quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- cocktail



[cocktail 词源字典] - cocktail: [19] The origins of the word cocktail are mysterious. It first appeared (in America) in the first decade of the 19th century, roughly contemporary with cocktail meaning ‘horse with a cocked tail’ – that is, one cut short and so made to stick up like a cock’s tail – but whether the two words are connected, and if so, how the drink came to be named after such a horse, are not at all clear.
[cocktail etymology, cocktail origin, 英语词源] - bob (n.2)




- "short hair," 1680s, attested 1570s in sense of "a horse's tail cut short," from earlier bobbe "cluster" (as of leaves), mid-14c., a northern word, perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Irish baban "tassel, cluster," Gaelic babag). Used over the years in various senses connected by the notion of "round, hanging mass," such as "weight at the end of a line" (1650s). The hair sense was revived with a shift in women's styles early 20c. (verb 1918, noun 1920). Related words include bobby pin, bobby sox, bobsled, bobcat.
- epitome (n.)




- 1520s, "an abstract; brief statement of the chief points of some writing," from Middle French épitomé (16c.), from Latin epitome "an abridgment," from Greek epitome "an abridgment, a cutting on the surface; brief summary," from epitemnein "cut short, abridge," from epi "into" (see epi-) + temnein "to cut" (see tome). Sense of "person or thing that typifies something" is first recorded c. 1600. Related: Epitomical.
- mutilate (v.)




- 1530s, of things; 1560s, of persons; from Latin mutilatus, past participle of mutilare "to cut off, lop off, cut short; maim, mutilate," from mutilus "maimed" (see mutilation). Technically, to deprive of some principal part, especially by cutting off. Related: Mutilated; mutilating.
- poll (v.2)




- "to cut, trim," late 14c., "to cut short the hair" (of an animal or person), from poll (n.). Of trees or plants from 1570s. Related: Polled; polling.
- precis (n.)




- 1760, from French noun use of Middle French précis "cut short, condensed" (see precise). As a verb, from 1856.
- precise (adj.)




- mid-15c., from Middle French précis "condensed, cut short" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin precisus, from Latin praecisus "abrupt, abridged, cut off," past participle of praecidere "to cut off, shorten," from prae "before" (see pre-) + caedere "to cut" (see -cide; for Latin vowel change, see acquisition). Related: Precisely (late 14c.).
- pumpkin (n.)




- 1640s, alteration of pompone, pumpion "melon, pumpkin" (1540s), from Middle French pompon, from Latin peponem (nominative pepo) "melon," from Greek pepon "melon," probably originally "cooked (by the sun)," hence "ripe;" from peptein "to cook" (see cook (n.)). Pumpkin-pie is recorded from 1650s. Pumpkin-head, American English colloquial for "person with hair cut short all around" is recorded from 1781. Vulgar American English alternative spelling punkin attested by 1806.
America's a dandy place:
The people are all brothers:
And when one's got a punkin pye,
He shares it with the others.
[from "A Song for the Fourth of July, 1806," in "The Port Folio," Philadelphia, Aug. 30, 1806]
- saw (v.)




- "cut with a saw," c. 1200, sauen, saghen, from saw (n.1). Strong conjugation began by c. 1400 on model of draw, etc. Related: Sawed; sawing. Sawed-off "short, cut short" is attested 1887 of persons, 1898 of shotguns.
- snub (adj.)




- "short and turned up," 1725, in snub-nosed, from snub (v.). The connecting notion is of being "cut short."
- stint (v.)




- "to be sparing or frugal," 1722, earlier "to limit, restrain" (1510s), "cause to cease, put an end to" (mid-14c.), "cease, desist" (intransitive), c. 1200, from Old English styntan "to blunt, make dull," probably originally "make short," from Proto-Germanic *stuntijanan (cognates: Old Norse stuttr "short, scant," Middle High German stunz "blunt, short," German stutzen "to cut short, curtail, stop, hesitate"), from PIE root *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)). The English word perhaps was influenced by its Scandinavian cognates. Sense of "be careful in expenditure" is from 1848. Related: Stinted; stinting. The noun is attested from c. 1300.
- colobus




- "A slender leaf-eating African monkey with silky fur, a long tail, and very small or absent thumbs", Modern Latin, from Greek kolobos 'cut short'.