quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- sort (n.)



[sort 词源字典] - late 14c., "group of people, animals, etc.; kind or variety of person or animal," from Old French sorte "class, kind," from Latin sortem (nominative sors) "lot; fate, destiny; share, portion; rank, category; sex, class, oracular response, prophecy," from PIE root *ser- (3) "to line up" (cognates: Latin serere "to arrange, attach, join;" see series). The sense evolution in Vulgar Latin is from "what is allotted to one by fate," to "fortune, condition," to "rank, class, order." Later (mid-15c.) "group, class, or category of items; kind or variety of thing; pattern, design." Out of sorts "not in usual good condition" is attested from 1620s, with literal sense of "out of stock."[sort etymology, sort origin, 英语词源]
- sort (v.)




- mid-14c., "to arrange according to type or quality," from Old French sortir "allot, sort, assort," from Latin sortiri "draw lots, divide, choose," from sors (see sort (n.)). In some senses, the verb is a shortened form of assort.
- sortie (n.)




- "attack of the besieged upon the besiegers," 1778, from French sortie (16c.), literally "a going out," noun use of fem. past participle of sortir "go out," from Vulgar Latin *surctire, from Latin surrectus, past participle of surgere "rise up" (see surge (n.)).
- SOS




- 1910, from International Morse code letters, chosen arbitrarily as being easy to transmit and difficult to mistake. Not an initialism (acronym) for "save our ship" or anything else. Won out over alternative suggestion C.Q.D., which is said to mean "come quickly, distress," or "CQ," general call for alerting other ships that a message follows, and "D" for danger. SOS is the telegraphic distress signal only; the oral equivalent is mayday.
- sot (n.)




- late Old English sott "stupid person, fool," from Old French sot, from Gallo-Roman *sott- (probably related to Medieval Latin sottus, c.800), of uncertain origin, with cognates from Portugal to Germany. Surviving meaning "one who is stupefied with drink" first recorded 1590s. As a verb, it is attested from c. 1200, but usually besot.
- soteriological (adj.)




- 1879, from German soteriologisch; see soteriology.
- soteriology (n.)




- 1847, in reference to health; 1864 in reference to salvation, from German soteriologie, from Greek soteria "preservation, salvation," from soizein "save, preserve," related to sos "safe, healthy," of uncertain origin. With -ology.
- Sothic (adj.)




- as in Sothic cycle, a period of 1,460 years, 1828, from French Sothique, from Greek Sothis, an Egyptian name of the star Sirius. The Sothic year is determined by the heliacal rising of Sirius.
- sottish (adj.)




- 1560s, "foolish," from sot (-) + -ish. From 1630s as "drunken." Related: sottishly; sottishness.
- sotto voce




- 1737, Italian, literally "under voice," from sotto, from Latin subtus "below" (source also of French sous; see sub-) + voce, from Latin vocem (nominative vox); see voice (n.).
- sou (n.)




- small French coin, 1550s, back-formation from sous, plural of Old French soul, formerly a coin worth one-twentieth of a livre, from Latin solidus (see solidus).
- soubrette (n.)




- 1753, theatrical jargon word for lady's maid characters in plays and operas, who typically were pert, flirtatious, and intriguing, from French soubrette, from Provençal soubreto "affected, conceited," fem. of soubret "coy, reserved," from soubra "to set aside," originally "to exceed," from Old Provençal sobrar, from Latin superare "to rise above, overcome," from super "over, above, beyond" (see super-).
- souffle (n.)




- light dish, sometimes savory but usually sweet, 1813, from French soufflé, noun use of past participle of souffler "to puff up," from Latin sufflare, from sub- "under, up from under" (see sub-) + flare "to blow" (see blow (v.1)).
- souffre-douleur (n.)




- 1845, French, literally "suffer sorrow;" one who is in a subservient position and must listen to or share another's troubles, specifically "a woman who acts as a paid companion to an older woman."
- sough (v.)




- "to make a moaning or murmuring sound," Old English swogan "to sound, roar, howl, rustle, whistle," from Proto-Germanic *swoganan (cognates: Old Saxon swogan "to rustle," Gothic gaswogjan "to sigh"), from PIE imitative root *(s)wagh- (cognates: Greek echo, Latin vagire "to cry, roar, sound"). The noun is late 14c., from the verb.
- sought




- past tense and past participle of seek, from Old English sohte. Sought-after is from 1881 (sought-for in same sense is from c. 1600).
- souk (n.)




- Arab bazaar, 1826, from French souk, from Arabic suq "marketplace."
- soul (n.1)




- "A substantial entity believed to be that in each person which lives, feels, thinks and wills" [Century Dictionary], Old English sawol "spiritual and emotional part of a person, animate existence; life, living being," from Proto-Germanic *saiwalo (cognates: Old Saxon seola, Old Norse sala, Old Frisian sele, Middle Dutch siele, Dutch ziel, Old High German seula, German Seele, Gothic saiwala), of uncertain origin.
Sometimes said to mean originally "coming from or belonging to the sea," because that was supposed to be the stopping place of the soul before birth or after death [Barnhart]; if so, it would be from Proto-Germanic *saiwaz (see sea). Klein explains this as "from the lake," as a dwelling-place of souls in ancient northern Europe.
Meaning "spirit of a deceased person" is attested in Old English from 971. As a synonym for "person, individual, human being" (as in every living soul) it dates from early 14c. Soul-searching (n.) is attested from 1871, from the phrase used as a past participle adjective (1610s). Distinguishing soul from spirit is a matter best left to theologians. - soul (n.2)




- "instinctive quality felt by black persons as an attribute," 1946, jazz slang, from soul (n.1). Also from this sense are soul brother (1957), soul sister (1967), soul food (1957), etc. Soul music, essentially gospel music with "girl," etc., in place of "Jesus," first attested 1961; William James used the term in 1900, in a spiritual/romantic sense, but in reference to inner music.
- soulful (adj.)




- "full of feeling," 1860, from soul (n.1) + -ful. Meaning "expressive of characteristic Black feeling" is from 1964 (see soul (n.2)). Earlier as a noun (1640s), "as much as a soul can hold."