英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

burglar: burglar: [15] The first trace we have of burglar is as burgulator in 13th-century Anglo-Latin texts, and it appears in Anglo-Norman legal documents of the 15th century as burgler. These point to an unrecorded medieval Latin base *burg- ‘plunder’, which appears in Old French burgur ‘robber’. The verb burgle is a 19thcentury back-formation from burglar.
clause: clause: [13] The etymological notion underlying clause is of ‘closing’ or ‘termination’. The word derives ultimately from Latin claudere (source of English close) and was originally applied either as a rhetorical term to the conclusion of a sentence, or as a legal term to the termination of a legal argument. Gradually, in both cases, the element of finality fell away, leaving the senses ‘short sentence’ and ‘section of a legal document’, which passed into English.

The past participle of Latin claudere, clausus, probably produced an unrecorded noun *clausa (known only in its diminutive form clausula), which passed into English via Old French clause.
=> clavier, close
deed: deed: [OE] Etymologically, a deed is ‘that which is done’. An ancient word, it can be traced back as far as a hypothetical *dhētis, a noun derived from *dhē-, *dhō- ‘place, put’, the Indo- European base from which do comes. This passed into Germanic as *dǣdiz, which produced German tat, Dutch daad, and Swedish dåad as well as English deed. The word’s application to a legal document is a 14th-century development.
=> do
deed poll: deed poll: [16] Contrary to what the term’s modern pronunciation might seem to suggest, with the main stress on its first element rather than its second, a deed poll is a sort of deed, not a sort of poll. It originally referred to a legal document made and signed by one person only. Such documents were drawn up on parchment cut evenly, or ‘polled’, rather than indented, as was the case with documents relating to two or more people.
fuel: fuel: [14] The notions of ‘fuel’ and ‘fire’ are closely connected etymologically. Fuel comes via Anglo-Norman fuaille from medieval Latin focālia, which was used in legal documents as a term for the ‘right to demand material for making a fire’. It was a derivative of Latin focus ‘fireplace, fire’, which also gave English focus, foyer, and fusillade.
=> focus, foyer, fusillade
innuendo: innuendo: [17] An innuendo was originally a hint given with a ‘nod’ or a wink. The word is a derivative of Latin innuere ‘signal to by means of a nod’, a compound verb formed from in- ‘towards’ and nuere ‘nod’. The ablative case of its gerund, innuendō ‘by nodding’, was used in medieval legal documents as the equivalent of ‘that is to say, i.e’. In particular, it introduced the derogatory meaning claimed by the plaintiff in a libel case to be contained in or implied by a statement, and this formed the basis for its metaphorical transference to any ‘oblique derogatory implication’.
quibble: quibble: [17] Quibble probably originated as a rather ponderous learned joke-word. It is derived from an earlier and now obsolete quib ‘pun’, which appears to have been based on quibus, the dative and ablative plural of Latin quī ‘who, what’. The notion is that since quibus made frequent appearances in legal documents written in Latin, it became associated with pettifogging points of law.
a.k.a.: also aka, initialism (acronym) for also known as; attested in legal documents from at least 1936.
blue laws: 1781, severe Puritanical code said to have been enacted 18c. in New Haven, Connecticut; of uncertain origin, perhaps from one of the ground senses behind blues, or from notion of coldness. Or perhaps connected to bluestocking in the sense of "puritanically plain or mean" (see bluestocking, which is a different application of the same term; the parliament of 1653 was derisively called the bluestocking parliament). The common explanation that they were written on blue paper is not considered valid; pale blue paper was used for many old U.S. legal documents and there would have been nothing notable about its use in this case.
caption (n.): late 14c., "taking, seizure," from Old French capcion "arrest, capture, imprisonment," or directly from Latin captionem (nominative capito) "a catching, seizing, holding, taking," noun of action from past participle stem of capere "to take" (see capable).

From 17c. used especially in law, and there via its appearance at the head of legal document involving seizure ("Certificate of caption", etc.), the word's sense was extended to "the beginning of any document;" thus "heading of a chapter or section of an article" (1789), and, especially in U.S., "description or title below an illustration" (1919).
chirography (n.): "handwriting," 1650s, from chiro- + -graphy. Chirograph "formal written legal document" is attested from late 13c. in Anglo-French, from Latin chirographum, from Greek kheirographia "written testimony."
clause (n.): c. 1200, "a sentence, a brief statement, a short passage," from Old French clause "stipulation" (in a legal document), 12c., from Medieval Latin clausa "conclusion," used in the sense of classical Latin clausula "the end, a closing, termination," also "end of a sentence or a legal argument," from clausa, fem. noun from past participle of claudere "to close, to shut, to conclude" (see close (v.)). Grammatical sense is from c. 1300. Legal meaning "distinct condition, stipulation, or proviso" is recorded from late 14c. in English. The sense of "ending" seems to have fallen from the word between Latin and French.
counterpart (n.): mid-15c., originally countre part "duplicate of a legal document," from Middle French contrepartie, from contre "facing, opposite" (see contra-) + partie "copy of a person or thing," originally fem. past participle of partir "to divide" (see party (n.)).
deed (n.): Old English dæd "a doing, act, action, transaction, event," from Proto-Germanic *dædis (cognates: Old Saxon dad, Old Norse dað, Old Frisian dede, Middle Dutch daet, Dutch daad, Old High German tat, German Tat "deed," Gothic gadeþs "a putting, placing"), from PIE *dhetis (cognates: Lithuanian detis "load, burden," Greek thesis "a placing, setting"), from *dhe- "place, put" (see do). Sense of "written legal document" is early 14c. As a verb, 1806, American English Related: Deeded; deeding.
form (n.): c. 1200, forme, fourme, "semblance, image, likeness," from Old French forme, fourme, "physical form, appearance; pleasing looks; shape, image; way, manner" (12c.), from Latin forma "form, contour, figure, shape; appearance, looks; a fine form, beauty; an outline, a model, pattern, design; sort, kind condition," a word of unknown origin. One theory holds that it is from or cognate with Greek morphe "form, beauty, outward appearance" (see Morpheus) via Etruscan [Klein].

From c. 1300 as "physical shape (of something), contour, outline," of a person, "shape of the body;" also "appearance, likeness;" also "the imprint of an object." From c. 1300 as "correct or appropriate way of doing something; established procedure; traditional usage; formal etiquette." Mid-14c. as "instrument for shaping; a mould;" late 14c. as "way in which something is done," also "pattern of a manufactured object." Used widely from late 14c. in theology and Platonic philosophy with senses "archetype of a thing or class; Platonic essence of a thing; the formative principle." From c. 1300 in law, "a legal agreement; terms of agreement," later "a legal document" (mid-14c.). Meaning "a document with blanks to be filled in" is from 1855. From 1590s as "systematic or orderly arrangement;" from 1610s as "mere ceremony." From 1550s as "a class or rank at school" (from sense "a fixed course of study," late 14c.). Form-fitting (adj.) in reference to clothing is from 1893.
indictment (n.): c. 1300, endytement "action of accusing," from Anglo-French enditement, from enditer (see indict). Meaning "legal document containing a charge" is from c. 1500. Latin spelling restored 17c.
legalese (n.): "the language of legal documents," 1914, from legal + language name ending -ese.
lucid (adj.): 1590s, "bright, shining," from Latin lucidus "light, bright, clear," figuratively "perspicuous, lucid, clear," from lucere "to shine," from lux (genitive lucis) "light," from PIE root *leuk- "to shine, be bright" (see light (n.)). Sense of "easy to understand" first recorded 1786. Lucid interval "period of calm or temporary sanity" (1580s) is from Medieval Latin lucida intervalla (plural), which was common in medieval English legal documents (non est compos mentis, sed gaudet lucidis intervallis). Related: Lucidly; lucidness (1640s).
New Year's Eve: c. 1300; "þer þay dronken & dalten ... on nwe gerez euen." The Julian calendar began on January 1, but the Christian Church frowned on pagan celebrations of this and chose the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) as its New Year's Day. The civic year in England continued to begin January 1 until late 12c., and even though legal documents then shifted to March 25, popular calendars and almanacs continued to begin on January 1. The calendar reform of 1751 restored the Julian New Year. New Year's was the main midwinter festival in Scotland from 17c., when Protestant authorities banned Christmas, and continued so after England reverted to Christmas, hence the Scottish flavor ("Auld Lang Syne," etc.). New Year's gathering in public places began 1878 in London, after new bells were installed in St. Paul's.
premise (n.): late 14c., in logic, "a previous proposition from which another follows," from Old French premisse (14c.), from Medieval Latin premissa (propositio or sententia) "(the proposition) set before," noun use of fem. past participle of Latin praemittere "send forward, put before," from prae "before" (see pre-) + mittere "to send" (see mission). In legal documents it meant "matter previously stated" (early 15c.), which in deeds or wills often was a house or building, hence the extended meaning "house or building, with grounds" (1730).
proviso (n.): mid-15c., from Medieval Latin proviso (quod) "provided (that)," phrase at the beginning of clauses in legal documents (mid-14c.), from Latin proviso "it being provided," ablative neuter of provisus, past participle of providere (see provide). Related: Provisory.
purview (n.): mid-15c., "body of a statute," from Anglo-French purveuest "it is provided," or purveu que "provided that" (late 13c.), clauses that introduced statutes in old legal documents, from Anglo-French purveu, Old French porveu (Modern French pourvu) "provided," past participle of porveoir "to provide," from Latin providere "make ready" (see provide). Sense of "scope, extent" is first recorded 1788 in "Federalist" (Madison). Modern sense and spelling influenced by view (n.).
quib (n.): evasion of a point, 1540s, from Latin quibus "by what (things)?," dative or ablative plural of quid "in what respect? to what extent?; how? why?," neuter of relative pronoun quis (see who). "[A]s a word of frequent occurrence in legal documents ... hence associated with the 'quirks and quillets' of the law." [OED]. Also compare quibble.
writ (n.): Old English writ "something written, piece of writing," from the past participle stem of writan (see write). Used of legal documents or instruments since at least 1121.