quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- convict (v.)




- mid-14c., from Latin convictus, past participle of convincere "to 'overcome' in argument" (see convince). Replaced Old English verb oferstælan. Related: Convicted; convicting.
- electrocute (v.)




- "execute by electricity," 1889, American English, from electro- + back half of execute. The method first was used Aug. 6, 1890, in New York state, on William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his common-law wife. In reference to accidental death by 1909. Electric chair is also first recorded 1889, the year the one used on Kemmler was introduced in New York as a humane alternative to hanging. Related: Electrocuted; electrocuting.
- loser (n.)




- mid-14c., "a destroyer," agent noun from lose (v.). Sense of "one who suffers loss" is from 1540s; meaning "horse that loses a race" is from 1902; "convicted criminal" is from 1912; "hapless person" is 1955 student slang.
- misnomer (n.)




- mid-15c., "mistaken identification of an accused or convicted person," from Anglo-French, Old French mesnomer "to misname, wrongly name," noun use of infinitive, from mes- "wrongly" (see mis- (2)) + nomer "to name," from Latin nominare "nominate" (see nominate). For noun use of French infinitives, see waiver.
- served (adj.)




- "found guilty, convicted; ordered to be punished or transported; beaten," 1811, slang past participle adjective from serve (v.).
- Tarpeian rock (n.)




- rock face on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, from which persons convicted of treason were thrown headlong, from Latin (mons) Tarpeius "(rock) of Tarpeia," said to have been a Vestal virgin who betrayed the capitol to the Sabines and was buried at the foot of the rock. Her name probably is of Etruscan-Tyrrhenian origin.