英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

pseud [pseud 词源字典]: "A pretentious person, especially one who claims to know a great deal about art, literature, etc", 1960s: abbreviation of pseudo.[pseud etymology, pseud origin, 英语词源]
pho: "A type of Vietnamese soup, typically made from beef stock and spices to which noodles and thinly sliced beef or chicken are added", Vietnamese, perhaps from French feu (in pot-au-feu).
pikey: "A Gypsy or Traveller", Mid 19th century: from an old sense of pike, 'a road on which a toll is collected'.
phot: "A unit of illumination equal to one lumen per square centimetre", Early 20th century: from Greek phōs, phōt- 'light'.
pejorate: "To make worse; to cause to deteriorate. In later use also: to endow (a word) with a less favourable meaning", Mid 17th cent.; earliest use found in Richard Saunders. From post-classical Latin peiorat-, past participial stem of peiorare to make worse (late 2nd or early 3rd cent. a.d.) from classical Latin pēior worse (functioning as the comparative of malus bad: see mal-) from the same Indo-European base as foot; compare -ior. Compare Middle French pejorer (1611 in Cotgrave in an apparently isolated attestation; French péjorer (rare) 1923 or earlier in reflexive use, 1970 in transitive use), Italian peggiorare, both in sense ‘to become worse’, Spanish †peorar, Portuguese piorar, Italian peggiorare, all in sense ‘to make (something) worse’. Compare earlier meliorate.
Pinguicula: "A genus comprising the butterworts (family Lentibulariaceae), which are small insectivorous bog plants with a slender flower stalk arising from a rosette of thick yellowish-green greasy leaves; (also pinguicula) a plant of this genus, a butterwort", Late 16th cent.; earliest use found in John Gerard (c1545–1612), herbalist. From post-classical Latin pinguicula, use as noun (short for planta pinguicula) of feminine of classical Latin pinguiculus rather fat (from pinguis fat + -culus), apparently after early modern German smalzchrawt, lit. ‘dripping weed, fat weed’, so named on account of its greasy leaves. Compare French grassette.
prana: "Breath, considered as a life-giving force", Sanskrit.
pootle: "Move or travel in a leisurely manner", 1970s: blend of the verbs poodle and tootle.
posho: "(In East Africa) daily rations consisting typically of maize or rice, given to soldiers or in payment for menial work", Kiswahili, literally 'daily rations'.
pastis: "An aniseed-flavoured aperitif", French.
phylogenetics: "The branch of biology that deals with phylogeny, especially with the deduction of the historical relationships between groups of organisms", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in American Naturalist. From phylogenetic: see -ic.
parkour: "The activity or sport of moving rapidly through an area, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, jumping, and climbing", Early 21st century: French, alteration of parcours 'route, course'.
parkade: "A multistorey car park", 1950s: from park, on the pattern of arcade.
prezzie: "A present", 1930s (as presee): abbreviation.
poiesis: "Creative production, especially of a work of art; an instance of this", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in The North British Review. From ancient Greek ποίησις creation, production from ποιεῖν to make, create, produce + -σις.
plesiosaur: "A large fossil marine reptile of the Mesozoic era, with a broad flat body, large paddle-like limbs, and typically a long flexible neck and small head", Mid 19th century: from modern Latin Plesiosaurus, from Greek plēsios 'near' + sauros 'lizard'.
permatan: "A year-round suntan, typically one produced by artificial means", 1980s: from perma- + tan¹.
provisory: "Subject to a proviso; conditional", Early 17th century: from French provisoire or medieval Latin provisorius, from provis- 'foreseen, attended to', from the verb providere (see provide).
penny-pinch: "To be niggardly or parsimonious", 1940s; earliest use found in Sunday Times-Signal (Zanesville, Ohio). From penny + pinch, after penny-pinched, penny-pincher, penny-pinching.
pre-punch: "To punch holes in (a card, material, etc.) in advance; to punch data on to (a tape, card, disc, etc.) prior to use", 1940s; earliest use found in Nevada State Journal. From pre- + punch.