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blackmail [blackmail 词源字典]: blackmail: see mail
[blackmail etymology, blackmail origin, 英语词源]
blackmail (n.): 1550s, from black (adj.) + Middle English male "rent, tribute," from Old English mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement," from Old Norse mal "speech, agreement;" related to Old English mæðel "meeting, council," mæl "speech," Gothic maþl "meeting place," from Proto-Germanic *mathla-, from PIE *mod- "to meet, assemble" (see meet (v.)). From the practice of freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against Scottish farmers. Black from the evil of the practice. Expanded c. 1826 to any type of extortion money. Compare silver mail "rent paid in money" (1590s); buttock-mail (Scottish, 1530s) "fine imposed for fornication."
blackmail (v.): 1852, from blackmail (n.). Related: Blackmailed; blackmailing.
bookmaker (n.): also book-maker, 1510s, "printer and binder of books," from book (n.) + agent noun from make (v.). The wagering sense is from 1862. Related: Book-making (late 15c., betting sense 1824).
bookmark (n.): also book-mark, 1840, from book (n.) + mark (n.1). Bookmarker is older (1838). As a verb, by 1900. Related: Bookmarked; bookmarking.
brinkmanship (n.): also brinksmanship, with parasitic -s- and construction based on salesmanship, sportsmanship, etc.; from brink (the image of the brink of war dates to at least 1840).

Associated with the policies advocated by John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), U.S. Secretary of State 1953-1959. The word springs from Dulles' philosophy as outlined in a magazine interview [with Time-Life Washington bureau chief James Shepley] early 1956:
The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. If you cannot master it, you inevitably get into war. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.
The quote was widely criticized by the Eisenhower Administration's opponents, and the first attested use of brinkmanship seems to have been in such a context, a few weeks after the magazine appeared, by Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson criticizing Dulles for "boasting of his brinkmanship, ... the art of bringing us to the edge of the nuclear abyss."
checkmate (n.): mid-14c., from Old French eschec mat (Modern French échec et mat), which (with Spanish jaque y mate, Italian scacco-matto) is from Arabic shah mat "the king died" (see check (n.1)), which according to Barnhart is a misinterpretation of Persian mat "be astonished" as mata "to die," mat "he is dead." Hence Persian shah mat, if it is the ultimate source of the word, would be literally "the king is left helpless, the king is stumped."
checkmate (v.): late 14c.; see checkmate (n.). Related: Checkmated; checkmating.
embankment (n.): 1786, from embank "to enclose with a bank" (1570s; see em- (1) + bank (n.2)) + -ment.
milkmaid (n.): 1550s, from milk (n.) + maid.
milkman (n.): 1580s, from milk (n.) + man (n.).
taskmaster (n.): "overseer, one who imposes a task," 1520s, from task (n.) + master (n.).
workman (n.): Old English weorcmsnn; see work (n.) + man (n.). Similar formation in Dutch werkman, Old Norse verkmaðr.
workmanlike (adj.): "efficient, no-nonsense," 1739, from workman + like (adj.).
workmanship (n.): early 14c., "performance of labor," from workman + -ship. Meaning "skill as a workman" is from 1520s.
re-embarkment: "= re-embarkation", Early 17th cent.; earliest use found in John Smith. From re- + embarkment, after re-embark. Compare French rembarquement, Italian (now rare) rimbarcamento.