quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- bunkum



[bunkum 词源字典] - bunkum: [19] Buncombe is a county of North Carolina, USA. Around 1820, during a debate in the US Congress, its representative Felix Walker rose to make a speech. He spoke on – and on – and on. Fellow congressmen pleaded with him to sit down, but he refused to be deflected, declaring that he had to make a speech ‘for Buncombe’. Most of what he said was fatuous and irrelevant, and henceforth bunkum (or buncombe, as it was at first spelled) became a term for political windbagging intended to ingratiate the speaker with the voters rather than address the real issues.
It early passed into the more general sense ‘nonsense, claptrap’. Its abbreviated form, bunk, is 20th-century; it was popularized by Henry Ford’s remark ‘History is more or less bunk’, made in 1916. Of the other English words bunk, ‘bed’ [19] is probably short for bunker, which first appeared in 16th-century Scottish English, meaning ‘chest, box’; while bunk as in do a bunk and bunk off [19] is of unknown origin.
[bunkum etymology, bunkum origin, 英语词源] - arbitrator (n.)




- early 15c., from Old French arbitratour (13c.), from Latin arbitrator "a spectator, hearer, witness, judge," agent noun from past participle stem of arbitrari, from arbiter (see arbiter). The legal form of popular arbiter; in modern usage, an arbiter makes decisions of his own accord and is accountable to no one but himself; an arbitrator (early 15c.) decides issues referred to him by the parties.
- bridge (n.1)




- "causeway over a ravine or river," Old English brycge, from Proto-Germanic *brugjo (cognates: Old Saxon bruggia, Old Norse bryggja, Old Frisian brigge, Dutch brug, Old High German brucca, German Brücke), from PIE root *bhru "log, beam," hence "wooden causeway" (cognates: Gaulish briva "bridge," Old Church Slavonic bruvuno "beam," Serbian brv "footbridge"). For vowel evolution, see bury. Meaning "bony upper part of the nose" is from early 15c.; of stringed instruments from late 14c. The bridge of a ship (by 1854) originally was a "narrow raised platform athwart the ship whence the Captain issues his orders" [Sir Geoffrey Callender, "Sea Passages"].
Bridge in steam-vessels is the connection between the paddle-boxes, from which the officer in charge directs the motion of the vessel. [Smythe, "The Sailor's Word-Book," 1867]
- cholesterol (n.)




- white, solid substance present in body tissues, 1894, earlier cholesterin, from French cholestrine (Chevreul, 1827), from Greek khole "bile" (see cholera) + steros "solid, stiff" (see sterility). So called because originally found in gallstones (Conradi, 1775). The name was changed to the modern form (with chemical suffix -ol, denoting an alcohol) after the compound was discovered to be a secondary alcohol.
- crunchy (adj.)




- 1892, from crunch + -y (2). Student slang sense of "annoyingly intense about health or environmental issues" is by 1990, short for crunchy granola (considered as natural and wholesome); not entirely pejorative at first. Related: Crunchiness.
- donor (n.)




- mid-15c., from Anglo-French donour, Old French doneur (Modern French donneur), from Latin donatorem (nominative donator) "giver, donor," agent noun from past participle stem of donare "give as a gift" (see donation). Of blood, from 1910; of organs or tissues, from 1918.
- excite (v.)




- mid-14c., "to move, stir up, instigate," from Old French esciter (12c.) or directly from Latin excitare "rouse, call out, summon forth, produce," frequentative of exciere "call forth, instigate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + ciere "set in motion, call" (see cite). Of feelings, from late 14c. Of bodily organs or tissues, from 1831. Main modern sense of "emotionally agitate" is first attested 1821.
- extravasation (n.)




- "escape of fluid into the tissues after a rupture," 1670s, from Latin extra "outside" (see extra-) + form derived from vas "vessel" (see vas (n.)). Related: Extravasate (1660s).
- gangrene (n.)




- "putrefaction or necrosis of soft tissues," 1540s, cancrena, from Latin gangraena (Medieval Latin cancrena), from medical Greek gangraina "an eating or gnawing sore," literally "that which eats away," dissimilated reduplicated form of gran- "to gnaw," from PIE root *gras- "to devour" (see gastric).
- gum (n.2)




- "soft tissues of the mouth," Old English goma "palate, side of the mouth" (single or plural), from a Germanic source represented by Old Norse gomi "palate," Old High German goumo; related to Lithuanian gomurys "palate," and perhaps from PIE root *gheu- "to yawn" (source also of Old English ginian "to yawn;" see yawn (v.)).
- heparin (n.)




- substance found in the liver, lungs and other tissues, 1918, from Greek hepar "liver" (see hepatitis) + -in (2).
- histology (n.)




- "study of organic tissues," 1847, from histo- + -ology.
- meristem (n.)




- "growing cellular tissues of plants," 1862, formed irregularly from Greek meristos "divided, divisible" (from merizein "to divide, distribute," from meros "a part, a share;" see merit (n.)) + ending from xylem, etc.
- myelin (n.)




- also myeline, "soft material found in nerve tissues," 1867, from German Myelin (1854), from Greek myelos "marrow; the brain, innermost part," of unknown origin.
- populist




- 1892 (n.) "adherent of populism;" 1893 (adj.), American English, from Latin populus "people" (see people (n.)) + -ist. Originally in reference to the U.S. Populist Party organized February 1892 to promote certain issues important to farmers and workers. The term outlasted the party, and by 1920s came to mean "representing the views of the masses" in a general way.
- succulent (adj.)




- c. 1600, from French succulent (16c.), from Latin succulentus "having juice, juicy," from succus "juice, sap;" related to sugere "to suck," and possibly cognate with Old English socian "to soak," sucan "to suck" (see sup (v.2)). The noun meaning "plant with juicy tissues" is from 1825.
- tissue (n.)




- mid-14c., "band or belt of rich material," from Old French tissu "a ribbon, headband, belt of woven material" (c. 1200), noun use of tissu "woven, interlaced," past participle of tistre "to weave," from Latin texere "to weave, to make" (see texture (n.)). The biological sense is first recorded 1831, from French, introduced c. 1800 by French anatomist Marie-François-Xavier Bichal (1771-1802). Meaning "piece of absorbent paper used as a handkerchief" is from 1929. Tissue-paper is from 1777, supposedly so called because it was made to be placed between tissues to protect them.
- tonic (adj.)




- 1640s, "relating to or characterized by muscular tension," from Greek tonikos "of stretching," from tonos "a stretching" (see tenet). The meaning "maintaining the healthy firmness of tissues" is recorded from 1680s, first extended 1756 to "having the property of restoring to health." Related: Tonical (1580s).
- trial (n.)




- mid-15c., "act or process of testing, a putting to proof by examination, experiment, etc.," from Anglo-French trial, noun formed from triet "to try" (see try (v.)). Sense of "examining and deciding of the issues between parties in a court of law" is first recorded 1570s; extended to any ordeal by 1590s. As an adjectival phrase, trial-and-error is recorded from 1806. Trial balloon (1826) translates French ballon d'essai, a small balloon sent up immediately before a manned ascent to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air, though the earliest use in English is figurative.
- Uncle Tom (n.)




- "servile black man," 1922, somewhat inaccurately in reference to the humble, pious, but strong-willed main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852). The image implied in the insult perhaps is more traceable to the late 19c. minstel show versions of the story, which reached a far wider audience than the book.
I don't recall anyone in the 1920s using the term 'Uncle Tom' as an epithet. But what's amazing is how fast it caught on (in the 1930s). Black scholars picked up (the term) and just started throwing it at each other. [Ernest Allen, quoted in Hamilton, Kendra, "The Strange Career of Uncle Tom," Black Issues in Higher Education, June 2002]
As a verb, attested from 1937. - oedema




- "A condition characterized by an excess of watery fluid collecting in the cavities or tissues of the body", Late Middle English: modern Latin, from Greek oidēma, from oidein 'to swell'.
- aspergillosis




- "A condition in which certain fungi infect the tissues, most commonly the lungs", Late 19th century: from modern Latin Aspergillus, from aspergillum, + -osis.
- Mesozoa




- "With plural concord: a group of minute worms with no body cavity or organs other than reproductive cells, which are internal parasites of marine invertebrates and absorb dissolved nutrients directly from the host's tissues; (also mesozoa) worms of this group collectively", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. From meso- + -zoa, after French Mésozoaires.
- odontoma




- "A tumour arising in connection with the teeth; (later) specifically a growth resulting from anomalous odontogenesis and consisting of dental tissues of epithelial and mesodermal origin (enamel, dentine, and cementum), sometimes organized into the form of a tooth or teeth", Late 19th cent. Alteration of odontome after -oma.
- immunohistochemistry




- "The application of immunological methods (such as immunofluorescence, immunoperoxidase, etc.) in histochemistry; the study of the constituents of tissues and cells using such methods. Also: the immunohistochemical characteristics of a cell or tissue type, cellular constituent, etc", 1960s; earliest use found in Journal of Cell Biology. From immuno- + histochemistry, after immunohistochemical.
- cryoprotective




- "Chiefly of chemicals: giving protection to living tissues, organs, etc., against damage caused by freezing temperatures", 1960s. From cryo- + protective. Compare cryoprotection.
- phlobaphene




- "Any of a class of reddish or brownish water-insoluble pigments which occur in various barks and other plant tissues, and are polymeric derivatives of tannins", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Henry Watts (1815–1884), chemist. From German Phlobaphen from ancient Greek ϕλοιός bark + βαϕή dye + German -en.