英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

ark [ark 词源字典]: ark: [OE] The notion underlying ark seems to be that of ‘enclosing or defending a space’. Its ultimate Latin source, arca ‘large box or chest’, was related to arx ‘citadel’ and to arcēre ‘close up’ (from which English gets arcane). Arca was borrowed into prehistoric Germanic, and came into English as ærc. In addition to meaning ‘chest’ (a sense which had largely died out by the 18th century), it signified the ‘coffer in which the ancient Hebrews kept the tablets of the Ten Commandments’ – the Ark of the Covenant – and by extension, the large commodious vessel in which Noah escaped the Flood.
=> arcane, exercise[ark etymology, ark origin, 英语词源]
shibboleth: shibboleth: [14] Hebrew shibbōleth meant ‘stream’. According to the Bible, the Gileadites used it as a password, for they knew their enemies the Ephraimites could not pronounce the sh properly (‘And it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay, then they said unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right’, Judges 12:5–6).

In 17th-century English it came to be applied generically to any word used as a test of pronunciation, particularly as a sign of belonging to a group, and hence by extension to any catchword or slogan adopted by a group, and this eventually evolved into the modern sense ‘outmoded slogan, practice, etc still adhered to’.
death (n.): Old English deað "death, dying, cause of death," in plura, "ghosts," from Proto-Germanic *dauthuz (cognates: Old Saxon doth, Old Frisian dath, Dutch dood, Old High German tod, German Tod, Old Norse dauði, Danish død, Swedish död, Gothic dauþus "death"), from verbal stem *dheu- (3) "to die" (see die (v.)) + *-thuz suffix indicating "act, process, condition."
I would not that death should take me asleep. I would not have him meerly seise me, and onely declare me to be dead, but win me, and overcome me. When I must shipwrack, I would do it in a sea, where mine impotencie might have some excuse; not in a sullen weedy lake, where I could not have so much as exercise for my swimming. [John Donne, letter to Sir Henry Goodere, Sept. 1608]
Death's-head, a symbol of mortality, is from 1590s. Death row first recorded 1940s. Death knell is attested from 1814; death penalty from 1875; death rate from 1859. Slang be death on "be very good at" is from 1839. Death wish first recorded 1896. The death-watch beetle (1660s) inhabits houses, makes a ticking noise like a watch, and was superstitiously supposed to portend death.
FEW ears have escaped the noise of the death-watch, that is, the little clickling sound heard often in many rooms, somewhat resembling that of a watch; and this is conceived to be of an evil omen or prediction of some person's death: wherein notwithstanding there is nothing of rational presage or just cause of terror unto melancholy and meticulous heads. For this noise is made by a little sheathwinged grey insect, found often in wainscot benches and wood-work in the summer. [Browne, "Vulgar Errors"]
effigy (n.): "image of a person," 1530s, from Middle French effigie (13c.), from Latin effigies "copy or imitation of something, likeness, image, statue," from or related to effingere "to mold, fashion, portray," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + fingere "to form, shape" (see fiction). The Latin word was regarded as plural and the -s was lopped off by 18c. Especially figures made of stuffed clothing; the burning or hanging of them is attested by 1670s. Formerly done by judicial authorities as symbolic punishment of criminals who had escaped their jurisdiction; later a popular expression against persons deemed obnoxious. Related: Effigial.
eleven (n.): c. 1200, elleovene, from Old English enleofan, endleofan, literally "one left" (over ten), from Proto-Germanic *ainlif- (compare Old Saxon elleban, Old Frisian andlova, Dutch elf, Old High German einlif, German elf, Old Norse ellifu, Gothic ainlif), a compound of *ain "one" (see one) + PIE *leikw- "leave, remain" (source of Greek leipein "to leave behind;" see relinquish).
FIREFLY: Give me a number from 1 to 10.
CHICOLINI: eleven!
FIREFLY: Right!
Viking survivors who escaped an Anglo-Saxon victory were daroþa laf "the leavings of spears," while hamora laf "the leavings of hammers" was an Old English kenning for "swords" (both from "The Battle of Brunanburgh"). Twelve reflects the same formation. Outside Germanic the only instance of this formation is in Lithuanian, which uses -lika "left over" and continues the series to 19 (vienio-lika "eleven," dvy-lika "twelve," try-lika "thirteen," keturio-lika "fourteen," etc.). Meaning "a team or side" in cricket or football is from 1743.
escape (v.): c. 1300, transitive and intransitive, "free oneself from confinement; extricate oneself from trouble; get away safely by flight (from battle, an enemy, etc.)," from Old North French escaper, Old French eschaper (12c., Modern French échapper), from Vulgar Latin *excappare, literally "get out of one's cape, leave a pursuer with just one's cape," from Latin ex- "out of" (see ex-) + Late Latin cappa "mantle" (see cap (n.)). Mid-14c., of things, "get or keep out of a person's grasp, elude (notice, perception, attention, etc.);" late 14c. as "avoid experiencing or suffering (something), avoid physical contact with; avoid (a consequence)." Related: Escaped; escaping.
escapee (n.): "escaped prisoner or convict," 1865, American English, from escape (v.) + -ee.
feral (adj.): c. 1600, "wild, undomesticated," from Middle French feral "wild," from Latin fera, in phrase fera bestia "wild animal," from ferus "wild" (see fierce). Since 19c. commonly "run wild, having escaped from domestication."
gorilla (n.): 1847, applied to a species of large apes (Troglodytes gorills) by U.S. missionary Thomas Savage, from Greek gorillai, plural of name given to wild, hairy beings (now supposed to have been chimpanzees) in a Greek translation of Carthaginian navigator Hanno's account of his voyage along the northwest coast of Africa, c. 500 B.C.E. Allegedly an African word.
In its inmost recess was an island similar to that formerly described, which contained in like manner a lake with another island, inhabited by a rude description of people. The females were much more numerous than the males, and had rough skins: our interpreters called them Gorillae. We pursued but could take none of the males; they all escaped to the top of precipices, which they mounted with ease, and threw down stones; we took three of the females, but they made such violent struggles, biting and tearing their captors, that we killed them, and stripped off the skins, which we carried to Carthage: being out of provisions we could go no further. [Hanno, "Periplus"]
Of persons perceived as being gorilla-like, from 1884.
ineluctable (adj.): "not to be escaped by struggling," 1620s, from Latin ineluctabilis "unavoidable, inevitable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + eluctari "to struggle out of," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + luctari "to struggle" (see reluctance).
lusty (adj.): early 13c., "joyful, merry," from lust + -y (2). It largely has escaped the Christianization and denigration of its root word. The sense of "full of healthy vigor" is from late 14c.; that of "full of desire" is attested from c. 1400. Related: Lustily; lustiness.
Malta: Mediterranean island, from Latin Melite, perhaps from Phoenician melita, literally "place of refuge," from malat "he escaped."
Pandora: 1570s, in Greek mythology, the first mortal woman, made by Hephaestus and given as a bride to Epimetheus, from Greek pandora "all-gifted" (or perhaps "giver of all"), from pan "all" (see pan-) + doron "gift," from PIE root *do- "to give" (see date (n.1)).

Pandora's box (1570s) refers to her gift from Zeus, which was foolishly opened by Epimetheus, upon which all the contents escaped. They were said to be the host of human ills (escaping to afflict mankind), or, in a later version, all the blessings of the god (escaping to be lost), except Hope, which alone remained.