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abominable [abominable 词源字典]: abominable: [14] The Latin original of this word meant ‘shun as an evil omen’. The prefix ab- ‘away’ was added to ōmen (source of English omen) to produce the verb abōminārī. From this was created the adjective abōminābilis, which reached English via Old French. From the 14th to the 17th century there was a general misapprehension that abominable was derived from Latin ab hominem ‘away from man’, hence ‘beastly, unnatural’.

This piece of fanciful folk etymology not only perpetuated the erroneous spelling abhominable throughout this period, but also seems to have contributed significantly to making the adjective much more strongly condemnatory.
=> omen[abominable etymology, abominable origin, 英语词源]
float: float: [OE] Germanic *fleut-, which produced English fleet, had the so-called ‘weak grades’ (that is, variant forms which because they were weakly stressed had different vowels) *flot- and *flut-. The former was the source of Germanic *flotōjan, which passed into late Old English as flotian and eventually ousted flēotan (modern English fleet) from its original meaning ‘float’.

It also seems to have been borrowed into the Romance languages, producing French flotter, Italian fiottare, and Spanish flotar (a diminutive of the Spanish noun derivative flota gave English flotilla [18]). The latter formed the basis of Old Norse flytja, acquired by English as flit [12], and of Old English floterian, which became modern English flutter.
=> fleet, flit, flotilla, flutter
pursue: pursue: [13] Pursue is first cousin to prosecute. Both go back ultimately to Latin prōsequī ‘follow up, pursue’. This led fairly directly to English prosecute, but it also seems to have had a Vulgar Latin descendant *prōsequere, which passed into English via Old French porsivre and Anglo-Norman pursuer as pursue.
=> prosecute, sue, suit
abduct (v.): "to kidnap," 1834, probably a back-formation from abduction; also see abduce. Related: Abducted; abducting.
abortive (adj.): late 14c., "born prematurely or dead," from Latin abortivus "pertaining to miscarriage; causing abortion," from abort-, past participle stem of aboriri "disappear, miscarry," from ab- "amiss" (see ab-) + oriri "appear, be born, arise" (see orchestra); the compound word used in Latin for deaths, miscarriages, sunsets, etc. The Latin verb for "to produce an abortion" was abigo, literally "to drive away." Not originally used to imply forced or deliberate miscarriage; from 14c.-18c. stillborn children or domestic animals were said to be abortive. Also see abortion. Related: Abortiveness.
about (adv.): Old English abutan, earlier onbutan "on the outside of," from on (see on; also see a- (1)) + be "by" (see by) + utan "outside," from ut (see out (adv.)). By 13c. it had forced out Old English ymbe, ymbutan for meaning "in the neighborhood of." Abouts, with adverbial genitive, still found in hereabouts, etc., probably is a northern dialectal form. About face as a military command (short for right about face) is first attested 1861, American English.
above (adv.): Old English abufan, earlier onbufan, from on (see on; also see a- (1)) + bufan "over," compound of be "by" (see by) + ufan "over/high," from Proto-Germanic *ufan- (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German oban, German oben), from PIE root *upo (see up (adv.)). Meaning "in addition" first corded 1590s.
accolade (n.): 1620s, from French accolade (16c.), from Provençal acolada or Italian accollata, ultimately from noun use of a fem. past participle from Vulgar Latin *accollare "to embrace around the neck," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + collum "neck" (see collar (n.)).

The original sense is of an embrace about the neck or the tapping of a sword on the shoulders to confer knighthood. Extended meaning "praise, award" is from 1852. Also see -ade. Earlier was accoll (mid-14c.), from Old French acolee "an embrace, kiss, especially that given to a new-made knight," from verb acoler. The French noun in the 16c. was transformed to accolade, with the foreign suffix.
acoustics (n.): 1680s, "science of sound," from acoustic (also see -ics). Meaning "acoustic properties" of a building, etc., attested from 1885.
acrobatics (n.): 1859, from acrobatic; also see -ics. Also acrobatism (1864). In early 20c. acrobacy (from French acrobacie) sometimes was used.
acrophobe (n.): "one suffering from acrophobia," 1895, from acrophobia; also see -phobe.
aerobatics (n.): aircraft tricks, "trick flying," 1914, from aero- + ending from acrobat (also see -ics). Earlier (1879) it meant "the art of constructing and using airships; aerial navigation; aeronautics."
aerobics (n.): method of exercise and a fad in early 1980s, American English, coined 1968 by Kenneth H. Cooper, U.S. physician, from aerobic (also see -ics) on the notion of activities which require modest oxygen intake and thus can be maintained.
aerodonetics (n.): science of gliding, 1907, from Greek aero- "air" (see aero-) + stem of donein "to shake, drive about." Also see -ics.
aeronautics (n.): 1824, from aeronautic (1784), from French aéronautique, from aéro- (see aero-) + nautique "of ships," from Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos (see nautical). Originally of balloons. Also see -ics. Aeronaut "balloonist" is from 1784.
aesthetics (n.): 1803, from aesthetic (also see -ics).
aleph (n.): Hebrew and Phoenician letter, c. 1300, from Semitic languages, pausal form of eleph "ox" (the character might have developed from a hieroglyph of an ox's head); also see alphabet.
altogether: early 13c., altogedere, a strengthened form of all (also see together); used in the sense of "a whole" from 1660s. The altogether "nude" is from 1894.
amicable (adj.): early 15c., from Late Latin amicabilis "friendly," a word in Roman law, from Latin amicus "friend," related to amare "to love" (see Amy). Also see amiable.
an: indefinite article before words beginning with vowels, 12c., from Old English an (with a long vowel) "one; lone," also used as a prefix an- "single, lone;" see one for the divergence of that word from this. Also see a, of which this is the older, fuller form.

In other European languages, identity between indefinite article and the word for "one" remains explicit (as in French un, German ein, etc.) Old English got by without indefinite articles: He was a good man in Old English was he wæs god man. Circa 15c., a and an commonly were written as one word with the following noun, which contributed to the confusion over how such words as newt and umpire ought to be divided (see N).

In Shakespeare, etc., an sometimes is a contraction of as if (a usage first attested c. 1300), especially before it.
analytics (n.): 1590s as a term in logic, from Latin analytica from Greek analytika (see analytic); also see -ics.
anarchistic (adj.): 1845; see anarchy + -istic. Also see anarchic. Related: Anarchistically.
aniline (n.): chemical base used in making colorful dyes, 1843, coined 1841 by German chemist Carl Julius Fritzsche (1808-1871) and adopted by Hofmann, ultimately from Portuguese anil "the indigo shrub," from Arabic an-nil "the indigo," assimilated from al-nil, from Persian nila, ultimately from Sanskrit nili "indigo," from nilah "dark blue." With suffix -ine indicating "derived substance" (see -ine (1); also see -ine (2) for the later, more precise, use of the suffix in chemistry).
archeological (adj.): alternative spelling of archaeological (see archaeology). Also see ae.
archeologist (n.): alternative spelling of archaeologist. Also see ae.
archeology (n.): alternative spelling of archaeology. Also see ae.
art (v.): second person present indicative of be; Old English eart. Also see are (v.).
arty (adj.): 1901, "having artistic pretentions," from art (n.) + -y (2); also see artsy.
asafoetida (n.): alternative spelling of asafetida (q.v.); also see oe.
askance (adv.): 1520s, "sideways, asquint," of obscure origin. OED has separate listings for askance and obsolete Middle English askance(s) and no indication of a connection, but Barnhart and others derive the newer word from the older one. The Middle English word, recorded early 14c. as ase quances and found later in Chaucer, meant "in such a way that; even as; as if;" and as an adverb "insincerely, deceptively." It has been analyzed as a compound of as and Old French quanses (pronounced "kanses") "how if," from Latin quam "how" + si "if."
The E[nglish] as is, accordingly, redundant, and merely added by way of partial explanation. The M.E. askances means "as if" in other passages, but here means, "as if it were," i.e. "possibly," "perhaps"; as said above. Sometimes the final s is dropped .... [Walter W. Skeat, glossary to Chaucer's "Man of Law's Tale," 1894]
Also see discussion in Leo Spitzer, "Anglo-French Etymologies," Philological Quarterly 24.23 (1945), and see OED entry for askance (adv.) for discussion of the mysterious ask- word cluster in English. Other guesses about the origin of askance include Old French a escone, from past participle of a word for "hidden;" Italian a scancio "obliquely, slantingly;" or that it is a cognate of askew.
asshole (n.): variant of arsehole (also see ass (n.2)). Meaning "contemptible person," mid-1930s.
athletics (n.): c. 1730, from athletic; also see -ics. Probably formed on model of gymnastics.
auditorium (n.): 1727, from Latin auditorium "lecture room," literally "place where something is heard," neuter of auditorius (adj.) "of or for hearing," from auditus, past participle of audire "to hear" (see audience); also see -ory. Earlier in the same sense was auditory (late 14c.).
awoke: past tense of awake (v.), from Old English awoc; also see awaken. The tendency has been to restrict the strong past tense (awoke) to the original intransitive sense of awake and the weak inflection (awakened) to the transitive, but this never has been complete.
awoken: past participle of awake (v.); also see awaken. The tendency has been to restrict the strong past participle (awoken) to the original intransitive sense of awake and the weak inflection (awakened) to the transitive, but this never has been complete.
baboon (n.): type of old world ape, c. 1400, babewyn, earlier "a grotesque figure used in architecture or decoration" (early 14c.), from French babouin "baboon," from Old French baboin "ape," earlier "simpleton, dimwit, fool" (13c.), also "gaping figure (such as a gargoyle)," so perhaps from Old French baboue "grimacing;" or perhaps it is imitative of the ape's babbling speech-like cries. Also see -oon. German Pavian "baboon" is from Dutch baviaan, from Middle Dutch baubijn, a borrowing of the Old French word. Century Dictionary says Arabic maimun probably is from the European words.
balloon (n.): 1570s, "a game played with a large inflated leather ball," from Italian pallone "large ball," from palla "ball," from a Germanic source akin to Langobardic palla (from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell;" see bole) + -one, suffix indicating great size.

Perhaps also borrowed in part from French ballon (16c.), altered (after balle) from Italian pallone. It also meant the ball itself (1590s), which was batted back and forth by means of large wooden paddles strapped to the forearms. In 17c., it also meant "a type of fireworks housed in a pasteboard ball" (1630s) and "round ball used as an architectural ornament" (1650s). Acquired modern meaning after Montgolfier brothers' flights, 1783. As a child's toy, it is attested from 1848; as "outline containing words in a comic engraving" it dates from 1844. Also see -oon.
barrister (n.): 1540s, "a student of law who has been called to the bar," from bar (n.3) in the legal sense + -ster. Also see attorney. The second element is obscure.
basics (n.): "rudiments or fundamentals of anything," by 1934, from basic. Also see -ics. Phrase back-to-basics was in use by 1975.
bassoon (n.): 1727, from French basson (17c.), from Italian bassone, augmentative of basso (see bass (adj.)). Compare balloon (n.); also see -oon.
batten (v.1): "to improve; to fatten," 1590s, probably representing an English dialectal survival of Old Norse batna "improve" (cognates: Old English batian, Old Frisian batia, Old High German bazen, Gothic gabatnan "to become better, avail, benefit," Old English bet "better;" also see boot (v.)). Related: Battened; battening.
Bavaria: named for the Boii, ancient Celtic people who once lived there (also see Bohemia).
bay (n.3): "howl of a dog," early 14c., earlier "howling chorus raised (by hounds) when in contact with the hunted animal," c. 1300, from Old French bayer, from PIE root *bai- echoic of howling (compare Greek bauzein, Latin baubari "to bark," English bow-wow; also see bawl). From the hunting usage comes the transferred sense of "final encounter," and thence, on the notion of putting up an effective defense, at bay.
beech (n.): Old English bece "beech," from Proto-Germanic *bokjon (cognates: Old Norse bok, Dutch beuk, Flemish boek, Old High German buohha, German Buche, Middle Dutch boeke "beech"), from PIE root *bhagos "beech tree" (cognate with Greek phegos "oak," Latin fagus "beech;" see fagus).

Formerly with adjectival form beechen. Also see book (n.).
Benjamin: masc. proper name, in Old Testament, Jacob's youngest son (Gen. xxxv:18), from Hebrew Binyamin, literally "son of the south," though interpreted in Genesis as "son of the right hand," from ben "son of" + yamin "right hand," also "south" (in an East-oriented culture). Compare Arabic cognate yaman "right hand, right side, south;" yamana "he was happy," literally "he turned to the right." The right was regarded as auspicious (see left and dexterity). Also see Yemen, southpaw, and compare deasil "rightwise, turned toward the right," from Gaelic deiseil "toward the south; toward the right," from deas "right, right-hand; south." Also compare Sanskrit dakshina "right; south." Slang meaning "money" (by 1999) is from portrait of Benjamin Franklin on U.S. $100 bill.
bicentenary (adj.): "pertaining to a 200-year period," 1843; see bi- + centenary. Also see bicentennial. As a noun, "a bicentennial anniversary or celebration," also from 1843.
biomechanics (n.): also bio-mechanics, 1933, "study of the action of forces on the body," from bio- + mechanic (also see -ics). Earlier (1924) as a term in Russian theater, from Russian biomekhanika (1921).
biometrics (n.): "application of mathematics to biology," 1902, from biometric (also see -ics); slightly earlier in this sense was biometry (1901), which was coined by Whewell and used by him and others with a sense of "calculation of life expectancy" (1831).
bionics (n.): 1959, from bio- + second element from electronic; also see -ics.
bologna (n.): 1850, variant of bologna sausage (1590s), named for the city in Italy, whose name is from Latin Bononia, which either represents Gaulish bona "foundation, fortress," or Boii, the name of the Gaulish people who occupied the region 4c. B.C.E. Also see baloney.