英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

malt [malt 词源字典]: malt: [OE] Malt goes back to prehistoric Germanic *malt-, a variant of which produced English melt. Hence it seems to denote etymologically the ‘softening’ of the barley or other grain by steeping it in water preparatory to germinating it for use in brewing (German malz means ‘soft’ as well as ‘malt’).
=> melt[malt etymology, malt origin, 英语词源]
stock: stock: [OE] The word stock originally denoted a ‘tree-trunk’. It came from a prehistoric Germanic *stukkaz, which also produced German stock ‘stick’ and Swedish stock ‘log’. The lineal semantic descent to the stocks [14], a punishment device made from large pieces of wood, is clear enough, but how stock came to be used for a ‘supply, store’ (a sense first recorded in the 15th century) is more of a mystery.

It may be that a tradesman’s supply of goods was thought of metaphorically as the trunk of a tree, from which profits grew like branches; and another possibility is that the usage was inspired by an unrecorded application of stock to a wooden storage chest or money box. Stock ‘broth’ was so named (in the 18th century, apparently) because one keeps a ‘stock’ of it on hand in the stockpot, for use at need.

The original notion of a stout piece of wood is preserved in the derivative stocky [14], and also in stock-still [15] – literally ‘as still as a log’.
tamper: tamper: [16] Tamper began life as a variant of temper. It originally meant ‘mix clay together with water to make it suitable for use’. However, the notion of ‘mixing’ seems to lead on naturally to ‘interference’ (meddle originally meant ‘mix’), and by the end of the 16th century we find that ‘tampering with clay’ had moved on to ‘tampering with anything’ – ‘interfering’ with it.
=> temper
utensil: utensil: [14] Latin ūtēnsilis meant ‘usable, useful’. It was derived from the verb ūtī ‘use’ (source also of English use, utility, utilize, etc). In the Middle Ages it was adapted into a noun, ūtēnsilia, meaning ‘things for use, implements’. This passed into English via Old French utensile as utensil, still a collective noun, but by the 15th century it was being used for an individual ‘implement’.
=> use
value: value: [14] To have value is etymologically to be ‘strong’ or ‘effective’, and hence to have ‘worth’. The word was borrowed from Old French value, a noun use of the feminine past participle of valoir ‘be worth’. This was descended from Latin valēre ‘be strong, be of value’, which also produced English avail [13], available [15] (which originally meant ‘advantageous’, and was not used for ‘accessible for use’ until as recently as the 19th century), convalesce [15], valency [19], valiant [14], valid, and valour [14].
=> available, convalesce, valency, valiant, valid, valour
attainder (n.): "extinction of rights of a person sentenced to death or outlaw," mid-15c., from noun use of Old French ataindre "to touch upon, strike, hit, seize, accuse, condemn" (see attain). For use of French infinitives as nouns, especially in legal language, see waiver.
banal (adj.): "trite, commonplace," 1840, from French banal, "belonging to a manor, common, hackneyed, commonplace," from Old French banel "communal" (13c.), from ban "decree; legal control; announcement; authorization; payment for use of a communal oven, mill, etc." (see ban (v.)). The modern sense evolved from the word's use in designating things like ovens or mills that belonged to feudal serfs, or else compulsory military service; in either case it was generalized in French through "open to everyone" to "commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty."
boilerplate (n.): newspaper (and now information technology) slang for "unit of writing that can be used over and over without change," 1893, from a literal meaning (1840) "metal rolled in large, flat plates for use in making steam boilers." The connecting notion is probably of sturdiness or reusability. From 1890s to 1950s, publicity items were cast or stamped in metal ready for the printing press and distributed to newspapers as filler. The largest supplier was Western Newspaper Union.
cabin (n.): mid-14c., from Old French cabane "hut, cabin," from Old Provençal cabana, from Late Latin capanna "hut" (source of Spanish cabana, Italian capanna), of doubtful origin. French cabine (18c.), Italian cabino are English loan-words. Meaning "room or partition of a vessel" (set aside for use of officers) is from late 14c. Cabin fever first recorded by 1918 in the "need to get out and about" sense; earlier (1820s) it was a term for typhus.
checkout (n.): 1944, from check (v.1) + out (adv.). Originally "training given to a pilot for using a specific aircraft;" hotel sense is from 1958.
condemned (adj.): 1540s, "found guilty, at fault," past participle adjective from condemn. Of property, "found unfit for use," from 1798.
desktop (n.): 1929, from desk + top. As an adjective meaning "suitable for use on a desktop," it is recorded from 1958 (in reference to computers). As a shortening of desktop computer, recorded from 1983. Desktop publishing recorded from 1984.
gall (n.3): "excrescence on a plant caused by the deposit of insect eggs," especially on an oak leaf, late 14c., from Latin galla "oak-gall," which is of uncertain origin. They were harvested for use in medicines, inks, dyes.
go-to-meeting (adj.): "suitable for use in a church or on Sundays," 1790, especially of clothes but the earliest recorded reference is to music.
harness (v.): "to put a harness on a draught animal," c. 1300, from Old French harneschier "make ready, equip, arm," from harnois (see harness (n.)); figurative sense "to control for use as power" is from 1690s. Related: Harnessed; harnessing.
opera (n.): "a drama sung" [Klein], 1640s, from Italian opera, literally "a work, labor, composition," from Latin opera "work, effort" (Latin plural regarded as feminine singular), secondary (abstract) noun from operari "to work," from opus (genitive operis) "a work" (see opus). Defined in "Elson's Music Dictionary" as, "a form of musical composition evolved shortly before 1600, by some enthusiastic Florentine amateurs who sought to bring back the Greek plays to the modern stage."
No good opera plot can be sensible. ... People do not sing when they are feeling sensible. [W.H. Auden, 1961]
As a branch of dramatic art, it is attested from 1759. First record of opera glass "small binoculars for use at the theater" is from 1738. Soap opera is first recorded 1939, as a disparaging reference to daytime radio dramas sponsored by soap manufacturers.
pickup (n.): also pick-up, "that which is picked up," 1848; see pick up (v.). As "act of picking up" from 1882. Meaning "capacity for acceleration" is from 1909; that of "recovery" is from 1916. In reference to a game between informal teams chosen on the spot, from 1905 (as an adjective in this sense by 1936).

Meaning "small truck used for light loads," 1937, is shortened from pickup truck (pickup body is attested from 1928). The notion probably being of a vehicle for use to "pick up" (feed, lumber, etc.) and deliver it where it was needed.
plumbing (n.): mid-15c., "the weighting of a fishing line," verbal noun from plumb (v.). Specific meaning "water and drainage pipes" is recorded by 1875, American English.
THE apparatus by which the water from a reservoir is carried about over a building and delivered at points convenient for use, is called by the general name of plumbing. The word "plumbing" means lead-work; and it is used to signify this water apparatus of a house because the pipes of which it largely consists are usually made of lead. [Edward Abbott, "Long Look House: A Book for Boys and Girls," Boston, 1877]
Alternative plumbery also is mid-15c. Slang meaning "a person's reproductive organs" attested by 1975.
processional (n.): "book of hymns for use in processions," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin processionale, from noun use of neuter of processionalis "pertaining to a procession," from Late Latin processio (see procession).
rent (n.1): "payment for use of property," mid-12c., a legal sense, originally "income, revenue" (late Old English), from Old French rente "payment due; profit, income," from Vulgar Latin *rendita, noun use of fem. past participle of rendere "to render" (see render (v.)).
rout (n.): 1590s, "disorderly retreat following a defeat," from Middle French route "disorderly flight of troops," literally "a breaking off, rupture," from Vulgar Latin rupta "a dispersed group," literally "a broken group," from noun use of Latin rupta, fem. past participle of rumpere "to break" (see rupture (n.)).

The archaic English noun rout "group of persons, assemblage," is the same word, from Anglo-French rute, Old French route "host, troop, crowd," from Vulgar Latin rupta "a dispersed group," here with sense of "a division, a detachment." It first came to English meaning "group of soldiers" (early 13c.), also "gang of outlaws or rioters, mob" (c. 1300) before the more general sense developed 14c. Also as a legal term. A rout-cake (1807) was one baked for use at a reception.
royalty (n.): c. 1400, "office or position of a sovereign," also "magnificence," from or modeled on Old French roialte (12c., Modern French royauté), from Vulgar Latin *regalitatem (nominative *regalitas), from Latin regalis (see royal). Sense of "prerogatives or rights granted by a sovereign to an individual or corporation" is from late 15c. From that evolved more general senses, such as "payment to a landowner for use of a mine" (1839), and ultimately "payment to an author, composer, etc." for sale or use of his or her work (1857). Compare realty.
rudder (n.): mid-15c. alteration of Middle English rother, from Old English roðor "paddle, oar," from Proto-Germanic *rothru- (cognates: Old Frisian roðer, Middle Low German roder, Middle Dutch roeder, Dutch roer, Old High German ruodar, German Ruder "oar"), from *ro- "steer" (see row (v.)) + suffix -þra, used to form neutral names of tools.

Meaning "broad, flat piece of wood attached to the stern of a boat and guided by a tiller for use in steering" is from c. 1300. For shift of -th- to -d- compare burden (n.1), murder (n.); simultaneous but opposite to the movement that turned -d- to -th- in father (n.), etc.
scanty (adj.): 1650s, "meager, barely sufficient for use;" 1701, "too small, limited in scope," from scant + -y (2). Related: Scantiness (1560s). Scanties (n.) "underwear" (especially for women) attested from 1928.
seasoned (adj.): mid-15c., "flavored, spiced," past participle adjective from season (v.). Meaning "fit for use" is from 1540s; that of "acclimatized, accustomed" is from 1640s.
set-up (n.): "arrangement," 1890, from verbal phrase set up, attested from c. 1200 as "to make ready for use" and from 1950 (in pugilism) as "to bring (someone) to a vulnerable position;" from set (v.) + up (adv.). The verbal phrase also can mean "to establish" (early 15c.) and "put drinks before customers" (1880).
sleigh (n.): "vehicle mounted on runners for use on ice and snow," 1703, American and Canadian English, from Dutch slee, shortened from slede (see sled (n.)). As a verb from 1728. Related: Sleighing. Sleigh-ride is first recorded 1770; sleigh-bells is from c. 1780; they originally were used to give warning of the approach of a sleigh.
slide (n.): 1560s, from slide (v.). As a smooth inclined surface down which something can be slid, from 1680s; the playground slide is from 1890. Meaning "collapse of a hillside, landslide" is from 1660s. As a working part of a musical instrument from 1800 (as in slide-trombone, 1891). Meaning "rapid downturn" is from 1884. Meaning "picture prepared for use with a projector" is from 1819 (in reference to magic lanterns). Baseball sense is from 1886. Slide-guitar is from 1968.
talent (n.): late 13c., "inclination, disposition, will, desire," from Old French talent (12c.), from Medieval Latin talenta, plural of talentum "inclination, leaning, will, desire" (11c.), in classical Latin "balance, weight; sum of money," from Greek talanton "a balance, pair of scales," hence "weight, definite weight, anything weighed," and in later times sum of money," from PIE *tele- "to lift, support, weigh," "with derivatives referring to measured weights and thence money and payment" [Watkins]; see extol.
An ancient denomination of weight, originally Babylonian (though the name is Greek), and varying widely in value among different peoples and at different times. [Century Dictionary]
According to Liddell & Scott, as a monetary sum, considered to consist of 6,000 drachmae, or, in Attica, 57.75 lbs. of silver. Also borrowed in other Germanic languages and Celtic. Attested in Old English as talente). The Medieval Latin and common Romanic sense developed from figurative use of the word in the sense of "money." Meaning "special natural ability, aptitude, gift committed to one for use and improvement" developed by mid-15c., in part perhaps from figurative sense "wealth," but mostly from the parable of the talents in Matt. xxv:14-30. Meaning "persons of ability collectively" is from 1856.
tap (n.1): "stopper, faucet through which liquid can be drawn," Old English tæppa "tap, spigot," from Proto-Germanic *tappon (cognates: Middle Dutch tappe, Dutch tap, Old High German zapfo, German Zapfe). Originally a tapering cylindrical peg for a cask, then a hollowed one to draw from it (compare sense evolution of spigot). Phrase on tap "ready for use, ready to be drawn and served" is recorded from late 15c. Tap-wrench, used in turning one, attested from 1815.
Thalidomide (n.): 1958, from "phthalimidoglutarimide," based on abbreviated form of naphthalene; a morning-sickness drug responsible for severe birth defects in Europe from 1956 to 1961, when it was withdrawn. It never was approved for use in America thanks to the efforts of Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig (1898-1986). Thalidomide baby is attested from 1962.
thee (pron.): Old English þe (accusative and dative singular of þu "thou"), from Proto-Germanic *theke (cognates: Old Frisian thi, Middle Dutch di, Old High German dih, German dich, Old Norse þik, Norwegian deg, Gothic þuk), from PIE *tege-, accusative of root *tu-, second person singular pronoun (see thou). The verb meaning "to use the pronoun 'thee' to someone" is recorded from 1662, in connection with the rise of Quakerism.

In Middle English, people began to use plural forms in all cases, at first as a sign of respect to superiors, then as a courtesy to equals. By the 1600s, the singular forms had come to represent familiarity and lack of status, and fell from use except in the case of a few dialects, notably in the north of England. People in Lancashire north of the Rossendale Forest and Yorkshire formerly were noted for use of the singular second person pronouns tha (nom.) and thee (acc.). For religious reasons (Christian equality of persons, but also justified as grammatically correct), the Quakers also retained the familiar forms.
Thou and Thee was a sore cut to proud flesh and them that sought self-honour, who, though they would say it to God and Christ, could not endure to have it said to themselves. So that we were often beaten and abused, and sometimes in danger of our lives, for using those words to some proud men, who would say, "What! you ill-bred clown, do you Thou me?" as though Christian breeding consisted in saying You to one; which is contrary to all their grammar and teaching books, by which they instructed their youth. [George Fox's journal, 1661]

While the Quakers originally adopted "thee" and "thou" on account of their grammatical correctness, they soon fell into the careless habit of using "thee," the objective, instead of "thou," the nominative. Common illustrations are: "How does thee do?" or "Will thee," etc. [George Fox Tucker, "A Quaker Home," Boston, 1891]
toxic (adj.): 1660s, from French toxique and directly from Late Latin toxicus "poisoned," from Latin toxicum "poison," from Greek toxikon (pharmakon) "(poison) for use on arrows," from toxikon, neuter of toxikos "pertaining to arrows or archery," and thus to a bow, from toxon "bow," probably from a Scythian word that also was borrowed into Latin as taxus "yew." Watkins suggests a possible source in Iranian taxša- "bow," from PIE *tekw- "to run, flee." As a noun from 1890.
usurp (v.): early 14c., from Old French usurper "to (wrongfully) appropriate" (14c.), from Latin usurpare "make use of, seize for use," in later Latin "to assume unlawfully, trespass on," from usus "a use" (see use (v.)) + rapere "to seize" (see rapid (adj.)). Related: Usurped; usurping.
utensil (n.): late 14c., from Old French utensile "implement" (14c., Modern French ustensile), from Latin utensilia "materials, things for use," noun use of neuter plural of utensilis (adj.) "fit for use, of use, useful," from uti (see use (v.)).
waste (adj.): c. 1300, of land, "desolate, uncultivated," from Anglo-French and Old North French waste (Old French gaste), from Latin vastus (see waste (v.)). From c. 1400 as "superfluous, excess;" 1670s as "unfit for use." Waste-paper attested from 1580s.
weed (n.): "plant not valued for use or beauty," Old English weod, uueod "grass, herb, weed," from Proto-Germanic *weud- (cognates: Old Saxon wiod, East Frisian wiud), of unknown origin. Also applied to trees that grow abundantly. Meaning "tobacco" is from c. 1600; that of "marijuana" is from 1920s. The chemical weed-killer is attested by 1885.
xylo-: before vowels xyl-, word forming element meaning "wood," from comb. form of Greek xylon "wood cut and ready for use, firewood, timber; piece of wood; stocks, a plank, beam, or bench," in New Testament, "the Cross," of unknown origin.
caster sugar: "Finely granulated white or pale golden sugar", Mid 19th century: so named because it was suitable for use in a castor (see castor¹ (sense 2)).
lower case: "Small letters as opposed to capital letters (upper case)", Referring originally to the lower of two cases of type positioned on an angled stand for use by a compositor (see upper case).
bothy: "(In Scotland) a small hut or cottage, especially one for housing farm labourers or for use as a mountain refuge", Late 18th century: obscurely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic both, bothan, and perhaps to booth.
animatronics: "The technique of making and operating lifelike robots, typically for use in film or other entertainment", 1970s: blend of animated and electronics.
potjie: "A cast-iron pot with a lid, typically having three legs, for use over an open fire", Afrikaans, literally 'little pot'.
abaculus: "A square or tile for use in a mosaic pavement; a tessera", Mid 19th cent. From post-classical Latin abaculus small cube or tile of coloured glass for making ornamental pavements (former reading in e.g. 16th-cent. editions of Pliny (36. 199, as abaculos, accusative plural), where modern editions have ab oculis; also recorded in an undated glossary) from classical Latin abacus + -ulus.
usance: "another term for usage", Late Middle English: from Old French, from the base of the verb user 'to use'.
sericin: "A gelatinous material consisting of a mixture of proteins that binds the central filaments of raw silk", Mid 19th cent. From classical Latin sēricum silk + -in. On the motivation for use in sense 1 see quot. 1841.