英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

goat: goat: [OE] Old English had no all-purpose word for ‘goat’; the male goat was a bucca (‘buck’) and the female goat was a gāt. In early Middle English, goat began to encroach on the semantic territory of buck, and by the 14th century it had come to be the dominant form for both sexes, as is shown by the emergence around that time of the distinguishing terms she-goat and he-goat (nanny-goat and billy-goat are much later – 18th-century and 19th-century respectively). Goat itself comes via prehistoric Germanic *gaitaz (source of German geiss, Dutch geit, Swedish get, and Danish ged) from Indo- European *ghaidos.

This may be related to Lithuanian zaidziu ‘play’, and if so, the goat could be etymologically the ‘animal that jumps about’ (semantic development in the opposite direction has given English caper from Latin caper ‘goat’).
man: man: [OE] Man is a widespread Germanic word (with relatives in German mann ‘man’ and mensch ‘person’, Dutch and Swedish man ‘man’, Danish mand ‘man’, and Swedish menniska ‘person’), and connections have even been found outside Germanic (Sanskrit, for instance, had mánu- ‘man’). But no decisive evidence has been found for an ultimate Indo- European source.

Among the suggestions put forward have been links with a base *men- ‘think’ or ‘breathe’, or with Latin manus ‘hand’. The etymologically primary sense of the word is ‘human being, person’, and that is what it generally meant in Old English: the sexes were generally distinguished by wer ‘man’ (which survives probably in werewolf and is related to world) and wīf (source of modern English wife) or cwene ‘woman’.

But during the Middle English and early modern English periods ‘male person’ gradually came to the fore, and today ‘person’ is decidedly on the decline (helped on its way by those who feel that the usage discriminates against women). Woman originated in Old English as a compound of wīf ‘woman, female’ and man ‘person’. Manikin [17] was borrowed from Dutch manneken, a diminutive form of man ‘man’; and mannequin [18] is the same word acquired via French.
=> manikin, mannequin
peacock: peacock: [14] The original English name of the ‘peacock’ in the Anglo-Saxon period was pēa. This was borrowed from Latin pāvō, a word which appears to have been related to Greek taós ‘peacock’, and which also gave French paon, Italian pavone, and Spanish pavo ‘peacock’. The Old English word is presumed to have survived into Middle English, as *pe, although no record of it survives, and in the 14th century it was formed into the compounds peacock and peahen to distinguish the sexes. The non-sex-specific peafowl is a 19th-century coinage.
bisexual (adj.): 1824, "having both sexes in one being, hermaphroditic," from bi- + sexual. Meaning "attracted to both sexes" is from 1914; the noun in this sense is attested from 1922, and compare bisexuality. Not in general use until 1950s. Ambisexual was proposed in this sense early 20c.
I suggest that the term ambisexuality be used in psychology instead of the expression "bisexual predisposition." This would connote that we understand by this predisposition, not the presence of male and female material in the organism (Fliess), nor of male and female sex hunger in the mind, but the child's psychical capacity for bestowing his erotism, originally objectless, on either the male or the female sex, or on both. [S. Ferenczi, "Sex in Psycho-Analysis," transl. Ernest Jones, Boston, 1916]
bisexuality (n.): "attraction to both sexes" 1892, in translation of Krafft-Ebing; see bisexual + -ity.
chiton (n.): mollusc genus, 1816, from Latinized form of Greek khiton "frock (worn by both sexes), tunic, mail coat" (see chitin). Used in English in literal sense of "ancient Greek tunic" from 1850. The molluscs also are known as "coat-of-mail shells" for their mail-like covering.
coquet (n.): "amorous, flirtatious person," 1690s, originally of both sexes (as it was in French), from French coquet (17c.), diminutive of coq "cock" (see cock (n.1)). A figurative reference to its strut or its lust. The distinction of fem. coquette began c. 1700, and use in reference to males has faded out since.
do-gooder (n.): "a person who seeks to correct social ills in an idealistic, but usually impractical or superficial, way," 1650s (as do-good), in "Zootomia, or Observations on the Present Manners of the English: Briefly Anatomizing the Living by the Dead. With An Usefull Detection of the Mountebanks of Both Sexes," written by Richard Whitlock, a medical doctor. Probably used even then with a taint of impractical idealism. Modern pejorative use seems to have begun on the socialist left, mocking those who were unwilling to take a hard line. OED has this citation, from "The Nation" in 1923:
There is nothing the matter with the United States except ... the parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods.
The form do-gooder appears in American English from 1927, presumably because do-good was no longer felt as sufficiently noun-like. A slightly older word for this was goo-goo.
Druidess (n.): 1755, from Druid + -ess. Formerly, Druid had been used indifferently of both sexes.
epicene (adj.): "belonging to or including both sexes," mid-15c., epycen, originally a grammatical term for nouns that may denote either gender, from Latin epicoenus "common," from Greek epikoinos "common to many, promiscuous," from epi "on" (see epi-) + koinos "common" (see coeno-). English has no need of it in its grammatical sense. Extended sense of "characteristic of both sexes" first recorded in English c. 1600; that of "effeminate" is from 1630s.
intersex (n.): "one having characteristics of both sexes," 1917, from German intersexe (1915); see inter- + sex. Coined by German-born U.S. geneticist Richard Benedict Goldschmidt (1878-1958). Related: Intersexual; intersexuality.
machine (n.): 1540s, "structure of any kind," from Middle French machine "device, contrivance," from Latin machina "machine, engine, military machine; device, trick; instrument" (source also of Spanish maquina, Italian macchina), from Greek makhana, Doric variant of mekhane "device, means," related to mekhos "means, expedient, contrivance," from PIE *maghana- "that which enables," from root *magh- (1) "to be able, have power" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic mogo "be able," Old English mæg "I can;" see may (v.)).

Main modern sense of "device made of moving parts for applying mechanical power" (1670s) probably grew out of mid-17c. senses of "apparatus, appliance" and "military siege-tower." In late 19c. slang the word was used for both "penis" and "vagina," one of the few so honored. Political sense is U.S. slang, first recorded 1876. Machine age is attested by 1851:
The idea of remodelling society at public meetings is one of the least reasonable which ever entered the mind of an agitator: and the notion that the relations of the sexes can be re-arranged and finally disposed of by preamble and resolution, is one of the latest, as it should have been the last, vagary of a machine age. ["The Literary World," Nov. 1, 1851]
Machine for living (in) "house" translates Le Corbusier's machine à habiter (1923).
maid (n.): late 12c., "a virgin, a young unmarried woman," shortening of maiden (n.). Like that word, used in Middle English of unmarried men as well as women (as in maiden-man, c. 1200, used of both sexes, reflecting also the generic use of man). Domestic help sense is from c. 1300. In reference to Joan of Arc, attested from 1540s (French la Pucelle). Maid Marian, one of Robin Hood's companions, first recorded 1520s, perhaps from French, where Robin et Marian have been stock names for country lovers since 13c. Maid of Honor (1580s) originally was "unmarried lady of noble birth who attends a queen or princess;" meaning "principal bridesmaid" is attested from 1895. Maydelond (translating Latin terra feminarum) was "the land of the Amazons."
man (n.): Old English man, mann "human being, person (male or female); brave man, hero; servant, vassal," from Proto-Germanic *manwaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Swedish, Dutch, Old High German man, German Mann, Old Norse maðr, Danish mand, Gothic manna "man"), from PIE root *man- (1) "man" (cognates: Sanskrit manuh, Avestan manu-, Old Church Slavonic mozi, Russian muzh "man, male").

Plural men (German Männer) shows effects of i-mutation. Sometimes connected to root *men- "to think" (see mind), which would make the ground sense of man "one who has intelligence," but not all linguists accept this. Liberman, for instance, writes, "Most probably man 'human being' is a secularized divine name" from Mannus [Tacitus, "Germania," chap. 2], "believed to be the progenitor of the human race."
So I am as he that seythe, `Come hyddr John, my man.' [1473]
Sense of "adult male" is late (c. 1000); Old English used wer and wif to distinguish the sexes, but wer began to disappear late 13c. and was replaced by man. Universal sense of the word remains in mankind and manslaughter. Similarly, Latin had homo "human being" and vir "adult male human being," but they merged in Vulgar Latin, with homo extended to both senses. A like evolution took place in Slavic languages, and in some of them the word has narrowed to mean "husband." PIE had two stems: *uiHro "freeman" (source of Sanskrit vira-, Lithuanian vyras, Latin vir, Old Irish fer, Gothic wair) and *hner "man," a title more of honor than *uiHro (source of Sanskrit nar-, Armenian ayr, Welsh ner, Greek aner).
MANTRAP, a woman's commodity. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," London, 1785]
Man also was in Old English as an indefinite pronoun, "one, people, they." The chess pieces so called from c. 1400. As an interjection of surprise or emphasis, first recorded c. 1400, but especially popular from early 20c. Man-about-town is from 1734; the Man "the boss" is from 1918. To be man or mouse "be brave or be timid" is from 1540s. Men's Liberation first attested 1970.
At the kinges court, my brother, Ech man for himself. [Chaucer, "Knight's Tale," c. 1386]
Pavlovian (adj.): 1931, from the theories, experiments, and methods of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), especially in connection with the salivary reflexes of dogs in response to mental stimulus of the sound of a bell (attested from 1911, in Pavloff [sic] method).
puberty (n.): "the time of life in which the two sexes begin first to be acquainted" [Johnson], late 14c., from Old French puberté and directly from Latin pubertatem (nominative pubertas) "age of maturity, manhood," from pubes (genitive pubertis) "adult, full-grown, manly." Related: Puberal; pubertal.
riddle (n.1): "A word game or joke, comprising a question or statement couched in deliberately puzzling terms, propounded for solving by the hearer/reader using clues embedded within that wording" [Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore], early 13c., from Old English rædels "riddle; counsel; conjecture; imagination; discussion," common Germanic (Old Frisian riedsal "riddle," Old Saxon radisli, Middle Dutch raetsel, Dutch raadsel, Old High German radisle, German Rätsel "riddle").

The first element is from Proto-Germanic *redaz-, from PIE *re-dh-, from PIE *re(1)- "to reason, count" (cognates: Old English rædan "to advise, counsel, read, guess;" see read (v.)). The ending is Old English noun suffix -els, the -s of which later was mistaken for a plural affix and stripped off. Meaning "anything which puzzles or perplexes" is from late 14c.
shirt (n.): Old English scyrte "skirt, tunic," from Proto-Germanic *skurtjon "a short garment" (cognates: Old Norse skyrta, Swedish skjorta "skirt, kirtle;" Middle Dutch scorte, Dutch schort "apron;" Middle High German schurz, German Schurz "apron"), related to Old English scort, sceort "short," from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)).

Formerly of the chief garment worn by both sexes, but in modern use long only of that for men; in reference to women's tops, reintroduced 1896. Bloody shirt, exposed as a symbol of outrage, is attested from 1580s. To give (someone) the shirt off one's back is from 1771. To lose one's shirt "suffer total financial loss" is from 1935. To keep one's shirt on "be patient" (1904) is from the notion of (not) stripping down for a fight.
spinster (n.): mid-14c., "female spinner of thread," from Middle English spinnen (see spin) + -stere, feminine suffix (see -ster). Unmarried women were supposed to occupy themselves with spinning, hence the word came to be "the legal designation in England of all unmarried women from a viscount's daughter downward" [Century Dictionary] in documents from 1600s to early 1900s, and by 1719 the word was being used generically for "woman still unmarried and beyond the usual age for it."
Spinster, a terme, or an addition in our Common Law, onely added in Obligations, Euidences, and Writings, vnto maids vnmarried. [John Minsheu, "Ductor in Linguas," 1617]
Strictly in reference to those who spin, spinster also was used of both sexes (compare webster, baxter, brewster) and so a double-feminine form emerged, spinstress "a female spinner" (1640s), which by 1716 also was being used for "maiden lady." Related: Spinsterhood.
susurrus (n.): 1809, earlier as a medical Latin word in English, from Latin susurrus, literally "a humming, muttering, whispering" (see susurration).
Among the diseases of the ear, one of the most prevalent is the Paracusis imaginaria, to which both sexes are equally liable; and another variety of the same tribe, more frequent among female patients, called the Susurrus criticus, or Scandal-buzz. ["The Lounger," Dec. 23, 1786]
woman (n.): "adult female human," late Old English wimman, wiman (plural wimmen), literally "woman-man," alteration of wifman (plural wifmen) "woman, female servant" (8c.), a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being" (in Old English used in reference to both sexes; see man (n.)). Compare Dutch vrouwmens "wife," literally "woman-man."
It is notable that it was thought necessary to join wif, a neuter noun, representing a female person, to man, a masc. noun representing either a male or female person, to form a word denoting a female person exclusively. [Century Dictionary]
The formation is peculiar to English and Dutch. Replaced older Old English wif and quean as the word for "female human being." The pronunciation of the singular altered in Middle English by the rounding influence of -w-; the plural retains the original vowel. Meaning "wife," now largely restricted to U.S. dialectal use, is attested from mid-15c. Woman-hater "misogynist" is from c. 1600. Women's work is from 1660s. Women's liberation is attested from 1966; women's rights is from 1840, with an isolated example in 1630s.
vive la difference: "An expression of approval of difference, especially that between the sexes", From French vive la différence, literally 'long live the difference'.
lungi: "A sarong-like garment wrapped around the waist and extending to the ankles, worn by both sexes in India and in Burma (Myanmar), where it is the national dress", Urdu.
plexor: "A small hammer with a rubber head used to test reflexes and in medical percussion", Mid 19th century: formed irregularly from Greek plēxis 'percussion' (from plēssein 'to strike') + -or¹.
profundus: "A deep-seated muscle; specifically the flexor digitorum profundus muscle, which arises from the ulna, flexes the distal phalanges of the fingers, and is situated beneath the muscle which flexes the middle phalanges", Late 17th cent. From classical Latin profundus (originally in post-classical Latin or scientific Latin musculus profundus).