英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

attorney: attorney: [14] Attorney was formed in Old French from the prefix a- ‘to’ and the verb torner ‘turn’. This produced the verb atorner, literally ‘turn to’, hence ‘assign to’ or ‘appoint to’. Its past participle, atorne, was used as a noun with much the same signification as appointee – ‘someone appointed’ – and hence ‘someone appointed to act as someone else’s agent’, and ultimately ‘legal agent’.

Borrowed into English, over the centuries the term came to mean ‘lawyer practising in the courts of Common Law’ (as contrasted with a solicitor, who practised in the Equity Courts); but it was officially abolished in that sense by the Judicature Act of 1873, and now survives only in American English, meaning ‘lawyer’, and in the title Attorney- General, the chief law officer of a government.
=> turn
country: country: [13] Etymologically, the meaning of country is virtually ‘surroundings’. It originated in medieval Latin contrātus ‘lying on the opposite side’, an adjective formed from the proposition contrā ‘against, opposite’. This was used in the phrase terra contrāta ‘land opposite or before one, spread out around one’, and soon broke free to act as a noun in its own right.

In Old French it became cuntree, the form in which it was borrowed into English. Its original notion of ‘area of land’ had quickly become narrowed down to ‘district controlled or occupied by a particular people’, hence ‘nation’, but its use for ‘rural areas as opposed to cities’ does not seem to have developed until the 16th century. The compound countryside originated in Scotland and northern England, probably in the 17th century.
jade: jade: English has two words jade, of which by far the commoner nowadays is the name of the green stone [18]. Despite the mineral’s close association with China and Japan, the term has no Oriental connections. It is of Latin origin, and started life in fact as a description of the stone’s medical applications. Latin īlia denoted the ‘sides of the lower torso’, the ‘flanks’, the part of the body where the kidneys are situated (English gets iliac [16] from it).

In Vulgar Latin this became *iliata, which passed into Spanish as ijada. Now it was thought in former times that jade could cure pain in the renal area, so the Spanish called it piedra de ijada, literally ‘stone of the flanks’. In due course this was reduced to simply ijada, which passed into English via French. (Jade’s alternative name, nephrite [18], is based on the same idea; it comes from Greek nephrós ‘kidney’.) English’s other word jade [14] now survives really only in its derivative adjective jaded ‘tired, sated’ [16].

It originally meant ‘worn-out horse’, and was later transferred metaphorically to ‘disreputable woman’. Its origins are not known.
=> iliac; jaded
quorum: quorum: [15] Quorum began life as the genitive plural of the Latin pronoun quī ‘who’. This appeared in former times in the Latin text of commissions issued to persons who because of some special expertise were required to act as justices of the peace in a particular case (if two JPs were required, for instance, the wording would be quorum vos … duos esse volumnus ‘of whom we wish that you … be two’). In due course the word came to be used as a noun, denoting the ‘number of justices who must be present in order to try the case’, and in the 17th century this was generalized to ‘minimum number of members necessary for a valid meeting’.
sherpa: sherpa: [19] The Sherpas are a Tibetan people who live in northern Nepal. Their name for themselves (sharpa in Tibetan) means literally ‘dweller in an eastern country’. They act as mountain guides in the Himalayas, and since the exploits on Mount Everest of Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, became well known in the 1950s, sherpa has become a generic term for a ‘Himalayan mountain guide’.
spite: spite: [13] Spite was adapted from Old French despit ‘scorn, ill will’, which was also borrowed intact as despite [13]. This came from Latin dēspectus, the past participle of dēspicere ‘look down on’ (source of English despise [13]), which was a compound verb formed from the prefix dē- ‘down’ and specere ‘look’ (source of English spectacle, spy, etc). The use of in spite of and despite for ‘notwithstanding’ goes back via an intermediate ‘in defiance of’ to an original ‘in contempt of’.
=> despise, species, spectator, spy
arbitrate (v.): 1580s (arbitrable is recorded from 1530s), "to give an authoritative decision," from Latin arbitratus, past participle of arbitrari "be of an opinion, give a decision," from arbiter (see arbiter). Meaning "to act as an arbitrator" is from 1610s. Related: Arbitrated; arbitrating. The earlier verb form was arbitren (early 15c.).
bank (v.): "to act as a banker," 1727, from bank (n.1). As "to deposit in a bank" from 1833. Figurative sense of "to rely on" (i.e. "to put money on") is from 1884, U.S. colloquial. Meaning "to ascend," as of an incline, is from 1892. In aeronautics, from 1911. Related: Banked; banking.
caliber (n.): 1560s, "degree of merit or importance," a figurative use from Middle French calibre (late 15c.), apparently ultimately from Arabic qalib "a mold for casting." Arabic also used the word in the sense "mold for casting bullets," which is the oldest literal meaning in English. Meaning "inside diameter of a gun barrel" is attested from 1580s. Barnhart remarks that Spanish calibre, Italian calibro "appear too late to act as intermediate forms" between the Arabic word and the French.
catch (v.): c. 1200, "to take, capture," from Anglo-French or Old North French cachier "catch, capture" (animals) (Old French chacier "hunt, pursue, drive (animals)," Modern French chasser "to hunt;" making it a doublet of chase (v.)), from Vulgar Latin *captiare "try to seize, chase" (also source of Spanish cazar, Italian cacciare), from Latin captare "to take, hold," frequentative of Latin capere "to take, hold" (see capable).

Senses in early Middle English also included "chase, hunt," which later went with chase (v.). Of infections from 1540s; of fire from 1734; of sleep, etc., from early 14c. Related: Catched (obsolete); catching; caught.

Meaning "act as a catcher in baseball" recorded from 1865. To catch on "apprehend" is 1884, American English colloquial. To catch (someone's) eye is first attested 1813, in Jane Austen. Catch as catch can first attested late 14c.
chaperon (v.): "act as a chaperon," 1792, also chaperone, from chaperon (n.), or from French chaperonner, from chaperon (n.). Related: Chaperoned; chaperoning.
clerk (v.): "act as a clerk," 1550s, from clerk (n.). Related: Clerked, clerking.
cruiser (n.): 1670s, agent noun from cruise (v.), or, probably, borrowed from similar words in neighboring languages (such as Dutch kruiser, French croiseur), originally a warship built to cruise and protect commerce or chase hostile ships (but in 18c. often applied to privateers).
Like the frigate of olden days the cruiser relies primarily on her speed; and is employed to protect the trade-routes, to glean intelligence, and to act as the 'eyes of the fleet'. [Sir Geoffrey Callender, "Sea Passages," 1943]
Meaning "one who cruises for sex partners" is from 1903, in later use mostly of homosexuals; as a boxing weight class, from 1920; meaning "police patrol car" is 1929, American English.
empiricism (n.): 1650s, in the medical sense, from empiric + -ism. Later in a general sense of "reliance on direct observation rather than theory," especially an undue reliance on mere individual experience; in reference to a philosophical doctrine which regards experience as the only source of knowledge from 1796.
Were I obliged to give a short name to the attitude in question, I should call it that of radical empiricism, in spite of the fact that such brief nicknames are nowhere more misleading than in philosophy. I say 'empiricism' because it is contented to regard its most assured conclusions concerning matters of fact as hypotheses liable to modification in the course of future experience; and I say 'radical,' because it treats the doctrine of monism itself as an hypothesis, and, unlike so much of the half way empiricism that is current under the name of positivism or agnosticism or scientific naturalism, it does not dogmatically affirm monism as something with which all experience has got to square. The difference between monism and pluralism is perhaps the most pregnant of all the differences in philosophy. [William James, preface to "The Sentiment of Rationality" in "The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy," 1897]
engineer (v.): 1818, "act as an engineer," from engineer (n.). Figurative sense of "arrange, contrive, guide or manage (via ingenuity or tact)" is attested from 1864, originally in a political context. Related: Engineered. Middle English had a verb engine "contrive, construct" (late 14c.), also "seduce, trick, deceive" (c. 1300) and "put to torture."
factor (v.): 1610s, "act as an agent, manage," from factor (n.). The use in mathematics is attested from 1837. Related: Factored; factoring.
fetial (adj.): 1530s, "pertaining to the Fetiales," the Roman diplomatic corps, a college of 20 priests whose duty was to act as heralds and maintain the laws of war, from Latin fetiales "speaking, negotiating, diplomatic," which is of unknown origin.
footloose (adj.): 1690s, "free to move the feet, unshackled," from foot (n.) + loose. Figurative sense of "free to act as one pleases" is from 1873.
friend (v.): in the Facebook sense, attested from 2005, from the noun. Friend occasionally has been used as a verb in English since c. 1200 ("to be friends"), though the more usual verb for "join in friendship, act as a friend" is befriend. Related: Friended; friending. Old English had freonsped "an abundance of friends" (see speed (n.)); freondleast "want of friends;" freondspedig "rich in friends."
go-between (n.): "one who passes between parties in a negotiation or intrigue," 1590s, from verbal phrase go between in obsolete sense "act as a mediator" (1540s), from go (v.) + between.
inauguration (n.): 1560s, from French inauguration "installation, consecration," and directly from Latin inaugurationem (nominative inauguratio) "consecration, installment under good omens," noun of action from past participle stem of inaugurare "take omens from the flight of birds; consecrate or install when such omens are favorable," from in- "on, in" (see in- (2)) + augurare "to act as an augur, predict" (see augur).
mediate (v.): 1540s, "divide in two equal parts," probably a back-formation from mediation or mediator, or else from Latin mediatus, past participle of mediare. Meaning "act as a mediator" is from 1610s; that of "settle by mediation" is from 1560s. Related: Mediated, mediates, mediating.
model (v.): 1660s, "fashion in clay or wax," from model (n.). Earlier was modelize (c. 1600). From 1915 in the sense "to act as a fashion model, to display (clothes)." Related: Modeled; modeling; modelled; modelling.
nark: 1859, "to act as a police informer" (v.); 1860, "police informer" (n.), probably from Romany nak "nose," from Hindi nak, from Sanskrit nakra, which probably is related to Sanskrit nasa "nose" (see nose (n.)). Sense and spelling tending to merge with etymologically unrelated narc (q.v.).
negotiation (n.): early 15c., from Old French negociacion "business, trade," and directly from Latin negotiationem (nominative negotiatio) "business, traffic," noun of action from past participle stem of negotiari "carry on business, do business, act as a banker," from negotium "a business, employment, occupation, affair (public or private)," also "difficulty, pains, trouble, labor," literally "lack of leisure," from neg- "not" (see deny) + otium "ease, leisure." The sense expansion from "doing business" to also include "bargaining" about anything took place in Latin.
optimize (v.): 1844, "to act as an optimist," back-formation from optimist. Meaning "to make the most of" is first recorded 1857. Related: Optimized; optimizing.
patronize (v.): 1580s, "to act as a patron towards," from patron + -ize, or from Old French patroniser. Meaning "treat in a condescending way" is first attested 1797; sense of "give regular business to" is from 1801. Related: Patronized; patronizing.
pimp (v.): 1630s (intransitive) "to act as a pimp," from pimp (n.). Related: Pimped; pimping.
pontificate (v.): 1818, "to act as a pontiff," from Medieval Latin pontificatus, past participle of pontificare "to be a pontifex," from Latin pontifex (see pontiff). Meaning "to assume pompous and dignified airs, issue dogmatic decrees" is from 1825. Meaning "to say (something) in a pontifical way" is from 1922. Related: Pontificated; pontificating.
president (n.): late 14c., "appointed governor of a province; chosen leader of a body of persons," from Old French president and directly from Latin praesidentum (nominative praesidens) "president, governor," noun use of present participle of praesidere "to act as head or chief" (see preside).

In Middle English of heads of religious houses, hospitals, colleges and universities. First use for "chief executive officer of a republic" is in U.S. Constitution (1787), from earlier American use for "officer in charge of the Continental Congress" (1774), a sense derived from that of "chosen head of a meeting or group of persons," which is from Middle English. It had been used of chief officers of banks from 1781, of individual colonies since 1608 (originally Virginia) and heads of colleges since mid-15c. Slang shortening prez is recorded from 1883. Fem. form presidentess is attested from 1763.
sleuth (n.): c. 1200, "track or trail of a person," from Old Norse sloð "trail," of uncertain origin. Meaning "detective" is 1872, shortening of sleuth-hound "keen investigator" (1849), a figurative use of a word that dates back to late 14c. meaning a kind of bloodhound. The verb (intransitive) meaning "to act as a detective, investigate" is recorded from 1905. Related: Sleuthed; sleuthing.
tell (v.): Old English tellan "to reckon, calculate, number, compute; consider, think, esteem, account" (past tense tealde, past participle teald), from Proto-Germanic *taljan "to mention in order" (cognates: Old Saxon tellian "tell," Old Norse telja "to count, number; to tell, say," Old Frisian tella "to count; to tell," Middle Dutch and Dutch tellen, Old Saxon talon "to count, reckon," Danish tale "to speak," Old High German zalon, German zählen "to count, reckon"), from PIE root *del- (2) "to count, reckon" (see tale).

Meaning "to narrate, announce, relate" in English is from c. 1000; that of "to make known by speech or writing, announce" is from early 12c. Sense of "to reveal or disclose" is from c. 1400; that of "to act as an informer, to 'peach' " is recorded from 1901. Meaning "to order (someone to do something)" is from 1590s. To tell (someone) off "reprimand" is from 1919.

Original sense in teller and phrase to tell time. For sense evolution, compare French conter "to count," raconter "to recount;" Italian contare, Spanish contar "to count, recount, narrate;" German zählen "to count," erzählen "to recount, narrate." Klein also compares Hebrew saphar "he counted," sipper "he told."
tout (v.): 1700, thieves' cant, "to act as a lookout, spy on," from Middle English tuten "to peep, peer," probably from a variant of Old English totian "to stick out, peep, peer," from Proto-Germanic *tut- "project" (cognates: Dutch tuit "sprout, snout," Middle Dutch tute "nipple, pap," Middle Low German tute "horn, funnel," Old Norse tota "teat, toe of a shoe"). The sense developed to "look out for jobs, votes, customers, etc., to try to get them" (1731), then "praise highly in an attempt to sell" (1920). Related: Touted; touting.
vindicate (v.): 1620s, "to avenge or revenge," from Latin vindicatus, past participle of vindicare "to stake a claim; to liberate; to act as avenger" (see vindication). Meaning "to clear from censure or doubt, by means of demonstration" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Vindicated, vindicating.
ascorbic acid: "A vitamin found particularly in citrus fruits and green vegetables. It is essential in maintaining healthy connective tissue, and is also thought to act as an antioxidant. Severe deficiency causes scurvy", 1930s: from a-¹ 'without' + medieval Latin scorbutus 'scurvy' + -ic.
maieutic: "Of or denoting the Socratic mode of enquiry, which aims to bring a person’s latent ideas into clear consciousness", Mid 17th century: from Greek maieutikos, from maieuesthai 'act as a midwife', from maia 'midwife'.
quisle: "To act as a quisling; to betray one's country, especially by collaborating with an occupying enemy", 1940s; earliest use found in The Times. From quisl-, showing (humorous) identification of the ending of quisling as -ing.
amphoterism: "The capacity to act as an acid or as a base", 1930s.