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bachelor [bachelor 词源字典]: bachelor: [13] The ultimate origins of bachelor are obscure, but by the time it first turned up, in Old French bacheler (from a hypothetical Vulgar Latin *baccalāris), it meant ‘squire’ or ‘young knight in the service of an older knight’. This was the sense it had when borrowed into English, and it is preserved, in fossilized form, in knight bachelor. Subsequent semantic development was via ‘university graduate’ to, in the late 14th century, ‘unmarried man’.

A resemblance to Old Irish bachlach ‘shepherd, peasant’ (a derivative of Old Irish bachall ‘staff’, from Latin baculum, source of English bacillus and related to English bacteria) has led some to speculate that the two may be connected. English baccalaureate [17] comes via French baccalauréat or medieval Latin baccalaureātus from medieval Latin baccalaureus ‘bachelor’, which was an alteration of an earlier baccalārius, perhaps owing to an association with the ‘laurels’ awarded for academic success (Latin bacca lauri meant literally ‘laurel berry’).
[bachelor etymology, bachelor origin, 英语词源]
brothel: brothel: [14] Originally, brothel was a general term of abuse for any worthless or despised person (John Gower, in his Confessio Amantis 1393, writes: ‘Quoth Achab then, there is one, a brothel, which Micheas hight [who is called Micheas]’); it was a derivative of the Old English adjective brothen ‘ruined, degenerate’, which was originally the past participle of the verb brēothan ‘deteriorate’ (possibly a relative of brēotan ‘break’, which may be connected with brittle).

In the late 15th century we have the first evidence of its being applied specifically to a ‘prostitute’. Thence came the compound brothel-house, and by the late 16th century this had been abbreviated to brothel in its current sense.
echelon: echelon: see scale
helicopter: helicopter: [19] The term helicopter was coined in the mid-19th century from Greek hélix ‘spiral’ (source of English helix [16] and helical [17]) and Greek ptéron ‘wing’ (source of English pterodactyl and related to feather). The French were first in the field with hélicoptère, and the earliest record of the word in English, in 1861, was the barely anglicized helicoptere, but by the late 1880s the modern form helicopter was being used. (These 19th-century helicopters were of course a far cry from the present-day rotorblade- driven craft, which were introduced in the late 1930s; as their name suggests, they were lifted – or more usually not lifted – by rotating spiral-shaped aerofoils.)
=> feather, helical, helix, pterodactyl
heliotrope: heliotrope: [17] The heliotrope, a plant of the forget-me-not family, gets its name because its flowers always turn to face the sun (the word comes via Latin hēliotropium from Greek hēliotrópion, a compound formed from hélios ‘sun’ and -tropos ‘turning’ – as in English trophy and tropical – which designated such plants, and was also used for ‘sundial’).

In early times the word was applied to the ‘sunflower’, which has similar heliotactic habits and in Italian is called girasole (literally ‘turn-sun’), source of the Jerusalem in English Jerusalem artichoke. Another application of Greek hēliotrópion carried over into English was to a sort of green quartz which was believed to turn the sun’s rays blood-red if thrown into water.
=> trophy, tropical
hell: hell: [OE] Etymologically, hell is a ‘hidden place’. It goes back ultimately to Indo-European *kel- ‘cover, hide’, which was contributed an extraordinary number of words to English, including apocalypse, cell, cellar, conceal, helmet, hull ‘pod’, occult, and possibly colour and holster. Its Germanic descendant was *khel-, *khal-, whose derivatives included *khallō and *khaljō.

The first became modern English hall, the second modern English hell – so both hall and hell were originally ‘concealed or covered places’, although in very different ways: the hall with a roof, hell with at least six feet of earth. Related Germanic forms include German hölle, Dutch hel, and Swedish helvete (in which vete means ‘punishment’).
=> apocalypse, cell, conceal, hall, helmet, hull, occult
helmet: helmet: [15] A helmet is literally a ‘little protective hat’. The word was borrowed from Old French helmet, a diminutive form of helme ‘helmet’. This in turn was acquired by Old French from Germanic *khelmaz (source of English helm [OE]), which goes back ultimately to Indo-European *kel- ‘hide, cover’ (source of a wide range of English words, including apocalypse, cell, cellar, conceal, hall, hell, and occult).
=> hell, helm
help: help: [OE] Today, help is essentially a Germanic word. Related forms such as German helfen, Dutch helpen, Swedish hjälpa, and Danish hjælpe point to a Germanic ancestor *khelp-. But there is one clue – Lithuanian shélpti ‘help, support’ – that suggests that formerly it may have been much more widespread throughout the Indo-European languages, and came from an Indo-European source *kelp-.
satchel: satchel: [14] A satchel is etymologically a ‘small sack’ or bag. The word comes via Old French sachel from Latin saccellus, a diminutive form of saccus ‘bag’ (source of English sack). Its specific application to a ‘bag for carrying school books’ emerged in the mid 16th century, and is reflected by Shakespeare in Jaques’s ‘Seven ages of man’ speech in As You Like It 1600: ‘And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school’.
=> sachet, sack
shelf: shelf: [14] Shelf appears to have been borrowed from Middle Low German schelf ‘shelf’. This may have come from the Germanic base *skelf- ‘split’, which also produced Old English scylfe ‘partition’, the word’s underlying meaning therefore being a ‘piece of split wood used for standing things on’. The derivative shelve dates from the 16th century.
shell: shell: [OE] Shell goes back ultimately to the Germanic base *skal- ‘divide, separate’, which also produced English scale, scalp, school (of fish), shale, shelter, shield, shoal (of fish), skill, and skol. Its underlying meaning is hence a ‘covering that splits off or is peeled off’. Its immediate Germanic ancestor was *skaljō, which also produced Dutch schel and Norwegian skjæl. Shellac [18] is a compound of shell and lac ‘lacquer, varnish’ (a word of Sanskrit origin, of which lacquer is a derivative), and is a direct translation of French laque en écailles ‘lac (melted) in thin plates’.
=> scale, scalp, school, shale, shelter, shield, shoal, skill, skol
shelter: shelter: [16] The origins of shelter are unclear, but the most usually accepted explanation is that it is an alteration of the now obsolete sheltron. This denoted a body of troops which protected itself in battle with a covering of joined shields. It was descended from Old English scieldtruma, a compound formed from scield, the ancestor of modern English shield, and truma ‘troop’.
=> shield
Anopheles (n.): genus of mosquitoes, Modern Latin, coined 1818 by German entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen (1764-1845) from Greek anopheles "useless, hurtful, harmful," from an-, privative prefix, (see an- (1)) + ophelos "use, help, advantage" (see Ophelia). So called because it conveys malaria.
aphelion (n.): "point farthest from the sun" (of a celestial body's orbit), 1670s, a Grecianized form of Modern Latin aphelium, altered by Johannes Kepler based on Greek apo heliou "away from the sun," from apo "away from" (see apo-) + heliou, genitive of helios "sun" (see sol). The whole was formed on the model of Ptolemaic apogaeum (see apogee) to reflect the new helio-centric model of the universe.
atheling (n.): "member of a noble family," Old English æðling, from æðel "noble family," related to Old English æðele "noble," from Proto-Germanic *athala-, from PIE *at-al- "race, family," from *at(i)- "over, beyond, super" + *al- "to nourish." With suffix -ing "belonging to." A common Germanic word (cognates: Old Saxon ediling, Old Frisian etheling, Old High German adaling).
Athelstan: masc. proper name, Old English Æðelstane, literally "noble stone;" see atheling + stone (n.).
bachelor (n.): c. 1300, "young man;" also "youthful knight, novice in arms," from Old French bacheler, bachelor, bachelier (11c.) "knight bachelor," a young squire in training for knighthood, also "young man; unmarried man," and as a university title, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Medieval Latin baccalarius "vassal farmer, adult serf without a landholding," one who helps or tends a baccalaria "field or land in the lord's demesne" (according to old French sources, perhaps from an alteration of vacca "a cow" and originally "grazing land" [Kitchin]). Or from Latin baculum "a stick," because the squire would practice with a staff, not a sword. "Perhaps several independent words have become confused in form" [Century Dictionary]. Meaning in English expanded early 14c. to "young unmarried man," late 14c. to "one who has taken the lowest degree in a university." Bachelor party as a pre-wedding ritual is from 1882.
bachelorette (n.): 1935, American English, from bachelor with French ending -ette. Replaced earlier bachelor-girl (1895). Middle French had bachelette "young girl;" Modern French bachelière is found only in the "student" sense.
beheld (v.): past tense and past participle of behold.
bethel (n.): 1610s, "a place where God is worshipped," from Hebrew beth El "house of God," from beth, construct state of bayit "house." Popular as a name for religious meeting houses among some Protestant denominations. Beth also was the name of the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, so called for its shape, and was borrowed into Greek as beta.
bombshell (n.): 1708, from bomb (n.) + shell (n.). The figurative sense of "shattering or devastating thing or event" attested from 1860. In reference to a pretty woman (especially a blonde) it is attested from 1942 ("Bombshell" as title of a movie starring blond U.S. actress Jean Harlow (1911-1937) is from 1933).
brothel (n.): "bawdy house," 1590s, shortened from brothel-house, from brothel "prostitute" (late 15c.), earlier "vile, worthless person" of either sex (14c.), from Old English broðen past participle of breoðan "deteriorate, go to ruin," from Proto-Germanic *breuthan "to be broken up," related to *breutan "to break" (see brittle). In 16c. brothel-house was confused with unrelated bordel (see bordello) and the word shifted meaning from a person to a place.
bushel (n.): early 14c., measure of capacity containing four pecks or eight gallons, from Old French boissel "bushel" (13c., Modern French boisseau), probably from boisse, a grain measure based on Gallo-Roman *bostia "handful," from Gaulish *bosta "palm of the hand" (compare Irish bass, Breton boz "the hollow of the hand"). The exact measure varied from place to place and according to commodity, and since late 14c. it has been used loosely to mean "a large quantity or number."
chelate (adj.): "having pincer-like claws," 1826 as a term in zoology; 1920 in chemistry, from Modern Latin chela "claw" (from Greek khele "claw, talon, cloven hoof;" see chelicerae) + -ate (2). Related: Chelated; chelating; chelation.
chelicerae (n.): 1831, plural of Modern Latin chelicera, from Greek khele "claw, talon, cloven hoof," from PIE *ghel-wo-, from root *ghel-una- "jaw," + keras "horn" (see kerato-). Earlier chelicer (1835), from French chélicère.
cheliped (n.): 1859, Modern Latin, from chela "claw," from Greek khele "claw" (see chelicerae) + Latin pod-, stem of pes "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)).
Chelsea: district in southwest London, Chelchuthe (1300), Old English Chelchede (1086), Celchyth (789), Caelichyth (767), probably literally "chalk landing place," from Old English cealc "chalk" (see chalk (n.)) + hyth "landing place." Perhaps chalk or limestone was unloaded here from Chalk near Gravesend in Kent. Chelsea Hospital founded by Charles II, built 1680s, as a home for aged veterans. As a fem. proper name, not in the top 1,000 names in U.S. until 1969, then in the top 100 among girls born 1984 to 1998, peaking at number 15 in 1992.
clam-shell (n.): c. 1500; see clam (n.) + shell (n.). As "hinged iron box or bucket used in dredging," from 1877.
echelon (n.): 1796, echellon, "step-like arrangement of troops," from French échelon "level, echelon," literally "rung of a ladder," from Old French eschelon, from eschiele "ladder," from Late Latin scala "stair, slope," from Latin scalae (plural) "ladder, steps," from PIE *skand- "to spring, leap" (see scan (v.)). Sense of "level, subdivision" is from World War I.
eggshell (n.): also egg-shell, early 15c., from egg (n.) + shell (n.). It displaced ay-schelle (Old English ægscill), from the native word for "egg." As a color term, from 1894. Emblematic of "thin and delicate" from 1835; the figure of treading on eggshells "to move cautiously" is attested by 1734.
epithelium (n.): 1748, Modern Latin (Frederick Ruysch), from Greek epi "upon" (see epi-) + thele "teat, nipple" (see fecund). Related: Epithelial.
Ethel: fem. proper name, originally a shortening of Old English Etheldred, Ethelinda, etc., in which the first element means "nobility."
Ethelbert: Anglo-Saxon masc. proper name, Old English Æðelbryht, literally "nobility-bright;" see atheling + bright (adj.).
Etheldred: Anglo-Saxon fem. proper name, Old English Æðelðryð, literally "of noble strength" (see Audrey).
Ethelred: Anglo-Saxon masc. given name, Old English Æðelræd, literally "noble counsel," from æðele "noble" (see atheling) + ræd, red "advice" (see read (v.)).
Gadhelic (adj.): 1796, originally "Irish," now "pertaining to the Gaels" in the broadest sense; a "discriminated form" [Century Dictionary] of Gaelic.
hard-shell (adj.): 1838 of Baptists (figuratively); 1798 of clams; see hard (adj.) + shell (n.). Hard-shelled is from 1610s.
held: Old English heold, past tense and p.p. of hold.
Helen: fem. proper name, from French Hélène, from Latin Helena, from Greek Helene, fem. proper name, probably fem. of helenos "the bright one." Among the top 10 popular names for girl babies in the U.S. born between 1890 and 1934.
Helena: fem. proper name, Latin form of Helen.
heliacal (adj.): "pertaining to the sun," c. 1600, with -al (1) and Greek heliakos "of the sun," from helios "sun" (see sol). The heliacal year is reckoned from the heliacal rising of Sirius; thus it also is known as the canicular year.
helical (adj.): "spiral-shaped," 1590s, from Latin helicem (see helix) + -al (1).
Helicon: 1520s, from Greek Helikon, mountain in Boeotia, sacred to the Muses, in which arose the fountains of Aganippe and Hippocrene. Literally "the tortuous mountain," from helix (genitive helikos) "spiral" (see helix).
helicopter (n.): 1861, from French hélicoptère "device for enabling airplanes to rise perpendicularly," thus "flying machine propelled by screws." The idea was to gain lift from spiral aerofoils, and it didn't work. Used by Jules Verne and the Wright Brothers, the word transferred to helicopters in the modern sense when those were developed in the 1920s. From Greek helix (genitive helikos) "spiral" (see helix) + pteron "wing" (see pterodactyl). Nativized in Flemish as wentelwiek "with rotary vanes."
helio-: word-forming element meaning "sun," from Greek helio-, comb. form of helios "sun" (see sol).
heliocentric (adj.): 1680s, from helio- + -centric.
heliograph (n.): product of a certain type of engraving process, 1853, from helio- + -graph "something written." Earlier, "a description of the sun" (1706, implied in heliographic). Heliography (1845 in the engraving sense) also (1840) was an early term for what came to be called photography.
heliotrope (n.): "plant which turns its flowers and leaves to the sun," 1620s, from French héliotrope (14c.) and directly from Latin heliotropium, from Greek heliotropion, from helios "sun" (see sol) + tropos "turn" (see trope). The word was applied c. 1000-1600 in Latin form to sunflowers and marigolds. Related: Heliotropic.
heliotropism (n.): 1854, from heliotrope + -ism.
heliport (n.): 1948, from helicopter + second element abstracted from airport.