quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- cappuccino



[cappuccino 词源字典] - cappuccino: [20] Frothy coffee was given the name cappuccino in Italian from its supposed resemblance to the habit of Capuchin monks, which is the colour of lightly milked coffee. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchins, an independent branch of Franciscans, was founded in 1528. In emulation of St Francis they wear a pointed cowl, in Italian a cappuccio (from late Latin cappa ‘hood’, source of English cap and cape), from which the name Cappuccino ‘Capuchin’ (literally ‘little hood’) was derived.
The term Capuchin itself arrived in English in the late 16th century, and the order’s vestimentary arrangements have gifted other items of vocabulary to English, notably capuchin [18] for a woman’s cloak and hood and capuchin monkey [18] for a type of South American monkey with a tuft of hair on its head resembling a monk’s cowl.
=> cap, cape[cappuccino etymology, cappuccino origin, 英语词源] - dispute




- dispute: [13] Dispute comes via Old French disputer from Latin disputāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix dis- ‘separately’ and putāre ‘consider, reckon, think’ (source of a wide range of English words, from computer to reputation). It was originally a commercial term, denoting the calculation of a sum by considering each of its items separately, but its meaning eventually broadened out to ‘estimate, examine, weigh up’ – either mentally or (the sense which prevailed) by discussion with others.
The neutral sense ‘discuss’ held centre stage in classical Latin, but later (in the Vulgate, for instance) a note of acrimony appeared, signalling the beginnings of dispute’s current sense ‘argue’.
=> computer, count, putative, reputation - parcel




- parcel: [14] Etymologically, parcel is the same word as particle. Both go back to Latin particula, a diminutive form of pars (source of English part). Particle [14] was acquired direct from Latin, whereas parcel was routed via an unrecorded Vulgar Latin variant *particella and Old French parcelle. It originally meant ‘part’ in English (a sense which survives in fossilized form in the phrase part and parcel); the modern meaning ‘package’ emerged in the 17th century via the notions of a ‘number of parts forming a whole’ and a ‘collection of items’.
=> part, particle - portmanteau




- portmanteau: [16] A portmanteau is etymologically something for ‘carrying one’s mantle’ in. The word was borrowed from French portemanteau, a compound formed from porter ‘carry’ and manteau ‘cloak’ (source of English mantle). This originally denoted a ‘court official whose duty was to carry the king’s cloak’, but it was also applied to the bag in which he carried it, and hence eventually to any bag for carrying clothes and other items needed on a journey.
=> mantle, port - a la carte




- 1826, from French à la carte, literally "by the card" (see card (n.1)); in other words, "ordered by separate items." Distinguished from a table d'hôte, meal served at a fixed, inclusive price.
- agenda (n.)




- 1650s, from Latin agenda, literally "things to be done," neuter plural of agendus, gerundive of agere "to do" (see act (n.)). Originally theological (opposed to matters of belief), sense of "items of business to be done at a meeting" first attested 1882. "If a singular is required (=one item of the agenda) it is now agendum, the former singular agend being obsolete" [Fowler].
- apothecary (n.)




- mid-14c., "shopkeeper, especially one who stores, compounds, and sells medicaments," from Old French apotecaire (13c., Modern French apothicaire), from Late Latin apothecarius "storekeeper," from Latin apotheca "storehouse," from Greek apotheke "barn, storehouse," literally "a place where things are put away," from apo- "away" (see apo-) + tithenai "to put, to place" (see theme). Same root produced French boutique and Spanish bodega. Cognate compounds produced Sanskrit apadha- "concealment," Old Persian apadana- "palace."
Drugs and herbs being among the chief items of non-perishable goods, the meaning narrowed 17c. to "druggist" (Apothecaries' Company of London separated from the Grocers' in 1617). Apothecaries formerly were notorious for "the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession, who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language" [Francis Grose, "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1796]. Hence, Apothecary's Latin, barbarously mangled, also known as Dog Latin.
- big (adj.)




- c. 1300, northern England dialect, "powerful, strong," of obscure origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Norwegian dialectal bugge "great man"). Old English used micel in many of the same senses. Meaning "of great size" is late 14c.; that of "grown up" is attested from 1550s. Sense of "important" is from 1570s. Meaning "generous" is U.S. colloquial by 1913.
Big band as a musical style is from 1926. Slang big head "conceit" is first recorded 1850. Big business "large commercial firms collectively" is 1905; big house "penitentiary" is U.S. underworld slang first attested 1915 (in London, "a workhouse," 1851). In financial journalism, big ticket items so called from 1956. Big lie is from Hitler's grosse Lüge. - boilerplate (n.)




- newspaper (and now information technology) slang for "unit of writing that can be used over and over without change," 1893, from a literal meaning (1840) "metal rolled in large, flat plates for use in making steam boilers." The connecting notion is probably of sturdiness or reusability. From 1890s to 1950s, publicity items were cast or stamped in metal ready for the printing press and distributed to newspapers as filler. The largest supplier was Western Newspaper Union.
- boughten (adj.)




- irregular past participle of buy; as an adjective from 1793, especially in colloquial U.S. usage, of clothing and other items, opposed to "made."
BOUGHTEN. Which is bought. This is a common word in the interior of New England and New York. It is applied to articles purchased from the shops, to distinguish them from similar articles of home manufacture. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
- browser (n.)




- 1845, "animal which browses," agent noun from browse (v.). In the computer sense by 1982.
The first browser was invented at PARC by Larry Tesler, now a designer at Apple Computer. Tesler's first Smalltalk browser was a tree-structured device. It enabled programmers to hunt quickly for items in a Smalltalk dictionary. ["InfoWorld" magazine, vol. v., no. 4, Jan. 24, 1983]
- department store (n.)




- 1878; a store that sells a variety of items, organized by department.
The "Department Store" is the outgrowth of the cheap counter business originated by Butler Brothers in Boston about ten years ago. The little "Five Cent Counter" then became a cornerstone from which the largest of all the world's branches of merchandising was to be reared. It was the "Cheap Counter" which proved to the progressive merchant his ability to sell all lines of wares under one roof. It was the Five Cent Counter "epidemic" of '77 and '78 which rushed like a mighty whirlwind from the Atlantic to the Pacific and all along its path transformed old time one line storekeepers into the wide-awake merchant princes of the present day. It was this same epidemic which made possible the world famed Department Stores of Houghton, of Boston; Macy, of New York; Wanamaker, of Philadelphia; and Lehman, of Chicago. ["American Storekeeper," 1885]
- dingbat (n.)




- 1838, American English, some kind of alcoholic drink, of unknown origin. One of that class of words (such as dingus, doohickey, gadget, gizmo, thingumabob) which are conjured up to supply names for items whose proper names are unknown or not recollected. Used at various periods for "money," "a professional tramp," "a muffin," "a typographical ornament," "male genitalia," "a Chinese," "an Italian," "a woman who is neither your sister nor your mother," and "a foolish person in authority." Popularized in sense of "foolish person" by U.S. TV show "All in the Family" (1971-79), though this usage dates from 1905.
- grab-bag (n.)




- "miscellaneous mixture," 1867, originally the name of a carnival game (1854) consisting of a bag full of items to be obtained by thrusting the hand within, the privilege of doing so having previously been bought; from grab + bag (n.).
- grocer (n.)




- early 15c. (mid-13c. as a surname), "wholesale dealer, one who buys and sells in gross," corrupted spelling of Anglo-French grosser, Old French grossier, from Medieval Latin grossarius "wholesaler," literally "dealer in quantity" (source also of Spanish grosero, Italian grosseiro), from Late Latin grossus "coarse (of food), great, gross" (see gross (adj.)). Sense of "a merchant selling individual items of food" is 16c.; in Middle English this was a spicer.
- lump (n.)




- early 14c., lumpe (1224 as surname), probably in Old English, perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish lumpe, 16c.), of unknown origin. Compare also Middle High German lumpe, early modern Dutch lompe. Phrase lump in (one's) throat "feeling of tightness brought on by emotion" is from 1803. Lumps "hard knocks, a beating" is colloquial, from 1934. Lump sum, one covering a number of items, is from 1867.
- point (n.)




- c. 1200, "minute amount, single item in a whole; sharp end of a sword, etc.," a merger of two words, both ultimately from Latin pungere "prick, pierce, puncture" (see pungent). The Latin neuter past participle punctum was used as a noun, meaning "small hole made by pricking," subsequently extended to anything that looked like one, hence, "dot, particle," etc. This yielded Old French point "dot; smallest amount," which was borrowed in Middle English by c. 1300.
Meanwhile the Latin fem. past participle of pungere was puncta, which was used in Medieval Latin to mean "sharp tip," and became Old French pointe "point of a weapon, vanguard of an army," which also passed into English, early 14c.
The senses have merged in English, but remain distinct in French. Extended senses are from the notion of "minute, single, or separate items in an extended whole." Meaning "small mark, dot" in English is mid-14c. Meaning "distinguishing feature" is recorded from late 15c. Meaning "a unit of score in a game" is first recorded 1746. As a typeface unit (in Britain and U.S., one twelfth of a pica), it went into use in U.S. 1883. As a measure of weight for precious stones (one one-hundredth of a carat) it is recorded from 1931.
The point "the matter being discussed" is attested from late 14c.; meaning "sense, purpose, advantage" (usually in the negative, as in what's the point?) is first recorded 1903. Point of honor (1610s) translates French point d'honneur. Point of no return (1941) is originally aviators' term for the point in a flight "before which any engine failure requires an immediate turn around and return to the point of departure, and beyond which such return is no longer practical." - roundup (n.)




- also round-up, by 1869 in the cattle drive sense; from verbal phrase round up "to collect in a mass" (1610s; specifically of livestock from 1847); see round (v.) + up (adv.). Meaning "summary of news items" is recorded from 1886.
- sailor (n.)




- c. 1400, sailer, agent noun from sail (v.). Spelling with -o- arose 16c., probably by influence of tailor, etc., and to distinguish the meaning "seaman, mariner" from "thing that sails." It replaced much older seaman and mariner (q.q.v.). Old English also had merefara "sailor." Applied as an adjective from 1870s to clothing styles and items based on a sailor's characteristic attire.
- sort (n.)




- late 14c., "group of people, animals, etc.; kind or variety of person or animal," from Old French sorte "class, kind," from Latin sortem (nominative sors) "lot; fate, destiny; share, portion; rank, category; sex, class, oracular response, prophecy," from PIE root *ser- (3) "to line up" (cognates: Latin serere "to arrange, attach, join;" see series). The sense evolution in Vulgar Latin is from "what is allotted to one by fate," to "fortune, condition," to "rank, class, order." Later (mid-15c.) "group, class, or category of items; kind or variety of thing; pattern, design." Out of sorts "not in usual good condition" is attested from 1620s, with literal sense of "out of stock."
- stogie (n.)




- also stogy, 1847 as an adjective, "rough, heavy, coarse" (of work shoes, etc.); as a noun, "long, cheap cigar" (1873), both shortened from Conestoga, rural region near Lancaster, Pennsylvania; both items so-called because favored by drivers of the Conestoga style of covered wagons first made there.
- imprest




- "A fund used by a business for small items of expenditure and restored to a fixed amount periodically", Mid 16th century: from the earlier phrase in prest 'as a loan', influenced by Italian or medieval Latin imprestare 'lend'.
- nickel-and-dime




- "Harass (someone) by charging for many trivial items or services", Late 19th century: originally denoting a shop selling articles costing five or ten cents.
- gubbins




- "Miscellaneous items; paraphernalia", Mid 16th century (in the sense 'fragments'): from obsolete gobbon 'piece, slice, gob', from Old French; probably related to gobbet. Current senses date from the early 20th century.
- millefiori




- "A kind of ornamental glass in which a number of glass rods of different sizes and colours are fused together and cut into sections which form various patterns, typically embedded in colourless transparent glass to make items such as paperweights", Mid 19th century: from Italian millefiore, literally 'a thousand flowers'.
- pulpectomy




- "Excision of (usually the entire) pulp of a tooth; an instance of this", 1920s; earliest use found in Dental Items of Interest. From pulp + -ectomy.
- solander




- "A protective box made in the form of a book, for holding such items as botanical specimens, maps, papers, etc", Late 18th century: named after Daniel C. Solander (1736–82), Swedish botanist.
- virement




- "The process of transferring items from one financial account to another", Early 20th century: from French, from virer 'to turn'.
- miscellanea




- "Miscellaneous items, especially literary compositions, that have been collected together", Late 16th century: from Latin, neuter plural of miscellaneus (see miscellaneous).