英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

both: both: [12] The Old English word for ‘both’ was bēgen (masculine; the feminine and neuter form was bā), a relative of a wide range of Indo- European words denoting ‘each of two’, including the second syllables of Old Slavic oba and Latin ambō (represented in English ambidextrous). Most Germanic languages extended the base form by adding -d or -th (as in German beide ‘both’). In the case of Old Norse, this produced bāthir, the form from which English acquired both.
=> ambidextrous
cliché: cliché: [19] Originally, French clicher meant literally ‘stereotype’ – that is, ‘print from a plate made by making a type-metal cast from a mould of a printing surface’. The word was supposedly imitative of the sound made when the mould was dropped into the molten type metal. Hence a word or phrase that was cliché – had literally been repeated time and time again in identical form from a single printing plate – had become hackneyed.
iron: iron: [OE] Iron is probably a Celtic contribution to English, but the borrowing took place in the prehistoric period, before the Germanic dialects separated, and so English shares the word with German (eisen), Dutch (ijzen), Swedish (järn), etc. The prehistoric Celtic form from which these all ultimately came was *īsarnon, which some have linked with Latin aes ‘bronze’ and Sanskrit isira- ‘strong’. The ancient Indo- European peoples had already split up into groups speaking mutually unintelligible tongues by the time iron came into general use, so there was never any common Indo-European term for it.
spinach: spinach: [16] The ultimate origin of the word spinach is Persian aspanākh, which passed via Arabic isfināj, medieval Latin spinachia, and Spanish espinaca into Old French as espinache. Middle Dutch borrowed this as spinaetse, the probable source of English spinach. It has been speculated that the change of form from Arabic to Latin may have been partly motivated by the ‘spiny’ seeds of certain types of spinach.
acquire (v.): mid-15c., acqueren, from Old French aquerre "acquire, gain, earn, procure," from Vulgar Latin *acquaerere, corresponding to Latin acquirere "to seek in addition to" (see acquisition). Reborrowed in current form from Latin c. 1600. Related: Acquired; acquiring.
adjudicator (n.): 1804, agent noun in Latin form from adjudicate.
adjuster (n.): 1670s, agent noun in English form from adjust. Insurance sense is from 1830.
adjustor (n.): 1857, of certain muscles, agent noun in Latin form from adjust (v.).
adulteress (n.): late 14c., avoutresse, agent noun in fem. form from obsolete verb adulter (see adulterer).
almost (adv.): Old English eallmæst "nearly all, for the most part," literally "mostly all;" see all + most. Modern form from 15c.
alternator (n.): 1878, agent noun in Latin form from alternate (v.).
ancestor (n.): c. 1300, ancestre, antecessour, from Old French ancestre (12c., Modern French ancêtre), from Late Latin antecessor "predecessor," literally "foregoer," agent noun from past participle stem of Latin antecedere "to precede," from ante- "before" (see ante) + cedere "to go" (see cede). Current form from early 15c. Feminine form ancestress recorded from 1570s.
angle (n.): "space between intersecting lines," late 14c., from Old French angle "angle, corner," and directly from Latin angulus "an angle, corner," a diminutive form from PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (cognates: Greek ankylos "bent, crooked," Latin ang(u)ere "to compress in a bend, fold, strangle;" Old Church Slavonic aglu "corner;" Lithuanian anka "loop;" Sanskrit ankah "hook, bent," angam "limb;" Old English ancleo "ankle;" Old High German ango "hook"). Angle bracket is 1875 in carpentry; 1956 in typography.
anyone (n.): Old English, two words, from any + one. Old English also used ænigmon in this sense. One-word form from 1844.
anywise (adv.): Old English ænige wisan, from any + wise (n.). One-word form from c. 1200.
April: fourth month, c. 1300, aueril, from Old French avril (11c.), from Latin (mensis) Aprilis, second month of the ancient Roman calendar, of uncertain origin, perhaps based on Apru, an Etruscan borrowing of Greek Aphrodite. Or perhaps *ap(e)rilis "the following, the next," from its place as the second month of the old Roman calendar, from Proto-Italic *ap(e)ro-, from PIE *apo- "away, off" (see apo-; compare Sanskrit aparah "second," Gothic afar "after"). With month-name suffix -ilis as in Quintilis, Sextilis (the old names of July and August). In English in Latin form from mid-12c. Replaced Old English Eastermonað, which was named for a fertility goddess (see Easter). Re-spelled in Middle English on Latin model (apprile first attested late 14c.).
atmosphere (n.): 1630s, atmosphaera (modern form from 1670s), from Modern Latin atmosphaera, from atmo-, comb. form of Greek atmos "vapor, steam" + spharia "sphere" (see sphere). Greek atmos is from PIE *awet-mo-, from root *wet- (1) "to blow" (also "to inspire, spiritually arouse;" see wood (adj.)). First used in English in connection with the Moon, which, as it turns out, practically doesn't have one.
It is observed in the solary eclipses, that there is sometimes a great trepidation about the body of the moon, from which we may likewise argue an atmosphaera, since we cannot well conceive what so probable a cause there should be of such an appearance as this, Quod radii solares a vaporibus lunam ambitntibus fuerint intercisi, that the sun-beams were broken and refracted by the vapours that encompassed the moon. [Rev. John Wilkins, "Discovery of New World or Discourse tending to prove that it probable there may be another World in the Moon," 1638]
Figurative sense of "surrounding influence, mental or moral environment" is c. 1800.
autumn (n.): late 14c., autumpne (modern form from 16c.), from Old French autumpne, automne (13c.), from Latin autumnus (also auctumnus, perhaps influenced by auctus "increase"), which is of unknown origin. Perhaps from Etruscan, but Tucker suggests a meaning "drying-up season" and a root in *auq- (which would suggest the form in -c- was the original) and compares archaic English sere-month "August."

Harvest was the English name for the season until autumn began to displace it 16c. In Britain, the season is popularly August through October; in U.S., September through November. Compare Italian autunno, Spanish otoño, Portuguese outono, all from the Latin word. Unlike the other three seasons, its names across the Indo-European languages leave no evidence that there ever was a common word for it.

Many "autumn" words mean "end, end of summer," or "harvest." Compare also Lithuanian ruduo "autumn," from rudas "reddish," in reference to leaves; Old Irish fogamar, literally "under-winter."
bittern (n.): heron-like bird, 13c., botor, from Old French butor "bittern," perhaps from Gallo-Roman *butitaurus, from Latin butionem "bittern" + taurus "bull" (see steer (n.)); according to Pliny, so called because of its booming voice, but this seems fanciful. Modern form from 1510s.
brite: variant of bright (adj.). It figures in English phonetic spelling reform from at least the late 19c.; as an advertiser's word it dates from at least 1905 ("Star-brite Metal Polish," made by the Star-Brite Company of Lancaster, Pa., U.S.).
bucolic (adj.): 1610s, earlier bucolical (1520s), from Latin bucolicus, from Greek boukolikos "pastoral, rustic," from boukolos "cowherd, herdsman," from bous "cow" (see cow (n.)) + -kolos "tending," related to Latin colere "to till (the ground), cultivate, dwell, inhabit" (the root of colony). Middle Irish búachaill, Welsh bugail "shepherd" are Celtic words form from the same root material as Greek boukolos.
burnsides (n.): style of facial hair consisting of side whiskers and a mustache (but clean-shaven chin), 1875 (singular; plural form from 1878; many early uses are in college and university magazines), a reference to U.S. Army Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-1881) of Civil War fame, who wore them and inspired the style. Compare sideburns.
carpel (n.): 1835, from Modern Latin carpellum (1817 in French), a diminutive form from Greek karpos "fruit" (also "returns, profit"), literally "that which is plucked," from PIE root *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (see harvest (n.)).
chicory (n.): late 14c., cicoree (modern form from mid-15c.), from Middle French cichorée "endive, chicory" (15c., Modern French chicorée), from Latin cichoreum, from Greek kikhorion (plural kikhoreia) "endive," which is of unknown origin. Klein suggests a connection with Old Egyptian keksher. The modern English form is from French influence.
chiropractor (n.): 1904, agent noun in Latin form from chiropractic (q.v.).
circulator (n.): "one who puts (something) in circulation," 1755, agent noun in Latin form from circulate (v.). Classical Latin circulator meant "peddler, hawker," a sense attested occasionally in English 17c. and after.
commentator (n.): late 14c., "writer of commentaries," agent noun in Latin form from comment or commentary (Latin commentator meant "inventor, author"). Middle English also had a noun commentate, attested from early 15c. Meaning "writer of notes or expository comments" is from 1640s; sense of "one who gives commentary" (originally in sports) is from 1928.
"Well, Jem, what is a commentator?["]--"Why," was Jem's reply, "I suppose it must be the commonest of all taturs." ["Smart Sayings of Bright Children," collected by Howard Paul, 1886]
commutator (n.): 1839, agent noun in Latin form from Latin commutare (see commute (v.)).
comparator (n.): 1883, agent noun in Latin form from compare.
connector (n.): 1795, "tube for connecting other materials," agent noun in Latin form from connect and usefully distinct from connecter.
constrictor (n.): 1735, agent noun in Latin form from constrict.
coordinator (n.): also co-ordinator, 1864, agent noun in Latin form from coordinate (v.).
decorator (n.): 1755, agent noun in Latin form from decorate.
defector (n.): 1660s, agent noun in Latin form from defect, or else from Latin defector "revolter," agent noun from deficere (see deficient).
demonstrator (n.): 1610s, "one who points out," agent noun in Latin form from demonstrate. From 1680s as "one who uses exhibits as a method of teaching;" 1870 as "one who participates in public demonstrations."
depositor (n.): 1560s, agent noun in Latin form from deposit (v.).
detonator (n.): 1822, agent noun in Latin form from detonate. For suffix, see -er (1).
emancipator (n.): 1782, agent noun in Latin form from emancipate. Emancipationist "one who favors emancipation" in any sense is from 1822.
erector (n.): 1530s, "one who builds," agent noun in Latin form from erect (v.). In reference to muscles from 1831. The children's buildig kit Erector (commonly known as an Erector set) was sold from 1913.
-fuge: word-forming element meaning "that which drives away or out," from Modern Latin -fugus, with sense from Latin fugare "to put to flight" (see febrifuge) but form from Latin fugere "to flee" (see fugitive (adj.)).
facilitator (n.): 1806, agent noun in Latin form from facilitate.
finned (adj.): mid-14c., adjective in past participle form from fin.
formalism (n.): 1840, "strict adherence to prescribed forms," from formal + -ism. Used over the years in philosophy, theology, literature, and art in various senses suggesting detachment of form from content, or spirituality, or meaning; or belief in the sufficiency of formal logic. Related: Formalist.
geode (n.): rounded stone with a hollow center lined with crystals, 1670s (in Greek form from 1610s), from French géode, from Latin geodes, name of a certain precious stone, from Greek geodes "earthy, earth-like, with deep soil," from ge "earth" (Homeric gaia; see Gaia) + -oides, adjective suffix, "characterized by" (see -oid). Perhaps so called in reference to the rough crust in which the crystals are hidden. Related: Geodic.
gesticulator (n.): 1690s, agent noun in Latin form from gesticulate.
gloss (n.2): "word inserted as an explanation, translation, or definition," c. 1300, glose (modern form from 1540s; earlier also gloze), from Late Latin glossa "obsolete or foreign word," one that requires explanation; later extended to the explanation itself, from Greek glossa (Ionic), glotta (Attic) "language, a tongue; word of mouth, hearsay," also "obscure or foreign word, language," also "mouthpiece," literally "the tongue" (as the organ of speech), from PIE *glogh- "thorn, point, that which is projected" (source also of Old Church Slavonic glogu "thorn," Greek glokhis "barb of an arrow").

Glosses were common in the Middle Ages, usually rendering Hebrew, Greek, or Latin words into vernacular Germanic, Celtic, or Romanic. Originally written between the lines, later in the margins. By early 14c. in a bad sense, "deceitful explanation, commentary that disguises or shifts meaning." This sense probably has been colored by gloss (n.1). Both glossology (1716) and glottology (1841) have been used in the sense "science of language."
gruel (n.): late 12c., "meal or flour made of beans, lentils, etc.," from Old French gruel "fine meal" (Modern French gruau), a diminutive form from Frankish *grut or another Germanic source, cognate with Middle Dutch grute "coarse meal, malt;" Middle High German gruz "grain," from PIE *ghreu- "to rub, grind" (see grit (n.)). Meaning "thin porridge or soup" is late 14c.
hark (v.): c. 1200, from Old English *heorcian "to hearken, listen," perhaps an intensive form from base of hieran (see hear). Compare talk/tale. Cognate with Old Frisian harkia "listen," Middle Dutch horken, Old High German horechon, German horchen. Used as a hunting cry to call attention. To hark back (1817) originally referred to hounds returning along a track when the scent has been lost, till they find it again (1814). Related: Harked; harking.
ileo-: comb. form from ileum (q.v.).
inhibitor (n.): 1868 in scientific use (earlier as a Scottish legal term), agent noun in Latin form from inhibit.