英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

putty (v.)[putty 词源字典]: 1734, from putty (n.). Related: Puttied; puttying.[putty etymology, putty origin, 英语词源]
putz (n.): "obnoxious man, fool," 1964, from Yiddish, from German putz, literally "finery, adornment," obviously used here in an ironic sense. Attested in writing earlier in slang sense of "penis" (1934, in "Tropic of Cancer"). A non-ironic sense is in putz "Nativity display around a Christmas tree" (1873), from Pennsylvania Dutch (German), which retains the old German sense.
puy (n.): "conical volcanic hill," especially those in Auvergne, 1858, from French puy, from Latin podium "a height, balcony," literally "support" (see podium).
puzzle (v.): 1590s, pusle "bewilder, confound," possibly frequentative of pose (v.) in obsolete sense of "perplex" (compare nuzzle from nose). Related: Puzzled; puzzling.
puzzle (n.): c. 1600, "state of being puzzled," from puzzle (v.); meaning "perplexing question" is from 1650s; that of "a toy contrived to test one's ingenuity" is from 1814.
puzzlement (n.): 1822, from puzzle + -ment.
puzzler (n.): 1650s, agent noun from puzzle (v.).
puzzling (adj.): "bewildering," 1660s, present participle adjective from puzzle (v.). Related: Puzzlingly.
pvc (n.): also P.V.C., initialism (acronym) from polyvinyl chloride (1933); see polyvinyl.
pwned (adj.): "dominated, humiliatingly defeated, taken over," by 2001, "leetspeak" slang, probably from the common typographical mistake for owned (the -p- and -o- keys being adjacent on standard English keyboards) in the gamer slang sense "completely dominated by another" (in a contest).
Pyanepsia (n.): festival in honor of Apollo on the 7th of Pyanepsion (fourth month of the Attic calendar, corresponding to October-November), from Greek Pyanepsia (plural), literally "the feast of cooking beans," from pyanos, name of a kind of bean, of unknown origin, + epsein "to boil, cook." At this festival a dish of pulse was offered to the god.
pycno-: before vowels pycn-, word-forming element meaning "close, thick, dense," from comb. form of Greek pyknos "thick, dense." Sometimes via German as pykno-.
pyelo-: before vowels pyel-, medical word-forming element, 19c., from comb. form of Greek pyelos "oblong trough, bathing-tub," used for "pelvis."
Pygmalion: also the Pygmalion word, a British euphemistic substitute for bloody in mid-20c. from its notorious use in Bernard Shaw's play of the same name (1914: "Walk? Not bloody likely!"). The Greek legend of the sculptor/goldsmith and the beautiful statue he made and wished to life, is centered on Cyprus and his name might ultimately be Phoenician.
pygmy (n.): late 14c., Pigmei, "member of a fabulous race of dwarfs," described by Homer and Herodotus and said to inhabit Egypt or Ethiopia and India, from Latin Pygmaei (singular Pygmaeus), from Greek Pygmaioi, plural of Pygmaios "a Pygmy," noun use of adjective meaning "dwarfish," literally "of the length of a pygme; a pygme tall," from pygme "cubit," literally "fist," the measure of length from the elbow to the knuckle; related to pyx "with clenched fist" and to Latin pugnus "fist" (see pugnacious).

Figurative use for "person of small importance" is from 1590s. Believed in 17c. to refer to chimpanzees or orangutans, and occasionally the word was used in this sense. The ancient word was applied by Europeans to the equatorial African race 1863, but the tribes probably were known to the ancients and likely were the original inspiration for the legend. As an adjective from 1590s. Related: Pygmean; Pygmaean.
pyjamas (n.): also pyjama (adj.), chiefly British English spelling of pajamas. Early spellings in English also include pai jamahs (1800); pigammahs (1834), peijammahs (1840).
pylon (n.): 1823, "gateway to an Egyptian temple," from Greek pylon "gateway," from pyle "gate, wing of a pair of double gates; an entrance, entrance into a country; mountain pass; narrow strait of water," of unknown origin. Meaning "tower for guiding aviators" (1909) led to that of "steel tower for high-tension wires" (1923).
pylorus (n.): 1610s, from Late Latin pylorus "the lower orifice of the stomach," from Greek pyloros, literally "gatekeeper, porter," from pyle "gate" (see pylon) + ouros "watcher, guardian" (see warrant (n.)). Related: Pyloric.
pyo-: word-forming element meaning "pus," from comb. form of Greek puon "pus" (see pus).
pyogenic (adj.): 1840s, from pyogenesis, medical Latin, from pyo- "pus" + -genic "producing."