英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

admiral [admiral 词源字典]: admiral: [13] Admirals originally had nothing specifically to do with the sea. The word comes ultimately from Arabic ’amīr ‘commander’ (from which English later also acquired emir [17]). This entered into various titles followed by the particle -al- ‘of’ (’amīr-al-bahr ‘commander of the sea’, ’amīr-al-mūminīn ‘commander of the faithful’), and when it was borrowed into European languages, ’amīr-al- became misconstrued as an independent, free-standing word.

Moreover, the Romans, when they adopted it, smuggled in their own Latin prefix ad-, producing admiral. When this reached English (via Old French) it still meant simply ‘commander’, and it was not until the time of Edward III that a strong naval link began to emerge. The Arabic title ’amīr-al-bahr had had considerable linguistic influence in the wake of Arabic conquests around the Mediterranean seaboard (Spanish almirante de la mar, for instance), and specific application of the term to a naval commander spread via Spain, Italy, and France to England.

Thus in the 15th century England had its Admiral of the Sea or Admiral of the Navy, who was in charge of the national fleet. By 1500 the maritime connection was firmly established, and admiral came to be used on its own for ‘supreme naval commander’.
=> emir[admiral etymology, admiral origin, 英语词源]
cash: cash: [16] Cash originally meant ‘money-box’. English acquired it via French casse or Italian cassa from Latin capsa ‘box’ (source of English case). It was not until the mid 18th century that this underlying sense died out, leaving the secondary ‘money’ (which had already developed before the word entered English). Cashier ‘person in charge of money’ [16] is a derivative, coming from French caissier or perhaps from Dutch cassier, but the verb cashier ‘dismiss’ [16] is completely unrelated.

It comes from Dutch casseren, a borrowing from Old French casser ‘discharge, annul’. This in turn goes back to Latin quassāre ‘break up’, source of English quash.
=> case
constable: constable: [13] The late Latin comes stabulī was an officer in charge of the stables (comes is the source of the English title count, and stabulum is the ancestor of English stable). From the comparatively lowly status of head groom, the job gradually grew in importance until Old French conestable was used for the principal officer of the household of the early French kings. In the 14th century the title was adopted for the Constable of England. On a less exalted level, the word has also been used since the 14th century for someone appointed to uphold law and order, and was applied to police officers when they were called into being in the 1830s.
=> count, stable
corporal: corporal: [14] Corporal comes via Old French corporal from Latin corporālis ‘bodily’, an adjective derived from corpus ‘body’. The noun corporal ‘non-commissioned officer’ [16] was probably originally a completely different word. It was borrowed from French corporal, which appears to have been an alteration of caporal; this in turn came from Italian caporale, a derivative of capo ‘head’ (the change to corporal seems to have been based on the notion of the corporal as being in charge of a ‘body’ of troops).
=> corpse
dean: dean: [14] Etymologically, a dean is someone in charge of a group of ten people. That was the meaning of its ancestor, Greek dekānós, a word formed from déka ‘ten’. This eventually came to designate specifically someone in charge of ten monks, and this sense passed via late Latin decānus, Old French deien, and Anglo-Norman deen into English as the ‘head of a cathedral’. The modern French descendant of deien, doyen, was reborrowed into English in the 17th century.
=> doyen
equerry: equerry: [16] Nowadays in Britain simply royal attendants, equerries’ long and traditional association with the royal stables has led to association of the word equerry with Latin equus ‘horse’, but in fact the two are quite unrelated. Equerry originally meant ‘stable’, and was borrowed from the obsolete French escuirie (now écurie). It is not clear where this came from: some etymologists have linked it with Old High German scūr ‘barn, shed’, while others have derived it from Old French escuier ‘groom’ (source of English esquire and squire), according to which view it would mean ‘place where a groom stayed or worked’. (Escuier itself came ultimately from Latin scūtārius ‘shieldbearer’.) Forms such as escurie remained current in English up until the 18th century, but already by the 17th century equus-influenced spellings had begun to appear.

The person in charge of such a stable was formerly termed in French escuier d’escuirie ‘squire of the stable’, and in English groom of the equerry, and there are records from quite early in the 16th century indicating that equerry was being used on its own as the term for such a groom.
=> esquire, squire
pantry: pantry: [13] A pantry is etymologically a ‘bread’ room. The word comes from Old French paneterie ‘cupboard for keeping bread’, a derivative of panetier ‘servant in charge of bread’. This was adopted from medieval Latin pānetārius, an alteration of late Latin pānārius ‘bread-seller’, which in turn was a derivative of Latin pānis ‘bread’ (source also of English pannier). The notion of ‘bread storage’ survived into English, but was gradually lost in the face of the extended ‘food store’.
=> pannier
police: police: [16] Etymologically, the police are in charge of the administration of a ‘city’. In fact, police is essentially the same word as policy ‘plan of action’. Both go back to Latin polītīa ‘civil administration’, a descendant of Greek pólis ‘city’. In medieval Latin a variant polītia emerged, which became French police.

English took it over, and at first continued to use it for ‘civil administration’ (Edmund Burke as late as 1791 described the Turks as ‘a barbarous nation, with a barbarous neglect of police, fatal to the human race’). Its specific application to the administration of public order emerged in France in the early 18th century, and the first body of public-order officers to be named police in England was the Marine Police, a force set up around 1798 to protect merchandise in the Port of London.
=> politics
protocol: protocol: [16] Protocol originally denoted an ‘official record of a transaction’. Not until the end of the 19th century, as a reborrowing from French, did it come to be used for ‘rules of etiquette’ (the semantic link is an intermediate sense ‘draft of a treaty or other diplomatic document’, which led to its use in French for the ‘department in charge of diplomatic etiquette’). It goes back via Old French prothocole and medieval Latin prōtocollum to Greek prōtókollon, a compound formed from prótos ‘first’ and kólla ‘glue’ which meant ‘flyleaf glued to the front of a book giving a list of its contents’.
=> colloid
provost: provost: [OE] A provost is etymologically an official ‘placed before’ others – that is, put in charge of them. The word’s ancestor is Latin praepositus ‘superintendent’, a noun use of the past participle of praepōnere, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front’ and pōnere ‘put’ (source of English position, post, etc). In medieval Latin a variant form prōpositus emerged, which was borrowed into Old English as profost. This was supplemented in Middle English by the Anglo-Norman form provost.
=> position
rector: rector: [14] A rector is etymologically a ‘ruler’. The word comes via Old French rectour from Latin rēctor ‘governor’, a derivative of the verb regere ‘govern, rule’ (from which English gets regent, region, etc). It carried its original meaning with it into English, with reference both to Roman governors in the ancient world and to God as ‘ruler’ of the universe (Sir Matthew Hale in 1676 referred to God as the ‘great dispenser or permitter and rector of all the events in the world’), but by the 18th century it had largely become restricted to the more specialized senses ‘clergyman in charge of a parish’ and ‘head of a college’.
=> regent, regiment, region
sexton: sexton: [14] Sexton and sacristan [14] are doublets: that is to say, they started out as the same word, but have diverged over the centuries. Both come from medieval Latin sacristānus, a derivative of sacrista ‘person in charge of holy vessels’ (which in turn was based on Latin sacer ‘holy’, source of English sacred), but whereas sacristan was borrowed directly from Latin, sexton came via the roundabout route of Anglo- Norman segerstaine.
=> sacred, sacristan, saint
stable: stable: English has two distinct words stable, but both come ultimately from the same source: the Indo-European base *stā- ‘stand’, ancestor also of English stand. The adjective stable [13] comes via Old French estable from Latin stabilis ‘standing firm’, which has also given English establish, stability [15], and stabilize [19]. It was formed from the base *stā-, as was Latin stabulum ‘standing-place’, hence ‘enclosure for animals’, which English acquired via Old French estable as stable [13]. The corresponding Germanic formation, also based on *stā-, is stall. A constable is etymologically an ‘officer in charge of stables’.
staff: staff: [OE] Staff is a widespread Germanic word, with relatives in German stab, Dutch and Swedish staf, and Danish stav. These point back to a common Germanic ancestor *stabaz. Its ancestral meaning is ‘stick’, and its use as a collective term for ‘employees’, which dates in English from the 18th century, probably originated as an allusion to the carrying of a staff or ‘stick’ of office by a person in charge of subordinates – who thus became subsumed metaphorically under the notion of his ‘staff’.
steward: steward: [OE] A steward is etymologically someone ‘in charge of a sty’. Its Old English ancestor stigweard was a compound formed from stig ‘hall, house’ (a relative, if not the direct ancestor, of English sty ‘dwelling for pigs’) and weard ‘guardian, keeper’ – hence ‘keeper of the hall’.
=> guard, sty, ward
alderman (n.): Old English aldormonn (Mercian), ealdormann (West Saxon) "ruler, prince, chief; chief officer of a shire," from aldor, ealder "patriarch" (comparative of ald "old;" see old) + monn, mann "man" (see man (n.)). A relic of the days when the elders were automatically in charge of the clan or tribe, but already in Old English used for king's viceroys, regardless of age. The word yielded in Old English to eorl, and after the Norman Conquest to count (n.). Meaning "headman of a guild" (early 12c.) passed to "magistrate of a city" (c. 1200) as the guilds became identified with municipal government.
bailiff (n.): mid-13c., from Old French baillif (12c., nominative baillis) "administrative official, deputy," from Vulgar Latin *bajulivus "official in charge of a castle," from Latin bajulus "porter," which is of unknown origin. Used in Middle English of a public administrator of a district, a chief officer of a Hundred, or an officer under a sheriff.
batman (n.): "officer's servant," originally military title for "man in charge of a bat-horse and its load," 1755, from bat "pack-saddle" (late 14c.), from Old French bast (Modern French bât), from Late Latin bastum (see baton). Hence also batwoman (1941). The comic book hero dates from 1939.
butler (n.): late 12c., from Anglo-French buteillier "cup-bearer," from Old French boteillier "cup-bearer, butler, officer in charge of wine," from boteille "wine vessel, bottle" (see bottle (n.)). The word reflects the position's original function as "chief servant in charge of wine." In Old French, fem. boteilliere was used of the Virgin Mary as "dispenser" of the cup of Mercy.
cashier (n.): "person in charge of money," 1590s, from Middle French caissier "treasurer," from caisse "money box" (see cash (n.)). The immediate source of the English word might be Middle Dutch kassier.
chandler (n.): "maker or seller of candles," late 14c., attested as a surname from late 13c. (also, from early 14c. "candle-holder;" see chandelier), from Old French chandelier (n.2) "candle-maker, candle-seller; person in charge of lighting a household, monastery, etc.," from Latin candelarius, from candela "candle" (see candle). Native candleman is attested from mid-13c.
cheater (n.): early 14c., "royal officer in charge of the king's escheats," agent noun from cheat (v.). Meaning "dishonest player" is recorded from 1530s.
commissary (n.): mid-14c., "one to whom special duty is entrusted by a higher power," from Medieval Latin commissarius, from Latin commissus "entrusted," past participle of committere (see commit). Originally ecclesiastical; the military sense of "official in charge of supply of food, stores, transport" dates to late 15c. Hence "storeroom" (1882) and "dining room in a larger facility" (1929, American English).
corporal (n.): lowest noncommissioned army officer, 1570s, from Middle French corporal, from Italian caporale "a corporal," from capo "chief, head," from Latin caput "head" (see capitulum). So called because he was in charge of a body of troops. Perhaps influenced by Italian corpo, from Latin corps "body." Or corps may be the source and caput the influence, as the OED suggests.
coxswain (n.): early 14c., "officer in charge of a ship's boat and its crew," from cock "ship's boat" (from Old French coque "canoe") + swain "boy," from Old Norse sveinn "boy, servant" (see swain).
curator (n.): mid-14c., from Latin curator "overseer, manager, guardian," agent noun from curatus, past participle of curare (see cure (v.)). Originally of those put in charge of minors, lunatics, etc.; meaning "officer in charge of a museum, library, etc." is from 1660s.
diplomacy (n.): 1796, from French diplomatie, formed from diplomate "diplomat" (on model of aristocratie from aristocrate), from Latin adjective diplomaticos, from diploma (genitive diplomatis) "official document conferring a privilege" (see diploma; for sense evolution, see diplomatic).
It is obvious to any one who has been in charge of the interests of his country abroad that the day secrecy is abolished negotiations of any kind will become impossible. [Jules Cambon, "The Diplomatist" (transl. Christopher Rede Turner), 1931]
duenna (n.): 1660s, "chief lady in waiting upon the queen of Spain," also "an elderly woman in charge of girls from a Spanish family," from Spanish dueña "married lady, mistress" (fem. of dueño "master"), from Latin domina (see dame). Sense extended in English to "any elderly woman chaperon of a younger woman" (1708).
forester (n.): late 13c. (late 12c. as a surname), "officer in charge of a forest," from Old French forestier "forest ranger, forest-dweller" (12c., also, as an adjective, "wild, rough, coarse, unsociable"), from forest (see forest (n.)).
gaffer (n.): 1580s, "elderly rustic," apparently (based on continental analogies) a contraction of godfather (compare gammer). Originally a term of respect, also applied familiarly; from "old man" it was extended by 1841 to foremen and supervisors, which sense carried over in early 20c. to "electrician in charge of lighting on a film set."
granger (n.): late 12c., "farm steward, man in charge of a grange," also as a surname, from Old French grangier "share-cropper, market-gardener," from grange "farmstead" (see grange). From 1873 in American English in reference to members of the Patrons of Husbandry farmers' association.
housewife (n.): early 13c., husewif, "woman, usually married, in charge of a family or household" (compare husebonde; see husband), from huse "house" (see house (n.)) + wif "woman" (see wife). Also see hussy. Related: Housewifely.
kitchen (n.): c. 1200, from Old English cycene, from Proto-Germanic *kokina (cognates: Middle Dutch cökene, Old High German chuhhina, German Küche, Danish kjøkken), probably borrowed from Vulgar Latin *cocina (source also of French cuisine, Spanish cocina), variant of Latin coquina "kitchen," from fem. of coquinus "of cooks," from coquus "cook," from coquere "to cook" (see cook (n.)).

The Old English word might be directly from Vulgar Latin. Kitchen cabinet "informal but powerful set of advisors" is American English slang, 1832, originally in reference to administration of President Andrew Jackson. Kitchen midden (1863) in archaeology translates Danish kjøkken mødding. Surname Kitchener ("one in charge of a monastic kitchen") is from early 14c. Old English also had cycenðenung "service in the kitchen."
larder (n.): c. 1300, "supply of salt pork, bacon, and other meats," later in reference to the room for processing and storing such (late 14c.), from Anglo-French larder, Old French lardier "a place for meats," from Medieval Latin lardarium "a room for meats," from Latin lardum "lard, bacon" (see lard (n.)). Meaning "department of the royal household or of a monastic house in charge of stored meats" is mid-15c. Surname Lardner "person in charge of a larder" is attested from mid-12c.
magistrate (n.): late 14c., "civil officer in charge of administering laws," from Old French magistrat, from Latin magistratus "a magistrate, public functionary," originally "magisterial rank or office," from magistrare "serve as a magistrate," from magister "chief, director" (see master). Related: Magistracy.
marshal (n.): early 13c. as a surname; mid-13c. as "high officer of the royal court;" from Old French mareschal "commanding officer of an army; officer in charge of a household" (Modern French maréchal), originally "stable officer, horse tender, groom" (Frankish Latin mariscaluis) from Frankish *marhskalk or a similar Germanic word, literally "horse-servant" (compare Old High German marahscalc "groom," Middle Dutch maerschalc), from Proto-Germanic *markhaz "horse" (see mare (n.1)) + *skalkaz "servant" (source of Old English scealc "servant, retainer, member of a crew," Dutch schalk "rogue, wag," Gothic skalks "servant").

Cognate with Old English horsþegn. From c. 1300 as "stable officer;" early 14c. as "military commander, general in the army." For development history, compare constable. Also from Germanic are Italian scalco "steward," Spanish mariscal "marshal."
official (n.): early 14c., from Old French oficial "law officer; bishop's representative" (12c.) and directly from Late Latin officialis "attendant to a magistrate, public official," noun use of officialis (adj.) "of or belonging to duty, service, or office" (see official (adj.)). Meaning "person in charge of some public work or duty" first recorded 1550s.
portfolio (n.): 1722, porto folio; 1719 as port folio, from Italian portafoglio "a case for carrying loose papers," from porta, imperative of portare "to carry" (see port (n.1)) + foglio "sheet, leaf," from Latin folium (see folio). Meaning "official documents of a state department" is from 1835. A minister without portfolio is one not in charge of a particular department. Meaning "collection of securities held" is from 1930; portfolio investment is from 1955.
post office (n.): 1650s, "public department in charge of letter-carrying," from post (n.3) + office. Meaning "building where postal business is carried on" is from 1650s. In slang or euphemistic sense of "a sexual game" it refers to an actual parlor game first attested early 1850s in which pretend "letters" were paid for by kisses.
president (n.): late 14c., "appointed governor of a province; chosen leader of a body of persons," from Old French president and directly from Latin praesidentum (nominative praesidens) "president, governor," noun use of present participle of praesidere "to act as head or chief" (see preside).

In Middle English of heads of religious houses, hospitals, colleges and universities. First use for "chief executive officer of a republic" is in U.S. Constitution (1787), from earlier American use for "officer in charge of the Continental Congress" (1774), a sense derived from that of "chosen head of a meeting or group of persons," which is from Middle English. It had been used of chief officers of banks from 1781, of individual colonies since 1608 (originally Virginia) and heads of colleges since mid-15c. Slang shortening prez is recorded from 1883. Fem. form presidentess is attested from 1763.
principal (n.): c. 1300, "ruler, governor;" also "main part;" from principal (adj.) or from or influenced by noun uses in Old French and Latin. From mid-14c. in the sense of "money on which interest is paid;" 1827 as "person in charge of a public school," though meaning "head of a college or hall" was in English from mid-15c.
propaganda (n.): 1718, "committee of cardinals in charge of Catholic missionary work," short for Congregatio de Propaganda Fide "congregation for propagating the faith," a committee of cardinals established 1622 by Gregory XV to supervise foreign missions. The word is properly the ablative fem. gerundive of Latin propagare (see propagation). Hence, "any movement to propagate some practice or ideology" (1790). Modern political sense dates from World War I, not originally pejorative. Meaning "material or information propagated to advance a cause, etc." is from 1929.
provost (n.): Old English profost, reinforced by Old French cognate provost, both from Late Latin propositus (reinforced by Old French cognate provost), from Latin propositus/praepositus "a chief, prefect" (source of Old Provençal probost, Old High German probost, German Propst), literally "placed before, in charge of," from past participle of praeponere "put before" (see preposition). Provost marshal first recorded 1510s.
pussyfoot (v.): also pussy-foot, 1903, "tread softly," from pussy (n.1) + foot (n.). As a noun from 1911, "a detective," American English, from the nickname of U.S. government Indian Affairs agent W.E. Johnson (1862-1945), in charge of suppressing liquor traffic on Indian reservations in Oklahoma, who was noted for his stealthy tactics. Related: Pussyfooting; pussy-footed (1893).
quartermaster (n.): early 15c., "subordinate officer of a ship," from French quartier-maître or directly from Dutch kwartier-meester; originally a ship's officer whose duties included stowing of the hold; later (c. 1600) an officer in charge of quarters and rations for troops. See quarters.
run (v.): the modern verb is a merger of two related Old English words, in both of which the first letters sometimes switched places. The first is intransitive rinnan, irnan "to run, flow, run together" (past tense ran, past participle runnen), cognate with Middle Dutch runnen, Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic rinnan, German rinnen "to flow, run."

The second is Old English transitive weak verb ærnan, earnan "ride, run to, reach, gain by running" (probably a metathesis of *rennan), from Proto-Germanic *rannjanan, causative of the root *ren- "to run." This is cognate with Old Saxon renian, Old High German rennen, German rennen, Gothic rannjan.

Both are from PIE *ri-ne-a-, nasalized form of root *reie- "to flow, run" (see Rhine).

Of streams, etc., from c. 1200; of machinery, from 1560s. Meaning "be in charge of" is first attested 1861, originally American English. Meaning "seek office in an election" is from 1826, American English. Phrase run for it "take flight" is attested from 1640s. Many figurative uses are from horseracing or hunting (such as to run (something) into the ground, 1836, American English).

To run across "meet" is attested from 1855, American English. To run short "exhaust one's supply" is from 1752; to run out of in the same sense is from 1713. To run around with "consort with" is from 1887. Run away "flee in the face of danger" is from late 14c. To run late is from 1954.
scavenger (n.): 1540s, originally "person hired to remove refuse from streets," from Middle English scawageour (late 14c.), London official in charge of collecting tax on goods sold by foreign merchants, from Anglo-French scawager, from scawage "toll or duty on goods offered for sale in one's precinct" (c. 1400), from Old North French escauwage "inspection," from a Germanic source (compare Old High German scouwon, Old English sceawian "to look at, inspect;" see show (v.)).

It has come to be regarded as an agent noun in -er, but the verb is a late back-formation from the noun. With intrusive -n- (c. 1500) as in harbinger, passenger, messenger. Extended to animals 1590s. Scavenger hunt is attested from 1937.
scullery (n.): mid-15c. (early 14c. as a surname), "household department concerned with the care of kitchen utensils," from Old French escuelerie "office of the servant in charge of plates, etc.," from escuelier "keeper of the dishes," from escuele "dish" (12c., Modern French écuelle), from Latin scutella "serving platter, silver" (see scuttle (n.)).
seneschal (n.): late 14c., "steward, majordomo, officer in a royal household in charge of ceremonies and feasts," from Old French seneschal, title of a high administrative court officer, from Frankish Latin siniscalcus, from Proto-Germanic *sini-skalk "senior servant;" first element cognate with Latin senex "old" (see senile); second element from Proto-Germanic *skalkoz "servant" (cognates: Gothic skalks, Old High German scalc, Old English scealc "servant;" see second element of marshal).
sexton (n.): c. 1300, sekesteyn, "person in charge of the sacred objects of a church," from Old French segrestien, from Medieval Latin sacristanus (see sacristan). Sense of "custodian of a church" first recorded 1580s. Fem. forms sextress, sextrice are recorded 15c., but the usual form is sextoness (early 15c.).