英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

miaow [miaow 词源字典]: "The characteristic crying sound of a cat", Early 17th century: imitative.[miaow etymology, miaow origin, 英语词源]
mater: "Mother", Latin.
mitogen: "A substance that induces or stimulates mitosis", 1960s: from mitosis + -gen.
Midas touch: "The ability to turn one's actions to financial advantage; the fact of having one's actions always bring financial reward, whether intentionally or not", Mid 17th cent..
menina: "In Spanish and Portuguese contexts: a young girl; (sometimes) specifically a young lady-in-waiting", Mid 17th cent.; earliest use found in James Howell (?1594–1666), historian and political writer. From Spanish menina lady-in-waiting and its etymon Portuguese menina girl, lass, further etymology uncertain and disputed.
menorrhagia: "Abnormally heavy bleeding at menstruation", Late 18th century: modern Latin, from meno- 'of menstruation' + -rrhag-, stem of Greek rhēgnunai 'to burst'.
macropod: "A plant-eating marsupial mammal of an Australasian family that comprises the kangaroos and wallabies", Late 19th century: from modern Latin Macropodidae (plural), from macro- + Greek pous, pod- 'foot'.
moria: "Originally: impairment of the intellectual faculties; mental dullness or retardation. Later: inappropriate jocularity, as a sign of mental illness or neurological disease", Late 17th cent.; earliest use found in Blankaart's Physical Dictionary. From post-classical Latin moria folly, foolishness (Erasmus) from ancient Greek μωρία from μωρός, μῶρος foolish + -ία.
mega: "Very large; huge", 1980s: independent usage of mega-.
megalopolitan: "Of or denoting a very large city", Mid 17th century: from megalo- 'great' + Greek politēs 'citizen' + -an.
methylal: "Dimethoxymethane, (CH3O)2CH2, a colourless, volatile, pungent liquid, used as a solvent and formerly as an anaesthetic", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Robert Thomson (1810–1864), medical officer of health. From French méthylal or German Methylal, shortened from German Formomethylal from formo- (formo-) + methyl- (in Methylen) + -al (in Acetal).
meniscal: " Generally . Relating to a meniscus. rare", Late 18th cent.; earliest use found in William Enfield (1741–1797), Unitarian minister. From meniscus + -al.
mammogen: "Any substance that has mammogenic activity (originally believed to be one or two specific growth factors)", 1940s; earliest use found in Endocrinology. From mammo- + -gen, after mammogenic.
malaxate: "Soften (plaster or other material) by kneading or rubbing", Late Middle English: from Latin malaxare, from Greek malassein 'make soft'.
macraner: "A particularly large male ant", Early 20th cent.; earliest use found in William Morton Wheeler (1865–1937). From macro- + aner, W. M. Wheeler's term for a male insect, especially a male ant from ancient Greek ἀνήρ man, male. First proposed as part of a system of classification by W. M. Wheeler.
microlite: " Mineralogy . Any of a subgroup of minerals of the pyrochlore group, found in various pegmatites, that are complex oxides of tantalum and niobium with sodium and calcium, often with small amounts of other elements such as uranium and titanium, crystallizing in the cubic system as yellow, brownish, or blackish translucent crystals", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Charles Shepard (1804–1886). From micro- + -lite. In sense 1 so named from the smallness of the crystals in which it was first found.
meanderer: "A person who wanders aimlessly; a drifter", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Thomas Nelson Page (1853–1922). From meander + -er.
meatal: "Of, relating to, or affecting a meatus", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Richard Owen (1804–1892), comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. From meatus + -al.
mot juste: "The exact, appropriate word", French.
myriorama: "A picture consisting of a number of separate sections which are capable of being combined in numerous ways to form different scenes", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in The European Magazine. From ancient Greek μυρίος countless + -orama.