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ban [ban 词源字典]: ban: [OE] Ban is one of a widespread group of words in the European languages. Its ultimate source is the Indo-European base *bha-, which also gave English fame (from a derivative of Latin fārī ‘speak’) and phase (from Greek phāsis). The Germanic offshoot of the Indo- European base, and source of the English word, was *bannan, which originally probably meant simply ‘speak, proclaim’.

This gradually developed through ‘proclaim with threats’ to ‘put a curse on’, but the sense ‘prohibit’ does not seem to have arisen until as late as the 19th century. The Germanic base *bann- was borrowed into Old French as the noun ban ‘proclamation’. From there it crossed into English and probably mingled with the cognate English noun, Middle English iban (the descendant of Old English gebann).

It survives today in the plural form banns ‘proclamation of marriage’. The adjective derived from Old French ban was banal, acquired by English in the 18th century. It originally meant ‘of compulsory military service’ (from the word’s basic sense of ‘summoning by proclamation’); this was gradually generalized through ‘open to everyone’ to ‘commonplace’.
=> banal, bandit, banish, contraband, fame, phase[ban etymology, ban origin, 英语词源]
bimbo: bimbo: [20] Bimbo most recently made its mark on the English language in the 1980s, when it was in heavy use among journalists to denigrate buxom young women of limited IQ who sold the secrets of their affairs with the rich and famous to the press. It was by no means a newcomer, though. It first crossed the Atlantic to America, from Italy, in the late 1910s. In Italian it means ‘baby’, and US slang took it up in the colloquial sense of baby, for referring to a usually hapless fellow.

By the 1920s it was being applied equally to young women, especially promiscuous or empty-headed ones (the latter feature probably reinforced by the appearance of dumbo ‘fool’ in the early 1930s).
canon: canon: There are today two distinct words canon in English, although ultimately they are related. The older, ‘(ecclesiastical) rule’ [OE], comes via Latin canōn from Greek kanón ‘rule’, which some have speculated may be related to Greek kánnā ‘reed’, source of English cane (the semantic link is said to be ‘reed’ – ‘rod’ – ‘measuring rod’ – ‘rule’).

The derived adjective, kanonikós, passed into ecclesiastical Latin as canonicus, which was used as a noun, ‘clergyman’; in Old French this became canonie or chanonie, and as it crossed into English its last syllable dropped off (owing to the influence of canon ‘rule’). The underlying sense of canon ‘clergyman’ [13] is thus ‘one living according to the rules of religious life’.
flan: flan: [19] The word flan itself is a relatively recent addition to English, adopted on our behalf from French by the chef Alexis Soyer (a Frenchman working in England), but in that form it is in fact simply a reborrowing of a word which originally crossed the Channel in the 13th century as flawn, denoting some sort of custard tart or cheesecake. Its Old French source was flaon, which came from medieval Latin fladō, but this was originally borrowed from Germanic *fladu- (source of German fladen ‘flat cake, cowpat’ and Dutch vlade ‘pancake’), which is probably related ultimately to Sanskrit prthūs ‘broad’, Greek platūs ‘broad’, and English flat.
=> flat
talk: talk: [13] Talk has only one close relative – East Frisian talken ‘talk, chatter’. This suggests that it may first have seen the light of day just before the Anglo-Saxon peoples first crossed the North Sea to Britain – they were then in close contact with the Frisians. However, there is no record of the verb in Old English, and it first crops up in West Midland texts of the early 13th century. Its ultimate source is the prehistoric Germanic base *tal-, which also produced English tale and tell.
=> tale, tell
yet: yet: [OE] Yet is one of the mystery words of English. It seems to have emerged from the Anglo-Frisian group of dialects in northeastern Europe before the Angles and Saxons crossed the Channel (Old Frisian had iēta), but its ultimate source is unknown.
-ae: occasional plural suffix of words ending in -a, most of which, in English, are from Latin nominative fem. singular nouns, which in Latin form their plurals in -ae. But plurals in -s were established early in English for many of them (such as idea, arena) and many have crossed over since. Now it is not possible to insist on purity one way or the other without breeding monsters.
across (adv.): early 14c., acros, earlier a-croiz (c. 1300), from Anglo-French an cros "in a crossed position," literally "on cross" (see cross (n.)). Prepositional meaning "from one side to another" is first recorded 1590s; meaning "on the other side (as a result of crossing)" is from 1750. Phrase across the board originally is from horse-racing, in reference to a bet of the same amount of money on a horse to win, place, or show.
au: French, "at the, to the," from Old French al, contraction of a le, with -l- softened to -u-, as also poudre from pulverem, chaud from calidus, etc. Used in many expressions in cookery, etc., which have crossed the Channel since 18c., such as au contraire, literally "on the contrary;" au gratin, literally "with scrapings;" au jus, literally "with the juice."
bon (adj.): French, literally "good" (adj.), from Latin bonus "good" (see bene-). It has crossed the Channel in phrases such as bon apétit (1860), literally "good appetite;" bon-ton (1744) "good style;" bon mot.
Brittany (n.): French Bretagne, named for 5c. Romano-Celtic refugees from the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain who crossed the channel and settled there (see Britain). The Little Britain or Less Britain (lasse brutaine, c. 1300) of old, contrasted with the Great Britain. As a name for girls (with various spellings), almost unknown in U.S. before 1970, then a top-10 name for babies born between 1986 and 1995.
cancel (v.): late 14c., "cross out with lines," from Anglo-French canceler, from Latin cancellare "to make resemble a lattice," which in Late Latin took on a sense "cross out something written" by marking it with crossed lines, from cancelli, plural of cancellus "lattice, grating," diminutive of cancer "crossed bars, lattice," a variant of carcer "prison" (see incarceration). Figurative use, "to nullify an obligation" is from mid-15c. Related: Canceled (also cancelled); cancelling.
cross (v.): c. 1200, "make the sign of a cross," from cross (n.) and in part from French croiser. Sense of "to go across, pass from side to side of, pass over" is from c. 1400; that of "to cancel by drawing crossed lines over" is from mid-15c.

From late 14c. as "lie across; intersect;" also "place (two things) crosswise of each other; lay one thing across another." From early 15c. as "mark a cross on." Also in Middle English in now-archaic sense "crucify" (mid-14c.), hence, figuratively, crossed "carrying a cross of affliction or penance." Meaning "thwart, obstruct, hinder, oppose" is from 1550s; that of "cause to interbreed" is from 1754. In telegraphy, electricity, etc., in reference to accidental contact of two wires on different circuits or different parts of a circuit that allows part of the current to flow from one to the other, from 1884. Meaning "to cheat" is by 1823.

Cross my heart as a vow is from 1898. To cross over as euphemistic for "to die" is from 1930. To cross (someone's) path is from 1818. Of ideas, etc., to cross (someone's) mind is from 1768; the notion is of something entering the mind as if passing athwart it. Related: Crossed; crossing.
crossing (n.): 1530s, "a marking with a cross," verbal noun from cross (v.). From 1570s as "action of passing across;" 1630s as "place where (a river, a road, etc.) is crossed;" from 1690s as "intersection" (originally of streets). Meaning "action of crossing out by drawing crossed lines through" is from 1650s. Crossing-gate is from 1876.
Dodgers: U.S. baseball club, originally based in Brooklyn, N.Y., so called from 1900, from trolley dodgers, Manhattanites' nickname for Brooklyn residents, in reference to the streetcar lines that criss-crossed the borough.
double-cross (n.): 1834, from double (adj.) + cross (n.) in the sense of "pre-arranged swindle or fix." Originally to win a race after promising to lose it. As a verb from 1903, American English. Related: Double-crossed; double-crossing.
entrepreneur (n.): 1828, "manager or promoter of a theatrical production," reborrowing of French entrepreneur "one who undertakes or manages," agent noun from Old French entreprendre "undertake" (see enterprise). The word first crossed the Channel late 15c. (Middle English entreprenour) but did not stay. Meaning "business manager" is from 1852. Related: Entrepreneurship.
ford (n.): Old English ford "shallow place where water can be crossed," from Proto-Germanic *furduz (cognates: Old Frisian forda, Old High German furt, German Furt "ford"), from PIE *prtu- "a going, a passage" (cognates: Latin portus "harbor," originally "entrance, passage;" Old Welsh rit, Welsh rhyd "ford;" Old English faran "to go;" see port (n.1)). The line of automobiles (company founded 1903) is named for U.S. manufacturer Henry Ford (1863-1947).
gable (n.): "end of a ridged roof cut off in a vertical plane, together with the wall from the level of the eaves to the apex," mid-14c., "a gable of a building; a facade," from Old French gable "facade, front, gable," from Old Norse gafl "gable, gable-end" (in north of England, the word probably is directly from Norse), according to Watkins, probably from Proto-Germanic *gablaz "top of a pitched roof" (cognates: Middle Dutch ghevel, Dutch gevel, Old High German gibil, German Giebel, Gothic gibla "gable"). This is traced to a PIE *ghebh-el- "head," which seems to have yielded words meaning both "fork" (such as Old English gafol, geafel, Old Saxon gafala, Dutch gaffel, Old High German gabala "pitchfork," German Gabel "fork;" Old Irish gabul "forked twig") and "head" (such as Old High German gibilla, Old Saxon gibillia "skull").
Possibly the primitive meaning of the words may have been 'top', 'vertex'; this may have given rise to the sense of 'gable', and this latter to the sense of 'fork', a gable being originally formed by two pieces of timber crossed at the top supporting the end of the roof-tree." [OED]
Related: Gabled; gables; gable-end.
granny (n.): also grannie, 1660s, according to OED, most likely a diminutive and contraction of grannam, shortened form of grandame, rather than from grandmother. The sailor's granny knot (by 1803), originally granny's knot, readily jammed and insecure, is a reef or square knot with the second part crossed the wrong way, so called in contempt because "it is the natural knot tied by women or landsmen" [Smyth, "Sailor's Word-Book," 1867]. Granny Smith apples (1895) are said to have been named for Maria Ann Smith (d. 1870) of Australia, who originated them. Granny glasses attested from 1966.
passable (adj.): early 15c., "that may be crossed," from pass (v.) + -able, or from Old French passable "fordable, affording passage" (14c.). Sense of "tolerable" is first attested late 15c. Related: Passably.
Philly: familiar or colloquial shortening of Philadelphia, attested by 1890, but from 1858 as the popular name of a ferry boat of that name that crossed the Delaware River from the city to Camden, and a city baseball team has been the Phillies since 1883.
Rubicon (n.): in phrase to cross (or pass) the Rubicon "take a decisive step," 1620s, a reference to a small stream to the Adriatic on the coast of northern Italy which in ancient times formed part of the southern boundary of Cisalpine Gaul; crossed by Caesar Jan. 10, 49 B.C.E., when he left his province to attack Pompey. The name is from Latin rubicundus "ruddy," in reference to the color of the soil on its banks.
star (n.): Old English steorra "star," from Proto-Germanic *sterron, *sternon (cognates: Old Saxon sterro, Old Frisian stera, Dutch ster, Old High German sterro, German Stern, Old Norse stjarna, Swedish stjerna, Danish stierne, Gothic stairno).

This is from PIE *ster- (2) "star" (cognates: Sanskrit star-, Hittite shittar, Greek aster, astron, Latin stella, Breton sterenn, Welsh seren "star"), of uncertain connection to other roots. Some suggest it is from a root meaning "to strew, scatter." Buck and others doubt the old suggestion that it is a borrowing from Akkadian istar "venus." The source of the common Balto-Slavic word for "star" (Lithuanian žvaigžde, Old Church Slavonic zvezda, Polish gwiazda, Russian zvezda) is not explained.

Astrological sense of "influence of planets and zodiac on human affairs" is recorded from mid-13c., hence "person's fate as figured in the stars" (c. 1600); star-crossed "ill-fated" is from "Romeo and Juliet" (1592). Meaning "lead performer" is from 1824; star turn is from 1898. Stars as a ranking of quality for hotels, restaurants, etc. are attested from 1886, originally in Baedecker guides. Sticker stars as rewards for good students are recorded from 1970s. Brass star as a police badge is recorded from 1859 (New York City). Star-cluster is from 1870. To see stars when one is hit hard on the head is from 1839.
twit (n.): "foolish, stupid and ineffectual person," 1934, British slang, popular 1950s-60s, crossed over to U.S. with British sitcoms. It probably developed from twit (v.) in the sense of "reproach," but it may be influenced by nitwit.
wholistic (adj.): 1941, from holistic crossed with whole (adj.). Related: wholism (1939).
X: The entire entry for X in Johnson's dictionary (1756) is: "X is a letter, which, though found in Saxon words, begins no word in the English language." Most English words beginning in -x- are of Greek origin or modern commercial coinages. East Anglian in 14c. showed a tendency to use -x- for initial sh-, sch- (such as xal for shall), which didn't catch on but seems an improvement over the current system. As a symbol of a kiss on a letter, etc., it is recorded from 1765. In malt liquor, XX denoted "double quality" and XXX "strongest quality" (1827).

Algebraic meaning "unknown quantity" (1660 in English, from French), sometimes is said to be from medieval use, originally a crossed -r-, in that case probably from Latin radix (see root (n.)). Other theories trace it to Arabic (Klein), but a more prosaic explanation says Descartes (1637) took x, y, z, the last three letters of the alphabet, for unknowns to correspond to a, b, c, used for known quantities.

Used allusively for "unknown person" from 1797, "something unknown" since 1859. As a type of chromosome, attested from 1902 (first so called in German; Henking, 1891). To designate "films deemed suitable for adults only," first used 1950 in Britain; adopted in U.S. Nov. 1, 1968. The XYZ Affair in American history (1797) involved French agents designated by those letters.
lurcher: "A cross-bred dog, typically a retriever, collie, or sheepdog crossed with a greyhound, of a kind originally used for hunting and by poachers for catching rabbits", Early 16th century (in sense 2): from obsolete lurch 'remain in a place furtively', variant of lurk.