英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

bald [bald 词源字典]: bald: [14] In Middle English times, bald was ballede, which suggests that it may have been a compound formed in Old English with the suffix -ede ‘characterized by, having’. It has been conjectured that the first element in the compound was Old English *ball-, meaning ‘white patch’ or ‘blaze’ on an animal’s head; this may be supported by isolated examples of the use of the adjective to mean (of a horse) ‘whitefaced’ from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and by the obsolete dialectal ball meaning both ‘white patch on the head’ and ‘white-faced horse’.

This would have produced the Old English adjective *bællede or *beallede, which, from ‘having a white blaze’, progressed naturally in meaning to ‘hairless’. The compounds piebald [16] and skewbald [17] are both based on bald: piebald means ‘having black and white patches like a magpie’, while skewbald may be based on Middle English skew ‘(cloudy) skies’ or on Old French escu ‘shield’.
=> piebald, skewbald[bald etymology, bald origin, 英语词源]
diphtheria: diphtheria: [19] The disease diphtheria is characterized by the formation of a false membrane in the throat which obstructs breathing, and when the French physician Pierre Bretonneau described it in the 1820s, he coined a name for it based on Greek diphthéra, which means ‘piece of leather’. Using the suffix -itis, denoting inflammation, he formed the modern Latin term diphtheritis (used in English until the 1850s) and its French equivalent diphthérit.

He subsequently substituted diphthérie, and this was borrowed into and established in English in the late 1850s when an epidemic of the disease (then also termed Boulogne sore throat, from its first having been observed in Boulogne) struck Britain.
flame: flame: [14] Flame traces its history back to an Indo-European *bhleg-, *phleg-, which also produced Greek phlóx ‘flame’ (source of English phlox, and related to phlegm and phlegmatic), Latin flāgrāre ‘burn, blaze’ (source of English flagrant), Latin fulmen (source of English fulminate), and Latin fulgēre ‘shine’ (source of English refulgent [16]).

The relevant descendant in this case was Latin flamma ‘flame’, acquired by English via Old French flame. It had a diminutive form flammula, which produced Old French flambe ‘small flame’, ultimate source of English flambé [19] and flamboyant [19] (originally an architectural term applied to a 15th- and 16th-century French Gothic style characterized by wavy flamelike forms).
=> flagrant, flamboyant, flamingo, phlegm, refulgent
guerilla: guerilla: [19] Etymologically, a guerilla is a ‘little war’. English acquired the word during the Peninsular War (1808–14) from Spanish guerrilla, which is a diminutive form of guerra ‘war’ (a word ultimately of Germanic origin, related to English war). In Spanish it still means ‘skirmish’, and until well into the 19th century it was used in English for a ‘war characterized by irregular skirmishing’ (the famous Times war correspondent William Russell, for instance, reported on 18 March 1862 that ‘Arkansas is now the theatre of a large guerilla’).

The first recorded use of the word in its present-day sense is by the Duke of Wellington, the British military commander in Spain, in a despatch of 1809: ‘I have recommended to the Junta to set the Guerillas to work towards Madrid’.
=> war
insurgent: insurgent: [18] An insurgent is etymologically someone who ‘rises up’. The word comes from the Latin verb insurgere, which was formed from in- in the sense ‘against’ and surgere ‘rise’ (source of English surge and source). An insurgent is hence fairly straightforwardly a rebel, someone taking part in an uprising, a belligerent who is not part of an officially recognized fighting force.

Choice of vocabulary in this area tends to be controversial, however, and the use of insurgent to denote Iraqi irredentists after the Coalition invasion of 2003 was widely criticized – partly, perhaps, from the misconception that they were being characterized as ‘surging in’ from outside the country. The longer established insurrection [15], from the same ultimate source, is much less liable to such misunderstanding.
=> resource, resurrection, source, surge
rococo: rococo: [19] Old French roque was the source of English rock ‘stone’. From its modern French descendant roc was derived rocaille ‘decoration in the form of pebbles, shells, etc’, which was altered to rococo as a term for a style characterized by convoluted ornamentation.
=> rock
shingle: shingle: English has two distinct words shingle. The older, ‘roof tile’ [12], was borrowed from Latin scindula, a variant of scandula ‘roof tile’. This was probably derived from scandere ‘ascend’ (source of English ascend, descend, scan, etc), the underlying notion being of rows of tiles rising one above the other like steps. Shingle ‘beach pebbles’ [16] is of unknown origin; it may be related to Norwegian singl ‘coarse sand’ and North Frisian singel ‘gravel’. Shingles [14], incidentally, the name of a viral infection, comes from Latin cingulum ‘girdle’, a close relative of English cincture ‘girdle’: the disease is often characterized by skin eruptions that almost encircle the body.
=> ascend, descend, scan; cincture
stoic: stoic: [16] The Greek philosopher Zeno (c. 334– c. 262 BC), who taught that only virtue is necessarily good, and that pleasure and pain are matters of indifference, is reputed to have lectured to his followers and students in a porch or portico in Athens. The Greek word for ‘porch’ was stoá (a descendant of the Indo-European base *stā-, *sto- ‘stand’, which also produced English stand), and so Zeno’s teachings came to be characterized by the term stōikós. This passed into English via Latin stōicus as stoic, carrying with it metaphorical associations of ‘impassivity’ as well as the literal application of Zeno and his followers.
=> stand, statue
anorectic (adj.): "characterized by lack of appetite," 1832, medical Latin, from Greek anorektos "without appetite" (see anorexia). As a noun, attested from 1913.
Aquarius: faint constellation and 11th zodiac sign, late Old English, from Latin aquarius, literally "water carrier," properly an adjective, "pertaining to water" (see aquarium); a loan-translation of Greek Hydrokhoos "the water-pourer," old Greek name of this constellation.

Aquarians were a former Christian sect that used water instead of wine at the Lord's Supper. Age of Aquarius (1940) is an astrological epoch supposed to have begun in the 1960s, embodying the traits of this sign and characterized by world peace and human brotherhood. The term and the concept probably got a boost in popular use when An Aquarian Exposition was used as the sub-name of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair (1969).
artful (adj.): 1610s, "learned, well-versed in the (liberal) arts," also "characterized by technical skill," from art (n.) + -ful. Meaning "skilled in adapting means to ends" is from 1739. Related: Artfully; artfulness.
Boeotian (adj.): 1590s, "ignorant, dull," from Boeotia, district around Thebes in ancient Greece (said to have been so called for its cattle pastures; Greek bous = "ox"), whose inhabitants were characterized as proverbially dull and countrified by their neighbors, the Athenians. The Boeotians presumably held reciprocal opinions, but their great writers, Plutarch and Pindar, though patriots, are full of praise for Athenian deeds and institutions.
Though his aim was to vindicate Boeotia, [Pindar] has probably done her a disservice, in that he has helped to immortalise the scurrilous proverb Βοιωτία ύς, which he wished to confute. ... If left to itself, the slander might have passed into oblivion long ago. [W. Rhys Roberts, "The Ancient Boeotians," 1895]
brawny (adj.): 1590s, "characterized by muscle," from brawn + -y (2).
bubonic (adj.): "characterized by swelling in the groin," by 1795, from Latin bubo (genitive bubonis) "swelling of lymph glands" (in the groin), from Greek boubon "the groin; swelling in the groin" + -ic. Bubonic plague attested by 1827.
characterize (v.): 1590s, "to engrave, write," back-formation from characterization, or else from Medieval Latin characterizare, from Greek kharakterizein "to designate by a characteristic mark," from kharakter (see character). Meaning "to describe the qualities of" is recorded from 1630s; that of "to be characteristic" is from 1744. Related: Characterized; characterizing.
Charleston: dance style characterized by side-kicks from the knee, 1923 (as title of a song), 1925 as a dance, from the U.S. city of Charleston, South Carolina, which was named for King Charles II of England.
Whether the Charleston (dance) has come to stay or not, it behooves every open-minded hostess and musician to "try it out" anyhow. [Ethel P. Peyser, "The Rotarian," July 1926]
cholera (n.): late 14c., "bile, melancholy" (originally the same as choler), from Middle French cholera or directly from Late Latin cholera, from Greek kholera "a type of disease characterized by diarrhea, supposedly caused by choler" (Celsus), from khole "gall, bile," from khloazein "to be green," from khloros (see Chloe). But another sense of khole was "drainpipe, gutter."

Revived 1560s in classical sense as a name for a severe digestive disorder (rarely fatal to adults); and 1704 (especially as cholera morbus), for a highly lethal disease endemic in India, periodically breaking out in global epidemics, especially that reaching Britain and America in the early 1830s.
chorea (n.): 1806, from Modern Latin chorea Sancti Viti "St. Vitus dance" (originally a mass hysteria in 15c. Europe characterized by uncontrolled dancing); from Latin chorea "a dance," from Greek khoreia "dance" (see chorus). Extension to the nerve disorder is from 1620s.
colic (n.): "disease characterized by severe abdominal pain," early 15c., from Late Latin colicus "pertaining to colic," from Greek kolikos, belonging to the kolon "lower intestine" (see colon (n.2)). The word was used in English late 14c. as an adjective, "affecting the colon." Related: Colicky (1742).
creepy (adj.): 1794, "characterized by creeping," from creep + -y (2). Meaning "having a creeping feeling in the flesh" is from 1831; that of producing such a feeling, the main modern sense, is from 1858. Creepy-crawly is from 1858.
demonstrative (adj.): late 14c., "characterized by logic, based on logic," from Old French démonstratif (14c.), from Latin demonstrativus "pointing out, demonstrating," from past participle stem of demonstrare (see demonstration). Grammatical sense, "pointing out the thing referred to," is mid-15c. Meaning "given to outward expressions of feelings" is from 1819. Demonstrative pronoun is late 16c.
derisive (adj.): 1620s, "characterized by derision," from Latin deris-, past participle stem of deridere (see derision) + -ive. Meaning "ridiculous" is from 1896. Related: Derisively.
determined (adj.): 1560s, "decided," past participle adjective from determine. Meaning "limited" is from c. 1600; that of "characterized by resolution" is from c. 1600, of actions; 1772, of persons.
devoted (adj.): 1590s, "set apart by a vow," past participle adjective from devote (v.). Meaning "characterized by devotion" is from c. 1600. Related: Devotedly.
dioxin (n.): 1919, from dioxy- + chemical suffix -in (2). All the compounds in the group are characterized by two oxygen atoms.
dismissive (adj.): 1640s, "characterized by or appropriate to dismissal;" from dismiss + -ive. Meaning "contemptuous, rejecting" is recorded by 1922. Related: Dismissively.
economic (adj.): 1590s, "pertaining to management of a household," perhaps shortened from economical, or else from French économique or directly from Latin oeconomicus "of domestic economy," from Greek oikonomikos "practiced in the management of a household or family" (also the name of a treatise by Xenophon on the duties of domestic life), hence, "frugal, thrifty," from oikonomia "household management" (see economy (n.)). Meaning "relating to the science of economics" is from 1835 and now is the main sense, economical retaining the older one of "characterized by thrift."
ecstatic (adj.): 1590s, "mystically absorbed," from Greek ekstatikos "unstable, inclined to depart from," from ekstasis (see ecstasy). Meaning "characterized by or subject to intense emotions" is from 1660s, now usually pleasurable ones, but not originally always so. Related: Ecstatical; ecstatically.
elegant (adj.): late 15c., "tastefully ornate," from Middle French élégant (15c.), from Latin elegantem (nominative elegans) "choice, fine, tasteful," collateral form of present participle of eligere "select with care, choose." Meaning "characterized by refined grace" is from 1520s. Latin elegans originally was a term of reproach, "dainty, fastidious;" the notion of "tastefully refined" emerged in classical Latin. Related: Elegantly.
Elegant implies that anything of an artificial character to which it is applied is the result of training and cultivation through the study of models or ideals of grace; graceful implies less of consciousness, and suggests often a natural gift. A rustic, uneducated girl may be naturally graceful, but not elegant.
elephantiasis (n.): 1580s, from Greek elephantos, genitive of elephas "elephant" (see elephant) + -iasis "pathological or morbid condition." It refers to two diseases, one characterized by thickening of a body part (E. Arabum), the other, older meaning is "disease characterized by skin resembling an elephant's" (E. Græcorum, also called Egyptian leprosy). In Middle English, elephancy (late 14c.).
emotional (adj.): 1821, "pertaining to emotion," from emotion + -al (1). Meaning "characterized by or subject to emotions" is attested by 1857. Related: Emotionally. Emotional intelligence coined by mid-1960s, popular from mid-1980s.
eo-: word-forming element, used from mid-19c. (first in Eocene) in compound words formed by earth-scientists, and meaning "characterized by the earliest appearance of," from Greek eos "dawn, morning, daybreak," also the name of the goddess of the morning, from PIE *aus- (1) "to shine," especially of the dawn (see aurora). Piltdown Man, before exposed as a fraud, was known as Eoanthropus.
eukaryotic (adj.): also eucaryotic, "characterized by well-defined cells (with nuclei and cell walls)," 1957, from French eucaryote (1925), from Greek eu "well, good" (see eu-) + karyon "nut, kernel" (see karyo-). Related: Eukaryote; eucaryote.
euphoric (adj.): "characterized by euphoria," 1885, originally with reference to cocaine, from euphoria + -ic. The noun meaning "a drug which causes euphoria" also is from 1885. Euphoriant is from 1946 as a noun, 1947 as an adjective.
extensive (adj.): "vast, far-reaching;" c. 1600 of immaterial, c. 1700 of material things; from Late Latin extensivus, from extens-, past participle stem of Latin extendere "to stretch out, spread" (see extend). Earlier in a medical sense, "characterized by swelling" (early 15c.). Related: Extensively; extensiveness.
-ful: word-forming element attached to nouns (and in modern English to verb stems) and meaning "full of, having, characterized by," also "amount or volume contained" (handful, bellyful); from Old English -full, -ful, which is full (adj.) become a suffix by being coalesced with a preceding noun, but originally a separate word. Cognate with German -voll, Old Norse -fullr, Danish -fuld. Most English -ful adjectives at one time or another had both passive ("full of x") and active ("causing x; full of occasion for x") senses.

It is rare in Old English and Middle English, where full was much more commonly attached at the head of a word (for example Old English fulbrecan "to violate," fulslean "to kill outright," fulripod "mature;" Middle English had ful-comen "attain (a state), realize (a truth)," ful-lasting "durability," ful-thriven "complete, perfect," etc.).
fanatic (n.): 1520s, "insane person," from Latin fanaticus "mad, enthusiastic, inspired by a god," also "furious, mad," originally, "pertaining to a temple," from fanum "temple, shrine, consecrated place," related to festus "festive" (see feast (n.)). Meaning "zealous person, person affected by enthusiasm" is from 1640s. As an adjective, in English, 1530s, "furious;" meaning "characterized by excessive enthusiasm," especially in religion (of Nonconformists), is from 1640s.
A fanatic is someone who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. [attributed to Winston Churchill]
feast (n.): c. 1200, "secular celebration with feasting and entertainment" (often held on a church holiday); c. 1300, "religious anniversary characterized by rejoicing" (rather than fasting), from Old French feste "religious festival, holy day; holiday; market, fair; noise, racket; jest, fun" (12c., Modern French fête), from Vulgar Latin *festa (fem. singular; also source of Italian festa, Spanish fiesta), from Latin festa "holidays, feasts, festal banquets," noun use of neuter plural of festus "festive, joyful, merry," related to feriae "holiday" and fanum "temple," from Proto-Italic *fasno- "temple," from PIE *dhis-no- "divine, holy; consecrated place," from *dhes- "root of words in religious concepts" [Watkins].

The spelling -ea- was used in Middle English to represent the sound we mis-call "long e." Meaning "abundant meal" (whether public or private) is by late 14c. Meaning "any enjoyable occasion or event" is from late 14c.
fitful (adj.): used once by Shakespeare ("Life's fitful fever," "Macbeth," 1605) in sense of "characterized by fits," from fit (n.2) + -ful. then Revived in Romantic poetry late 18c. with a sense of "shifting, changing." Related: Fitfully (1792); fitfulness.
Francophile (adj.): "characterized by excessive fondness of France and the French," 1875, from Franco- + -phile. "A newspaper word" [OED]. Its opposite, Francophobe, is recorded from 1890 (implied in Francophobic; Francophobia is from 1862).
free (adj.): Old English freo "free, exempt from, not in bondage, acting of one's own will," also "noble; joyful," from Proto-Germanic *frija- "beloved; not in bondage" (cognates: Old Frisian fri, Old Saxon vri, Old High German vri, German frei, Dutch vrij, Gothic freis "free"), from PIE *priy-a- "dear, beloved," from root *pri- "to love" (cognates: Sanskrit priyah "own, dear, beloved," priyate "loves;" Old Church Slavonic prijati "to help," prijatelji "friend;" Welsh rhydd "free").

The primary Germanic sense seems to have been "beloved, friend, to love;" which in some languages (notably Germanic and Celtic) developed also a sense of "free," perhaps from the terms "beloved" or "friend" being applied to the free members of one's clan (as opposed to slaves; compare Latin liberi, meaning both "free persons" and "children of a family"). For the older sense in Germanic, compare Gothic frijon "to love;" Old English freod "affection, friendship, peace," friga "love," friðu "peace;" Old Norse friðr "peace, personal security; love, friendship," German Friede "peace;" Old English freo "wife;" Old Norse Frigg "wife of Odin," literally "beloved" or "loving;" Middle Low German vrien "to take to wife," Dutch vrijen, German freien "to woo."

Meaning "clear of obstruction" is from mid-13c.; sense of "unrestrained in movement" is from c. 1300; of animals, "loose, at liberty, wild," late 14c. Meaning "liberal, not parsimonious" is from c. 1300. Sense of "characterized by liberty of action or expression" is from 1630s; of art, etc., "not holding strictly to rule or form," from 1813. Of nations, "not subject to foreign rule or to despotism," recorded in English from late 14c. (Free world "non-communist nations" attested from 1950 on notion of "based on principles of civil liberty.") Sense of "given without cost" is 1580s, from notion of "free of cost."

Free lunch, originally offered in bars to draw in customers, by 1850, American English. Free pass on railways, etc., attested by 1850. Free speech in Britain was used of a privilege in Parliament since the time of Henry VIII. In U.S., in reference to a civil right to expression, it became a prominent phrase in the debates over the Gag Rule (1836). Free enterprise recorded from 1832; free trade is from 1823; free market from 1630s. Free will is from early 13c. Free school is from late 15c. Free association in psychology is from 1899. Free love "sexual liberation" attested from 1822 (the doctrine itself is much older), American English. Free and easy "unrestrained" is from 1690s.
fricative (adj.): 1854, literally "characterized by friction," from Modern Latin fricativus, from Latin fricat-, past participle stem of fricare "to rub" (see friction). As a noun, "a fricative consonant," from 1863.
fungous (adj.): mid-15c., "spongy, tender," from Latin fungosus "full of holes, spongy," from fungus "a mushroom, fungus" (see fungus). Meaning "pertaining to or characterized by fungus" is from 18c.; figuratively, often "springing up suddenly" (1751).
gala (n.): 1620s, "festive dress or attire" (obsolete), from French en gala, perhaps from Old French gale "merriment," from galer "rejoice, make merry" (see gallant). Klein suggests the French word is from Italian gala (as in phrase vestito di gala "robe of state"), perhaps from Arabic khil'a "fine garment given as a presentation." Sense of "festive occasion" (characterized by display of finery) first recorded 1777. Quasi-adjectival use in gala day "day of festivities," etc.
geode (n.): rounded stone with a hollow center lined with crystals, 1670s (in Greek form from 1610s), from French géode, from Latin geodes, name of a certain precious stone, from Greek geodes "earthy, earth-like, with deep soil," from ge "earth" (Homeric gaia; see Gaia) + -oides, adjective suffix, "characterized by" (see -oid). Perhaps so called in reference to the rough crust in which the crystals are hidden. Related: Geodic.
geometric (adj.): 1620s, "pertaining to geometry," shortened form of geometrical (q.v.). In reference to a style of ancient Greek pottery decoration characterized by straight lines and angles, and the associated culture, 1902.
glam (adj.): slang shortening of glamorous, first attested 1936. Glam rock ("characterized by male performers dressed in glamorous clothes, with the suggestion of androgyny or sexual ambiguity" - OED), attested by 1974. Glamazon "glamourous, dominant woman" attested by 1985 (based on amazon).
glanders (n.): "horse disease characterized by glandular swelling," early 15c., from Old French glandres "swollen glands," plural of glandre "gland," from Latin glandula (see gland).
gradient (n.): "steep slope of a road or railroad," 1835, principally in American English, probably from grade (n.) by analogy of quotient, etc. [OED]. It was used 17c. as an adjective, of animals, "characterized by walking;" in that case it is probably from Latin gradientem, present participle of gradi "to walk."
Guelph (n.): also Guelf, one of the two great parties in medieval Italian politics, characterized by support of the popes against the emperors (opposed to the Ghibellines), 1570s, from Italian Guelfo, from Old High German Welf, name of a princely family that became the ducal house of Brunswick, literally "whelp," originally the name of the founder (Welf I). The family are the ancestors of the present dynasty of Great Britain. The name is said to have been used as a war-cry at the Battle of Weinsberg (1140) by partisans of Henry the Lion, duke of Bavaria, who was of the family, against Emperor Conrad III; hence it was adopted in Italy as the name of the anti-imperial party in the Middle Ages.