaf, containing many chloroplasts", Mid 19th century: from meso- 'middle' + Greek phullon 'leaf'.
Mary Celeste: "An American cargo ship that was found afloat in the North Atlantic in December 1872 in perfect condition but abandoned. The fate of the crew and the reason for the abandonment of the ship remain a mystery", The ship was called the Mary Celeste, but the form Marie Celeste was popularized by an account written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1884, and is now commoner in allusive use.
motte: "A mound forming the site of a castle or camp", Late 19th century: from French, 'mound', from Old French mote (see moat).
mob cap: "A large soft hat covering all of the hair and typically having a decorative frill, worn indoors by women in the 18th and early 19th centuries", Mid 18th century: mob, variant of obsolete mab 'slut'. The word mob was first used in the sense 'prostitute' (mid to late 17th century), later denoting a negligee.
micelle: "An aggregate of molecules in a colloidal solution, such as those formed by detergents", Late 19th century: coined as a diminutive of Latin mica 'crumb'.
marram grass: "A coarse European grass of coastal sand dunes, binding the loose sand with its tough rhizomes", Mid 17th century: from Old Norse marálmr, from marr 'sea' + hálmr 'haulm'.
myriapod: "An arthropod of a group that includes the centipedes, millipedes, and related animals. Myriapods have elongated bodies with numerous leg-bearing segments", Early 19th century: from modern Latin Myriapoda, from Greek murias (see myriad) + pous, pod- 'foot'.
monotreme: "A primitive mammal that lays large yolky eggs and has a common opening for the urogenital and digestive systems. Monotremes are now restricted to Australia and New Guinea, and comprise the platypus and the echidnas", Mid 19th century: from mono- 'single' + Greek trēma 'hole'.
man Friday: "A male personal assistant or servant", From Friday, a character in Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe (1719), whom Crusoe often refers to as ‘my man Friday’.
melamine: "A white crystalline compound made by heating cyanamide and used in making plastics", Mid 19th century: from German melam (an arbitrary formation), denoting an insoluble amorphous organic substance, + amine.