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ambidextrous [ambidextrous 词源字典]: ambidextrous: [16] Ambidextrous means literally ‘right-handed on both sides’. It was formed in Latin from the prefix ambi- ‘both’ and the adjective dexter ‘right-handed’ (source of English dextrous). Ambi- corresponds to the Latin adjective ambo ‘both’, which derived ultimately from the Indo-European base *amb- ‘around’ (an element in the source of ambassador and embassy).

The second element in Latin ambo seems to correspond to Old English ba ‘both’, which is related to modern English both. Other English words formed with the prefix amb(i)- include ambient [16] (which came, like ambition, from Latin ambīre ‘go round’), ambit [16] (from Latin ambitus ‘circuit’), ambiguous, ambition, amble, and ambulance.
=> dextrous[ambidextrous etymology, ambidextrous origin, 英语词源]
amphibious: amphibious: [17] The Greek prefix amphimeant ‘both, on both sides’ (hence an amphitheatre [14]: Greek and Roman theatres were semicircular, so two joined together, completely surrounding the arena, formed an amphitheatre). Combination with bios ‘life’ (as in biology) produced the Greek adjective amphibios, literally ‘leading a double life’. From the beginning of its career as an English word it was used in a very wide, general sense of ‘combining two completely distinct or opposite conditions or qualities’ (Joseph Addison, for example, used it as an 18th-century equivalent of modern unisex), but that meaning has now almost entirely given way to the word’s zoological application.

At first, amphibious meant broadly ‘living on both land and water’, and so was applied by some scientists to, for example, seals; but around 1819 the zoologist William Macleay proposed the more precise application, since generally accepted, to frogs, newts, and other members of the class Amphibia whose larvae have gills but whose adults breathe with lungs.
=> biology
by: by: [OE] By comes from a prehistoric Germanic *bi, which appears ultimately to be the same form as the second syllable of Latin ambi- (as in ambidextrous), Greek amphí (as in amphitheatre), and Old English ymbe, all of which meant ‘on both sides, round’. The original meaning of by thus seems to be ‘close to, near’. By is the basis of the prefix be-, as in befall and belong.
contest: contest: [16] The idea underlying contest, unlikely as it may seem, is of ‘bearing witness’. It goes back to Latin contestārī, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and testārī ‘bear witness’, which in turn was derived from testis ‘witness’ (whence English testament, testicle, and testimony). This verb signified the bringing of a lawsuit by ‘calling witnesses together’ from both sides.

Hence was introduced the adversarial or competitive notion that passed into English, probably via Old French contester (although in the 16th and 17th centuries traces of the original Latin sense ‘bear joint witness, attest’ survived in English, presumably as a scholarly reintroduction).
=> testament, testicle, testimony
get: get: [13] Get, now one of the most pervasive of English words, has only been in the language for the (comparatively) short period of 800 years. It was borrowed from Old Norse geta (although a related, hundred-per-cent English -get, which occurs in beget and forget, dates back to Old English times). Both come via a prehistoric Germanic *getan from Indo-European *ghed-, which signified ‘seize’ (guess is ultimately from the same source). Gotten is often quoted as an American survival of a primeval past participle since abandoned by British English, but in fact the original past participle of got was getten, which lasted into the 16th century; gotten was a Middle English innovation, based on such models as spoken and stolen. Got originated as an abbreviated form of gotten, which in due course came to be used, on both sides of the Atlantic, as the past tense of the verb (replacing the original gat).
=> beget, forget, guess
plead: plead: [13] Essentially plead and plea are the same word. Both go back ultimately to Latin placitum ‘something pleasant’, hence ‘something that pleases both sides’, ‘something agreed upon’, and finally ‘opinion, decision’. This was a noun formed from the past participle of placēre ‘please’ (source of English please). It passed into Old French as plaid ‘agreement, discussion, lawsuit’, and formed the basis of a verb plaidier, from which (via Anglo-Norman pleder) English got plead. In later Old French plaid became plait, and Anglo-Norman took it over as plai or ple – whence English plea [13].
=> plea, please
ambi-: word-forming element meaning "both, on both sides," from Latin ambi- "around, round about," from PIE *ambhi "around" (cognates: Greek amphi "round about;" Sanskrit abhitah "on both sides," abhi "toward, to;" Avestan aibi; Old English ymbe, German um; Gaulish ambi-, Old Irish imb- "round about, about;" Old Church Slavonic oba; Lithuanian abu "both"). The PIE root probably is an ablative plural of *ant-bhi "from both sides," from *ant- "front, forehead" (see ante).
ambidextrous (adj.): 1640s, with -ous, from ambidexter (adj.) "double-dealing" (1610s), from French ambidextre or directly from Latin ambidexter, literally "right-handed on both sides," from ambi- "both" (see ambi-) + dexter "right-handed" (see dexterity). Its opposite, ambilevous "left-handed on both sides, clumsy" (1640s) is rare. Ambidexter as a noun, "one who takes bribes from both sides," is attested from 1530s and is the earliest form of the word in English; its sense of "one who uses both hands equally well" appears by 1590s.
amphi-: before a vowel amph-, word-forming element from Greek amphi- "both, of both kinds, on both sides, around," comb. form of amphi "round about, around;" cognate with Latin ambi- (see ambi-).
amphibrach (n.): 1580s, from Latin amphibrachus, from Greek amphibrakhys, a foot consisting of a long syllable between two short, literally "short at both ends," from amphi- "on both sides" (see amphi-) + brakhys "short" (see brief (adj.)).
Amphictyonic League: 1753, one of several ancient Greek confederations of neighboring states, from Greek amphiktionikos, from amphiktiones "neighbors," literally "they that dwell round about," from amphi- "on both sides" (see amphi-) + second element related to ktizein "to create, found," ktoina "habitation, township," from PIE root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home" (see home (n.)).
amphigory (n.): 1809, "burlesque nonsense writing or verse," from French amphigouri, which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Greek amphi- (see amphi-) + gyros "circle," thus "circle on both sides," or second element may be from Greek -agoria "speech" (compare allegory, category). Related: Amphigoric.
Amphiscians (n.): 1620s, from Medieval Latin Amphiscii, from Greek amphiskioi "inhabitants of the tropics," literally "throwing a shadow both ways," from amphi- "on both sides" (see amphi-) + skia "shadow" (see shine (v.)). Inhabitants of torrid zones, so called because they are "people whose shadow is sometimes to the North, and sometimes to the South" [Cockerham, 1623].
amphitheater (n.): late 14c., from Latin amphitheatrum, from Greek amphitheatron "double theater, amphitheater," neuter of amphitheatros "with spectators all around," from amphi- "on both sides" (see amphi-) + theatron "theater" (see theater). Classical theaters were semi-circles, thus two together made an amphi-theater.
amphora (n.): early 14c., "two-handled vessel for holding wine, oil, etc.," from Latin amphora from Greek amphoreus "an amphora, jar, urn," contraction of amphiphoreus, literally "two-handled," from amphi- "on both sides" (see amphi-) + phoreus "bearer," related to pherein "to bear" (see infer). Also a liquid measure in the ancient world, in Greece equal to 9 gallons, in Rome to 6 gallons, 7 pints.
conscript (v.): 1813, American English, from conscript (n.). A word from the militia drafts in the War of 1812. Popularized (or unpopularized) during U.S. Civil War, when both sides resorted to it in 1862. Related: Conscripted; conscripting.
exorcise (v.): c. 1400, "to invoke spirits," from Old French exorciser (14c.), from Late Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein "banish an evil spirit; bind by oath" (see exorcism). Sense of "call up evil spirits to drive them out" became dominant 16c. Formerly also exorcize; a rare case where -ise trumps -ize on both sides of the Atlantic, perhaps due to influence of exercise. Related: Exorcised; exorcising.
hence (adv.): late 13c., hennes, from Old English heonan "away, hence," from West Germanic *hin- (see Old Saxon hinan, Old High German hinnan, German hinnen); related to Old English her "here" (see here). With adverbial genitive -s. The modern spelling (mid-15c.) is phonetic, to retain the breathy -s- (see twice, pence). Original sense is "away from here;" of time, from late 14c.; meaning "from this (fact or circumstance)" first recorded 1580s. Wyclif (1382) uses hennys & þennys for "from here and there, on both sides."
Jekyll and Hyde: in reference to opposite aspects of a person's character, from Robert Louis Stevenson's story, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," published 1886. The surname Jekyll is of Breton origin and was originally a personal name.
"Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no sense a hypocrite. Both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering." [Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," 1886]
plea (n.): early 13c., "lawsuit," from Anglo-French plai (late 12c.), Old French plait "lawsuit, decision, decree" (9c.), from Medieval Latin placitum "lawsuit," in classical Latin, "opinion, decree," literally "that which pleases, thing which is agreed upon," properly neuter past participle of placere (see please). Sense development seems to be from "something pleasant," to "something that pleases both sides," to "something that has been decided." Meaning "a pleading, an agreement in a suit" is attested from late 14c. Plea-bargaining is first attested 1963. Common pleas (early 13c.) originally were legal proceedings over which the Crown did not claim exclusive jurisdiction (as distinct from pleas of the Crown); later "actions brought by one subject against another."
straddle (v.): 1560s, "spread the legs wide," probably an alteration of striddle (mid-15c.), frequentative of striden (see stride (v.)). Transitive sense "place one leg on one side of and the other on the other side of" is from 1670s. U.S. colloquial figurative sense of "take up an equivocal position, appear to favor both sides" is attested from 1838. Related: Straddled; straddling. The noun is first recorded 1610s.
synclinal (adj.): "sloping downward on both sides," 1833 (in Lyell), from -al (1) + Latinized form of stem of Greek synklinein "to incline, lean," from syn- "together" (see syn-) + klinein "to slope" (see lean (v.)).
tar (v.): late Old English, "to smear with tar," from tar (n.1). To tar and feather (1769) was famously a mob action in America in Revolutionary times (used by both sides) and several decades thereafter. The punishment itself first is found in an ordinance of Richard I (1189) as the penalty in the Crusader navy for theft. Among other applications over the years was its use in 1623 by a bishop on "a party of incontinent friars and nuns" [OED], but the verbal phrase is not attested until 18c. Related: Tarred; tarring.
amphibole: "Any of a class of rock-forming silicate or aluminosilicate minerals typically occurring as fibrous or columnar crystals", Early 19th century: from French, from Latin amphibolus 'ambiguous' (because of the varied structure of these minerals), from Greek amphibolos, from amphi- 'both, on both sides' + ballein 'to throw'.
pro-and-con: "To weigh the arguments for and against; to debate both sides of (a question or matter)", Late 17th cent. Probably partly from pro and con, and partly from pro + and + con.