英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

élite [élite 词源字典]: élite: see elect
[élite etymology, élite origin, 英语词源]
fidelity: fidelity: see faith
bakelite (n.): type of plastic widely used early 20c., 1909, from German Bakelit, named for Belgian-born U.S. physicist Leo Baekeland (1863-1944), who invented it. Originally a proprietary name, it is formed by the condensation of a phenol with an aldehyde.
belittle (v.): 1781, "to make small," from be- + little (v.); first recorded in writings of Thomas Jefferson (and probably coined by him), who was roundly execrated for it in England:
Belittle! What an expression! It may be an elegant one in Virginia, and even perfectly intelligible; but for our part, all we can do is to guess at its meaning. For shame, Mr. Jefferson! ["European Magazine and London Review," 1787, reporting on "Notes on the State of Virginia"; to guess was considered another barbarous Yankeeism.]
Jefferson used it to characterize Buffon's view that American life was stunted by nature, which he was refuting. The figurative sense of "depreciate, scorn as worthless" (as the reviewers did to this word) is from 1797. Related: Belittled; belittling.
Carmelite (n.): c. 1500, from Medieval Latin Carmelites, member of an order of mendicant friars (White Friars) founded 12c. by Berthold of Calabria on Mount Carmel in what is now northwest Israel.
elite (n.): "a choice or select body, the best part," 1823, from French élite "selection, choice," from Old French eslite (12c.), fem. past participle of elire, elisre "pick out, choose," from Latin eligere "choose" (see election). Borrowed in Middle English as "chosen person" (late 14c.), especially a bishop-elect; died out mid-15c.; re-introduced by Byron's "Don Juan." As an adjective by 1852. As a typeface, first recorded 1920.
elitism (n.): 1951; see elite + -ism.
elitist (adj.): 1950; see elite + -ist. The original adjectival examples were Freud, Nietzsche, and Carlyle. As a noun by 1961.
fidelity (n.): early 15c., "faithfulness, devotion," from Middle French fidélité (15c.), from Latin fidelitatem (nominative fidelitas) "faithfulness, adherence, trustiness," from fidelis "faithful, true, trusty, sincere," from fides "faith" (see faith). From 1530s as "faithful adherence to truth or reality;" specifically of sound reproduction from 1878.
infidelity (n.): c. 1400, "want of faith, unbelief in religion; false belief, paganism;" also (early 15c.) "unfaithfulness or disloyalty to a person" (originally to a sovereign, by 16c. to a lover or spouse), from French infidélité, from Latin infidelitatem (nominative infidelitas) "unfaithfulness, faithlessness," noun of quality from infidelis (see infidel).
Israelite (n.): mid-14c., "one of the people of ancient Israel," from Latin israelita, from Greek Israelites, from Israel (see Israel). The Middle English adjective was Israelish (Old English Israelisc), sometimes Israelitish.
poliomyelitis (n.): 1874, also polio-myelitis, coined by German physician Adolph Kussmaul (1822-1902) from Greek polios "grey" (see fallow (adj.)) + myelos "marrow" + -itis "inflammation." So called because the gray matter in the spinal cord is inflamed, which causes paralysis. The earlier name was infantile paralysis (1843).
In many respects, also, this affection resembles the acute spinal paralysis of infancy, which, from the researches of Charcot, Joffroy, and others, have been shown pathologically to be an acute myelitis of the anterior cornua. Hence, for these forms of paralysis, Professor Kussmaul suggests the name of 'poliomyelitis anterior.' ["London Medical Record," Dec. 9, 1874]
Pre-Raphaelite (n., adj.): c. 1848, in reference to the "brotherhood" (founded 1847) of Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and others (seven in all) who, encouraged by Ruskin, sought to revive the naturalistic spirit of art in the age before Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520).
pelite: "A sediment or sedimentary rock composed of very fine clay or mud particles", Late 19th century: from Greek pēlos 'clay, mud' + -ite¹.
pyelitis: "Inflammation of the renal pelvis", Mid 19th century: from Greek puelos 'trough, basin' + -itis.
quinqueliteral: "(Of a root) containing five consonants", Late 18th cent.; earliest use found in Thomas Beddoes (1760–1808), chemist and physician.