英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

carve [carve 词源字典]: carve: [OE] Originally, carve meant simply ‘cut’. That sense died out in the 16th century, leaving the more specialized ‘cut or incise decoratively’ and later ‘cut up meat at table’. Related words in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch kerven, point to a prehistoric West Germanic *kerfan, which is probably ultimately linked to Greek gráphein ‘write’ (source of English graphic), whose original notion was ‘scratch or incise on a surface’.
=> graphic[carve etymology, carve origin, 英语词源]
detail: detail: [17] Etymologically, a detail is a ‘little piece cut off’. It comes from French détail, a derivative of détailler ‘cut up’. This was a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix dé- and tailler ‘cut’ (a relative of English tailor and tally). English acquired the word via the French phrase en détail ‘piece by piece, item by item’, source of the central modern meaning ‘individual item, particular’.
=> tailor, tally
insect: insect: [17] The Greek word for ‘insect’ was éntomon (source of English entomology [18]). It was derived from entémnein ‘cut up’, a compound verb formed from en- ‘in’ and témnein ‘cut’ (a close relative of English tome), and denoted literally ‘creature divided up into segments’. The term was translated literally into Latin as insectum (originally the past participle of insecāre, a compound verb formed from inand secāre ‘cut’), and seems to have been introduced into English in Philemon Holland’s translation of Pliny’s Natural History 1601.
=> section
mite: mite: English has two words mite, although they probably share a common origin. The older, ‘tiny insect-like creature’ [OE], goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *mītōn, which was probably derived from a base meaning ‘cut’ (hence ‘something cut up small’). Dutch has the related mijt. The original meaning of mite ‘small thing’ [14] was ‘small coin’ (as in the ‘widow’s mite’). It was used in Flanders for such a coin, worth a third of a penny, and Middle Dutch mīte was borrowed into English. It too goes back to a Germanic mītōn, which is probably the same word as produced the animated mite.
retail: retail: [14] Retail etymologically denotes the sale of ‘cut-off’ bits, hence sale in small quantities. It comes from Old French retaille ‘piece cut off’, a derivative of retaillier ‘cut up’. This was a compound verb formed from the intensive prefix re- and taillier ‘cut’ (source of English tailor). It use in English for ‘sell in small quantities’ was probably inspired by the Italian retagliare, which has the same meaning. The figurative sense ‘relate, tell’ appeared at the end of the 16th century.
=> tailor
tide: tide: [OE] Tide originally meant ‘time’ – as in the tautologous ‘time and tide wait for no man’. Like the related German zeit, Dutch tijd, and Swedish and Danish tid, all of which mean ‘time’, it comes from a prehistoric Germanic *tīdiz. This was derived from the base *tī- (source also of English time), which in turn went back to the Indo-European base *dī- ‘divide, cut up’ – so etymologically the word denotes ‘time cut up, portion of time’.

This notion of a ‘period’ or ‘season’ is preserved in now rather archaic expression such as Christmastide, Whitsuntide, and noontide. The application to the rise and fall of the sea, which emerged in the 14th century, is due to the influence of the related Middle Low German tīde and Middle Dutch ghetīde, where it presumably arose from the notion of the ‘fixed time’ of the high and low points of the tide. Betide [13] was formed from the now archaic verb tide ‘happen’, a derivative of the noun.
=> betide, tidy, time
time: time: [OE] Time originally denoted ‘delimited section of existence, period’. Its ultimate source is the Indo-European base *dī- ‘cut up, divide’. This passed into prehistoric Germanic as *tī- (source also of English tide), and addition of the suffix *-mon- produced *tīmon – whence English time and Swedish timme ‘hour’. The application of the word to the more generalized, abstract notion of ‘continuous duration’ dates from the 14th century.
=> tide
chip (v.): early 15c., "to chip" (intransitive, of stone); from Old English forcippian "to pare away by cutting, cut off," verbal form of cipp "small piece of wood" (see chip (n.)). Transitive meaning "to cut up, cut or trim" is from late 15c. Sense of "break off fragments" is 18c. To chip in "contribute" (1861) is American English, perhaps from card-playing. Related: Chipped; chipping. Chipped beef attested from 1826.
concise (adj.): 1580s, from Latin concisus "cut off, brief," past participle of concidere "to cut off, cut up, cut through, cut to pieces," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + caedere "to cut" (see -cide). Related: Concisely.
concision (n.): late 14c., "cutting away, mutilation," also, from 16c., "circumcision," from Latin concisionem "a separation into divisions," literally "a cutting up," noun of action from past participle stem of concidere "to cut up" (see concise). From 18c. it began to be used in the sense of conciseness (q.v.).
detail (v.): 1630s, from French détailler "cut up in pieces; narrate in particulars," from Old French detaillier, from detail (see detail (n.)). Related: Detailed; detailing.
entomology (n.): 1764, from French entomologie (1764), coined from -logie "study of" (see -logy) + Greek entomon "insect," neuter of entomos "cut in pieces, cut up," in this case "having a notch or cut (at the waist)," from en "in" (see en- (2)) + temnein "to cut" (see tome).

Insects were so called by Aristotle in reference to the segmented division of their bodies. Compare insect, which is from a Latin loan-translation of the Greek word. Related: Entomological; entomologically. Hybrid insectology (1766, from French insectologie, 1744) is not much used.
I have given the name insectology to that part of natural history which has insects for its object; that of entomology ... would undoubtedly have been more suitable ... but its barbarous sound terryfy'd me. [Charles Bonnet's English translation of his "Contemplation de la nature," 1766]
fricassee (n.): 1560s, from Middle French fricassée, noun use of fem. past participle of fricasser "mince and cook in sauce" (15c.), which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps a compound from elements related to or altered by Middle French frire "to fry" (see fry (v.)) and casser, quasser "to break, cut up" (see quash (v.)). As a verb, from 1650s.
insect (n.): c. 1600, from Latin (animal) insectum "(animal) with a notched or divided body," literally "cut into," from neuter past participle of insectare "to cut into, to cut up," from in- "into" (see in- (2)) + secare "to cut" (see section (n.)). Pliny's loan-translation of Greek entomon "insect" (see entomology), which was Aristotle's term for this class of life, in reference to their "notched" bodies.

First in English in 1601 in Holland's translation of Pliny. Translations of Aristotle's term also form the usual word for "insect" in Welsh (trychfil, from trychu "cut" + mil "animal"), Serbo-Croatian (zareznik, from rezati "cut"), Russian (nasekomoe, from sekat "cut"), etc.
syncope (n.): 1520s, "contraction of a word by omission of middle sounds or letters," from Latin syncope "contraction of a word by elision," from Greek synkope "contraction of a word," originally "a cutting off, cutting up, cutting short," from synkoptein "to cut up," from syn- "together, thoroughly" (see syn-) + koptein "to cut," from PIE root *kop- "to beat, strike" (see hatchet (n.)).

An earlier use of the word in pathology is represented by Middle English syncopis, sincopin "loss of consciousness accompanied by weak pulse" (c. 1400, from Late Latin accusative syncopen); compare Old French syncope "illness, fainting fit" ("failure of the heart's action," hence "unconsciousness"). The spelling of this was re-Latinized 16c. Related: Syncopic; syncoptic.
tide (n.): Old English tid "point or portion of time, due time, period, season; feast-day, canonical hour," from Proto-Germanic *tidiz "division of time" (cognates: Old Saxon tid, Dutch tijd, Old High German zit, German Zeit "time"), from PIE *di-ti- "division, division of time," suffixed form of root *da- "to divide, cut up" (cognates: Sanskrit dati "cuts, divides;" Greek demos "people, land," perhaps literally "division of society," daiesthai "to divide;" Old Irish dam "troop, company").

Meaning "rise and fall of the sea" (mid-14c.) probably is via notion of "fixed time," specifically "time of high water;" either a native evolution or from Middle Low German getide (compare Middle Dutch tijd, Dutch tij, German Gezeiten "flood tide, tide of the sea"). Old English seems to have had no specific word for this, using flod and ebba to refer to the rise and fall. Old English heahtid "high tide" meant "festival, high day."
time (n.): Old English tima "limited space of time," from Proto-Germanic *timon- "time" (cognates: Old Norse timi "time, proper time," Swedish timme "an hour"), from PIE *di-mon-, suffixed form of root *da- "cut up, divide" (see tide (n.)).

Abstract sense of "time as an indefinite continuous duration" is recorded from late 14c. Personified since at least 1509 as an aged bald man (but with a forelock) carrying a scythe and an hour-glass. In English, a single word encompasses time as "extent" and "point" (French temps/fois, German zeit/mal) as well as "hour" (as in "what time is it?" compare French heure, German Uhr). Extended senses such as "occasion," "the right time," "leisure," or times (v.) "multiplied by" developed in Old and Middle English, probably as a natural outgrowth of such phrases as "He commends her a hundred times to God" (Old French La comande a Deu cent foiz).
to have a good time ( = a time of enjoyment) was common in Eng. from c 1520 to c 1688; it was app. retained in America, whence readopted in Britain in 19th c. [OED]
Time of day (now mainly preserved in negation, i.e. what someone won't give you if he doesn't like you) was a popular 17c. salutation (as in "Good time of day vnto your Royall Grace," "Richard III," I.iii.18), hence to give (one) the time of day "greet socially" (1590s); earlier was give good day (mid-14c.). The times "the current age" is from 1590s. Behind the times "old-fashioned" is recorded from 1831. Times as the name of a newspaper dates from 1788.

Time warp first attested 1954; time-traveling in the science fiction sense first recorded 1895 in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine." Time capsule first recorded 1938, in reference to the one "deemed capable of resisting the effects of time for five thousand years preserving an account of universal achievements embedded in the grounds of the New York World's fair."
Jones [archaeologist of A.D. 5139] potters about for a while in the region which we have come to regard as New York, finds countless ruins, but little of interest to the historian except a calcified direction sheet to something called a "Time Capsule." Jones finds the capsule but cannot open it, and decides, after considerable prying at the lid, that it is merely evidence of an archaic tribal ceremony called a "publicity gag" of which he has already found many examples. ["Princeton Alumni Weekly," April 14, 1939]
To do time "serve a prison sentence" is from 1865. Time frame is attested by 1964; time-limit is from 1880. About time, ironically for "long past due time," is recorded from 1920.