quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- aspirin (n.)




- coined 1899 by German chemist Heinrich Dreser (1860-1924) in German as a trademark name, from Latin Spiraea (ulmaria) "meadow-sweet," the plant in whose flowers or leaves the processed acid in the medicine is naturally found, + common chemical ending -in (see -ine (2)). Spiraea (Tournefort, 1700) is from Latinized form of Greek speiraia "meadow-sweet," so called from the shape of its follicles (see spiral (adj.)). The initial -a- is to acknowledge acetylation; Dreser said the word was a contraction of acetylierte spirsäure, the German name of the acid, which now is obsolete, replaced by salicylic acid.
Die Bezeichnung Aspirin ist abgeleitet aus "Spirsäure" -- alter Name der Salicylsäure und A = Acetyl; statt" Acetylirte Spirsäure, kurzweg "Aspirin". [H, Dreser, "Pharmakologisches über Aspirin (Acetylsalicylsäure)," in "Archiv für die Gesammte Physiologie des Menschen und der Thiere," 1899, p.307]
The custom of giving commercial names to medicinal products began in Germany in the late 19th century, when nascent pharmaceutical firms were discovering medical uses for common, easily made chemicals. To discourage competitors they would market the substance under a short trademarked name a doctor could remember, rather than the long chemical compound word. German law required prescriptions to be filled exactly as written. - discover (v.)




- c. 1300, "divulge, reveal, disclose," from Old French descovrir "uncover, unroof, unveil, reveal, betray," from Late Latin discooperire, from Latin dis- "opposite of" (see dis-) + cooperire "to cover up" (see cover). At first with a sense of betrayal or malicious exposure (discoverer originally meant "informant"); the meaning "to obtain knowledge or sight of what was not known" is from 1550s. Related: Discovered; discovering.
- discovery (n.)




- 1550s, "fact of discovering;" see discover + -y (1). Earlier in this sense was discovering (mid-14c.). Meaning "that which is discovered" is from 1630s.
- finding (n.)




- c. 1300, "act of discovering" (by chance or after searching; also an instance of this); verbal noun from find (v.). From c. 1400 as "what the mind discovers; knowledge attained by human effort" (as distinct from revelation or authority). Late 14c. as "act of sustaining, supporting, or providing the necessities of life; that which is provided by way of sustenance and support." Legal sense "proceedings leading to a verdict in an inquisition, etc.," is from mid-15c. Old English finding meant "invention." Related: Findings.
- invention (n.)




- c. 1400, "devised method of organization," from Old French invencion (13c.) and directly from Latin inventionem (nominative inventio) "faculty of invention; a finding, discovery," noun of action from past participle stem of invenire "devise, discover, find," from in- "in, on" (see in- (2)) + venire "to come" (see venue).
Meaning "finding or discovering of something" is early 15c. in English; sense of "thing invented" is first recorded 1510s. Etymological sense preserved in Invention of the Cross, Church festival (May 3) celebrating the reputed finding of the Cross of the Crucifixion by Helena, mother of Constantine, in 326 C.E. - rediscover (v.)




- 1752, from re- + discover (v.). Related: Rediscovered; rediscovering.