英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

apparatus [apparatus 词源字典]: apparatus: [17] Etymologically, apparatus is ‘equipment that has been prepared for a particular use’. The word is borrowed from Latin apparātus, the past participle of the compound verb apparāre, formed from the prefix ad- and parāre ‘make ready’ (source of prepare ‘make ready in advance’, and related to parent). At the beginning of the 17th century, the related but anglicized form apparate put in a brief appearance in the language (possibly borrowed from French apparat), but within 20 years apparatus had supplanted it.
=> parent, prepare[apparatus etymology, apparatus origin, 英语词源]
conserve: conserve: [14] Latin servāre meant ‘keep, preserve’ (it was not related to servus ‘slave’, source of English serve and servant). Among the compounds formed from it were praeservāre ‘guard in advance’ and, using the intensive prefix com-, conservāre. This passed into English via Old French conserver. Amongst its derivatives are conservation [14], conservative [14] (first used in the modern political sense by J Wilson Croker in 1830), and conservatory [16] (whose French original, conservatoire, was reborrowed in the 18th century in the sense ‘musical academy’).
=> observe, preserve, reserve
improvise: improvise: [19] Etymologically, if you improvise something, it is because it has not been ‘provided’ for in advance. The word comes via French improviser from the Italian adjective improvviso ‘extempore’, a descendant of Latin imprōvīsus ‘unforeseen’. This in turn was formed from the negative prefix in- and the past participle of prōvīdere ‘foresee’ (source of English provide).

The earliest recorded use of the verb in English is by Benjamin Disraeli in Vivian Grey 1826: ‘He possessed also the singular faculty of being able to improvise quotations’. (The closely related improvident ‘not providing for the future’ [16] preserves even more closely the sense of its Latin original.)
=> provide
precocious: precocious: [17] Precocious means etymologically ‘pre-cooked’. It was borrowed from Latin praecox, a derivative of the verb praecoquere ‘cook in advance’, which was a compound formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and coquere ‘cook’ (a relative of English cook and kitchen). But coquere was also used metaphorically for ‘ripen’, and so praecox also meant ‘early-ripening’ – whence English precocious ‘developing before its time’. The apricot is etymologically the ‘precocious’ fruit.
=> apricot, cook, kiln, kitchen
prepare: prepare: [15] Latin parāre ‘make ready’ lies behind a wide range of English words, from apparatus and apparel to emperor and separate. It combined with the prefix prae- ‘before’ to produce praeparāre ‘make ready in advance’, adopted into English via Old French preparer.
=> apparatus, apparel, emperor, separate
prevent: prevent: [15] If you prevent someone, you ‘come before’ them (and indeed that literal meaning of the verb survived for some time: Thomas Cromwell wrote in 1538 ‘I have sent it unto him after the departure of the said Muriell, to the intent he might prevent the ambassadors post and you have leisure to consult and advise upon the same’; and as late as 1766 we find in Frances Sheridan’s Sidney Biddulph ‘I am an early riser, yet my lord V – prevented me the next morning, for I found him in the parlour when I came downstairs’).

The word comes from Latin praevenīre, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and venīre ‘come’. Already in Latin, though, it had progressed semantically from ‘come before’ via ‘act in advance of, anticipate’ to ‘hinder’, and this meaning emerged in English in the 16th century.
=> adventure, venue
promise: promise: [14] Latin prōmittere originally meant simply ‘send forth’ (it was a compound verb formed from the prefix prō- ‘forward’ and mittere ‘send’, source of English mission, missile, transmit, etc). But it soon evolved metaphorically via ‘say in advance, foretell’ to ‘cause to expect’ and hence ‘promise’ – the sense adopted into English via its past participle prōmissum.
=> admit, commit, missile, mission, submit, transmit
prudent: prudent: [14] Prudent and provident are as it were two separate goes at the same word. Both were formed from the Latin prefix prō- ‘before, in advance’ and vidēns, the present participle of vidēre ‘see’ (and hence etymologically mean ‘foreseeing’). The pre-classical coinage was contracted to prūdēns ‘farsighted, wise’, which reached English via Old French prudent. Provident comes from the uncontracted prōvidēns, part of the paradigm of prōvidēre (source of English provide).
=> provide
scoop: scoop: [14] Scoop appears to go back ultimately to a prehistoric Germanic base *skap- which originally denoted ‘chop or dig out’ (it was later extended metaphorically to ‘form’, and in that sense has given English shape). It had a variant form *skōp-, amongst whose derivatives was West Germanic *skōpō. This evolved into Middle Dutch and Middle Low German schōpe, which was used for the bucket of a dredge, water-wheel, etc, and English borrowed it early in the 14th century. The journalistic sense ‘story’ reported in advance of competitors’ emerged in the USA in the 1870s.
=> shape
separate: separate: [15] Etymologically, separate means ‘arrange apart’. It comes from the past participle of Latin sēparāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix sē- ‘apart’ and parāre ‘arrange (in advance), furnish, make ready’ (source also of English prepare). Sever is essentially the same word as separate, in reduced form.
=> prepare, sever
advantage (n.): early 14c., avantage, "position of being in advance of another," from Old French avantage "advantage, profit, superiority," from avant "before," probably via an unrecorded Late Latin *abantaticum, from Latin abante (see advance).

The -d- is a 16c. intrusion on the analogy of Latin ad- words. Meaning "a favoring circumstance" (the opposite of disadvantage) is from late 15c. Tennis score sense is from 1640s, first recorded in writings of John Milton, of all people. Phrase to take advantage of is first attested late 14c.
beforehand (adv., adj.): also before-hand, early 13c., from before + hand, which here is of uncertain signification, unless the original notion is payment in advance or something done before another's hand does it. Hyphenated from 18c., one word from 19c.
earnest (adj.2): "portion of something given or done in advance as a pledge," early 15c., with excrescent -t- (perhaps from influence of the other earnest), from Middle English ernes (c. 1200), "a pledge or promise;" often "a foretaste of what is to follow;" also (early 13c.) "sum of money as a pledge to secure a purchase or bind a bargain (earnest-money); from Old French erres and directly from Latin arra, probably from Phoenician or another Semitic language (compare Hebrew 'eravon "a pledge"). Sometimes in Middle English as erness, suggesting it was perceived as er "early" + -ness.
forwardness (n.): 1520s, "condition of being in advance," from forward + -ness. Meaning "presumptuousness" is from c. 1600. Old English foreweardness meant "a beginning."
installment (n.): "act of installing," 1580s, from install + -ment. Meaning "arrangement of payment by fixed portions at fixed times" is from 1732, alteration of Anglo-French estaler "fix payments," from Old French estal "fixed position, place," from a Germanic source akin to Old High German stal "standing place" (see stall (n.1)). Figurative sense of "part of a whole produced in advance of the rest" is from 1823.
pre-engage (v.): "bind in advance by promise," 1640s, from pre- + engage (v.). Related: Pre-engaged; pre-engaging.
precaution (n.): c. 1600, from French précaution (16c.) and directly from Late Latin praecautionem (nominative praecautio) "a safeguarding," from past participle stem of Latin praecavere "to guard against beforehand," from prae "before" (see pre-) + cavere "to be one's own guard" (see caution (n.)). The verb meaning "to warn (someone) in advance" is from c. 1700.
preoccupied (adj.): "absorbed in thought," 1823, past participle adjective from preoccupy (v.). Earlier it meant "occupied in advance."
prescience (n.): late 14c., from Old French prescience (13c.) and directly from Late Latin praescientia "fore-knowledge," from *praescientem, present participle of *praescire "to know in advance," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + scire "to know" (see science).
prescription (n.): late 14c., in law, "the right to something through long use," from Old French prescription (13c.) and directly from Latin praescriptionem (nominative praescriptio) "a writing before, order, direction," noun of action from past participle stem of praescribere "write before, prefix in writing; ordain, determine in advance," from prae "before" (see pre-) + scribere "to write" (see script (n.)). Medical sense of "written directions from a doctor" first recorded 1570s.
press (v.2): "force into service," 1570s, alteration (by association with press (v.1)) of prest (mid-14c.) "engage by loan, pay in advance," especially money paid to a soldier or sailor on enlisting, from Latin praestare "to stand out, stand before; fulfill, perform, provide," from prae- "before" (see pre-) + stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Related to praesto (adv.) "ready, available." Related: Pressed; pressing.
pro-: word-forming element meaning "forward, forth, toward the front" (as in proclaim, proceed); "beforehand, in advance" (prohibit, provide); "taking care of" (procure); "in place of, on behalf of" (proconsul, pronoun); from Latin pro "on behalf of, in place of, before, for, in exchange for, just as," which also was used as a prefix.

Also in some cases from cognate Greek pro "before, in front of, sooner," which also was used in Greek as a prefix (as in problem). Both the Latin and Greek words are from PIE *pro- (cognates: Sanskrit pra- "before, forward, forth;" Gothic faura "before," Old English fore "before, for, on account of," fram "forward, from;" Old Irish roar "enough"), extended form of root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).

The common modern sense "in favor of, favoring" (pro-independence, pro-fluoridation, pro-Soviet, etc.) was not in classical Latin and is attested in English from early 19c.
provision (n.): late 14c., "a providing beforehand, action of arranging in advance" (originally in reference to ecclesiastical appointments made before the position was vacant), from Old French provision "precaution, care" (early 14c.), from Latin provisionem (nominative provisio) "a foreseeing, foresight, preparation, prevention," noun of action from past participle stem of providere "look ahead" (see provide). Meaning "something provided" is attested from late 15c.; specific sense of "supply of food" is from c. 1600.
thesis (n.): late 14c., "unaccented syllable or note," from Latin thesis "unaccented syllable in poetry," later (and more correctly) "stressed part of a metrical foot," from Greek thesis "a proposition," also "downbeat" (in music), originally "a setting down, a placing, an arranging; position, situation," from root of tithenai "to place, put, set," from PIE root *dhe- "to set, to put" (see factitious). Sense in logic of "a formulation in advance of a proposition to be proved" is first recorded 1570s; that of "dissertation presented by a candidate for a university degree" is from 1650s.
upfront (adj.): 1932, up front "in the front," from up + front (n.). Meaning "honest, open" is from 1970; that of "paid in advance" is from 1967.
vedette (n.): "mounted sentinel placed in advance of an outpost," 1680s, from French vedette (16c.), from Italian (Florentine) vedetta "watch tower, peep hole," probably from vedere "to see," from Latin videre "to see" (see vision).
wind (v.1): "move by turning and twisting," Old English windan "to turn, twist, plait, curl, brandish, swing" (class III strong verb; past tense wand, past participle wunden), from Proto-Germanic *windan "to wind" (cognates: Old Saxon windan, Old Norse vinda, Old Frisian winda, Dutch winden, Old High German wintan, German winden, Gothic windan "to wind"), from PIE *wendh- "to turn, wind, weave" (cognates: Latin viere "twist, plait, weave," vincire "bind;" Lithuanian vyti "twist, wind").

Related to wend, which is its causative form, and to wander. The past tense and past participle merged in Middle English. Meaning "to twine, entwine oneself around" is from 1590s; transitive sense of "turn or twist round and round (on something) is from c. 1300. Meaning "set a watch, clockwork, etc. in operating mode by tightening its spring" is from c. 1600. Wind down "come to a conclusion" is recorded from 1952; wind up "come to a conclusion" is from 1825; earlier in transitive sense "put (affairs) in order in advance of a final settlement" (1780). Winding sheet "shroud of a corpse" is attested from early 15c.
pre-punch: "To punch holes in (a card, material, etc.) in advance; to punch data on to (a tape, card, disc, etc.) prior to use", 1940s; earliest use found in Nevada State Journal. From pre- + punch.
prest: "A payment or wages in advance; money paid on account to enable a person to proceed with an undertaking", Late Middle English. From Anglo-Norman and Middle French prest (French prêt) action of putting a thing at a person's disposal, action of lending, a thing lent, an advance of money, money allocated in advance to soldiers and non-commissioned officers for petty expenses, wages paid in advance, in Anglo-Norman also alms, a gift from prester.