英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

consider [consider 词源字典]: consider: [14] Etymologically, consider means ‘observe the stars’. Amongst the most popular of ancient Roman methods of divination was astrology, and so the Latin verb consīderāre was coined (from the intensive prefix com- and sīdus ‘star’, source of English sidereal) to describe the activity of carefully noting the stars’ courses for the purpose of drawing auguries.

From ‘observing stars’ it soon broadened out in meaning to simply ‘observe’, and hence figuratively ‘think over something’, but the sense ‘have an opinion’ seems to be an English development of the 16th century. English acquired the word via Old French considerer, but borrowed considerable directly from Latin consīderābilis; the modern sense ‘large in amount’ arose in the mid-17th century, on the basis of an earlier ‘worthy of consideration because of great quantity’.
=> desire, sidereal[consider etymology, consider origin, 英语词源]
dam: dam: [12] Dam, appropriately enough for a word related to the human control of water-courses, seems to have been borrowed from Middle Dutch dam. It appears to have been a fairly widespread West and East Germanic word, subsequently borrowed into North Germanic, but its ultimate source is not known.
oeuvre: oeuvre: hors d’oeuvre [18] In French, hors d’oeuvre means literally ‘outside the work’ – that is, ‘not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal’. The earliest record of its use in English is in the general sense ‘out of the ordinary’ (‘The Frenzy of one who is given up for a Lunatick, is a Frenzy hors d’ oeuvre … something which is singular in its kind’, Joseph Addison, Spectator 1714), but this did not survive beyond the 18th century.

Alexander Pope, in his Dunciad 1742, was the first to use the word in its modern culinary sense. (French oeuvre ‘work’, incidentally, comes from Latin opera ‘work’, source of or related to English copious, manoeuvre, opera, operate, and opulent.)
=> d'oeuvre, copious, manoeuvre, manure, opera, operate, opulent
hors: hors: hors d’oeuvre [18] In French, hors d’oeuvre means literally ‘outside the work’ – that is, ‘not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal’. The earliest record of its use in English is in the general sense ‘out of the ordinary’ (‘The Frenzy of one who is given up for a Lunatick, is a Frenzy hors d’ oeuvre … something which is singular in its kind’, Joseph Addison, Spectator 1714), but this did not survive beyond the 18th century.

Alexander Pope, in his Dunciad 1742, was the first to use the word in its modern culinary sense. (French oeuvre ‘work’, incidentally, comes from Latin opera ‘work’, source of or related to English copious, manoeuvre, opera, operate, and opulent.)
=> d'oeuvre, copious, manoeuvre, manure, opera, operate, opulent
hors d'oeuvre: hors d'oeuvre: [18] In French, hors d’oeuvre means literally ‘outside the work’ – that is, ‘not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal’. The earliest record of its use in English is in the general sense ‘out of the ordinary’ (‘The Frenzy of one who is given up for a Lunatick, is a Frenzy hors d’ oeuvre … something which is singular in its kind’, Joseph Addison, Spectator 1714), but this did not survive beyond the 18th century.

Alexander Pope, in his Dunciad 1742, was the first to use the word in its modern culinary sense. (French oeuvre ‘work’, incidentally, comes from Latin opera ‘work’, source of or related to English copious, manoeuvre, opera, operate, and opulent.)
=> d'oeuvre, copious, manoeuvre, manure, opera, operate, opulent
alternative (n.): 1620s, in rhetoric, from Medieval Latin alternativus (see alternative (adj.)). Of courses of action, from 1814. Of objects, etc., "the other of two which may be chosen," by 1838.
bogey (n.2): in golfing, c. 1891, originally "number of strokes a good player is supposed to need for a given hole or course;" later, "score one over par" (1946); from the same source as bogey (n.1), on the notion of a "phantom" opponent, represented by the "ground score." The word was in vogue at the time in Britain because of the popularity of a music hall tune "Hush, Hush, Hush, Here Comes the Bogey Man."
One popular song at least has left its permanent effect on the game of golf. That song is 'The Bogey Man.' In 1890 Dr. Thos. Browne, R.N., the hon. secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, was playing against a Major Wellman, the match being against the 'ground score,' which was the name given to the scratch value of each hole. The system of playing against the 'ground score' was new to Major Wellman, and he exclaimed, thinking of the song of the moment, that his mysterious and well-nigh invincible opponent was a regular 'bogey-man.' The name 'caught on' at Great Yarmouth, and to-day 'Bogey' is one of the most feared opponents on all the courses that acknowledge him. [1908, cited in OED]
Other early golfing sources give it an American origin. As a verb, attested by 1948.
bunker (n.): 1758, originally Scottish, "seat, bench," of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of banker "bench" (1670s; see bank (n.2)); possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Swedish bunke "boards used to protect the cargo of a ship"). Of golf courses, first recorded 1824, from extended sense "earthen seat" (1805); meaning "dug-out fortification" probably is from World War I.
circus (n.): late 14c., in reference to ancient Rome, from Latin circus "ring, circular line," which was applied by Romans to circular arenas for performances and contests and oval courses for racing (especially the Circus Maximus), from or cognate with Greek kirkos "a circle, a ring," from PIE *kirk- from root *(s)ker- (3) "to turn, bend" (see ring (n.)).

In reference to modern large arenas for performances from 1791; sense then extended to the performing company, hence "traveling show" (originally traveling circus, 1838). Extended in World War I to squadrons of military aircraft. Meaning "lively uproar, chaotic hubbub" is from 1869. Sense in Picadilly Circus and other place names is from early 18c. sense "buildings arranged in a ring," also "circular road." The adjective form is circensian.
hors d'oeuvre: 1714, as an adverb, "out of the ordinary," from French hors d'oeuvre, "outside the ordinary courses (of a meal)," literally "apart from the main work," from hors, variant of fors "outside" (from Latin foris; see foreign) + de "from" + oeuvre "work," from Latin opera (see opus). Meaning "extra dish set out before a meal or between courses" attested in English from 1742.
lengthy (adj.): 1759, American English, from length + -y (2). Until c. 1840 always characterized in British English as an Americanism.
This word has been very common among us, both in writing and in the language of conversation; but it has been so much ridiculed by Americans as well as Englishmen, that in writing it is now generally avoided. Mr. Webster has admitted it into his dictionary; but as need hardly be remarked it is not in any of the English ones. It is applied by us, as Mr. Webster justly observes, chiefly to writings or discourses. Thus we say, a lengthy pamphlet, a lengthy sermon, &c. The English would say, a long or (in the more familiar style) a longish sermon. [John Pickering, "A Vocabulary, or Collection of Words and Phrases Which Have Been Supposed to be Peculiar to the United States of America," Boston, 1816]
Related: Lengthily; lengthiness.
links (n.): "undulating sandy ground," 1728, from Scottish/Northumbrian link "sandy, rolling ground near seashore," from Old English hlinc "rising ground, ridge;" perhaps from the same Proto-Germanic root as lean (v.). This type of landscape in Scotland was where golf first was played; the word has been part of the names of golf courses since at least 1728.
Machiavellian (adj.): "cunning, deceitful, unscrupulous," 1570s, from Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Florentine statesman and author of "Il Principe," a work advising rulers to place advantage above morality. A word of abuse in English well before his works were translated ("The Discourses" 1636, "The Prince" 1640), in part because his books were Indexed by the Church, in part because of French attacks on him (such as Gentillet's, translated into English 1602).
meander (n.): 1570s, "confusion, intricacies," from Latin meander "a winding course," from Greek Maiandros, name of a river in Caria noted for its winding course (the Greeks used the name figuratively for winding patterns). In reference to river courses, in English, from 1590s. Adjectival forms are meandrine (1846); meandrous (1650s).
menstrual (adj.): late 14c., "pertaining to menses," also (in astronomy) "monthly," from Old French menstruel, from Latin menstrualis "monthly," especially "of or having monthly courses," from menstruus "of a month, every month, monthly, pertaining to a month," from mensis "month" (see moon (n.)).
vacillate (v.): 1590s, "to sway unsteadily," from Latin vacillatus, past participle of vacillare "sway to and fro; hesitate" (see vacillation). Meaning "to waver between two opinions or courses" is recorded from 1620s. Related: Vacillated; vacillates; vacillating.
coolibah: "A North Australian gum tree which typically grows near watercourses and yields very strong, hard timber", Late 19th century: from Kamilaroi (and related languages) gulubaa.