英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

ankle [ankle 词源字典]: ankle: [14] Ankle comes from a probable Old Norse word *ankula. It has several relatives in other Germanic languages (German and Dutch enkel, for instance, and Swedish and Danish ankel) and can be traced back to an Indo- European base *angg- ‘bent’ (ultimate source also of anchor and angle). Before the Old Norse form spread through the language, English had its own native version of the word: anclēow. This survived until the 15th century in mainstream English, and for much longer in local dialects.
=> anchor, angle[ankle etymology, ankle origin, 英语词源]
bank: bank: [12] The various disparate meanings of modern English bank all come ultimately from the same source, Germanic *bangk-, but they have taken different routes to reach us. Earliest to arrive was ‘ridge, mound, bordering slope’, which came via a hypothetical Old Norse *banki. Then came ‘bench’ [13] (now obsolete except in the sense ‘series of rows or tiers’ – as in a typewriter’s bank of keys); this arrived from Old French banc, which was originally borrowed from Germanic *bangk- (also the source of English bench).

Finally came ‘moneylender’s counter’ [15], whose source was either French banque or Italian banca – both in any case deriving ultimately once again from Germanic *bangk-. The current sense, ‘place where money is kept’, developed in the 17th century. The derived bankrupt [16] comes originally from Italian banca rotta, literally ‘broken counter’ (rotta is related to English bereave and rupture); in early times a broken counter or bench was symbolic of an insolvent moneylender.

The diminutive of Old French banc was banquet ‘little bench’ (perhaps modelled on Italian banchetto), from which English gets banquet [15]. It has undergone a complete reversal in meaning over the centuries; originally it signified a ‘small snack eaten while seated on a bench (rather than at table)’.
=> bench
blank: blank: [15] Although English got blank from French blanc ‘white’, its ultimate source is Germanic. Forms such as Old High German blanc ‘white’ suggest a prehistoric Germanic *blangkaz, which could have been borrowed into Romanic, the undifferentiated precursor of the Romance languages, as *blancus – hence French blanc, Italian bianco, Spanish blanco, and Portuguese branco.

The word originally meant simply ‘white’ in English, but this sense had all but died out by the early 18th century, by which time the present-day ‘unmarked’ was well established. Other derivatives of French blanc include the verb blanch [14], from French blanchier, and blanket [13], from Old French blancquet. Blanco is a trade name (based on blanc) coined in the 1890s for a whitening preparation for military webbing (subsequently applied to the khakicoloured version as well).
=> blanch, blanket
cantankerous: cantankerous: [18] Cantankerous is a rather mysterious word. It first appears in the 1770s, and the earliest known reference to it is in Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer 1772: ‘There’s not a more bitter cantanckerous road in all christendom’. Its origin is disputed: perhaps the likeliest source is Middle English contekour ‘brawler’, from contek ‘strife’, a borrowing from an unrecorded Anglo-Norman *contek, but an Irish origin has also been suggested, perhaps from Irish cannrán ‘strife, grumbling’ (another early user of the word was the Irish playwright Thomas Sheridan).
crank: crank: [OE] There appears to be a link between the words crank, cringe, and crinkle. They share the meaning element ‘bending’ or ‘curling up’ (which later developed metaphorically into ‘becoming weak or sick’, as in the related German krank ‘ill’), and probably all came from a prehistoric Germanic base *krank-. In Old English the word crank appeared only in the compound crancstoef, the name for a type of implement used by weavers; it is not recorded in isolation until the mid-15th century, when it appears in a Latin-English dictionary as a translation of Latin haustrum ‘winch’.

The adjective cranky [18] is no doubt related, but quite how closely is not clear. It may derive from an obsolete thieves’ slang term crank meaning ‘person feigning sickness to gain money’, which may have connections with German krank. Modern English crank ‘cranky person’ is a backformation from the adjective, coined in American English in the 19th century.
=> cringe, crinkle
flank: flank: see link
frank: frank: [13] To call someone frank is to link them with the Germanic people who conquered Gaul around 500 AD, the Franks, who gave their name to modern France and the French. After the conquest, full political freedom was granted only to ethnic Franks or to those of the subjugated Celts who were specifically brought under their protection. Hence, franc came to be used as an adjective meaning ‘free’ – a sense it retained when English acquired it from Old French: ‘He was frank and free born in a free city’, John Tiptoft, Julius Caesar’s commentaries 1470.

In both French and English, however, it gradually progressed semantically via ‘liberal, generous’ and ‘open’ to ‘candid’. Of related words in English, frankincense [14] comes from Old French franc encens, literally ‘superior incense’ (‘superior’ being a now obsolete sense of French franc), and franc [14], the French unit of currency, comes from the Latin phrase Francorum rex ‘king of the Franks’, which appeared on the coins minted during the reign of Jean le Bon (1350–64).

The Franks, incidentally, supposedly got their name from their preferred weapon, the throwing spear, in Old English franca.
=> french
hank: hank: see hook
lank: lank: see link
plank: plank: [13] The etymological idea underlying plank may be ‘flatness’. It comes via planke, a northern dialect version of Old French planche (source of English planchette [19]), from late Latin planca ‘slab’, a derivative of the adjective plancus ‘flat’. This may have come from the same source as Greek pláx ‘flat surface’, ancestor of English placenta.
=> planchette
plankton: plankton: [19] The ultimate source of plankton is Greek plázein ‘hit’, a descendant of the same base as produced English apoplexy, plague, and plectrum. The link between these two unlikelysounding relatives is that something that is hit moves or wanders, and plankton are minute organisms that wander or drift in the ocean. The Greek derivative plagtón meant ‘wanderer’, and the application to ‘plankton’ was first made in German in the 1880s.
=> plague
rank: rank: English has two words rank. The one meaning ‘row, line’ [16], and hence ‘position of seniority’, was borrowed from Old French ranc (source also of English range), which goes back via Frankish *hring to a prehistoric Germanic *khrengaz ‘circle, ring’ (ancestor of English ring). Rank ‘absolute, downright’ [OE], as in ‘rank bad manners’, has had an eventful semantic history.

It originally meant ‘haughty’ and ‘full-grown’, and came from a prehistoric Germanic *rangkaz, which also produced Old Norse rakkr ‘erect’. ‘Full-grown’ evolved via ‘growing vigorously, luxuriant’ (which still survives) into ‘gross, disgusting’, on which the present-day intensive usage is based.
=> range, ring
rankle: rankle: [14] Etymologically, if something rankles, it festers from the effects of a ‘dragon’s’ bite. Nowadays the word is only used metaphorically, but it originally meant literally ‘be sore, fester’. It was borrowed from Old French rancler, a variant of draoncler. This was derived from draoncle ‘ulcer’, which in turn came from dranculus, the medieval Latin descendant of dracunculus, a diminutive form of Latin dracō ‘snake’ (source of English dragon). The notion underlying the word is of an ulcer caused by the bite of a snake.
=> dragon
shank: shank: [OE] Shank originally meant ‘leg’, or more specifically ‘shin’ (Edward I of England was nicknamed ‘Longshanks’ on account of his long legs). The word goes back to a prehistoric West Germanic *skangkan, which also produced Dutch schenk ‘leg-bone’ and is closely related to German schinken ‘ham’. Its ultimate origins are not known, although it has been suggested that it arose from the notion of ‘crookedness’ or ‘lameness’ (in which case German hinken ‘limp’ may be related). The main modern meaning of shank, ‘stem, shaft’, emerged in the 16th century.
tank: tank: [17] Tank ‘water-storage container’ originated in India, where it denoted a ‘pond’. It was borrowed from a local word, such as Gujarati tānkh or Marathi tānken ‘pond, cistern’. These in turn probably went back to Sanskrit tadāga ‘pond, lake’, which was of Dravidian origin. The word was applied as a secret code name to the new armoured vehicle at the end of 1915, supposedly because it was thought to resemble a benzene tank.
thank: thank: [OE] The notion of ‘gratitude’ in modern English thank arose out of an earlier ‘thoughtfulness’. For the word goes back ultimately to prehistoric Germanic *thank-, *thengk-, which also produced English think, and the noun thank originally meant ‘thought’ (a 12th-century translation of the gospels has ‘From the heart come evil thanks’ Matthew 15:19, where the Authorized Version gives ‘Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts’).

The sense ‘thought’ graduated via ‘favourable thought, good will’ to ‘gratitude’. It was originally singular, and the modern plural usage did not emerge until the 14th century. Thank you first appeared in the 15th century, short for I thank you.
=> think
Yankee: Yankee: [17] Yankee appears to have started life as a nickname for Dutchmen, and it is thought that it may represent Dutch Janke, a diminutive form of the common Dutch forename Jan. It was first used as a term for inhabitants of New England (where of course there were many early Dutch settlers) in the mid-18th century, and its application gradually spread to cover all the northern states and (more loosely, by non- American speakers) the whole of the USA.
anker (n.): also anchor, liquid measure in North Sea and Baltic trade, early 14c., from Dutch, related to German Anker, Swedish ankare, Medieval Latin anceria "keg, vat," which is of unknown origin. That of Rotterdam, once used in England, equaled 10 old wine or 8.5 imperial gallons.
ankh (n.): tau cross with an oval at the top, Egyptian symbol of life, 1873, from Egyptian ankh, literally "life, soul." Also known as crux ansata.
ankle (n.): Old English ancleow "ankle," from PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). The modern form seems to have been influenced by Old Norse ökkla or Old Frisian ankel, which are immediately from the Proto-Germanic form of the root (cognates: Middle High German anke "joint," German Enke "ankle"); the second element in the Old English, Old Norse and Old Frisian forms perhaps suggests claw (compare Dutch anklaauw), or it may be from influence of cneow "knee," or it may be diminutive suffix -el. Middle English writers distinguished inner ankle projection (hel of the ancle) from the outer (utter or utward).
anklet (n.): "ring for an ankle," 1810, from ankle, with diminutive suffix -let, after bracelet, etc.
ankylosaurus (n.): Cretaceous armored dinosaur, 1907, Modern Latin, from Greek ankylos "crooked" (see angle (n.)) + -saurus.
ankylosis (n.): stiffening of joints after injury or surgery, alternative (and more etymological) spelling of anchylosis (q.v.).
bank (n.1): "financial institution," late 15c., from either Old Italian banca or Middle French banque (itself from the Italian word), both meaning "table" (the notion is of the moneylender's exchange table), from a Germanic source (compare Old High German bank "bench"); see bank (n.2).

Bank holiday is from 1871, though the tradition is as old as the Bank of England. To cry all the way to the bank was coined 1956 by flamboyant pianist Liberace, after a Madison Square Garden concert that was packed with patrons but panned by critics.
bank (n.2): "earthen incline, edge of a river," c. 1200, probably in Old English but not attested in surviving documents, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse banki, Old Danish banke "sandbank," from Proto-Germanic *bangkon "slope," cognate with *bankiz "shelf" (see bench (n.)).
bank (v.): "to act as a banker," 1727, from bank (n.1). As "to deposit in a bank" from 1833. Figurative sense of "to rely on" (i.e. "to put money on") is from 1884, U.S. colloquial. Meaning "to ascend," as of an incline, is from 1892. In aeronautics, from 1911. Related: Banked; banking.
banker (n.): "keeper of a bank," 1530s, agent noun formed from bank (n.1), possibly modeled on French banquier (16c.).
banking (n.): "business of a banker," 1735, verbal noun from bank (v).
bankroll (n.): "roll of bank notes," 1887, from bank (n.1) + roll (n.). The verb is attested from 1928. Related: Bankrolled; bankrolling.
bankrupt (adj.): 1560s, from Italian banca rotta, literally "a broken bench," from banca "moneylender's shop," literally "bench" (see bank (n.1)) + rotta "broken, defeated, interrupted" from (and remodeled on) Latin rupta, fem. past participle of rumpere "to break" (see rupture (n.)). "[S]o called from the habit of breaking the bench of bankrupts" [Klein]. Earlier in English as a noun, "bankrupt person" (1530s).
bankrupt (v.): 1550s, from bankrupt (adj.). Related: Bankrupted; bankrupting.
bankruptcy (n.): 1700, from bankrupt, "probably on the analogy of insolvency, but with -t erroneously retained in spelling, instead of being merged in the suffix ...." [OED]. Figurative use from 1761.
blank (adj.): early 13c., "white, pale, colorless," from Old French blanc "white, shining," from Frankish *blank "white, gleaming," or some other West Germanic source (compare Old Norse blakkr, Old English blanca "white horse;" Old High German blanc, blanch; German blank "shining, bright"), from Proto-Germanic *blangkaz "to shine, dazzle," extended form of PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach (v.)).

Meaning "having empty spaces" evolved c. 1400. Sense of "void of expression" (a blank look) is from 1550s. Spanish blanco, Italian bianco are said to be from Germanic. Related: Blankly, blankness.
blank (n.): late 14c. as the name of a small French coin; 1550s as "white space in the center of a target," from the same source as blank (adj.). Meaning "empty space" (in a document, etc.) is from c. 1570. Meaning "losing lottery ticket" (1560s) is behind the expression draw a blank. The word has been "for decorum's sake, substituted for a word of execration" [OED] from 1854. From 1896 as short for blank cartridge (itself from 1826).
blank (v.): 1540s, "to nonplus, disconcert, shut up;" 1560s, "to frustrate," from blank (adj.). Sports sense of "defeat (another team) without allowing a score" is from 1870. Meaning "to become blank or empty" is from 1955. Related: Blanked; blanking.
blank verse (n.): 1580s; the thing itself is attested in English poetry from mid-16c. and is classical in origin.
blanket (n.): c. 1300, "bed-clothing; white woolen stuff," from Old French blanchet "light wool or flannel cloth; an article made of this material," diminutive of blanc "white" (see blank (adj.), which had a secondary sense of "a white cloth." Wet blanket (1830) is from the notion of a person who throws a damper on social situations like a wet blanket smothers a fire. In U.S. history, a blanket Indian (1859) was one using the traditional garment instead of wearing Western dress.
Only 26,000 blanket Indians are left in the United States. ["Atlantic Monthly," March 1906]
blanket (v.): c. 1600, "to cover with or as with a blanket;" also "to toss in a blanket" (as punishment), from blanket (n.). Related: Blanketed; blanketing.
branks (n.): 1590s, of unknown origin, perhaps from a North Sea Germanic language. An instrument of punishment for women, originally Scottish, it was a kind of iron cage for the head with a metal bit attached to still the tongue.
Paide for caring a woman throughe the towne for skoulding, with branks, 4d. ["Municipal Accounts of Newcastle," 1595]
"Ungallant, and unmercifully severe, as this species of torture seems to be, Dr. Plot, in his History of Staffordshire, much prefers it to the cucking stool, which, he says, 'not only endangers the health of the party, but also gives the tongue liberty 'twixt every dip.' " [Brockett, "A Glossary of North Country Words,"1829].
canker (n.): late Old English cancer "spreading ulcer, cancerous tumor," from Latin cancer "malignant tumor," literally "crab" (see cancer); influenced in Middle English by Old North French cancre "canker, sore, abscess" (Old French chancre, Modern French chancre). The word was the common one for "cancer" until c. 1700. Also used since 15c. of caterpillars and insect larvae that eat plant buds and leaves. As a verb from late 14c. Related: Cankered; cankerous. Canker blossom is recorded from 1580s.
cantankerous (adj.): 1772, said to be "a Wiltshire word," probably from an alteration (influenced by raucous) of Middle English contakour "troublemaker" (c. 1300), from Anglo-French contec "discord, strife," from Old French contechier (Old North French contekier), from con- "with" + teche, related to atachier "hold fast" (see attach). With -ous. Related: Cantankerously; cantankerousness.
clank (v.): 1610s, perhaps echoic, perhaps a blend of clang (v.) and clink (v.), perhaps from a Low German source (compare Middle Dutch clank, Dutch klank, Old High German klanc, Middle Low German klank, German Klang).
clank (n.): 1650s, from clank (v.). Reduplicated form clankety-clank attested from 1895.
crank (n.): "handle for turning a revolving axis," Old English *cranc, implied in crancstæf "a weaver's instrument," crencestre "female weaver, spinster," from Proto-Germanic base *krank-, and related to crincan "to bend, yield" (see crinkle, cringe). English retains the literal sense of the ancient root, while German and Dutch krank "sick," formerly "weak, small," is from a figurative use. The 1825 supplement to Jamieson's Scottish dictionary has crank "infirm, weak, etc."

The sense of "an eccentric person," especially one who is irrationally fixated, is first recorded 1833, said to be from the crank of a barrel organ, which makes it play the same tune over and over; but more likely a back-formation from cranky (q.v.). Meaning "methamphetamine" attested by 1989.
crank (v.): 1590s, "to zig-zag," from crank (n.). Meaning "to turn a crank" is first attested 1908, with reference to automobile engines. Related: Cranked; cranking.
crankshaft (n.): 1803, from crank (v.) + shaft (n.). The basic form of the mechanism appears to date from Roman times.
cranky (adj.): "cross-tempered, irritable," 1807, from crank (n.) + -y (2). The evolution would be from earlier senses of crank, such as "a twist or fanciful turn of speech" (1590s); "inaccessible hole or crevice" (1560s). Grose's 1787 "Provincial Glossary" has "Cranky. Ailing sickly from the dutch crank, sick," and identifies it as a Northern word. Jamieson's Scottish dictionary (1825) has crank in a secondary sense of "hard, difficult," as in crank word, "a word hard to be understood;" crank job, "a work attended with difficulty, or requiring ingenuity in the execution." Related: Crankily; crankiness.
Ben. Dang it, don't you spare him--A cross grain'd cranky toad as ever crawl'd. (etc.) [Richard Cumberland, "Lovers Resolutions," Act I, 1813]
dank (adj.): c. 1400, earlier as a verb (early 14c.), now obsolete, meaning "to moisten," used of mists, dews, etc. Perhaps from Scandinavian (compare Swedish dank "moist place," dänka "to moisten") or German (compare Middle High German damph, Dutch damp "vapor"). Now largely superseded by damp (adj.). Related: Dankness.
drank: Old English dranc, singular past tense of drink. It also became past participle 17c.-19c., probably to avoid the pejorative associations of drunk.
embankment (n.): 1786, from embank "to enclose with a bank" (1570s; see em- (1) + bank (n.2)) + -ment.