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attend [attend 词源字典]: attend: [13] Etymologically, attend means ‘stretch to’. It comes originally from Latin attendere, a compound verb formed from the prefix ad- ‘to’ and tendere ‘stretch’ (a descendant of an Indo-European base *ten-, *ton- ‘stretch’ which also produced, among others, Latin tenēre ‘hold’ – source of English contain, maintain, obtain, etc – and English tendon, thin, and tone).

By metaphorical extension ‘stretch to’ became ‘direct one’s attention to’, which was the original meaning of the verb in Old French atendre and subsequently in English. The sense ‘take care of’ developed in the 15th century, ‘be present’ much later, in the 17th century. The noun derivative attention [14] comes from Latin attentiō. Tend meaning ‘look after’ comes mainly from attend, but also partly from intend, in both cases with loss of the first syllable.
=> contain, maintain, obtain, tendon, thin, tone[attend etymology, attend origin, 英语词源]
bamboo: bamboo: [16] Bamboo appears to come from a Malay word mambu. This was brought back to Europe by the Portuguese explorers, and enjoyed a brief currency in English from the 17th to the 18th century. However, for reasons no one can explain, the initial m of this word became changed to b, and it acquired an s at the end, producing a form found in Latin texts of the time as bambusa. This appears to have passed into English via Dutch bamboes, so the earliest English version of the word was bambos. As so often happens in such cases, the final s was misinterpreted as a plural ending, so it dropped off to give the new ‘singular’ bamboo.
cause: cause: [13] Cause comes via Old French cause from Latin causa, which as well as ‘reason’ meant ‘law-suit’; this was carried over into English legal language (it survives in terms such as cause-list ‘list of cases to be tried’) and its use in expressions like ‘plead someone’s cause’ led in the late 16th century to a more general application ‘goal or principle pursued or supported’. French chose ‘thing’ also comes from Latin causa, in the weakened sense ‘matter, subject’.
=> excuse
clause: clause: [13] The etymological notion underlying clause is of ‘closing’ or ‘termination’. The word derives ultimately from Latin claudere (source of English close) and was originally applied either as a rhetorical term to the conclusion of a sentence, or as a legal term to the termination of a legal argument. Gradually, in both cases, the element of finality fell away, leaving the senses ‘short sentence’ and ‘section of a legal document’, which passed into English.

The past participle of Latin claudere, clausus, probably produced an unrecorded noun *clausa (known only in its diminutive form clausula), which passed into English via Old French clause.
=> clavier, close
contract: contract: [14] English acquired the word contract in stages, although in all cases the ultimate source was contractus, the past participle of Latin contrahere, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and trahere ‘pull, draw’ (source of English traction and tractor). This meant literally ‘pull together’, but it had a variety of metaphorical senses, including ‘bring about’ and ‘enter into an agreement’, and it was the latter which first passed into English via Old French as a noun meaning ‘mutual agreement’.

The arrival of the verb contract did not happen until the 16th century; it developed from an earlier adjective contract, which came again from Old French contract. This introduced a further sense of Latin contrahere; ‘become narrowed, get smaller’.
=> distract, retract, traction, tractor
crystal: crystal: [OE] The prehistoric Indo-European base *kru- produced several words denoting ‘hard outer surface’, including English crust, Old High German hrosa ‘crust’, and Old Norse hrúthr ‘crust’. In some cases they reflect a hardening caused by freezing: Old High German hrosa, for example, also meant ‘ice’, and Greek krúos meant ‘frost’.

From this was derived krustaímein ‘freeze’, which in turn formed the basis of krústallos ‘ice’. When Old English first acquired the word, via Latin crystallum and Old French cristal, it still meant ‘ice’, a sense which survived until the 16th century, although losing ground all the time to the metaphorical extension ‘clear mineral’.
=> crust
earn: earn: [OE] The underlying sense of earn is ‘gain as a result of one’s labour’. It comes from a prehistoric West Germanic verb *aznōjan, which was based on the noun *aznu ‘work, labour’. This seems often to have been used specifically for ‘work in the fields’, for several other related forms in the Germanic languages, such as German ernte and Gothic asans, denote ‘harvest’, which in some cases has been metaphorically extended to apply to ‘autumn’.
emerald: emerald: [13] Emerald traces its history back to an ancient Semitic verb ‘shine’ – bāraq. From this there seems to have been formed a noun *bāraqt meaning ‘gem’. This was taken over into the ancient vernacular languages of India (main source of gems in early times) as maragada-. Greek acquired the word as máragdos ‘green gem’, which was soon superseded as the main form by a variant smáragdos.

Latin adopted this as smaragdus (which passed into English, probably via Old French, as smaragd, a term used for the ‘emerald’ from the 13th to the 18th century, and revived as an archaism in the 19th century). In post-classical times Latin smaragdus became *smaralda, and as this became disseminated through the Romance languages it acquired in many cases an additional syllable: Spanish esmeralda, for instance (source of the English forename) and Old French esmeraude, borrowed into Middle English as emeraud.
fee: fee: [14] Fee is a word bequeathed to modern English by the feudal system (and indeed it is closely related etymologically to feudal). It came via Anglo-Norman fee from medieval Latin feodum or feudum (source also of feudal [17]). This denoted ‘land or other property whose use was granted as a reward for service’, a meaning which persists in its essentials in modern English ‘payment for work done’.

The secondary signification of fee, ‘feudal estate’, is no longer a live sense, but it is represented in the related fief [17], a descendant of feodum, which English acquired through French rather than Anglo-Norman. The ultimate derivation of the medieval Latin term itself is not altogether clear, although it is usually assigned to an unrecorded Frankish *fehuōd, literally ‘cattle-property’ (*fehu has related forms in Old English féoh ‘cattle, property’ and Old Norse fé ‘cattle, money’ – joint sources of the first syllable of English fellow – and in modern German viehe ‘cattle’; they all go back ultimately to Indo- European *peku-, ancestor of a wide range of words meaning ‘cattle’ which, since in former times cattle were symbolic of wealth, in many cases came to signify ‘property’ too).
=> fellow, feudal, fief
gold: gold: [OE] Gold gets its name from its colour. The perception of what this is has varied. In the ancient Germanic languages, red was often used as a poetic epithet for ‘gold’, and in English this survives into the present day as an archaism. And Latin aurum ‘gold’, source of French or and Italian and Spanish oro, is probably related to words for ‘dawn’ (such as Latin aurora), the inspiration in both cases being ‘redness’.

The word gold, however, depends on the metal’s yellowness. It goes back to Indo-European *ghel-, source of English yellow. From this was formed *ghltom ‘gold’, which was the ancestor of Russian zoloto ‘gold’, Polish złoto (whence złoty ‘golden’, used as the name of a Polish coin), Sanskrit hiranya- ‘gold’, and the various Germanic words for ‘gold’: English and German gold, Dutch goud, and Swedish and Danish guld. Golden [13] is a Middle English derivative of gold, replacing the earlier gilden, which came from Old English gylden.

Of related forms in other Germanic languages, Dutch gulden is the source of the former coin-name guilder [15]. The verb gild, from Old English gyldan, retains its original vowel; gilt [14] began life as its past participle.
=> gall, gild, gilt, guilder, yellow
grenade: grenade: [16] The original grenades were small spherical explosive-filled cases with a wick on top. In shape, they bore more than a passing resemblance to pomegranates. The Old French term for ‘pomegranate’ was pome grenate, or just grenate for short, and it was this abbreviated form, altered to grenade under the influence of the related Spanish granada, that was applied to the explosive device. Grenadier [17] came from the French derivative grenadier ‘grenadethrower’.
=> grain, grenadier, pomegranate
gun: gun: [14] Gun probably comes, unlikely as it may seem, from the Scandinavian female forename Gunnhildr (originally a compound of gunnr ‘war’ and hildr ‘war’). It is by no means unusual for large fearsome weapons to be named after women (for reasons perhaps best left to psychologists): the huge German artillery weapon of World War I, Big Bertha, and the old British army musket, Brown Bess, are cases in point.

And it seems that in the Middle Ages Gunnhildr or Gunhild was applied to various large rock-hurling seige weapons, such as the ballista, and later to cannon. The earliest recorded sense of gun (on this theory representing Gunne, a pet form of Gunhild) is ‘cannon’, but it was applied to hand-held firearms as they developed in the 15th century.
iconoclast: iconoclast: [17] The original iconoclasts were members of the Eastern Orthodox church in the 8th and 9th centuries AD who were opposed to the use or worship of religious images. In more extreme cases their opposition took the form of smashing icons (the word iconoclast comes via medieval Latin from medieval Greek eikonoklástēs, a compound formed from eikón ‘icon’ and the verb klan ‘break’).

The term subsequently came to be applied to extreme Protestants in England in the 16th and 17th centuries who expressed their disapproval of graven images (and popish practices in general) in similar ways. Its general use for an ‘attacker of orthodoxy’ dates from the early 19th century.
ordinary: ordinary: [14] Latin ōrdinārius meant ‘following the usual course’; it was a derivative of ōrdō, source of English order. It was originally used in English as a noun, meaning ‘someone with jurisdiction in ecclesiastical cases’, and right up until the 19th century the noun ordinary was common, with an amazingly wide range of meanings (including ‘post, mail’, ‘fixed allowance’, ‘priest who visited people in the condemned cell’, and ‘tavern’). Nowadays, however, the only (quasi-)nominal use at all frequently encountered is in the phrase out of the ordinary. English first took the word up as an adjective in the 15th century.
=> order
town: town: [OE] The ancestral meaning of town is ‘enclosed place’ – amongst its relatives are German zaun ‘hedge, fence’ and Old Irish dūn ‘fort, camp, fortified place’. Its Old English forerunner tūn was used for an ‘enclosure’ or ‘yard’, and also for a ‘building or set of buildings within an enclosure’, hence a ‘farm’. This in due course evolved to a ‘cluster of dwellings’, and by the 12th century the modern English sense of the word was in place (the standard Old English term for ‘town’ was burg, ancestor of modern English borough).

The -ton ending of English place-names goes back in many cases to a time when the word meant ‘farmstead’.
-an: word-forming element meaning "pertaining to," from Latin -anus, in some cases via French -ain, -en.
-ary: adjective and noun word-forming element, in most cases from Latin -arius, -aria, -arium "connected with, pertaining to; the man engaged in," from PIE relational adjective suffix *-yo- "of or belonging to." It appears in words borrowed from Latin in Middle English. In later borrowings from Latin to French, it became -aire and passed into Middle English as -arie, subsequently -ary.
aboard (adv.): late 14c., probably in most cases from Old French à bord, from à "on" + bord "board," from Frankish *bord or a similar Germanic source (see board (n.2)); the "boarding" or sides of a vessel extended to the ship itself. The usual Middle English expression was within shippes borde. The call all aboard! as a warning to passengers is attested from 1838.
accidence (n.): late 14c., in philosophy, "non-essential or incidental characteristic," also "part of grammar dealing with inflection" (mid-15c.), in some cases a misspelling of accidents, or else directly from Latin accidentia (used as a term in grammar by Quintilian), neuter plural of accidens, present participle of accidere (see accident). The grammar sense is because they change in accordance with use.
ad-: word-forming element expressing direction toward or in addition to, from Latin ad "to, toward" in space or time; "with regard to, in relation to," as a prefix, sometimes merely emphatic, from PIE *ad- "to, near, at" (cognate with Old English æt; see at). Simplified to a- before sc-, sp- and st-; modified to ac- before many consonants and then re-spelled af-, ag-, al-, etc., in conformity with the following consonant (as in affection, aggression). In Old French, reduced to a- in all cases (an evolution already underway in Merovingian Latin), but written forms in French were refashioned after Latin in 14c. and English did likewise 15c. in words it had picked up from Old French. In many cases pronunciation followed the shift.
advocate (n.): mid-14c., "one whose profession is to plead cases in a court of justice," a technical term from Roman law, from Old French avocat "barrister, advocate, spokesman," from Latin advocatus "one called to aid; a pleader, advocate," noun use of past participle of advocare "to call" (as witness or advisor) from ad- "to" (see ad-) + vocare "to call," related to vocem (see voice (n.)). Also in Middle English as "one who intercedes for another," and "protector, champion, patron." Feminine forms advocatess, advocatrice were in use in 15c.
aeration (n.): 1570s, from French aération, from aérer (v.), from Latin aer (see air (n.1)). In some cases, from aerate.
afore (adv.): Old English onforan "before, at the beginning of, in front of," from phrase on foran, from on (prep.) + foran (adv.) "in front," dative of for.

In some cases probably it represents Old English ætforan "at-fore." Once the literary equivalent of before, it now has been replaced by that word except in nautical use and in combinations such as aforesaid, aforethought.
alienation (n.): "transfer of ownership," late 14c., from Old French alienacion and directly from Latin alienationem (nominative alienatio) "a transfer, surrender," noun of action from past participle stem of alienare (see alienate). It also meant "loss or derangement of mental faculties, insanity" (late 15c.), hence alienist. Phrase alienation of affection as a U.S. legal term in divorce cases for "falling in love with someone else" dates to 1861.
alimony (n.): 1650s, "nourishment," also "allowance to a wife from a husband's estate, or in certain cases of separation," from Latin alimonia "food, support, nourishment, sustenance," from alere "to nourish" (see old) + -monia suffix signifying action, state, condition (cognate with Greek -men). Derived form palimony coined 1979.
alto (n.): 1784, "man with an alto voice," from Italian alto (canto), from Latin altus "high" (see old). Originally a "high" man's voice, now more commonly applied to the lower range of women's voices (which is more strictly the contralto), an extension first recorded in 1881.
The alto in a man is totally distinct from the contralto in a woman. The tone is utterly different -- the best notes of the one are certainly not the best notes of the other; and although in certain cases a contralto may sing with good effect music written for a male alto (e.g. in some oratorios), yet the converse is scarcely ever true. ["How to Sing," 1890]
As a type of saxophone, from 1869.
ambulant (adj.): 1610s, from Latin ambulantem (nominative ambulans), present participle of ambulare (see amble). Of diseases, denoting cases in which the patient may be up and around, by 1913.
annunciate (v.): 1530s, from past participle adjective annunciate (late 14c.) or directly from Latin annunciatus, misspelling of annuntiatus, past participle of annuntiare (see announce). In some cases perhaps a back-formation from annunciation. Related: Annunciated; annunciating.
anti-intellectualism (n.): 1904, from anti- + intellectualism; or in some cases from anti-intellectual + -ism.
anyhow (adv.): 1740, from any + how (adv.). Unlike the cases of most other any + (interrogative) compounds, there is no record of it in Old or Middle English. Emphatic form any old how is recorded from 1900, American English.
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).
attorney (n.): early 14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), from Old French atorné "(one) appointed," past participle of aturner "to decree, assign, appoint," from atorner (see attorn). The legal Latin form attornare influenced the spelling in Anglo-French. The sense is of "one appointed to represent another's interests."

In English law, a private attorney was one appointed to act for another in business or legal affairs (usually for pay); an attorney at law or public attorney was a qualified legal agent in the courts of Common Law who prepared the cases for a barrister, who pleaded them (the equivalent of a solicitor in Chancery). So much a term of contempt in England that it was abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873 and merged with solicitor.
Johnson observed that "he did not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, but he believed the gentleman was an attorney." [Boswell]
The double -t- is a mistaken 15c. attempt to restore a non-existent Latin original. Attorney general first recorded 1530s in sense of "legal officer of the state" (late 13c. in Anglo-French), from French, hence the odd plural (subject first, adjective second).
back (n.): Old English bæc "back," from Proto-Germanic *bakam (cognates: Old Saxon and Middle Dutch bak, Old Frisian bek), with no known connections outside Germanic. In other modern Germanic languages the cognates mostly have been ousted in this sense ib words akin to Modern English ridge (cognates: Danish ryg, German Rücken). Many Indo-European languages show signs of once having distinguished the horizontal back of an animal (or a mountain range) from the upright back of a human. In other cases, a modern word for "back" may come from a word related to "spine" (Italian schiena, Russian spina) or "shoulder, shoulder blade" (Spanish espalda, Polish plecy).

To turn (one's) back on (someone or something) "ignore" is from early 14c. Behind (someone's) back "clandestinely" is from late 14c. To know (something) like the back of one's hand, implying familiarity, is first attested 1893. The first attested use of the phrase is from a dismissive speech made to a character in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Catriona":
If I durst speak to herself, you may be certain I would never dream of trusting it to you; because I know you like the back of my hand, and all your blustering talk is that much wind to me.
The story, a sequel to "Kidnapped," has a Scottish setting and context, and the back of my hand to you was noted in the late 19th century as a Scottish expression meaning "I will have nothing to do with you" [see Longmuir's edition of Jamieson's Scottish dictionary]. In English generally, the back of (one's) hand has been used to imply contempt and rejection since at least 1300. Perhaps the connection of a menacing dismissal is what made Stevenson choose that particular anatomical reference.
bandolier (n.): 1570s, "shoulder belt (for a wallet)," from French bandouiliere (16c.), from Italian bandoliera or Spanish bandolera, from diminutive of banda "a scarf, sash," a Germanic loan-word related to Gothic bandwa (see band (n.2)). In some cases, directly from Spanish to English as bandoleer. Meaning "ammunition belt for a musket" is from 1590s; hence bandolero "highwayman, robber" (1832), from Spanish, literally "man who wears a bandoleer."
Bella: fem. proper name, from Italian bella "fair," from Latin bella, fem. of bellus "beautiful, fair" (see bene-). In some cases short for Isabella (see Isabel).
best (adj.): Old English beste, reduced by assimilation of -t- from earlier Old English betst "best, first, in the best manner," originally superlative of bot "remedy, reparation," the root word now only surviving in to boot (see boot (n.2)), though its comparative, better, and superlative, best, have been transferred to good (and in some cases well). From Proto-Germanic root *bat-, with comparative *batizon and superlative *batistaz (cognates: Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Middle Dutch best, Old High German bezzist, German best, Old Norse beztr, Gothic batists).
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

[Burns]
Best-seller as short for "best-selling book" is from 1902, apparently originally in the publishing trade; best friend was in Chaucer (late 14c.). Best girl is first attested 1881, American English; best man is 1814, originally Scottish, replacing groomsman. To be able to do something with the best of them is recorded by 1748.
bestial (adj.): late 14c., from Old French bestial (13c.) "relating to animals, stupid, foolish, bestial" and directly from Latin bestialis "like a beast," from bestia (see beast). Sense of "below the dignity of a human" is from c. 1400, and in many cases its use is unjust to the beasts.
Boyd: in many cases, the family name represents Gaelic or Irish buidhe "yellow," suggesting blond hair, compare Manx name Mac Giolla Buidhe (c. 1100).
brother (n.): Old English broþor, from Proto-Germanic *brothar (cognates: Old Norse broðir, Danish broder, Old Frisian brother, Dutch broeder, German Bruder, Gothic bróþar), from PIE root *bhrater (cognates: Sanskrit bhrátár-, Old Persian brata, Greek phratér, Latin frater, Old Irish brathir, Welsh brawd, Lithuanian broterelis, Old Prussian brati, Old Church Slavonic bratru, Czech bratr "brother").

A highly stable word across the Indo-European languages. In the few cases where other words provide the sense, it is where the cognate of brother had been applied widely to "member of a fraternity," or where there was need to distinguish "son of the same mother" and "son of the same father." E.g. Greek adelphos, probably originally an adjective with frater and meaning, specifically, "brother of the womb" or "brother by blood;" and Spanish hermano "brother," from Latin germanus "full brother." As a familiar term of address from one man to another, it is attested from 1912 in U.S. slang; the specific use among blacks is recorded from 1973.
case (n.2): "receptacle," early 14c., from Anglo-French and Old North French casse (Old French chasse "case, reliquary;" Modern French châsse), from Latin capsa "box, repository" (especially for books), from capere "to take, hold" (see capable).

Meaning "outer protective covering" is from late 14c. Also used from 1660s with a sense "frame" (as in staircase, casement). Artillery sense is from 1660s, from case-shot "small projectiles put in cases" (1620s). Its application in the printing trade (first recorded 1580s) to the two trays where compositors keep their types in separate compartments for easy access led to upper-case letter for a capital (1862) and lower-case for small letters.
"The cases, or receptacles, for the type, which are always in pairs, and termed the 'upper' and the 'lower,' are formed of two oblong wooden frames, divided into compartments or boxes of different dimensions, the upper case containing ninety-eight and the lower fifty-four. In the upper case are placed the capital, small capital, and accented letters, also figures, signs for reference to notes &c.; in the lower case the ordinary running letter, points for punctuation, spaces for separating the words, and quadrats for filling up the short lines." ["The Literary Gazette," Jan. 29, 1859]
casuist (n.): c. 1600, "one who studies and resolves cases of conscience," from French casuiste (17c.) or Spanish casuista (the French word also might be from Spanish), Italian casista, all from Latin casus (see case (n.1)) in its Medieval Latin sense "case of conscience." Often since 17c. in a sinister or contemptuous sense. Related: Casuistic; casuistical; casuistically; casuistry.
Casuistry ... destroys, by distinctions and exceptions, all morality, and effaces the essential difference between right and wrong. [Bolingbroke, 1736]
cerebral (adj.): 1816, "pertaining to the brain," from French cérébral (16c.), from Latin cerebrum "the brain" (also "the understanding"), from PIE *keres-, from root *ker- (1) "top of the head" (see horn (n.)). Meaning "intellectual, clever" is from 1929. Cerebral palsy attested from 1824, originally a general term for cases of paralysis that seemed to be traceable to "a morbid state of the encephalon." Later used in a more specific sense from c. 1860, based on the work of English surgeon Dr. William Little.
chaser (n.): c. 1300, "horse trained for chasing," agent noun from chase (v.), probably in some cases from Old French chaceor "huntsman, hunter." Meaning "water or mild beverage taken after a strong drink" is 1897, U.S. colloquial. French had chasse (from chasser "to chase") "a drink of liquor taken (or said to be taken) to kill the aftertaste of coffee or tobacco," used in English from c. 1800.
cist (n.): "sepulchral chest or chamber," 1804, in some cases from Latin cista "wickerwork basket, box," from Greek kiste "box, chest" (see chest); according to OED, in some cases from Welsh cist in cist faen "stone coffin," the first element of which is from the Latin word.
Clark: surname, from common Middle English alternative spelling of clerk (n.). In many early cases it is used of men who had taken minor orders.
cliff-hanger (n.): also cliffhanger, "suspenseful situation," 1937, in reference to U.S. cinema serials, agent noun from cliff + agent noun from hang (v.). In some cases, especially Westerns, the hero or heroine literally was dangling from a cliff at the end of an episode.
collateral damage (n.): by 1873 in legal cases; in modern use, generally a euphemism for "the coincidental killing of civilians," U.S. coinage, c. 1968, at first generally with reference to nuclear weapons.
common law (n.): mid-14c., "the customary and unwritten laws of England as embodied in commentaries and old cases" (see common (adj.)), as opposed to statute law. Phrase common law marriage is attested from 1909.
communism (n.): "social system based on collective ownership," 1843, from French communisme (c. 1840) from commun (Old French comun; see common (adj.)) + -isme (see -ism). Originally a theory of society; as name of a political system, 1850, a translation of German Kommunismus (itself from French), in Marx and Engels' "Manifesto of the Communist Party." Compare communist. In some cases in early and mid-20c., a term of abuse implying anti-social criminality without regard to political theory.
Each [i.e. socialism, communism, anarchism] stands for a state of things, or a striving after it, that differs much from that which we know; & for many of us, especially those who are comfortably at home in the world as it is, they have consequently come to be the positive, comparative, & superlative, distinguished not in kind but in degree only, of the terms of abuse applicable to those who would disturb our peace. [Fowler]
concept (n.): 1550s, from Medieval Latin conceptum "draft, abstract," in classical Latin "(a thing) conceived," from concep-, past participle stem of concipere "to take in" (see conceive). In some 16c. cases a refashioning of conceit (perhaps to avoid negative connotations).