英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

float [float 词源字典]: float: [OE] Germanic *fleut-, which produced English fleet, had the so-called ‘weak grades’ (that is, variant forms which because they were weakly stressed had different vowels) *flot- and *flut-. The former was the source of Germanic *flotōjan, which passed into late Old English as flotian and eventually ousted flēotan (modern English fleet) from its original meaning ‘float’.

It also seems to have been borrowed into the Romance languages, producing French flotter, Italian fiottare, and Spanish flotar (a diminutive of the Spanish noun derivative flota gave English flotilla [18]). The latter formed the basis of Old Norse flytja, acquired by English as flit [12], and of Old English floterian, which became modern English flutter.
=> fleet, flit, flotilla, flutter[float etymology, float origin, 英语词源]
hierarchy: hierarchy: [14] Greek hierós meant ‘sacred, holy’. Combined with -arkhēs ‘ruling’ (as in English archbishop) it produced hierárkhēs ‘chief priest’. A derivative of this, hierarkhíā, passed via medieval Latin hierarchia and Old French ierarchie into Middle English as ierarchie (the modern spelling was introduced on the basis of the Latin form in the 16th century).

At first the word was used in English for the medieval categorization of angels (into cherubs and seraphs, powers and dominions, etc), and it was not until the early 17th century that it was applied to the clergy and their grades and ranks. The metaphorical use for any graded system soon followed.
ensign (n.): early 15c., "a token, sign, symbol; badge of office, mark or insignia of authority or rank;" also "battle flag, flag or banner of a ship or troop of soldiers," via Scottish, from Old French enseigne (12c.) "mark, symbol, signal; flag, standard, pennant," from Latin insignia (plural); see insignia, which is a doublet of this word. As the word for the soldier who carries the flag, 1510s. U.S. Navy sense of "commissioned officer of the lowest rank" is from 1862. French navy had rank of enseigne de vaisseau since at least early 18c. Until 1871 one of the lowest grades of commissioned officers in a British army infantry regiment, also a rank in the American Revolutionary army.
grade (n.): 1510s, "degree of measurement," from French grade "grade, degree" (16c.), from Latin gradus "step, pace, gait, walk; step on a ladder or stair;" figuratively "a step, stage, degree," from gradi (past participle gressus) "to walk, step, go," from PIE *ghredh- "to walk, go" (cognates: Lithuanian gridiju "to go, wander," Old Church Slavonic gredo "to come," Old Irish in-greinn "he pursues," and second element in congress, progress, etc.). Replaced Middle English gree "step, degree in a series," from Old French grei "step," from Latin gradus.

Meaning "inclination of a road or railroad" is from 1811. Meaning "class of things having the same quality or value" is from 1807; meaning "division of a school curriculum equivalent to one year" is from 1835; that of "letter-mark indicating assessment of a student's work" is from 1886 (earlier used of numerical grades). Grade A "top quality, fit for human consumption" (originally of milk) is from a U.S. system instituted in 1912. To figuratively make the grade "be successful" is from 1912; early examples do not make clear whether the literal grade in mind was one of elevation, quality, or scholarship.
grade (v.): 1650s, "to arrange in grades," from grade (n.). Meaning "to reduce (a road, etc.) to a level or degree of inclination" is from 1835. Meaning "assign a letter mark to" is from 1931. Related: Graded; grading.
junior (adj.): late 13c., from Latin iunior, comparative of iuvenis "young, young man" (see young). Used after a person's name to mean "the younger of two" from late 13c. Abbreviation Jr. is attested from 1620s. Meaning "of lesser standing, more recent" is from 1766. That of "meant for younger people, of smaller size" is from 1860. Junior college first attested 1896; junior high school is from 1909. Junior miss "young teenage girl" is from 1907.
The junior high school is rapidly becoming the people's high school. The percentage of pupils completing the ninth year is constantly rising where junior high schools have been established. [Anne Laura McGregor, "Supervised Study in English for Junior High School Grades," New York, 1921]
mandarin (n.): "Chinese official," 1580s, via Portuguese mandarim or older Dutch mandorijn from Malay mantri, from Hindi mantri "councilor, minister of state," from Sanskrit mantri, nominative of mantrin- "advisor," from mantra "counsel," from PIE root *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)).

Form influenced in Portuguese by mandar "to command, order." Used generically for the several grades of Chinese officials; sense of "chief dialect of Chinese" (spoken by officials and educated people) is from c. 1600. Transferred sense of "important person" attested by 1907. The type of small, deep-colored orange so called from 1771, from resemblance of its color to that of robes worn by mandarins.
middle (adj.): Old English middel, from West Germanic *middila (cognates: Old Frisian middel, Old Saxon middil, Middle Low German, Dutch middel, Old High German mittil, German mittel), from Proto-Germanic *medjaz (see mid). Middle name attested from 1815; as "one's outstanding characteristic," colloquial, from 1911, American English.
According to Mr. H.A. Hamilton, in his "Quarter Sessions from Queen Elizabeth," the practice of giving children two Christian names was unknown in England before the period of the Stuarts, was rarely adopted down to the time of the Revolution, and never became common until after the Hanoverian family was seated on the throne. "In looking through so many volumes of county records," he says, "I have, of course, seen many thousands and tens of thousands of proper names, belonging to men of all ranks and degrees,--to noblemen, justices, jurymen, witnesses, sureties, innkeepers, hawkers, paupers, vagrants, criminals, and others,--and in no single instance, down to the end of the reign of Anne, have I noticed any person bearing more than one Christian name ...." [Walsh]
Middle school attested from 1838, originally "middle-class school, school for middle-class children;" the sense in reference to a school for grades between elementary and high school is from 1960. Middle management is 1957. Middle-of-the-road in the figurative sense is attested from 1894; edges of a dirt road can be washed out and thus less safe. Middle finger so called from c. 1000.
middling (adj.): 1540s, from Scottish mydlyn (mid-15c.), from middle + suffix -ing. Used to designate the second of three grades of goods. As an adverb by 1719.
straight (adj.1): late 14c., "direct, undeviating; not crooked, not bent or curved," of a person, "direct, honest;" properly "stretched," adjectival use of Old English streht (earlier streaht), past participle of streccan "to stretch" (see stretch (v.)). Related: Straightly; straightness.

Meaning "true, direct, honest" is from 1520s. Of communication, "clear, unambiguous," from 1862. Sense of "undiluted, uncompromising" (as in straight whiskey, 1874) is American English, first recorded 1856. As an adverb from c. 1300, "in a straight line, without swerving or deviating." Theatrical sense of "serious" (as opposed to popular or comic) is attested from 1895; vaudeville slang straight man first attested 1923.

Go straight in the underworld slang sense is from 1919; straighten up "become respectable" is from 1907. To play it straight is from 1906 in theater, 1907 in sports ("play fair"), with figurative extension; later perhaps also from jazz. Straight arrow "decent, conventional person" is 1969, from archetypal Native American brave name. Straight shooter is from 1928. Straight As "top grades" is from 1920.