英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

clove [clove 词源字典]: clove: There are two distinct words clove in English. In clove of garlic [OE] the underlying notion is of ‘cutting’; the head of garlic is as it were ‘divided up’ into separate sections. The word goes back ultimately to the Indo-European base *gleubh- ‘cut, carve’, which also produced English cleave and its now archaic past tense clove. Clove the spice [14] originated in the Old French phrase clou de girofle, which meant literally ‘nail of the clove-tree’.

The term ‘nail’ was applied to the tree’s dried unopened flower bud because of a perceived resemblance in shape. (French clou ‘nail’ comes from Latin clāvus, source of English cloy, and French girofle – whence English gillyflower [14], which originally meant ‘clove’ – goes back via medieval Latin caryophyllum to Greek karuóphullon, which literally meant ‘nut leaf’.)
=> cleave; cloy, gillyflower[clove etymology, clove origin, 英语词源]
column: column: [15] The notion underlying column is of ‘height, command, extremity’. It comes, via Old French colomne, from Latin columna ‘pillar’, which was probably a derivative of columen, culmen ‘top, summit’ (from which English also gets culminate). It goes back ultimately to a base *kol-, *kel-, distant ancestor of English excel and hill. The word’s application to vertical sections of printed matter dates from the 15th century, but its transference to that which is written (as in ‘write a weekly newspaper column’) is a 20thcentury development.
=> culminate, excel, hill
ocean: ocean: [13] In Greek mythology, ōkeanós was a great river or sea that completely encircled the world. This was personified as Ōkeanós, a Titan who was god of this outer sea. The name passed into English via Latin ōceanus and Old French occean, and to begin with was used only for this mythical sea, or for the whole body of water surrounding the Eurasian landmass, with which it was identified. Not until the end of the 14th century did it begin to be applied to large individual sections of the Earth’s seas.
quote: quote: [14] Latin quot meant ‘how many’. From it was derived the adjective quotus ‘of what number’, whose feminine form quota was used in post-classical times as a noun, denoting literally ‘how great a part’ – whence English quota [17]. Quotus also formed the basis of the medieval Latin verb quotāre ‘number’, which was used specifically for the practice of marking sections of text in manuscripts with numbers, as reference points.

English took the verb over as quote, and by the 16th century was using it for ‘cite’ or ‘refer to’. The derived unquote is first recorded in a letter by e e cummings, dated 1935. Also based on quot was Latin quotiēns ‘how many times’, which has given English quotient [15]; and quotidian ‘daily’ [14] goes back ultimately to a Latin compound formed from quotus and diēs ‘day’.

But the archaic quoth [OE], despite a certain similarity in form and sense, is not related; it comes from cwæth, the past tense of Old English cwethan ‘say’.
=> quota, quotient
reticule: reticule: [18] Reticule is a now superannuated term for a small handbag. It alludes to the fact that such bags were originally made from netted fabric. The Latin word for ‘net’ was rēte, whose diminutive form rēticulum was used for ‘netted bag’ – whence, via French réticule, English reticule. From rēticulum was derived rēticulātus ‘having a network pattern’, which has given English reticulated [18] (used by Dr Johnson in his famous definition of network: ‘any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections’, 1755). Rēte was also the source of medieval Latin retina ‘inner lining of the eyeball’, borrowed by English as retina [14].
=> retina
valve: valve: [14] The etymological notion underlying valve is of a door opening and closing. The word was adapted from Latin valva, which denoted one of the sections of a folding or revolving door, and may have had links with volvere ‘roll’ (source of English revolve). It carried its original meaning with it into English, but it was not used at all widely until various metaphorical senses, such as ‘flap controlling the flow of a fluid’ and ‘half of a shell’, evolved. The electronic valve is so called because current can flow in only one direction through it; the usage dates from the early 20th century.
cleavage (n.): 1816, in geology, "action of splitting (rocks or gems) along natural fissures," from cleave (v.1) + -age. General meaning "action or state of cleaving or being cleft" is from 1867.

The sense of "cleft between a woman's breasts in low-cut clothing" is first recorded 1946, defined in a "Time" magazine article [Aug. 5] as the "Johnston Office trade term for the shadowed depression dividing an actress' bosom into two distinct sections;" traditionally first used in this sense by U.S. publicist Joseph I. Breen (1888-1965), head of the Production Code Administration (replaced 1945 by Eric Johnston), enforcers of Hollywood self-censorship, in reference to Jane Russell's costumes and poses in "The Outlaw."
jejunum (n.): late 14c., from Latin ieiunum, neuter of ieiunus (see jejune). Translating Greek nestis (Galen). So called because it typically is found empty during dissections, perhaps because it would tend to drain in a body laid on its back.
Juliet: fem. proper name, from Italian Giulietta, diminutive of Giulia "Julia" (see Julia). Compare French Juliette. Juliet cap (1904) was felt to resemble a type worn in stage productions of "Romeo and Juliet."
A Parisian fancy which is finding little favor here, is the Juliet cap. It is a net of beads or of meshed cord jewelled or beaded at the intersections. Clustered bunches of blossoms and foliage are set at each side of the cap, above the ears. ["Fabrics, Fancy-Goods & Notions," trade publication, New York, January 1904]
nines (n.): in phrase to the nines "to perfection" (1787) first attested in Burns, apparently preserves the ancient notion of the perfection of the number as three times three (such as the nine Muses).
[T]he Book of St. Albans, in the sections on blasonry, lays great stress on the nines in which all perfect things (orders of angels, virtues, articles of chivalry, differences of coat armour, etc.) occur. [Weekley]
No one seems to consider that it might be a corruption and misdivision of to then anes, literally "for the one (purpose or occasion)," a similar construction to the one that yielded nonce (q.v.).
re: "with reference to," used from c. 1700 in legalese, from Latin (in) re "in the matter of," from ablative case of res "matter, thing." Its use is execrated by Fowler in three different sections of "Modern English Usage."
rotogravure (n.): 1913, from German Rotogravur (originally, in full, Deutsche Tiefdrück Gesellschaft), said to blend two corporate names, Rotophot and Deutsche Photogravur A.G. Etymologically, the roots are Latin rota "wheel, roller" (see rotary) and French gravure "engraving" (see gravure). The process was used for printing photo sections of newspapers and magazines, so that the word came to be used for these.
section (v.): "divide into sections," 1819, from section (n.). Related: Sectioned; sectioning.
sectional (adj.): 1806; see section (n.) + -al (1). Noun meaning "piece of furniture composed of sections which can be used separately" is attested by 1961, from sectional seat, sectional sofa, etc. (1949).
twerp (n.): of unknown origin; OED and Barnhart give earliest date as 1925, but the "Dictionary of American Slang" gives a first reference of 1874 (but without citation and I can't find it), which, if correct, would rule out the usual theory that it is from the proper name of T.W. Earp, a student at Oxford c. 1911, who kindled wrath "in the hearts of the rugger-playing stalwarts at Oxford, when he was president of the Union, by being the last, most charming, and wittiest of the 'decadents.' " [Rawson]
"Mean to say you never heard of Sinzy? Why, he's one of the greatest characters in this town. He's a terrible twerp to look at -- got a face like bad news from home, but I guess he's the best jazz piano player in the world." [Julian Street, "Cross-Sections," 1923]
Mexican wave: "An effect resembling a moving wave produced by successive sections of the crowd in a stadium standing up, raising their arms, lowering them, and sitting down again", 1980s: so named because of the repeated practice of the movement at the 1986 soccer World Cup finals in Mexico City.
myriorama: "A picture consisting of a number of separate sections which are capable of being combined in numerous ways to form different scenes", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in The European Magazine. From ancient Greek μυρίος countless + -orama.
millefiori: "A kind of ornamental glass in which a number of glass rods of different sizes and colours are fused together and cut into sections which form various patterns, typically embedded in colourless transparent glass to make items such as paperweights", Mid 19th century: from Italian millefiore, literally 'a thousand flowers'.
quinquefid: "Especially of a leaf, calyx, etc.: divided in five sections to about halfway; five-cleft", Early 18th cent.; earliest use found in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. From post-classical Latin quinquifidus divided into five, (of a leaf) divided into five sections from classical Latin quīnque- + -fīdus.
multiplicate (1): "Originally: †multiplied, increased ( obsolete ). In later use: of many parts, elements, or sections; manifold; multiple, repeated", Late 15th cent.; earliest use found in Higden's Polychronicon. From classical Latin multiplicātus, past participle of multiplicāre. Compare duplicate noun, triplicate noun.