英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

alexandrine [alexandrine 词源字典]: alexandrine: [16] An alexandrine is a line of verse of 12 syllables, characteristic of the classic French drama of the 17th century. The term derives from the use of this metre in Alexandre, a 12th-or 13th-century Old French romance about Alexander the Great.
[alexandrine etymology, alexandrine origin, 英语词源]
exact: exact: [15] The adjective exact ‘precise’ and the verb exact ‘demand with severity’ have undergone considerable semantic divergence over the centuries, but they both go back to the same source, the Latin verb exigere (from which English also got essay, examine, exigent [15], and exiguous [17]). This, a compound of the prefix ex- ‘out’ and agere ‘lead, drive’ (source of English act and agent), meant originally ‘drive out’, but in due course it developed the metaphorical senses ‘demand’ (preserved in the English verb), ‘weigh accurately’, and ‘bring to completion or perfection’.

These last two were taken up adjectivally in the Latin past participle exactus, from which English gets exact.
=> act, agent, essay, examine
exaggerate: exaggerate: [16] Something that is exaggerated is literally ‘piled up’ out of all due proportion; indeed that is what it originally meant in English: ‘With their flipping and flapping up and down in the dirt they exaggerate a mountain of mire’, Philip Stubbes, Anatomy of Abuses 1583. It was not really until the 17th century that the current sense ‘overemphasize’ came to the fore, although it was already present in the word’s Latin original. This was exaggerāre, a compound formed from the intensive prefix exand aggerāre ‘pile up’ (a derivative of agger ‘heap’).
examine: examine: [14] Like essay and exact, examine comes ultimately from Latin exigere, a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and agere ‘lead, drive’ (source of English act and agent). This originally meant literally ‘drive out’, but a metaphorical sense ‘weigh accurately’ developed which was carried over into a derived noun exāmen ‘weighing’. This in turn formed the basis of another derivative, the verb exāmināre ‘weigh’, hence ‘weigh up, ponder, consider, test, examine’. The abbreviation exam for examination dates from the late 19th century.
=> act, agent, essay, exact
example: example: [14] Etymologically, an example is something that has been ‘taken out’, so that it can be considered separately. The word comes via Old French example from Latin exemplum ‘example’, a derivative of eximere ‘take out’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and emere ‘take, buy’ (source of English peremptory, pre-empt, premium, and prompt), and also yielded English exempt [14]. (An earlier Old French version of the word, essample, was borrowed into English in the 13th century as asample, which was the ancestor of modern English sample.)
=> exempt, peremptory, premium, prompt, sample
Alexander: masc. proper name, from Latin, from Greek Alexandros "defender of men," from alexein "to ward off, keep off, turn (something) away, defend, protect" + aner (genitive andros) "man" (see anthropo-). The first element is related to Greek alke "protection, help, strength, power, courage," alkimos "strong;" cognate with Sanskrit raksati "protects," Old English ealgian "to defend." As a kind of cocktail, it is attested from 1930.
Alexandrine: in reference to a type of verse line, 1580s (adj.); 1660s (n.), said to be from Old French Roman d'Alexandre, name of a poem about Alexander the Great that was popular in the Middle Ages, which used a 12-syllable line of 6 feet (the French heroic verse); it was used in English to vary the heroic verse of 5 feet. The name also sometimes is said to be from Alexandre de Paris, 13c. French poet, who used such a line (and who also wrote one of the popular Alexander the Great poems).
annexation (n.): 1620s, from Medieval Latin annexiationem (nominative annexatio) "action of annexing," noun of action from past participle stem of annexare (see annex). The Middle English noun form was annexion "union; joining; territory acquired" (mid-15c.).
cross-examination (n.): also cross examination; 1827, "an examination of a witness by the other side, to 'check' the effects of previous questioning," from cross (adj.) + examination. Related: Cross-examine (1660s).
exacerbate (v.): 1650s, a back-formation from exacerbation or else from Latin exacerbatus, past participle of exacerbare "irritate, provoke." Related: Exacerbated; exacerbating.
exacerbation (n.): c. 1400, from Late Latin exacerbationem (nominative exacerbatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin exacerbare "exasperate, irritate, provoke," from ex- "thoroughly" (see ex-) + acerbus "harsh, bitter," from acer "sharp, keen" (see acrid).
exact (adj.): "precise, rigorous, accurate," 1530s, from Latin exactus "precise, accurate, highly finished," past participle adjective from exigere "demand, require, enforce," literally "to drive or force out," also "finish, measure," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + agere "drive, lead, act" (see act (n.)).
exact (v.): mid-15c., from Latin exactus, past participle of exigere "require, enforce, demand, collect (money);" see exact (adj.). Older in English than the adjective and retaining the literal sense of the Latin source. Related: Exacted; exacting.
exacta (n.): type of horse-racing bet involving picking the first two horses in a race in order of finish, 1964, said to have originated in New York; from exact (adj.).
exacting (adj.): "very demanding, severe in requirement," 1580s, present participle adjective from exact (v.).
exaction (n.): late 14c., "action of demanding payment; imposition, requisitioning" of taxes, etc., from Old French exaccion and directly from Latin exactionem (nominative exactio) "a driving out; supervision; exaction; a tax, tribute, impost," noun of action from past participle stem of exigere (see exact (adj.)). Meaning "a tax, tribute, toll, fee," etc. is from mid-15c.
exactitude (n.): 1734, from French exactitude (17c.), from exact, from Latin exactus (see exact (adj.)).
exactly (adv.): 1530s, from exact (adj.) + -ly (2). Elliptical use for "quite right" not recorded before 1869.
exactness (n.): 1560s, "perfection," from exact (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "precision" is 1640s.
exaggerate (v.): 1530s, "to pile up, accumulate," from Latin exaggeratus, past participle of exaggerare "heighten, amplify, magnify," literally "to heap, pile, load, fill," from ex- "thoroughly" (see ex-) + aggerare "heap up, accumulate," figuratively "amplify, magnify," from agger (genitive aggeris) "heap," from aggerere "bring together, carry toward," from assimilated form of ad- "to, toward" (see ad-) + gerere "carry" (see gest). Sense of "overstate" first recorded in English 1560s. Related: Exaggerated; exaggerating.
exaggeration (n.): 1560s, from Latin exaggerationem (nominative exaggeratio) "elevation, exaltation" (figurative), noun of action from past participle stem of exaggerare "amplify, magnify," literally "heap up" (see exaggerate).
exalt (v.): late 14c., from Old French exalter (10c.), from Latin exaltare "raise, elevate," from ex- "out, up" (see ex-) + altus "high" (see old). Related: Exalted; exalting.
exaltation (n.): late 14c, from Old French exaltacion "enhancement, elevation," from Late Latin exaltationem (nominative exaltatio) "elevation, pride," noun of action from past participle stem of exaltare "to raise, elevate" (see exalt).
exam (n.): college student slang shortened form of examination, 1848.
examination (n.): late 14c., "action of testing or judging; judicial inquiry," from Old French examinacion, from Latin examinationem (nominative examinatio), noun of action from past participle stem of examinare "to weigh; to ponder, consider" (see examine). Sense of "test of knowledge" is attested from 1610s.
examine (v.): c. 1300, from Old French examiner "interrogate, question, torture," from Latin examinare "to test or try; consider, ponder," literally "to weigh," from examen "a means of weighing or testing," probably ultimately from exigere "weigh accurately" (see exact (adj.)). Related: Examined; examining.
examiner (n.): early 14c., examinour, agent noun from examine.
example (n.): late 14c., "an instance typical of a class; a model, either good or bad, action or conduct as an object of imitation; an example to be avoided; punishment as a warning," partial re-Latinization of earlier essample, asaumple (mid-13c.), from Old French essemple "sample, model, example, precedent, cautionary tale," from Latin exemplum "a sample, specimen; image, portrait; pattern, model, precedent; a warning example, one that serves as a warning," literally "that which is taken out," from eximere "take out, remove" (see exempt (adj.)).
exanimate (adj.): 1530s, from Latin exanimatus "lifeless, dead," past participle of exanimare "to deprive of air or breath; tire, fatigue; to deprive of life; to terrify," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + animare "give breath to" (see animate (v.)). Related: Exanimation.
exarch (n.): from Late Latin exarchus, from Greek exarkhos "a leader," from ex (see ex-) + arkhos "leader, chief, ruler" (see archon). Related: Exarchate.
exasperate (v.): 1530s, "irritate, provoke to anger," from Latin exasperatus, past participle of exasperare "make rough, roughen, irritate, provoke," from ex- "thoroughly" (see ex-) + asper "rough" (see asperity). Related: Exasperated; exasperating.
exasperation (n.): 1540s, from Late Latin exasperationem (nominative exasperatio), noun of action from past participle stem of exasperare "roughen; irritate" (see exasperate).
hexa-: before vowels, hex-, word-forming element meaning "six," from Greek hexa-, comb. form of hex "six" (see six).
hexadecimal: 1954 (adj.); 1970 (n.); from hexa- + decimal.
hexagon (n.): 1560s, from Latin hexagonum, from Greek hexagonon, from hex "six" (see hexa-) + gonia "angle" (see -gon).
hexagonal (adj.): 1570s, from hexagon + -al (1). Related: Hexagonally.
hexagram (n.): 1863 as a type of geometric figure, from hexa- + -gram. I Ching sense attested from 1882.
hexameter (adj.): 1540s, from Latin hexameter, from Greek hexametros, from hex "six" (see hexa-) + metron "meter" (see meter (n.2)). As a noun from 1570s. Related: Hexametric.
hexane (n.): paraffin hydrocarbon, 1872, from Greek hex "six" (see six) + chemical suffix -ane. So called for its six carbon atoms.
hexapod (n.): 1660s, from Greek hex "six" (see six) + pod, from Greek pod-, stem of pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)). As an adjective from 1856.
indexation (n.): 1960, noun of action from index (v.).
inexact (adj.): 1828, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + exact. Related: Inexactly.
inexactitude (n.): 1786, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + exactitude.
re-examine (v.): also reexamine, 1590s, from re- + examine. Related: Re-examined; re-examining.
self-examination (n.): 1640s, from self- + examination.
sexagenarian (n.): 1738, "person sixty years old," from Latin sexagenarius "containing sixty," from sexagenarius, from sexageni "sixty each, sixty at a time," from sexaginta "sixty," from comb. form of sex (see six) + -genaria "ten times," from -ginta "tens," from PIE *dkm-ta-, from *dekm- "ten" (see ten). As an adjective from 1836.
sexagesimal (adj.): "pertaining to 60," 1680s, from Medieval Latin sexagesimalis, from Latin sexagesimus "the sixtieth," from sexaginta "sixty."
Texas: Mexican province, briefly an independent nation and now a U.S. state, from Spanish Texas, Tejas, earlier pronounced "ta-shas," originally an ethnic name, from Caddo (eastern Texas Indian tribe) taysha "friends, allies," written by the Spanish as a plural. Related: Texan. Baseball Texas-leaguer "ball popped up just over the head of the infielders and falling too close for outfielders to catch" is recorded from 1905, named for the minor league that operated in Texas from 1902 (one theory is that outfielders played unusually deep in Texas because hit balls bounced hard off the hard, sun-baked ground).
unexamined (adj.): late 15c., from un- (1) "not" + past participle of examine (v.).
vexation (n.): c. 1400, from Old French vexacion "abuse, harassment; insult, affront," or directly from Latin vexationem (nominative vexatio) "annoyance, harassing; distress, trouble," noun of action from past participle stem of vexare "to harass, trouble" (see vex).