英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

specious (adj.)[specious 词源字典]: late 14c., "pleasing to the sight, fair," from Latin speciosus "good-looking, beautiful, fair," also "showy, pretended, plausible, specious," from species "appearance, form, figure, beauty" (see species). Meaning "seemingly desirable, reasonable or probable, but not really so; superficially fair, just, or correct" in English is first recorded 1610s. Related: Speciously; speciosity; speciousness.[specious etymology, specious origin, 英语词源]
speck (n.): Old English specca "small spot, stain," of unknown origin; probably related to Dutch speckel "speck, speckle," Middle Dutch spekelen "to sprinkle" (compare speckle (v.)). Meaning "tiny bit" developed c. 1400. As a verb, 1570s, from the noun. Related: Specked.
speckle (v.): mid-15c. (implied in speckled), probably related to Old English specca "small spot, speck" (see speck) or from a related Middle Dutch or Middle High German word. Related: Speckled; speckling. The noun is first attested mid-15c.
specs (n.): short for spectacles, 1807.
spectacle (n.): mid-14c., "specially prepared or arranged display," from Old French spectacle "sight, spectacle, Roman games" (13c.), from Latin spectaculum "a public show, spectacle, place from which shows are seen," from spectare "to view, watch, behold," frequentative form of specere "to look at," from PIE *spek- "to observe" (see scope (n.1)).
spectacles (n.): "glass lenses to help a person's sight," early 15c., from plural of spectacle. Earlier in singular form (late 14c.).
spectacular (adj.): 1680s, from Latin spectaculum "a sight, show" (see spectacle) + -ar. As a noun, first attested 1890. Related: Spectacularly.
spectate (v.): "to attend (a sporting event, etc.) to watch, not participate," 1929, back-formation from spectator. Related: Spectated; spectating. Related: Spectation.
spectator (n.): 1580s, from Latin spectator "viewer, watcher," from past participle stem of spectare "to view, watch" (see spectacle). Spectator sport is attested from 1943. Related: Spectatorial. Fem. form spectatress (1630s) is less classically correct than spectatrix (1610s).
specter (n.): c. 1600, "frightening ghost," from French spectre "an image, figure, ghost" (16c.), from Latin spectrum "appearance, vision, apparition" (see spectrum). Figurative sense "object of dread" is from 1774.
spectral (adj.): 1718, "capable of seeing spectres;" 1815, "ghostly;" from spectre + -al (1). Meaning "pertaining to a spectrum" is 1832, from stem of spectrum + -al (1). Related: Spectrally.
spectre (n.): chiefly British English spelling of specter (q.v.); for spelling, see -re.
spectro-: word-forming element meaning "of or by a spectroscope," also "of radiant energy," from comb. form of spectrum.
spectrogram (n.): "photograph of a spectrum," 1890, from spectro- + -gram.
spectrograph (n.): 1876, from spectro- + -graph "instrument for recording; something written." Related: Spectrographic; spectrography.
spectrometer (n.): 1863, from German Spectrometer (Moritz Meyerstein, 1863); see spectro- + -meter.
spectroscope (n.): 1861, from spectro- + -scope. A Greek-Latin hybrid, both elements from the same PIE root. Related: Spectroscopic; spectroscopy.
spectrum (n.): 1610s, "apparition, specter," from Latin spectrum (plural spectra) "an appearance, image, apparition, specter," from specere "to look at, view" (see scope (n.1)). Meaning "visible band showing the successive colors, formed from a beam of light passed through a prism" first recorded 1670s. Figurative sense of "entire range (of something)" is from 1936.
specular (adj.): 1570s, "reflective" (like a mirror), from Latin specularis, from speculum "a mirror" (see speculum). Meaning "assisting in vision; affording a view" is from 1650s, from Latin speculari "to spy" (see speculation).
speculate (v.): 1590s, "view mentally, contemplate" (transitive), back-formation from speculation. Also formerly "view as from a watchtower" (1610s). Intransitive sense of "pursue truth by conjecture or thinking" is from 1670s. Meaning "to invest money upon risk for the sake of profit" is from 1785. Related: Speculated; speculating.