英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

organ: organ: [13] Greek órganon meant ‘tool, implement, instrument’. It was a descendant of the Indo-European base *worg- (source also of English work). Latin took the word over as organum, and in the post-classical period applied it to ‘musical instruments’. At first it was a very general term, but gradually it narrowed down to ‘wind instrument’, and in ecclesiastical Latin it came to be used for a musical instrument made from a number of pipes.

When English acquired it, via Old French organe, it was in the intermediate sense ‘wind instrument’ (in the 1611 translation of Psalm 150, ‘Praise him with stringed instruments and organs’, organ still means ‘pipe’), but by the end of the 17th century this had died out. The sense ‘functional part of the body’ goes right back to the word’s Greek source. The derivative organize [15] comes via Old French from medieval Latin organizāre.

This originally denoted literally ‘furnish with organs so as to form into a living being’, and hence ‘provide with a co-ordinated structure’.
=> organize, orgy, work
conspire (v.): late 14c., from Old French conspirer (14c.), from Latin conspirare "to agree, unite, plot," literally "to breathe together," from com- "together" (see com-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). Or perhaps the notion is "to blow together" musical instruments, i.e., "To sound in unison." Related: Conspired; conspiring.
ebony (n.): dark, hard wood favored for carving, musical instruments, etc., 1590s, perhaps an extended form of Middle English ebon, or from hebenyf (late 14c.), perhaps a Middle English misreading of Latin hebeninus "of ebony," from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos "ebony," probably from Egyptian hbnj or another Semitic source. Figurative use to suggest intense blackness is from 1620s. As an adjective, "of ebony, made of ebony," from 1590s; in reference to skin color of Africans, by 1813. French ébène, Old High German ebenus (German Ebenholz) are from Latin ebenus.
klezmer (n.): late 19c. (plural klezmorim); originally, "an itinerant East European Jewish professional musician," from Hebrew kley zemer, literally "vessels of song," thus "musical instruments."
muted (adj.): 1861, in reference to musical instruments, past participle adjective from mute (v.). Figuratively by 1879. Of colors by 1939. Related: mutedness.
organ (n.): fusion of late Old English organe, and Old French orgene (12c.), both meaning "musical instrument," both from Latin organa, plural of organum "a musical instrument," from Greek organon "implement, tool for making or doing; musical instrument; organ of sense, organ of the body," literally "that with which one works," from PIE *werg-ano-, from root *werg- "to do" (cognates: Greek ergon "work," orgia "religious performances;" Armenian gorc "work;" Avestan vareza "work, activity;" Gothic waurkjan, Old English wyrcan "to work," Old English weorc "deed, action, something done;" Old Norse yrka "work, take effect").

Applied vaguely in late Old English to musical instruments; sense narrowed by late 14c. to the musical instrument now known by that name (involving pipes supplied with wind by a bellows and worked by means of keys), though Augustine (c. 400) knew this as a specific sense of Latin organa. The meaning "body part adapted to a certain function" is attested from late 14c., from a Medieval Latin sense of Latin organum. Organist is first recorded 1590s; organ-grinder is attested from 1806.
percussion (n.): early 15c., "a striking, a blow; internal injury, contusion," from Latin percussionem (nominative percussio) "a beating, striking; a beat as a measure of time," noun of action from past participle stem of percutere "to strike hard, beat, smite; strike through and through," from per- "through" (see per) + quatere "to strike, shake" (see quash). Reference to musical instruments is first recorded 1776.
retune (v.): also re-tune, c. 1600 of musical instruments; 1974 of engines, from re- + tune (v.). Related: Retuned; retuning.
stop (n.): late 14c., "a plug;" mid-15c., "a cessation," from stop (v.). Of mechanisms of musical instruments from c. 1500, especially of organs, where opening them makes it produce more sound, hence figurative phrase pull out the stops (1909). From 1660s in phonetics, 1831 in photography. Meaning "a stopping place" is from 1889. To put a stop to some activity is from 1670s (earlier give a stop to, 1580s).
string (v.): c. 1400, "to fit a bow with a string," from string (n.). Meaning "to thread (beads, etc.) on a string" is from 1610s. Of musical instruments from 1520s (stringed instrument is from c. 1600). To string (someone) along is slang from 1902; string (v.) in the sense "deceive" is attested in British dialect from c. 1812; perhaps ultimately from the musical instrument sense and with a notion of "to 'tune' someone (for some purpose)." Related: Stringed (later strung); stringing.
symphony (n.): c. 1300, a name given to various types of musical instruments, from Old French simphonie, sifonie, simfone "musical harmony; stringed instrument" (12c., Modern French symphonie) and directly from Latin symphonia "a unison of sounds, harmony," from Greek symphonia "harmony, concord of sounds," from symphonos "harmonious, agreeing in sound," from assimilated form of syn- "together" (see syn-) + phone "voice, sound," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)).

Meaning "harmony of sounds" in English is attested from late 14c.; sense of "music in parts" is from 1590s. "It was only after the advent of Haydn that this word began to mean a sonata for full orchestra. Before that time it meant a prelude, postlude, or interlude, or any short instrumental work." ["Elson's Music Dictionary"] Meaning "elaborate orchestral composition" first attested 1789. Elliptical for "symphony orchestra" from 1926. Diminutive symphonette is recorded from 1947.
tempered (adj.): 1650s, "brought to desired hardness" (of metals, especially steel), past participle adjective from temper (v.). Meaning "toned down by admixture" is from 1650s; of music or musical instruments, "tuned," from 1727.
tune-up (n.): "adjustments made to an automobile to improve its working," 1911, from verbal phrase tune up "bring to a state of effectiveness," 1718, in reference to musical instruments, from tune (v.) + up (adv.). Attested from 1901 in reference to engines. Meaning "event that serves as practice for a later one" is from 1934, U.S. sports jargon.
tuner (n.): "one who tunes musical instruments," 1801, agent noun from tune (v.). From 1570s as "musician, singer." From 1909 as "device for varying the frequency of a radio or (later) television."