quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- liable
- liable: [15] Today’s main meaning of liable, ‘likely to’, is a comparatively recent development. Its primary sense is ‘legally bound or obliged’ (as in ‘liable for someone else’s debts’), which goes right back to the word’s ultimate source, Latin ligāre ‘tie’. Its Old French descendant lier is assumed to have give rise to an Anglo-Norman derivative *liable, literally ‘bindable’, which English took over.
Other English words that come ultimately from ligāre include ally, liaison [17], lien [16] (etymologically a ‘bond’), ligament [14], ligature [14], oblige, religion, and rely.
=> ally, liaison, lien, ligament, ligature, oblige, religion, rely - hue and cry
- "A loud clamour or public outcry", Late Middle English: from the Anglo-Norman French legal phrase hu e cri, literally 'outcry and cry', from Old French hu 'outcry' (from huer 'to shout'). More In early times any person witnessing or surprising a criminal committing a crime could raise a hue and cry, calling for others to join in their pursuit and capture. In law the cry had to be raised by the inhabitants of the district in which the crime was committed, or otherwise the pursuers were liable for any damages suffered by the victim. The origin of the expression is in legal French hu e cri ‘outcry and cry’. The first element has no connection with hue ‘colour’, which is a native English word related to Swedish hy ‘skin, complexion’, and originally meant ‘form, appearance’, only developing the colour sense in the mid 19th century.