英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

sweepstakes (n.)[sweepstakes 词源字典]: "prize won in a race or contest," 1773, from Middle English swepestake "one who sweeps or wins all the stakes in a game" (late 14c. as a surname or nickname; late 15c. as the name of one of the King's ships), from swepen "to sweep" (see sweep (v.)) + stake (n.2). Meaning "any race for stakes contributed" is from 1862.[sweepstakes etymology, sweepstakes origin, 英语词源]
sweet (adj.): Old English swete "pleasing to the senses, mind or feelings; having a pleasant disposition," from Proto-Germanic *swotja- (cognates: Old Saxon swoti, Old Frisian swet, Swedish söt, Danish sød, Middle Dutch soete, Dutch zoet, Old High German swuozi, German süß), from PIE root *swad- "sweet, pleasant" (Sanskrit svadus "sweet;" Greek hedys "sweet, pleasant, agreeable," hedone "pleasure;" Latin suavis "pleasant" (not especially of taste), suadere "to advise," properly "to make something pleasant to"). Words for "sweet" in Indo-European languages typically are used for other sense as well and in general for "pleasing."
Then come kiss me, sweet-and-twenty!
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
["Twelfth Night"]
Also "being in a sound or wholesome state" (mid-13c.), and, of water, "fresh, not salt" (late Old English). As an intensifier from 1958. Sweet in bed (c. 1300) was the equivalent of modern "good in bed." To be sweet on someone is first recorded 1690s. Sweet sixteen first recorded 1767. Sweet dreams as a parting to one going to sleep is attested from 1897, short for sweet dreams to you, etc. Sweet-and-sour in cookery is from 1723 and not originally of oriental food. Sweet nothings "sentimental trivialities" is from 1900. Sweet spot is from 1976, first in reference to tennis rackets. Sweet corn is from 1640s.
sweet (n.): c. 1300, "something sweet to the taste," also "beloved one," from sweet (adj.); the specific meaning "candy drop" is 1851 (earlier sweetie, 1721). Meaning "one who is dear to another" is from 14c. Old English swete (n.) meant "sweetness."
Sweet Adeline: female barbershop singing group member, 1947, from the name of a popular close harmony song by Richard Armstrong & Harry Gerard, "You're the Flower of my Heart, Sweet Adeline" (1903).
sweet tooth (n.): "fondness for sugary stuff," late 14c., from sweet (adj.) + tooth in the sense of "taste, liking" (see toothsome).
sweet-briar (n.): "eglantine," 1530s, from sweet (adj.) + briar (n.).
sweet-grass (n.): 1570s, from sweet (adj.) + grass (n.). Perhaps so called for the fondness of cattle for it.
sweet-pea (n.): 1732, from sweet (adj.) + pea (n.).
sweet-talk (v.): Sweet-talk, 1935, from noun phrase; see sweet (adj.) + talk (n.). Earliest usages seem to refer to conversation between black and white in segregated U.S.
"I ain' gonna stay heah no longah. Don' nevah keer, ef I do git cotched--or die. Tha's bettah than to stay heah an' listen to Maw Haney sweet-talk the white folks, whilst they drives us clean to the grave. ..." ["The Crisis," July 1935]
Latin had suaviloquens, literally "sweet-spoken."
sweetbread (n.): "pancreas of an animal used as food" 1560s, from sweet (adj.); the -bread element may be from Old English bræd "flesh."
sweeten (v.): 1550s (intransitive), from sweet (adj.) + verbal ending -en (1). Transitive sense ("become sweet") is from 1620s. The Middle English form of the verb was simply sweet, from Old English swetan. Related: Sweetened; sweetening.
sweetener (n.): 1640s, agent noun from sweeten (v.).
sweetheart (n.): late 13c. as a form of address, 1570s as a synonym for "loved one;" from sweet (adj.) + heart (n.). As an adjective, with reference to labor contracts, it is attested from 1959.
sweetie (n.): 1721, "lollipop;" 1778, "lover, sweetheart," from sweet (n.) + -ie.
sweetly (adv.): Old English swetlice; see sweet (adj.) + -ly (2).
sweetmeat (n.): "a sweet thing to eat," Old English swete mete; see sweet (adj.) + meat (n.).
sweetness (n.): Old English swetnes; see sweet (adj.) + -ness.
swell (v.): Old English swellan "grow or make bigger" (past tense sweall, past participle swollen), from Proto-Germanic *swelnan (cognates: Old Saxon swellan, Old Norse svella, Old Frisian swella, Middle Dutch swellen, Dutch zwellen, Old High German swellan, German schwellen), of unknown origin. Of emotions from late 14c., of music from 1749. Related: swelled; swollen; swelling.
swell (n.): c. 1200, "a morbid swelling," from swell (v.). In reference to a rise of the sea, it is attested from c. 1600; of music, by 1803. The meaning "wealthy, elegant person" is first recorded 1786, connected to the now-obsolete sense "pompousness, arrogance" (1724), both from the notion of "puffed-up" demeanor or behavior.
swell (adj.): "fashionably dressed or equipped," 1810, from swell (n.) in the "stylish person" sense. As "good, excellent," by 1897; as a stand-alone expression of satisfaction it is recorded from 1930 in American English.