quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- cardinal




- cardinal: [12] The ultimate source of cardinal is Latin cardō ‘hinge’, and its underlying idea is that something of particular, or ‘cardinal’, importance is like the hinge on which all else depends. English first acquired it as a noun, direct from ecclesiastical Latin cardinālis (originally an adjective derived from cardō), which in the early church denoted simply a clergyman attached to a church, as a door is attached by hinges; it only gradually rose in dignity to refer to princes of the Roman Catholic church. The adjective reached English in the 13th century, via Old French cardinal or Latin cardinālis.
- catholic




- catholic: [14] Etymologically, the Catholic Church is the universal church, comprising all Christians. For catholic comes ultimately from a Greek word, katholikós, meaning ‘relating to all, general’. It was a derivative of kathólou, a compound formed from katá ‘relating to’ and hólos ‘whole’ (source of English holism and holistic). It passed into English via Old French catholique or ecclesiastical Latin catholicus. Its original meaning is preserved today in such contexts as ‘catholic tastes’ – that is, ‘wideranging tastes’.
=> holistic - noon




- noon: [OE] Noon denotes etymologically the ‘ninth’ hour. It was adopted in the Old English period from Latin nōna, short for nōna hōra, the ‘ninth hour’. Reckoning the day from sunrise, on average six o’clock, this meant that ‘noon’ was three o’clock in the afternoon (which was originally when the office of nones [18] – a related word – was said in the Roman catholic church).
By the 12th century, however, we find noon being used for a ‘midday meal’, and in the early 13th century it had moved on to simply ‘midday’, so it appears that some forward shifting of a meal that had originally taken place in mid afternoon was responsible for altering the meaning of noon (modern English terms for mealtimes, such as tea and dinner, are equally slippery).
=> nine - pope




- pope: [OE] Etymologically, the pope is the ‘daddy’ of the Roman Catholic church. Greek páppas was a nursery word for ‘father’, based no doubt on the first syllable of patér ‘father’ (a relative of English father). In the form pápas it came to be used by early Christians for ‘bishop’, and its Latin descendant pāpa was applied from the 5th century onwards to the bishop of Rome, the pope.
English acquired the word in the Anglo-Saxon period, and so it has undergone the normal medieval phonetic changes to become pope, but the derivatives papacy [14] and papal [14] arrived later, and retain their a. Latin pāpa also gave English papa [17], via French papa.
=> papa, papacy, poplin - Asperges (n.)




- sprinkling ritual of the Catholic church, 1550s, from Late Latin asperges, noun use of 2nd person singular future indicative of Latin aspergere "to scatter, strew upon, sprinkle," from ad "to" (see ad-) + spargere "to sprinkle" (see sparse). The word is taken from the phrase Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo et mundabor, from Psalm 51 (Vulgate), sung during the rite of sprinkling a congregation with holy water.
- beatify (v.)




- 1530s, "to make very happy," from Middle French béatifer, from Late Latin beatificare "make happy, make blessed," from Latin beatus "supremely happy, blessed" (past participle of beare "make happy, bless") + -ficare, from stem of facere "to make, do" (see factitious). The Roman Catholic Church sense of "to pronounce as being in heavenly bliss" (1620s) is the first step toward canonization. Related: Beatified; beatifying.
- benedict (n.)




- "newly married man" (especially one who had seemed a confirmed bachelor), 1821, from the character Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing" (1599). The name is from Late Latin Benedictus, literally "blessed," from Latin benedicte "bless (you)" (see benediction). This also produced the proper name Bennet; hence also benet (late 14c.), the third of the four lesser orders of the Roman Catholic Church, one of whose functions was to exorcize spirits.
- Catholic (n.)




- "member of the Roman Catholic church," 1560s, from Catholic (adj.).
- Catholicism (n.)




- "faith and practice of the Catholic church," 1610s, from Catholic + -ism.
- celibate (n.)




- 1610s, "state of celibacy" (especially as mandated to clergy in the Catholic church) from French célibat (16c.), from Latin caelibatus (see celibacy). This was the only sense until early 19c. The adjective meaning "unmarried, sworn to remain single" is recorded from 1825. As a noun, one who is sworn to such a condition, from 1838.
- Douai




- or Douay, name of town in northern France, used elliptically in reference to the English translation of the Bible begun there late 16c., sanctioned by Roman Catholic Church. [Also called Rheims-Douai translation because it was published in Rheims in 1582]. It uses more Latinate words than the KJV.
- iconoclast (n.)




- "breaker or destroyer of images," 1590s, from French iconoclaste and directly from Medieval Latin iconoclastes, from Late Greek eikonoklastes, from eikon (genitive eikonos) "image" + klastes "breaker," from klas- past tense stem of klan "to break" (see clastic). Originally those in the Eastern Church in 8c. and 9c. whose mobs of followers destroyed icons and other religious objects on the grounds that they were idols. Applied to 16c.-17c. Protestants in Netherlands who vandalized former Catholic churches on similar grounds. Extended sense of "one who attacks orthodox beliefs or institutions" is first attested 1842.
- imprimatur (n.)




- 1640, Modern Latin, literally "let it be printed," the formula of a book licenser, third person singular present subjunctive passive of Latin imprimere "to print" (see impress). Originally of state license to print books, later only of Roman Catholic Church.
- jubilee (n.)




- late 14c., in the Old Testament sense, from Old French jubileu "jubille; anniversary; rejoicing," from Late Latin jubilaeus "the jubilee year," originally an adjective, "of the jubilee," altered (by association with Latin jubilare "to shout with joy") from Greek iabelaios, from iobelos, from Hebrew yobhel "jubilee," formerly "a trumpet, ram's horn," literally "ram."
The original notion was of a year of emancipation of slaves and restoration of lands, to be celebrated every 50th year (Levit. xxv:9); it was proclaimed by the sounding of a ram's horn on the Day of Atonement. The Catholic Church sense of "a period for remission of sin penalties in exchange for pilgrimages, alms, etc." was begun in 1300 by Boniface VIII. The general sense of "season of rejoicing" is first recorded mid-15c., though through early 20c. the word kept its specific association with 50th anniversaries. As a type of African-American folk song, it is attested from 1872. - Kulturkampf (n.)




- 1879, originally in reference to the struggle between the German government and the Catholic Church over control of educational and ecclesiastical appointments, 1872-86, German, literally "struggle for culture," from Kultur + Kampf "combat, fight, struggle," from Old High German kampf (8c.), from Latin campus "field, battlefield" (see campus).
- Maronite




- 1510s, from Late Latin Maronita, from Maron, name of the founder. A sect of Syrian Christians (4c.), originally Monothelites, subsequently (1216) united with the Catholic Church.
- sodality (n.)




- "companionship, fellowship, association with others," c. 1600, from Middle French sodalité or directly from Latin sodalitatem (nominative sodalitas) "companionship, a brotherhood, association, fellowship," from sodalis "companion," perhaps literally "one's own, relative," related to suescere "to accustom," from PIE *swedh-, extended form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (see idiom). Especially of religious guilds in the Catholic Church.
- zucchetto (n.)




- small, round skull-cap worn by dignitaries in the Catholic Church, 1853, from Italian zucchetta "a cap," originally diminutive of zucca "gourd, head," perhaps from Late Latin cucutia, of unknown origin.
- ostiary




- "A doorkeeper, especially of a church; specifically a member of the lowest of the four lesser orders in the pre-Reformation Western Church, and later in the Roman Catholic Church. Now historical", Late 15th cent.; earliest use found in Higden's Polychronicon. From classical Latin ōstiārius ostiarius; compare -ary.