英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

potamometer [potamometer 词源字典]: "An instrument for measuring the force of a river current", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Isaac Funk (1839–1912), publisher and reformer. From ancient Greek ποταμός river + -meter.[potamometer etymology, potamometer origin, 英语词源]
Phthiraptera: "An order of insects that is sometimes applied, comprising both the sucking lice and the biting lice", Modern Latin (plural), from Greek phtheir 'louse' + pteron 'wing'.
picrocarmine: "A solution of picric acid, carmine, and ammonia used as a red histological stain", Late 19th cent..
pomiform: "Having the shape of a pome or apple", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in Helen Maria Williams (1761–1827), writer. From post-classical Latin pomiformis, originally via French pomiforme.
Perissodactyla: "An order of mammals that comprises the odd-toed ungulates", Modern Latin (plural), from Greek perissos 'uneven' + daktulos 'finger, toe'.
perissology: "The use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning", Late 16th century: via late Latin from Greek perissologia, from perissos 'redundant' + -logy.
protocontinent: "= supercontinent", 1950s; earliest use found in Geologie en Mijnbouw. From proto- + continent.
pisciform: "Shaped like a fish; taking the form of a fish", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in John Stark (fl. 1828). From pisci- + -form, perhaps after French pisciforme.
photoconduction: " Physics . = photoconductivity", Early 20th cent.; earliest use found in The Botanical Gazette. From photo- + conduction.
prostatalgia: "Pain in the prostate", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Robley Dunglison (1798–1869), physician and medical writer.
photochromy: "The process of producing printed images in colour by photographic means; colour photography. Compare photochrome. Now rare", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Art Journal. From photo- + -chromy.
pseudology: "The making of false statements, lying", Mid 17th cent.; earliest use found in John Goodwin (?1594–1665), Independent minister. From pseudo- + -logy, in sense 1 after ancient Greek ψευδολογία falsehood.
prodelision: "Elision of the initial vowel of a word", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Classical Review. From classical Latin prōd, variant (used before vowels) of prō + elision.
Plantagenet: "Relating to the English royal dynasty which held the throne from the accession of Henry II in 1154 until the death of Richard III in 1485", From Latin planta genista 'sprig of broom', said to be worn as a crest by and given as a nickname to Geoffrey, count of Anjou, the father of Henry II.
pansophy: "Universal or encyclopedic knowledge; a scheme, work, or programme attempting to embrace the whole body of human knowledge", Mid 17th cent.; earliest use found in Samuel Hartlib (d. ?1670). From post-classical Latin pansophia universal knowledge from ancient Greek πάνσοϕος clever in every way + post-classical Latin -ia.
plagiotropic: "Designating or relating to a plant part or organ that tends to take up an oblique or horizontal position with relation to the main axis, usually because its own parts react differently to the influence of external stimuli (such as light, gravity, etc.). Contrasted with orthotropic", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Sydney Vines (1849–1934), botanist. From plagio- + -tropic, after German plagiotrop.
parfleche: "(In American Indian culture) a hide, especially a buffalo’s hide, with the hair removed, dried by being stretched on a frame", From Canadian French parflèche, from French parer 'ward off' + flèche 'arrow'.
phoney: "Not genuine; fraudulent", Late 19th century: of unknown origin. More The fraudulent practice of the fawney-rig is probably the source of phoney ‘not genuine, fraudulent’, which was first recorded in the USA at the end of the 19th century. In 1823 Pierce Egan, a chronicler of popular pursuits and low life in England, described how the fawney-rig worked. ‘A fellow drops a brass ring, double gilt, which he picks up before the party meant to be cheated, and to whom he disposes of it for less than its supposed, and ten times more than its real, value.’ The word fawney came from Irish fáinne ‘a ring’. The phoney war was the period of comparative inaction at the beginning of the Second World War, between the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and that of Norway in April 1940. The expression is now used of any coming confrontation, as in ‘the debates on tax in the pre-election phoney war’ (Earth Matters, 1997).
parure: "A set of jewels intended to be worn together", Early 19th century: from French, from parer 'adorn'.
parcener: "A person who shares with others in the inheritance of an undivided estate or in the rights to it", Middle English: via Anglo-Norman French from Latin partitio(n-) 'partition' + -er¹: compare with partner.