英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

alligator: alligator: [16] The Spanish, on encountering the alligator in America, called it el lagarto ‘the lizard’. At first English adopted simply the noun (‘In this river we killed a monstrous Lagarto or Crocodile’, Job Hortop, The trauailes of an Englishman 1568), but before the end of the 16th century the Spanish definite article el had been misanalysed as part of the noun – hence, alligator. Spanish lagarto derived from Latin lacerta ‘lizard’, which, via Old French lesard, gave English lizard.
=> lizard
anatomy: anatomy: [14] Etymologically, anatomy means ‘cutting up’ (the Greek noun anatomíā was compounded from the prefix ana- ‘up’ and the base *tom-, which figures in several English surgical terms, such as tonsillectomy [19], as well as in atom and tome), and when it first came into English it meant literally ‘dissection’ as well as ‘science of bodily structure’.

From the 16th century to the early 19th century it was also used for ‘skeleton’, and in this sense it was often misanalysed as an atomy, as if the initial anwere the indefinite article: ‘My bones … will be taken up smooth, and white, and bare as an atomy’, Tobias Smollett, Don Quixote 1755.
=> atom, tome
atoll: atoll: [17] Atoll was borrowed from Malayalam atolu ‘reef’, the name used by Maldive Islanders for their islands, many of which are coral atolls
atom: atom: [16] Etymologically, atom means ‘not cut, indivisible’. Greek átomos ‘that which cannot be divided up any further’ was formed from the negative prefix a- ‘not’ and the base *tom- ‘cut’ (source also of English anatomy and tome), and was applied in the Middle Ages not just to the smallest imaginable particle of matter, but also to the smallest imaginable division of time; an hour contained 22,560 atoms.

Its use by classical writers on physics and philosophy, such as Democritus and Epicurus, was sustained by medieval philosophers, and the word was ready and waiting for 19th-century chemists when they came to describe and name the smallest unit of an element, composed of a nucleus surrounded by electrons.
=> anatomy, tome
atone: atone: [16] As its spelling suggests, but its pronunciation disguises, atone comes from the phrase at one ‘united, in harmony’, lexicalized as atone in early modern English. It may have been modelled on Latin adūnāre ‘unite’, which was similarly compounded from ad ‘to, at’ and ūnum ‘one’.
=> at, one
cockatoo: cockatoo: [17] Cockatoo was originally a Malay word, although it has changed somewhat under the influence of English cock. It comes via Dutch kaketoe from Malay kakatua, a compound formed from kakak ‘elder brother or sister’ and tua ‘old’. A related word is cockatiel ‘small Australian parrot’ [19]; it comes ultimately from Portuguese cacatilha, formed from Malay kakatua with the Portuguese diminutive suffix -ilha, and it reached English via Dutch kaketielje.
depilatory: depilatory: see pile
dilatory: dilatory: see defer
gladiator: gladiator: [16] The main Latin word for ‘sword’ was gladius. It was probably borrowed from a Celtic word, in which case its relatives would include Irish claideb, Welsh cleddyf, and Scots Gaelic claidheamh (which with the addition of mór ‘great’ produced English claymore [18]). Among its derivatives were gladiātor, literally ‘swordsman’, and gladiolus, literally ‘little sword’, acquired by English in the 16th century.
=> claymore, gladiolus
gubernatorial: gubernatorial: see govern
lavatory: lavatory: [14] The notion of ‘washing’ was represented in prehistoric Indo-European by *lou-, which produced Greek loúein ‘wash’, English lather, and Latin lavāre ‘wash’. This last has been a fruitful source of English words, not all of them as obvious as lavatory, which originally meant simply ‘place or vessel for washing’ (its use for a ‘room containing a water closet’ appears to date from the 19th century).

Among its relatives are deluge [14], latrine [17] (from a contraction of Latin lavātrīna), laundry, lava [18] (from Italian lava, which originally denoted a ‘stream caused by sudden rain’), lavish [15] (from the metaphorical notion of an ‘outpouring’), and lotion [14]. And from Latin luere, the form taken on by lavāre after prefixes, we get ablution [14] and dilute [16]. Lavender [15] looks as though it should belong to the same family, but no actual connection has ever been demonstrated.
=> ablution, deluge, dilute, lather, latrine, laundry, lava, lavish, lotion
moratorium: moratorium: see demur
orator: orator: [14] Orator is one of a small family of English words that go back to the Latin verb ōrāre ‘speak’. Others include oracle [14], oration [14] (whence, by back-formation, orate [16]), and oratory ‘public speaking’ [16]. And besides these, there is a special subset of words that depend on a later, extended sense of ōrāre, ‘pray’: adore [15] (etymologically ‘pray to’), inexorable, oratory ‘small chapel’ [14] (whose Italian form has given English oratorio [18]), and the now archaic orison ‘prayer’ [12] (etymologically the same word as oration).
=> adore, inexorable, oracle, orison
piscatorial: piscatorial: see fish
platoon: platoon: [17] Platoon means etymologically ‘little ball’. It comes from French peloton, a diminutive form of pelote ‘ball’ (source of English pellet). The notion of a ‘small ball’ was extended in French to a ‘little cluster of people or group of soldiers’ – hence the meaning of English platoon.
=> pellet, pelota
potato: potato: [16] Potato was originally the English name for the ‘sweet potato’ (when Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor 1598 cried ‘Let the sky rain potatoes!’ it was to the sweet potato, and its supposed aphrodisiac properties, that he was referring). It did not begin to be used for the vegetable we now know as the potato until the very end of the 16th century. The word comes via Spanish patata from batata, the name for the ‘sweet potato’ in the Taino language of Haiti and other Caribbean islands.
predatory: predatory: see prey
sanatorium: sanatorium: see sane
accelerator (n.): 1610s, from Latin accelerator, agent noun from accelerare (see accelerate). Motor vehicle sense is from 1900.
accusatory (adj.): c. 1600, from Latin accusatorius, from accusare (see accuse).
adjudicator (n.): 1804, agent noun in Latin form from adjudicate.
administrator (n.): mid-15c., from Middle French administrateur or directly from Latin administrator "a manager, conductor," agent noun from past participle stem of administrare (see administer). Estate sense is earliest. For ending, see -er.
agitator (n.): 1640s, agent noun from agitate (v.); originally "elected representative of the common soldiers in Cromwell's army," who brought grievances (chiefly over lack of pay) to their officers and Parliament.

Political sense is first recorded 1734, and negative overtones began with its association with Irish patriots such as Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847). Historically, in American English, often with outside and referring to people who stir up a supposedly contented class or race. Latin agitator meant "a driver, a charioteer."
aleatory (adj.): "of uncertain outcome," literally "depending on the throw of a die," 1690s, from Latin aleatorius "pertaining to a gamester," from aleator "a dice player," from alea "a game with dice; chance, hazard, risk; a die, the dice;" perhaps literally "a joint-bone, a pivot-bone," and related to axis.
alligator (n.): 1560s, lagarto (modern form attested from 1620s, with excrescent -r as in tater, feller, etc.), a corruption of Spanish el lagarto (de Indias) "the lizard (of the Indies)," from Latin lacertus (see lizard). Alligarter was an early variant. The slang meaning "non-playing devotee of swing music" is attested from 1936; the phrase see you later, alligator is from a 1956 song title.
alternator (n.): 1878, agent noun in Latin form from alternate (v.).
amatory (adj.): 1590s, "pertaining to love" (especially sexual love), from Latin amatorius "loving," from amatus, past participle of amare (see Amy).
ambulatory (adj.): "pertaining to walking;" also "shifting, not permanent," 1620s, from Latin ambulatorius "of or pertaining to a walker; movable," from ambulator, agent noun from past participle stem of ambulare "to walk" (see amble). Middle English had ambulary "movable" (mid-15c.).
ambulatory (n.): from Medieval Latin ambulatorium, from Latin ambulatorius "movable," from ambulare (see amble).
Anatolia: ancient name of Asia Minor, from Medieval Latin Anatolia, from Greek anatole "the east," originally "sunrise" (which of course happens in the east), literally "a rising above (the horizon)," from anatellein "to rise," from ana "up" (see ana-) + tellein "to accomplish, perform."
anatomic (adj.): 1712, from Latin anatomicus, from Greek anatomikos "relating to anatomy," from anatomia (see anatomy). Anatomical is older.
anatomical (adj.): 1580s; see anatomy + -ical.
anatomically (adv.): 1640s, from anatomical + -ly (2). Anatomically correct, of dolls and meaning "with genitalia," is attested 1968, perhaps 1967, American English, in reference to Petit Frère, an imported French boy doll.
anatomize (v.): "to dissect, investigate by dissection," early 15c., from Medieval Latin anatomizare or French anatomiser (16c.), from Greek anatomia (see anatomy). Related: Anatomized; anatomizing.
anatomy (n.): late 14c., "study of the structure of living beings;" c. 1400, "anatomical structures," from Old French anatomie, from Late Latin anatomia, from Greek anatomia, from anatome "dissection," from ana- "up" (see ana-) + temnein "to cut" (see tome). "Dissection" (1540s), "mummy" (1580s), and "skeleton" (1590s) were primary senses of this word in Shakespeare's day; meaning "the science of the structure of organized bodies" predominated from 17c. Often mistakenly divided as an atomy or a natomy.
The scyence of the Nathomy is nedefull and necessarye to the Cyrurgyen [1541]
animator (n.): 1630s, "one who enlivens or inspires," from Latin animator, agent noun from animare (see animate (v.)). Cinematographic sense is from 1919.
anticipatory (adj.): 1660s, from anticipate + -ory.
arbitrator (n.): early 15c., from Old French arbitratour (13c.), from Latin arbitrator "a spectator, hearer, witness, judge," agent noun from past participle stem of arbitrari, from arbiter (see arbiter). The legal form of popular arbiter; in modern usage, an arbiter makes decisions of his own accord and is accountable to no one but himself; an arbitrator (early 15c.) decides issues referred to him by the parties.
atoll (n.): 1620s, atollon, from Malayam atolu "reef," probably from adal "closing, uniting." Popularized in present form by Darwin's writings.
atom (n.): late 15c., as a hypothetical indivisible body, the building block of the universe, from Latin atomus (especially in Lucretius) "indivisible particle," from Greek atomos "uncut, unhewn; indivisible," from a- "not" + tomos "a cutting," from temnein "to cut" (see tome). An ancient term of philosophical speculation (in Leucippus, Democritus), revived 1805 by British chemist John Dalton. In late classical and medieval use also a unit of time, 22,560 to the hour. Atom bomb is from 1945 as both a noun and a verb; compare atomic.
atomic (adj.): 1670s as a philosophical term (see atomistic); scientific sense dates from 1811, from atom + -ic. Atomic number is from 1821; atomic mass is from 1848. Atomic energy first recorded 1906 in modern sense (as intra-atomic energy from 1903).
March, 1903, was an historic date for chemistry. It is, also, as we shall show, a date to which, in all probability, the men of the future will often refer as the veritable beginning of the larger powers and energies that they will control. It was in March, 1903, that Curie and Laborde announced the heat-emitting power of radium. [Robert Kennedy Duncan, "The New Knowledge," 1906]
Atomic bomb first recorded 1914 in writings of H.G. Wells, who thought of it as a bomb "that would continue to explode indefinitely."
When you can drop just one atomic bomb and wipe out Paris or Berlin, war will have become monstrous and impossible. [S. Strunsky, "Yale Review," January 1917]
Atomic Age is from 1945. Atomical is from 1640s.
atomies (n.): 1590s, "atoms," also "diminutive beings," from atomy, from Latin atomi, plural of atomus (see atom), but taken as a singular in English and re-pluralized in the native way. Perhaps also in some cases a plural of atomy (from misdivision of anatomy).
atomistic (adj.): 1809, in reference to the classical philosophical doctrine of atomism (1670s); modern philosophical sense (logical atomism) traces to 1914 and Bertrand Russell.
atomization (n.): 1866, noun of action from atomize.
atomize (v.): "reduce to atoms," 1845; "reduce a liquid to a very fine mist," 1865, verb formed from atom + -ize. Related: Atomized; atomizing. Originally in reference to medical treatment for injured or diseased lungs; sense of "to destroy with atomic weapons" is from 1945.
atomizer (n.): 1865, agent noun from atomize.
Aton: variant of Aten.
atonal (adj.): 1922, from a- "not" (see a- (2)) + tonal.
atonality (n.): 1950; see atonal + -ity.
atone (v.): 1550s, from adverbial phrase atonen (c. 1300) "in accord," literally "at one," a contraction of at and one. It retains the older pronunciation of one. The phrase perhaps is modeled on Latin adunare "unite," from ad- "to, at" (see ad-) + unum "one." Related: Atoned; atoning.