英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

peter (v.)[peter 词源字典]: "cease, stop," 1812, of uncertain origin. To peter out "become exhausted," is 1846 as miners' slang. Related: Petered; petering.[peter etymology, peter origin, 英语词源]
Peter Pan (n.): name of boy-hero in J.M. Barrie's play "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" (1904). Used allusively for an immature adult man from 1914 (by G.B. Shaw, in reference to the Kaiser).
Peter Principle: 1968, "in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence," named for (and by) Laurence Johnston Peter (1919-1990) Canadian-born U.S. educationalist and author, who described it in his book of the same name (1969).
petiole (n.): "footstalk of a leaf," 1753, from French pétiole (18c.), from Late Latin petiolus, misspelling of peciolus "stalk, stem," literally "little foot," diminutive of pediculus "foot stalk," itself a diminutive of pes (genitive pedis) "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). Given its modern sense by Linnaeus.
petit (adj.): mid-14c., "trifling," from Old French petit "small, little, young, few in numbers" (11c.), probably from stem of Late Latin pitinnus "small," of uncertain origin; it corresponds to no known Latin form and perhaps is from a Celtic root pett- "part, piece, bit" also found in Italian pezza, English piece. Attested as a surname from 1086. Replaced by petty in most usages, except in established forms such as petit bourgeois "conventional middle-class" (1832; used in English by Charlotte Brontë earlier than by Marx or Engels); petit mal (1842, literally "little evil," mild form of epilepsy), and petit four (1884), which in French means "little oven," from Old French four "oven," from Latin furnus.
petit fours: see petit.
petite (adj.): "little," 1784 (from 1712 in French phrases taken into English), from French petite, fem. of petit "little" (see petit). As a size in women's clothing, attested from 1929.
petition (n.): early 14c., "a supplication or prayer, especially to a deity," from Old French peticion "request, petition" (12c., Modern French pétition) and directly from Latin petitionem (nominative petitio) "a blow, thrust, attack, aim; a seeking, searching," in law "a claim, suit," noun of action from past participle stem of petere "to make for, go to; attack, assail; seek, strive after; ask for, beg, beseech, request; fetch; derive; demand, require," from PIE root *pet-, also *pete- "to rush; to fly" (cognates: Sanskrit pattram "wing, feather, leaf," patara- "flying, fleeting;" Hittite pittar "wing;" Greek piptein "to fall," potamos "rushing water," pteryx "wing;" Old English feðer "feather;" Latin penna "feather, wing;" Old Church Slavonic pero "feather;" Old Welsh eterin "bird"). Meaning "formal written request to a superior (earthly)" is attested from early 15c.
petition (v.): c. 1600, from petition (n.). Related: Petitioned; petitioning.
petitioner (n.): early 15c., from petition (n.).
Petrarchan (adj.): 1827 (Keats uses Petrarchal, 1818), from Francesco Petrarch (Italian Petrarca) the poet (1304-1374).
petrel (n.): seabird, 1670s, pitteral, modern spelling first recorded 1703 by English explorer William Dampier (1651-1715), who wrote the bird was so called from its way of flying with its feet just skimming the surface of the water, which recalls the apostle's walk on the sea of Galilee (Matt. xiv:28); if so, it likely was formed in English as a diminutive of Peter (Late Latin Petrus). If this is folk etymology, the true source of the name is undiscovered. French pétrel (1760) probably is from English.
petri dish (n.): 1892, named for German bacteriologist Julius Petri (1852-1922), who first devised it c. 1887.
petrifaction (n.): early 15c., "action or process of hardening," from petrify on model of satisfaction, etc.
petrification (n.): 1610s, from French petrification (16c.), Latinized noun of action from Middle French pétrifier (see petrify). Etymologically better than the more common petrifaction.
petrified (adj.): 1660s, "turned to stone," past participle adjective from petrify (v.). Figurative meaning "paralyzed (with fright, etc.)" is from 1720.
petrify (v.): 1590s, from Middle French pétrifier "to make or become stone" (16c.), from Latin petra "rock, crag" (see petrous) + -ficare, from facere "to make, do" (see factitious). Metaphoric sense of "paralyze with fear or shock" first recorded 1771. Related: Petrified; petrifying.
petro- (1): before vowels petr-, word-forming element used from 19c., from comb. form of Greek petros "stone," petra "rock" (see petrous).
petro- (2): word-forming element used from mid-20c. to mean "of or having to do with petroleum products," from petroleum.
petrochemical (adj.): 1913, from petro- (1) + chemical (adj.). As a noun from 1942.