英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

detonate: detonate: [18] Detonate is related to thunder. It comes from the past participle of Latin dētonāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘down’ and tonāre ‘thunder, roar’, which goes back to the same Indo-European base (*ten-, *ton-) as thunder. Latin dētonāre never actually meant ‘cause to explode’, though; that sense comes from its French descendant détoner.
=> thunder
herpetology: herpetology: see serpent
mistletoe: mistletoe: [OE] Mistletoe is a mystery word. It means literally ‘mistletoe twig’, and comes from an Old English compound misteltān formed from mistel ‘mistletoe’ and tān ‘twig’. The origins of mistel, however (which has relatives in German mistil and Dutch and Swedish mistel), are unknown. The mistle thrush [18], or missel thrush, got its name from its predilection for mistletoe berries.
retort: retort: see torment
rhetoric: rhetoric: [14] In ancient Greece, a rhétōr was a ‘public speaker’, an ‘orator’. The word went back to a prehistoric Indo-European base *wer- ‘speak, say’, which also produced English verb and word. From it was derived the adjective rhētorikós, which passed into English as a noun via Latin rhētorica and Old French rethorique.
=> verb, word
skeleton: skeleton: [16] A skeleton is etymologically a ‘dried-up’ or ‘withered’ body. The word comes via modern Latin from Greek skeletón, short for sóma skeletón ‘dried-up body’. The adjective skeletós was derived from skéllein ‘dry up, wither’, and was related to sklērós ‘dry, hard’, from which English gets sclerosis [14].
=> sclerosis
teetotal: teetotal: [19] The adverb teetotally is first recorded in America in 1832 (James Hall, in his Legends of West Philadelphia, recorded a Kentucky backwoodsman as saying ‘These Mingoes … ought to be essentially, and particularly, and tee-totally obflisticated off of the face of the whole yearth’); the tee represents the initial t of total, as if repeating it to give extra emphasis to the word.

The application of the adjective teetotal to ‘total abstinence from alcohol’ (that is, including beer, and not just spirits) is virtually contemporary. It is credited to a certain Richard Turner, of Preston, Lancashire, who is reputed to have used it in a speech to a temperance society in September 1833.
veto: veto: [17] Latin vetō meant ‘I forbid’ (it was the first person present singular of vetāre ‘forbid’, a verb of uncertain origin which may be related to Welsh gwadu ‘deny’). It was used in the Roman senate by tribunes of the people as a formula for objecting to proposals, and it was originally introduced into English as part of the terminology of parliamentary procedure.
aceto-: before vowels acet-, word-forming element from comb. form of acetic and generally indicating compounds from or related to acetic acid.
acetone (n.): colorless volatile liquid, 1839, literally "a derivative of acetic acid," from Latin acetum "vinegar" (see acetic) + Greek-based chemical suffix -one, which owes its use in chemistry to this word.
asyndeton (n.): "omission of conjunctions," 1580s, from Latin, from Greek asyndeton, neuter of asyndetos "unconnected," from a-, privative prefix (see a- (3)), + syndetos, from syndein "to bind together," from syn- "together" (see syn-) + dein "to bind," related to desmos "band," from PIE *de- "to bind."
athetosis (n.): 1871, from Greek athetos "not fixed, without position or place, set aside" + -osis. Coined by U.S. nerve specialist William Alexander Hammond (1828-1900).
betoken (v.): late 12c., from be- + Old English tacnian "to signify," from tacn "sign" (see token). Related: Betokened; betokening.
Breton (n.): "native or language of Brittany," late 14c., from French form of Briton (q.v.).
carburetor (n.): device to enhance a gas flame, 1866, from carburet "compound of carbon and another substance" (1795, now displaced by carbide), also used as a verb, "to combine with carbon" (1802); from carb-, comb. form of carbon, + -uret, an archaic suffix formed from Modern Latin -uretum to parallel French words in -ure. Motor vehicle sense is from 1896.
chaeto-: before vowels chaet-, word-forming element meaning "hair," also, in scientific use, "spine, bristle," from Latinized form of Greek khaite "long, flowing hair" (of persons, also of horses, lions), related to Avestan gaesa- "curly hair."
chaetophobia (n.): "fear of hair," from chaeto- "hair; bristle" + -phobia "fear."
cosmetologist (n.): 1926, American English, from cosmetology + -ist. Won out over cosmetician.
cosmetology (n.): 1855, from French cosmétologie, from Latinized form of Greek kosmetos (see cosmetic) + -ology.
covetous (adj.): mid-13c., from Old French coveitos (12c., Modern French convoiteux) "desirous, covetous," from Vulgar Latin *cupiditosus, from Latin cupiditas (see covet). Related: Covetously; covetousness.
cretonne (n.): 1870, from French cretonne (1723), supposedly from Creton, village in Normandy where it originally was made.
detonate (v.): 1729, a back-formation from detonation, or else from Latin detonatus, past participle of detonare. Related: Detonated; detonating.
detonation (n.): 1670s, "explosion accompanied by loud sound," from French détonation, from Medieval Latin detonationem (nominative detonatio), from Latin detonare "to thunder down, to release one's thunder, roar out," from de- "down" (see de-) + tonare "to thunder" (see thunder (n.)). Sense of "act of causing to explode" (mid-18c.) developed in French.
detonator (n.): 1822, agent noun in Latin form from detonate. For suffix, see -er (1).
detour (n.): 1738, from French détour, from Old French destor "side road, byway; evasion, excuse," from destorner "turn aside," from des- "aside" + tourner "to turn" (see turn (v.)).
detour (v.): 1836 (intransitive); 1905 (transitive), from detour (n.). Related: Detoured; detouring.
detox: 1972 (v.), 1975 (n.), colloquial abbreviation of detoxify, detoxification.
detoxicate (v.): 1867; see de- + toxic + -ate (2). Specifically of drug and alcohol addictions since 1970.
detoxification (n.): 1905, of substances, 1971 of persons who drink to excess; see detoxify + -ation.
detoxify (v.): 1905; see de- + toxic + -fy. Earlier in the same sense was detoxicate (1867).
endoskeleton (n.): 1838, from endo- + skeleton.
Eton: collar (1882), jacket (1873, formerly worn by the younger boys there), etc., from Eton College, public school for boys on the Thames opposite Windsor, founded by Henry VI. The place name is Old English ea "river" (see ea) + tun "farm, settlement" (see town (n.)). Related: Etonian.
excretory (adj.): 1680s, from excrete + -ory.
exoskeleton (n.): 1841, from exo- + skeleton. Said to have been introduced by English anatomist Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892). Related: Exoskeletal.
fetor (n.): "offensive smell," mid-15c., from Latin fetor, foetor "stink, stench, bad smell," from fetere "have a bad smell" (see fetid).
feuilleton (n.): part of a French newspaper devoted to light literature and criticism (usually at the bottom of a page and separated by a rule), 1845, from French feuilleton (18c.), literally "a leaflet (added to a newspaper)," diminutive of feuille "leaf," from Latin folium (see folio).
Esp. applied in F. to the short story or serial with which newspapers filled up after the fall of Napoleon left them short of war news. This was the beginning of Dumas' and Eugène Sue's long novels. [Weekley]
In reference to writing style, suggestive of showiness and superficiality.
hereto: late 12c., from here + to.
heretofore: c. 1200, from here + obsolete Old English toforan.
herpetology (n.): "study of reptiles," 1816, from French herpétologie (18c.), coined from Greek herpeton "reptile," literally "creeping thing," from herpein "to creep" (see serpent) + logia (see -logy). Related: Herpetologist.
hometown (n.): 1879, from home (n.) + town.
ketone (n.): chemical group, 1851, from German keton, coined in 1848 by German chemist Leopold Gmelin (1788-1853) from German Aketon, from French acétone (see acetone). Its combining form is keto-.
ketosis (n.): 1900, from keto-, comb. form of ketone, + -osis.
kineto-: word-forming element meaning "motion," from Greek kineto-, comb. form of kinetos (see kinetic).
magneto (n.): 1882, short for magneto-electric machine (see magneto-).
magneto-: word-forming element meaning "magnetic, magnetism," from Greek magneto-, combining form of magnes (see magnet).
magneto-electric (adj.): also magnetoelectric, "characterized by electricity produced by magnets," 1831, from magneto- + electric.
magnetopause (n.): 1963, from magneto- in magnetosphere + pause (n.).
magnetosphere (n.): 1959, from magneto- + sphere. So called because in it the magnetic field of the earth plays a dominant role in the motion of particles.
metonym (n.): 1788; see metonymy.
metonymy (n.): 1560s, from French métonymie (16c.) and directly from Late Latin metonymia, from Greek metonymia, literally "a change of name," related to metonomazein "to call by a new name; to take a new name," from meta- "change" (see meta-) + onyma, dialectal form of onoma "name" (see name (n.)). Figure in which the name of one thing is used in place of another that is suggested by or associated with it (such as the Kremlin for "the Russian government"). Related: Metonymic; metonymical.