英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

bait [bait 词源字典]: bait: [13] Etymologically, the verb bait means ‘cause to bite’. It comes from Old Norse beita, a causative version of bita ‘bite’ (related to English bite). This took two semantic paths in English. In its aggressive mode, it meant literally ‘set dogs on someone’, and hence by figurative extension ‘harrass, persecute’. More peaceably, it signified ‘feed an animal’.

And this sense of ‘food provided’ is reflected in the noun bait, which comes partly from the verb, partly from the related Old Norse nouns beit ‘pasturage’ and beita ‘fish bait’. Old Norse beita was probably borrowed into Old French as beter, which with the prefix aproduced abeter, source of English abet [14], originally meaning ‘urge on, incite’.
=> abet, bite[bait etymology, bait origin, 英语词源]
faith: faith: [12] Faith comes ultimately from the prehistoric Indo-European *bhidh-, *bhoidh- (source also of English federal). It produced Latin fidēs ‘faith’, which lies behind a wide range of English words, including confide, defy, diffident (which originally meant ‘distrustful’), fealty [14], fidelity [15], fiduciary [17], and perfidy [16].

Its descendants in the Romance languages include Italian fede, Portuguese fé (as in auto-da-fé, literally ‘act of faith’, acquired by English in the 18th century), and Old French feid. This was pronounced much as modern English faith is pronounced, and Middle English took it over as feth or feith. (A later Old French form fei, foreshadowing modern French foi, produced the now defunct English fay [13]).
=> confide, defy, diffident, federal, fidelity, fiduciary, perfidy
gaiter: gaiter: [18] Etymologically as well as semantically, gaiter is an ‘ankle covering’. It comes from French guêtre ‘gaiter’, which may well have been formed from Germanic *wirst-. This denoted ‘twist, turn’, and it has several modern derivatives which mean essentially ‘twisting joint’: German rist, for example, which has now migrated anatomically to the ‘instep’ and the ‘back of the hand’, originally signified ‘ankle, wrist’, and although English wrist now refers only to the hand/arm joint, it was formerly used dialectally for the ‘ankle’.
=> wrist
plait: plait: see pleat
portrait: portrait: [16] Portrait was borrowed from French portrait, which originated as the past participle of the verb portraire ‘depict’ (source of English portray [14]). This was descended from Latin prōtrahere, a compound verb formed from the prefix prō- ‘forth’ and trahere ‘draw’ (source of English tractor). This originally meant ‘draw out, reveal’, and also ‘lengthen’ (it has given English protract [16]), but in medieval Latin it came to be used for ‘depict’.
=> portray, protract, tractor
strait: strait: [12] Strait was originally an adjective and adverb, meaning ‘narrow’ or ‘tight’. It reached English via Old French estreit ‘narrow, tight’ from Latin strictus (source of English strict). Its use as a noun, ‘narrow waterway’, emerged in the 14th century, and the metaphorical straits ‘difficulties’ is a 16th-century development.
=> strict
trait: trait: see trace
traitor: traitor: [13] Traitor and tradition [14] come from the same ultimate source: Latin trādere. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix trāns- ‘across’ and dare ‘give’ (source of English data, date, etc). It originally meant ‘hand over, deliver’, and it is this sense that (via the derivative trāditiō) has given English tradition – etymologically something ‘handed over’ to succeeding generations. But it was also used metaphorically for ‘betray’, and this meaning has passed through into English in betray, traitor, and treason.
=> betray, tradition, traitor, treason
wait: wait: [12] Wait originally meant ‘look, spy’. But the notion of remaining in hiding, keeping a watch on one’s enemies’ movements led via the sense ‘remain, stay (in expectation)’ to, in the 17th century, ‘defer action’. The word was borrowed from Old Northern French waitier, which was itself a loanword from prehistoric Germanic *wakhtan (ultimate source also of English waft). This in turn was formed from the base *wak-, which also produced English wake, watch, etc. The sense ‘serve food at table’ emerged in the 16th century from an earlier ‘attend on’.
=> waft, wake, watch
au fait (adj.): 1743, French, "to the point, to the matter under discussion," literally "to the fact," from fait "fact" (see feat). Used in French with sense of "acquainted with the facts."
await (v.): mid-13c., awaiten, "to wait for," from Old North French awaitier (Old French agaitier) "to lie in wait for, watch, observe," from a- "to" (see ad-) + waitier "to watch" (see wait (v.)). Originally especially "wait for with hostile intent, wait to ambush or spy upon." Related: Awaited; awaiting.
bait (n.): "food put on a hook or trap to lure prey," c. 1300, from Old Norse beita "food," related to Old Norse beit "pasture," Old English bat "food," literally "to cause to bite" (see bait (v.)). Figurative sense "anything used as a lure" is from c. 1400.
bait (v.1): "to torment or goad (someone unable to escape, and to take pleasure in it)," c. 1300, beyten, a figurative use from the literal sense of "to set dogs on," from the medieval entertainment of setting dogs on some ferocious animal to bite and worry it (the literal use is attested from c. 1300); from Old Norse beita "to cause to bite," from Proto-Germanic *baitan (cognates: Old English bætan "to cause to bite," Old High German beizzen "to bait," Middle High German beiz "hunting," German beizen "to hawk, to cauterize, etch"), causative of *bitan (see bite (v.)); the causative word forked into the two meanings of "harass" and "food offered." Related: Baited; baiting.
bait (v.2): "to put food on a hook or in a trap," c. 1300, probably from bait (n.). Related: Baited; baiting.
baited (adj.): c. 1600, "furnished with bait," past participle adjective from bait (v.2). Hence, in a figurative sense, "exciting, alluring" (1650s). For bated breath see bate (v.1).
cafe au lait (n.): 1763, French café au lait, literally "coffee with milk," from lait "milk" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin lactis, from Latin lactis (see lactation).
caitiff (adj.): c. 1300, "wicked, base, cowardly," from Old North French caitive "captive, miserable" (Old French chaitif, 12c., Modern French chétif "puny, sickly, poor, weak"), from Latin captivum (see captive, which was a later, scholarly borrowing of the same word). In most Romance languages, it has acquired a pejorative sense.
caitiff (n.): c. 1300, "wicked man, scoundrel," from Anglo-French caitif, noun use from Old North French caitive "captive, miserable" (see caitiff (adj.)). From mid-14c as "prisoner."
Caitlin: fem. proper name, alternative spelling of Kathleen, not much used in U.S. then suddenly popular from c. 1985.
click-bait (n.): Internet content meant primarily to lure a viewer to click on it, by 2011, from click (n.) + bait (n.).
dumbwaiter (n.): 1749, an article of furniture, from dumb (adj.) + waiter (apparently because it serves as a waiter but is silent). As a movable platform for passing dishes, etc., up and down from one room (especially a basement kitchen) to another, from 1847.
fait accompli (n.): "a scheme already carried into execution," 19c., French, literally "an accomplished fact." See feat and accomplish.
faith (n.): mid-13c., faith, feith, fei, fai "faithfulness to a trust or promise; loyalty to a person; honesty, truthfulness," from Anglo-French and Old French feid, foi "faith, belief, trust, confidence; pledge" (11c.), from Latin fides "trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence, belief," from root of fidere "to trust," from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust" (source also of Greek pistis "faith, confidence, honesty;" see bid). For sense evolution, see belief. Accomodated to other English abstract nouns in -th (truth, health, etc.).

From early 14c. as "assent of the mind to the truth of a statement for which there is incomplete evidence," especially "belief in religious matters" (matched with hope and charity). Since mid-14c. in reference to the Christian church or religion; from late 14c. in reference to any religious persuasion.
And faith is neither the submission of the reason, nor is it the acceptance, simply and absolutely upon testimony, of what reason cannot reach. Faith is: the being able to cleave to a power of goodness appealing to our higher and real self, not to our lower and apparent self. [Matthew Arnold, "Literature & Dogma," 1873]
From late 14c. as "confidence in a person or thing with reference to truthfulness or reliability," also "fidelity of one spouse to another." Also in Middle English "a sworn oath," hence its frequent use in Middle English oaths and asseverations (par ma fay, mid-13c.; bi my fay, c. 1300).
faith-healer (n.): Also faith healer, attested by 1874; from faith + healer. Faith-curer is from 1883.
The power which a man's imagination has over his body to heal it or make it sick is a force which none of us is born without. The first man had it, the last one will possess it. If left to himself, a man is most likely to use only the mischievous half of the force--the half which invents imaginary ailments for him and cultivates them; and if he is one of those very wise people, he is quite likely to scoff at the beneficent half of the force and deny its existence. [Mark Twain, "Christian Science," 1907]
faithful (adj.): early 14c., "sincerely religious, devout, pious," especially in reference to Christian practice; mid-14c., "loyal (to a lord, friend, spouse, etc.); true; honest, trustworthy," from faith + -ful. From late 14c. in reference to a tale, a report, etc., "accurate, reliable, true to the facts." The noun sense of "true believer, one who is full of faith" is from late 14c. (Church Latin used fideles in same sense). Related: Faithfully; faithfulness. Old Faithful geyser named 1870 by explorer Gen. Henry Dana Washburn (1832-1871), surveyor-general of the Montana Territory, in reference to the regularity of its outbursts.
faithless (adj.): c. 1300, "unbelieving," from faith + -less. Meaning "insincere, deceptive" is mid-14c. Related: Faithlessly; faithlessness.
faitor (n.): "impostor, cheat," mid-14c., from Anglo-French faiteor, faiture "evildoer; slothful person," apparently a specialized use of Old French faiture "sorcery, spell," literally "deed, action," from Latin facere "do, make, perform" (see factitious), an etymologically neutral term taken in a bad sense.
gait (n.): c. 1300, gate "a going or walking, departure, journey," earlier "way, road, path" (c. 1200), from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse gata "way, road, path"), from Proto-Germanic *gatwon "a going" (cognates: Old High German gazza "street," German Gasse "a way, road," Gothic gatwo), perhaps from PIE *ghe- "to release, let go." Meaning "manner of walking, carriage of the body while walking" is from mid-15c. Modern spelling developed before 1750, originally in Scottish. Related: Gaited.
gaiter (n.): "leather cover for the ankle," 1775, from French guêtre "belonging to peasant attire," of unknown origin; perhaps from Middle French *guestre, from Frankish *wrist "instep," from Proto-Germanic *wirstiz (source also of German Rist "instep;" see wrist (n.)). Related: Gaiters; gaitered (1760).
Galbraith: surname, from Old Gaelic Gall-Bhreathnach "stranger-Briton," a name given to Britons settled among Gaels. Compare Galloway.
Haiti: from Arawak haiti "land of mountains," and probably originally the name of the whole island. Related: Haitian.
interfaith (adj.): 1921, from inter- + faith.
jailbait (n.): also jail bait, jail-bait, "girl under the legal age of consent," 1930, from jail (n.) + bait (n.).
Kuwait: Persian Gulf country, named for its capital city (said to have been founded in current form 1705), which is from Arabic al-kuwayt, diminutive of kut, a word used in southern Iraq and eastern Arabia for a fortress-like house surrounded by a settlement and protected by encircling water, and said to be ultimately from Persian. Related: Kuwaiti.
laity (n.): "body of people not in religious orders," early 15c., from Anglo-French laite, from lay (adj.) + -ity.
maitre d': also maitre d, 1943; see maître d'hôtel.
maitre d'hotel: 1530s, "head domestic," from French maître d'hôtel, literally "house-master," from Old French maistre "master; skilled worker, educator" (12c.), from Latin magistrum (see magistrate). Sense of "hotel manager, manager of a dining room" is from 1890. Shortened form maître d' is attested from 1942; simple maitre from 1899.
parfait (n.): kind of frozen dessert, 1894, French, literally "perfect" (see perfect (adj.)).
plait (v.): late 14c., "to fold, gather in pleats," also "to braid or weave," from Old French pleir "to fold," variant of ploier, ployer "to fold, bend," from Latin plicare "to fold" (see ply (v.1)). Related: Plaited; plaiting.
plait (n.): c. 1400, "a fold, a crease," from Anglo-French pleit, Old French ploit, earlier pleit, "fold, manner of folding," from Latin plicatus, past participle of plicare "to lay, fold, twist" (see ply (v.1)). Meaning "interlaced strands of hair, ribbon, etc." is from 1520s, perhaps from plait (v.).
portrait (n.): 1560s, "a figure, drawn or painted," a back formation from portraiture or directly from Middle French portrait, from Old French portret (13c.), noun use of past participle of portraire "to paint, depict" (see portray). Especially of the head and face of a person.
portraiture (n.): mid-14c., from Old French portraiture "portrait, image, portrayal, resemblance" (12c.), from portrait (see portrait).
self-portrait (n.): 1821, from self- + portrait, translating German Selbstbildnis.
strait (n.): mid-14c., "narrow, confined space or place," specifically of bodies of water from late 14c., from Old French estreit, estrait "narrow part, pass, defile, narrow passage of water," noun use of adjective (see strait (adj.)). Sense of "difficulty, plight" (usually straits) first recorded 1540s. Strait and narrow "conventional or wisely limited way of life" is recorded from mid-14c. (compare straight (adj.2)).
strait (adj.): "narrow, strict" (late 13c.), from Old French estreit, estrait "tight, close-fitting, constricted, narrow" (Modern French étroit), from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere (2) "bind or draw tight" (see strain (v.)). More or less confused with unrelated straight (adj.). Related: Straightly.
strait-jacket (n.): also straitjacket, 1795 as a type of restraint for lunatics, from strait (adj.) + jacket (n.); earlier in same sense was strait-waistcoat (1753). As a verb from 1863. Related: Strait-jacketed.
strait-laced (adj.): early 15c., of stays or bodices, "made close and tight;" see strait (adj.) + lace (v.). Figurative sense of "over-precise, prudish, strict in manners or morals" is from 1550s.
straiten (v.): 1520s (transitive) "to restrict, make narrow," from strait (adj.) + -en (1). Related: straitened; straitening. Earlier verb was simply strait "to make narrow" (early 15c.).
straitened (adj.): c. 1600, "too narrow;" 1716, "reduced to hardship;" past participle adjective from strait (v.). Phrase straitened circumstances recorded from 1766.
thwaite (n.): "cleared land," 1620s, from Old Norse or Old Danish þveit "a clearing, meadow, paddock," literally "a cutting, cut-piece" (related to Old English þwitan "to cut, cut off;" see whittle). Always a rare word and now obsolete, but frequently encountered in place names, but "It is unclear whether the base meaning was 'something cut off, detached piece of land,' or 'something cut down, felled tree' ..." [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names].