英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

flash [flash 词源字典]: flash: [14] The earliest recorded use of flash is as a verb, referring to the swift turbulent splashing movement of water (a memory of which is probably preserved in modern English flash flood). The glints of light on the splashing surface of such water seems to have given rise in the 16th century, or perhaps before, to the main present-day sense of the word ‘burst out with sudden light’. It was presumably originally imitative of the sound of splashing water.
[flash etymology, flash origin, 英语词源]
illustrate: illustrate: [16] Illustrate is closely related etymologically to illuminate. It goes back to Latin illustrāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix in- and lustrāre ‘make bright’, which came from the same base as produced Latin lūmen (source of illuminate) and lūx ‘light’, and indeed English light. Originally it meant literally ‘throw light on’, but this eventually passed via ‘elucidate’ to, in the 17th century, ‘exemplify’ and ‘add pictures to’.

More of the original sense of ‘brightness’ survives, albeit metaphorically, in illustrious [16], which comes from Latin illustris ‘shining, clear’, a back-formation from illustrāre.
=> illuminate, illustrious, light, luminous, lustre
pleat: pleat: [14] Pleat, plait, and plight ‘predicament’ are essentially the same word, but have become differentiated over the centuries. All three go back to Vulgar Latin *plicitum or *plictum ‘fold’, a noun use of the past participle of Latin plicāre ‘fold’ (source of English ply). This became Old French pleit, which was originally borrowed into English as plete ‘fold’. Plete was to become modern English pleat, but at first it was used only as a verb.

For the noun, English borrowed pleit as plait [15] ‘fold’, which did not begin to acquire its modern English meaning ‘braid’ until the 16th century. The Anglo- Norman version of pleit was plit, which gave English plight [14]. This too originally meant ‘fold’, and the sense ‘predicament’ was presumably due to the influence of the other (completely unrelated) English word plight (see PLEDGE), which as a noun in Old and Middle English meant ‘danger’, but is now mainly encountered in the expression ‘plight one’s troth’.
=> fold, plait, plight, ply
pledge: pledge: [14] Pledge comes via Old French plege from late Latin plebium, a derivative of the verb plebīre ‘pledge’. This was probably borrowed from Frankish *plegan ‘guarantee’, a derivative of the same Germanic base as produced English plight ‘pledge’ [OE] (as in ‘plight one’s troth’) and German pflicht ‘duty’.
=> plight
hop (n.3): "a small jump," c. 1500, from hop (v.). Slang sense of "informal dancing party" is from 1731 (defined by Johnson as "a place where meaner people dance"). Meaning "short flight on an aircraft" is from 1909.
illumine (v.): late 14c., "to enlighten spiritually;" mid-15c., "to light up, shine light on," from Old French illuminer, from Latin illuminare (see illumination). Related: illumined.
illustrate (v.): 1520s, "light up, shed light on;" 1610s, "educate by means of examples," back-formation from illustration, and in some cases from Latin illustratus, past participle of illustrare (see illustration). Sense of "provide pictures to explain or decorate" is 1630s. Related: Illustrated; illustrating.
plight (v.): "to pledge" (obsolete except in archaic plight one's troth), from Old English pligtan, plihtan "to endanger, imperil, compromise," verb form of pliht (n.) "danger, risk" (see plight (n.2)). Related: Plighted; plighting.
troth (n.): "truth, verity," late 12c., from a phonetic variant of Old English treowð "faithfulness, veracity, truth" (see truth). Restricted to Midlands and Northern England dialect after 16c., and to certain archaic phrases (such as plight one's troth). Also see betroth.
phosgene: "A colourless poisonous gas made by the reaction of chlorine and carbon dioxide. It was used as a poison gas, notably in the First World War", Early 19th century: from Greek phōs 'light' + -gen, with reference to its original production by the action of sunlight on chlorine and carbon monoxide.