英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

compensation (n.): late 14c., "action of compensating," from Latin compensationem (nominative compensatio) "a weighing one thing against another, a balancing," noun of action from past participle stem of compensare (see compensate). Meaning "what is given in recompense" is from c. 1600; meaning "amends for loss or damages" is from 1804; meaning "salary, wages" is attested from 1787, American English. The psychological sense is from 1914.
defray (v.): 1540s, from Middle French defraier (15c.), perhaps from de- "out" (see de-) + fraier "spend," from Old French frais "costs, damages caused by breakage," from Latin fractum, neuter past participle of frangere "to break" (see fraction). Alternative etymology traces second element to Old High German fridu "peace," via Vulgar Latin *fredum "fine, cost."
smart money (n.): "money bet by those in the know," 1926, from smart (adj.). The same phrase earlier meant "money paid to sailors, soldiers, workers, etc., who have been disabled while on the job" (1690s), from a noun derivative of smart (v.). Also "money paid to obtain the discharge of a recruit" (1760), hence "money paid to escape some unpleasant situation" (1818). Sometimes in legal use, "damages in excess of injury done."
tort (n.): mid-13c., "injury, wrong," from Old French tort "wrong, injustice, crime" (11c.), from Medieval Latin tortum "injustice," noun use of neuter of tortus "wrung, twisted," past participle of Latin torquere "turn, turn awry, twist, wring, distort" (see torque (n.)). Legal sense of "breach of a duty, whereby someone acquires a right of action for damages" is first recorded 1580s.
hue and cry: "A loud clamour or public outcry", Late Middle English: from the Anglo-Norman French legal phrase hu e cri, literally 'outcry and cry', from Old French hu 'outcry' (from huer 'to shout'). More In early times any person witnessing or surprising a criminal committing a crime could raise a hue and cry, calling for others to join in their pursuit and capture. In law the cry had to be raised by the inhabitants of the district in which the crime was committed, or otherwise the pursuers were liable for any damages suffered by the victim. The origin of the expression is in legal French hu e cri ‘outcry and cry’. The first element has no connection with hue ‘colour’, which is a native English word related to Swedish hy ‘skin, complexion’, and originally meant ‘form, appearance’, only developing the colour sense in the mid 19th century.