英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

cock-a-hoop [cock-a-hoop 词源字典]: cock-a-hoop: [16] Cock-a-hoop comes from a 16th- and 17th-century expression set the cock on the hoop ‘make merry’ – but exactly how the expression arose is not clear. One obvious interpretation is that it meant ‘put the tap on the barrel’ – that is, let the wine or beer flow freely – but it has also been suggested that hoop here means ‘measure of grain’ (a sense which originated in the 16th century), the notion being that to put a cockerel on a heap of grain implied prodigality.
[cock-a-hoop etymology, cock-a-hoop origin, 英语词源]
conscience: conscience: [13] Latin conscīre meant ‘be mutually aware’. It was a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘with, together’ and scīre ‘know’ (source of English science). To ‘know something with oneself’ implied, in a neutral sense, ‘consciousness’, but also a moral awareness, a mental differentiation between right and wrong, and hence the derived noun conscientia carried both these meanings, via Old French, into English (the more general, amoral, ‘consciousness’ died out in the 18th century).

A parallel Latin formation, using *sci-, the base of scīre, was conscius ‘aware’, acquired by English in the 17th century as conscious. Conscientious is also a 17th-century borrowing, ultimately from Latin conscientiōsus.
=> science
decimate: decimate: [17] Decimate is a cause célèbre amongst those who apparently believe that words should never change their meanings. The original general signification of its Latin source, the verb decimāre, was the removal or destruction of one tenth (it was derived from Latin decem ‘ten’), and it may perhaps strike the 20th century as odd to have a particular word for such an apparently abstruse operation.

It does, however, arise out of two very specific procedures in the ancient world: the exaction of a tax of one tenth (for which indeed English has the ultimately related word tithe), and the practice in the Roman army of punishing a body of soldiers guilty of some crime such as mutiny by choosing one in ten of them by lot to be put to death. Modern English does not perhaps have much use for a verb with such specialized senses, but the general notion of impassive and indiscriminate slaughter implied in the Roman military use led, apparently as early as the mid- 17th century, to the modern sense ‘kill or destroy most of’.
=> decimal, ten
innuendo: innuendo: [17] An innuendo was originally a hint given with a ‘nod’ or a wink. The word is a derivative of Latin innuere ‘signal to by means of a nod’, a compound verb formed from in- ‘towards’ and nuere ‘nod’. The ablative case of its gerund, innuendō ‘by nodding’, was used in medieval legal documents as the equivalent of ‘that is to say, i.e’. In particular, it introduced the derogatory meaning claimed by the plaintiff in a libel case to be contained in or implied by a statement, and this formed the basis for its metaphorical transference to any ‘oblique derogatory implication’.
noise: noise: [13] Unlikely as it may seem, the ancestor of English noise meant ‘sickness’. It comes from Latin nausea, source also, of course, of English nausea. This was used colloquially for the sort of ‘hubbub’ or ‘confusion’ which is often coincident with someone being sick (and particularly seasick, which was what nausea originally implied), and Old French took it over, as noise, with roughly these senses. They later developed to ‘noisy dispute’, and modern French noise has retained the ‘dispute’ element of this, while English noise has gone for the ‘intrusive sound’.
=> nausea, nautical, navy
abet (v.): late 14c. (implied in abetting), from Old French abeter "to bait, to harass with dogs," literally "to cause to bite," from a- "to" (see ad-) + beter "to bait," from Frankish or some other Germanic source, perhaps Low Franconian betan "incite," or Old Norse beita "cause to bite," from Proto-Germanic *baitjan, from PIE root *bheid- "to split" (see fissure). Related: Abetted; abetting.
abusive (adj.): 1530s (implied in abusively), originally "improper," from Middle French abusif, from Latin abusivus, from abus-, past participle stem of abuti (see abuse (v.)). Meaning "full of abuse" is from 1580s. Abuseful was used 17c., and Shakespeare has abusious ("Taming of the Shrew," 1594). Related: Abusiveness.
acquiescent (adj.): 1690s (implied in acquiescently), from Latin acquiescentem (nominative acquiescens), present participle of acquiescere (see acquiesce).
acquisitive (adj.): 1630s, "owned through acquisition," from Latin acquisit-, past participle stem of acquirere (see acquisition) + -ive. Meaning "given to acquisition, avaricious" is from 1826 (implied in acquisitiveness). Related: Acquisitively (1590s).
adapt (v.): early 15c. (implied in adapted) "to fit (something, for some purpose)," from Middle French adapter (14c.), from Latin adaptare "adjust," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + aptare "join," from aptus "fitted" (see apt). Meaning "to undergo modification so as to fit new circumstances" (intransitive) is from 1956. Related: Adapting.
addict (v.): 1530s (implied in addicted), from Latin addictus, past participle of addicere "to deliver, award, yield; give assent, make over, sell," figuratively "to devote, consecrate; sacrifice, sell out, betray" from ad- "to" (see ad-) + dicere "say, declare" (see diction), but also "adjudge, allot." Earlier in English as an adjective, "delivered, devoted" (1520s). Related: Addicted; addicting.
admire (v.): early 15c. (implied in admired), from Middle French admirer (Old French amirer, 14c.), or directly from Latin admirari "to wonder at" (see admiration). Related: Admiring; admiringly.
alliterate (v.): "to use alliteration," 1776 (implied in alliterated), back-formation from alliteration, on analogy of obliterate. Related: Alliterating.
allograph (n.): "writing made by another person," by 1916 (implied in allographic), from allo- + -graph "something written."
anoint (v.): c. 1300 (implied in anointing), from Old French enoint "smeared on," past participle of enoindre "smear on," from Latin inunguere "to anoint," from in- "on" + unguere "to smear" (see unguent). Originally in reference to grease or oil smeared on for medicinal purposes; its use in the Coverdale Bible in reference to Christ (as in The Lord's Anointed; see chrism) has spiritualized the word. Related: Anointed; anointing.
ape (v.): "to imitate," 1630s, but the notion is implied earlier, as in the phrase play the ape (1570s), Middle English apeshipe "ape-like behavior, simulation" (mid-15c.); and the noun sense of "one who mimics" may date from early 13c. Related: Aped; aping.
appetize (v.): "make hungry," 1782 (implied in appetized), irregularly formed (on model of verbs in -ize) from appetite, or else a back-formation from appetizing.
applaud (v.): late 15c. (implied in applauding), "to express agreement or approval; to praise," from Latin applaudere "to clap the hands in approbation, to approve by clapping hands; to strike upon, beat," from ad "to" (see ad-) + plaudere "to clap" (see plaudit). Sense of "express approval of" is from 1590s; that of "to clap the hands" is from 1590s. Figurative sense arrived in English before literal. Related: Applauded; applauding.
appreciative (adj.): 1650s (implied in appreciatively); see appreciate + -ive. Related: Appreciativeness.
arch (v.): early 14c., "to form an arch" (implied in arched); c. 1400, "to furnish with an arch," from arch (n.). Related: Arching.
archive (v.): 1819 (implied in archived), from archives. Related: Archiving.
Argonaut (n.): "sailor of the Argo," 1580s (implied in argonautic), from Argo + Greek nautes "sailor" (see naval). Adventurers in the California Gold Rush of 1848 were called argonauts (because they sought the golden fleece) by those who stayed home.
atrophy (v.): 1822 (implied in atrophied), from atrophy (n.). Related: Atrophying.
attentive (adj.): late 14c. (implied in attentively), from Old French attentif, from Vulgar Latin *attenditus, from Latin attentus "heedful, observant" (see attend). Sense of "actively ministering to the needs and wants" (of another person) is from early 16c. Related: Attentively.
attract (v.): early 15c., from Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + trahere "draw" (see tract (n.1)).

Originally a medical term for the body's tendency to absorb fluids, nourishment, etc., or for a poultice treatment to "draw out" diseased matter (1560s). Of the ability of people or animals to draw others to them, it is attested from 1560s; of physical forces (magnetism, etc.), from c. 1600 (implied in attraction). Related: Attracted; attracting.
auspicious (adj.): 1590s, "of good omen" (implied in auspiciously), from Latin auspicium "divination by observing the flight of birds," from auspex (genitive auspicis) + -ous. Related: Auspiciously; auspiciousness.
backdate (v.): also back-date, by 1881 (implied in back-dated), from back (adv.) + date (v.1). Compare antedate. Related: Backdated; backdating.
biweekly (adj.): also bi-weekly, 1865, from bi- + weekly. The sense "twice a week" is the first attested, but that of "every two weeks" is equally implied.
blight (v.): "afflict with blight," 1660s (implied in blighted), from blight (n.). Figurative use by 1712. Related: Blighted; blighting.
blockhead (n.): also block-head, "stupid person," 1540s (implied in blockheaded), from block (n.) + head (n.); probably originally an image of the head-shaped oaken block used by hat-makers, though the insulting sense is the older one.
bloodshed (n.): also blood-shed, c. 1500, "the shedding of (one's) blood," from verbal phrase (attested in late Old English), from blood (n.) + shed (v.). The sense of "slaughter" is much older (early 13c., implied in bloodshedding).
board (v.): verb senses derived from various senses of board (n.1) and board (n.2) include "come alongside" (a ship), mid-15c. (from n.2); "put boards on, frame with boards," late 14c. (implied in boarded, from n.1); " to get onto" (a ship), 1590s, transferred from mid-19c. to stages, railway cars, aircraft, etc. (from n.2). Meaning "to be supplied with food and lodging" is from 1550s (from n.1 in transferred sense). Transitive meaning "provide with daily meals and lodging" is from 1590s. Related: Boarded; boarding.
bodacious (adj.): 1837 (implied in bodaciously), Southern U.S. slang, perhaps from bodyaciously "bodily, totally," or a blend of bold and audacious, which suits the earliest attested sense of the word. Popularized anew by 1982 Hollywood film "An Officer and a Gentleman."
bolster (v.): mid-15c. (implied in bolstered), "propped up, made to bulge" (originally of a woman's breasts), from bolster (n.). Figurative sense is from c. 1500, on the notion of "to support with a bolster, prop up." Related: Bolstering.
bowls (n.): game played with balls, mid-15c. (implied in bowlyn), from gerund of bowl "wooden ball" (early 15c.), from Old French bole (13c., Modern French boule) "ball," ultimately from Latin bulla "bubble, knob, round thing" (see bull (n.2)).
Noon apprentice ... [shall] play ... at the Tenys, Closshe, Dise, Cardes, Bowles nor any other unlawfull game. [Act 11, Henry VII, 1495]
bristle (v.): c. 1200 (implied in past participle adjective bristled) "set or covered with bristles," from bristle (n.). Meaning "become angry or excited" is 1540s, from the way animals show fight. Related: Bristling.
brocade (v.): 1650s (implied in brocaded), from brocade (n.). Related: Brocading.
broker (v.): 1630s (implied in brokering), from broker (n.). Related: Brokered.
bypass (v.): 1823, "to pass by" (implied in bypassed), from bypass (n.). From 1928 as "to go around, avoid;" figurative use from 1941. Related: Bypassed; bypassing.
calcify (v.): 1785 (implied in calcified), from French calcifier, from stem of Latin calcem "lime" (see chalk (n.)) + -fy. Related: Calcifying; calcification.
Canada: 1560s (implied in Canadian), said to be a Latinized form of a word for "village" in an Iroquoian language of the St. Lawrence valley that had gone extinct by 1600. Most still-spoken Iroquoian languages have a similar word (such as Mohawk kana:ta "town"). Canada goose is attested from 1772.
cartoon (v.): 1864 (implied in cartooned), from cartoon (n.). Related: Cartooning.
castrate (v.): 1610s (implied in castrated), back-formation from castration (q.v.), or from Latin castratus, past participle of castrare. The figurative sense is attested earlier (1550s). Related: Castrating.
Cathar (n.): 1570s, "religious puritan" (implied in Catharism), from Medieval Latin Cathari "the Pure," name taken by Novatians and other Christian sects, from New Testament Greek katharizein "to make clean," from Greek katharos "pure." Related: Catharist.
cavitate (v.): 1892 (implied in cavitated), back-formation from cavitation. Related: Cavitating.
chagrin (v.): 1660s (implied in chagrined), from chagrin (n.). Related: Chagrined; chagrining.
chair (v.): mid-15c., "install in a chair or seat" (implied in chairing), from chair (n.); meaning "preside over" (a meeting, etc.) is attested by 1921. Related: Chaired.
check (v.2): "mark like a chessboard, incise with a pattern of squares or checks," late 14c. (implied in checked), from check (n.1). Related: Checking.
checker (v.): "to ornament with a checked or chackered design," late 14c. (implied in checkered), from Old French eschequerÃ© and from checker (n.1). Related: Checkering.
cherry-pick (v.): "to select the very best selfishly," 1959 (implied in cherry-picking), American English ("Billboard"), a pejorative figurative sense,from cherry (n.) + pick (v.). Related: Cherry-picked.