quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- souse




- souse: [14] To souse something is etymologically to steep it in ‘salt’. The word comes via Old French sous from Old Saxon sultia or Old High German sulza ‘brine’, descendants of the prehistoric Germanic base *salt-, *sult- (from which English gets salt). The notion of pickling something in brine soon broadened out to pickling in other liquids, such as vinegar, and by the 16th century souse was being used metaphorically for ‘drench’.
=> salt - alcohol (n.)




- 1540s (early 15c. as alcofol), "fine powder produced by sublimation," from Medieval Latin alcohol "powdered ore of antimony," from Arabic al-kuhul "kohl," the fine metallic powder used to darken the eyelids, from kahala "to stain, paint." The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the."
"Powdered cosmetic" was the earliest sense in English; definition broadened 1670s to "any sublimated substance, the pure spirit of anything," including liquids. Modern sense of "intoxicating ingredient in strong liquor" is first recorded 1753, short for alcohol of wine, which was extended to "the intoxicating element in fermented liquors." In organic chemistry, the word was extended 1850 to the class of compounds of the same type as this. - ampoule (n.)




- "small bottle or flask," especially one used for holy liquids, c. 1200, from Old French ampole, from Latin ampulla "small globular flask or bottle," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps a contracted form of amphora.
- cooper (n.)




- "craftsman who makes wooden vessels," attested from late 12c. as a surname, either from Old English (unattested) or from a Low German source akin to Middle Dutch cuper, East Frisian kuper, from Low German kupe (German Kufe) "cask," cognate with Medieval Latin cupa (see coop (n.)).
A dry cooper makes casks, etc., to hold dry goods, a wet cooper those to contain liquids, a white cooper pails, tubs, and the like for domestic or dairy use. [OED]
The surname Cowper (pronounced "cooper") preserves a 15c. spelling. - cruse (n.)




- "small vessel for liquids," early 15c., perhaps related to Old Norse krus "pot, tankard," from a general Germanic root which is of unknown origin. Compare Middle Dutch cruese, Dutch kroes "cup, pot, mug," Middle Low German krus, Danish krus "mug, jug," German Krause "jug, mug."
- exhale (v.)




- c. 1400, transitive, originally of liquids, perfumes, etc., from Middle French exhaler (14c.), from Latin exhalare "breathe out, evaporate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + halare "breathe." Of living things, "to breathe out," 1580s transitive; 1863 intransitive. Related: Exhaled; exhaling.
- foment (v.)




- early 15c., "apply hot liquids," from Old French fomenter "apply hot compress (to a wound)" (13c.), from Late Latin fomentare, from Latin fomentum "warm application, poultice," contraction of *fovimentum, from fovere "to warm; cherish, encourage" (see fever). Extended sense of "stimulate, instigate" (1620s), on the notion of "encourage the growth of," as if by heat, probably was taken from French. Related: Fomented; fomenting.
- gallon (n.)




- English measure of capacity (containing four quarts), usually for liquids, late 13c., from Old North French galon, corresponding to Old French jalon, name of a liquid measure roughly equivalent to a modern gallon," which is related to (perhaps augmentative of) jale "bowl," from Medieval Latin or Vulgar Latin diminutive form galleta "bucket, pail," also "a measure of wine," a word of unknown origin, perhaps from Gaulish galla "vessel."
- jug (n.)




- "deep vessel for carrying liquids," late 15c., jugge, variant of jubbe, of unknown origin, perhaps from jug "a low woman, a maidservant" (mid-16c.), a familiar alteration of a common personal name, Joan or Judith. Use as a musical instrument is attested from 1946. Jughead "klutz" is from 1926; jughandle "tight curved road used for turns" is from 1961. Jugs for "woman's breasts" first recorded 1920 in Australian slang, short for milk jugs.
- ladle (n.)




- "large, long-handled spoon for drawing liquids," Old English hlædel "ladle," from hladan "to load" (see lade) + -le, suffix expressing "appliance, tool" (compare shovel, handle, thimble). The verb is first recorded 1520s, from the noun. Related: Ladled; ladling.
- leach (v.)




- Old English leccan "to moisten, water, wet, irrigate," (see leak (v.)). The word disappears, then re-emerges late 18c. in a technological sense in reference to percolating liquids. Related: Leached; leaching.
- Munchkin (n.)




- 1900, coined by U.S. author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." He never explained how he got the word. The word most like it is perhaps mutchkin, an old Scottish measure of capacity for liquids, which was used by Scott. (It comes from Middle Dutch mutseken, originally "a little cap," from mutse "cap," earlier almutse "amice, hood, headdress," from Latin amictus "mantle, cloak," noun use of past participle of amicire "to wrap, throw around," a compound from ambi- (see ambi-) + iacere (see jet (v.).)
- Shrewsbury




- one of the most etymologically complex of English place names, it illustrates the changes wrought in Old English words by Anglo-French scribes who could not pronounce them. Recorded 1016 as Scrobbesbyrig, it originally may have meant "the fortified place in (a district called) The Scrub." The initial consonant cluster was impossible for the scribes, who simplified it to sr-, then added a vowel (sar-) to make it easier still.
The name was also changed by Anglo-French loss or metathesis of liquids in words containing -l-, -n-, or -r- (also evident in the derivatives of Old French Berengier "bear-spear" -- Old High German Beringar -- name of one of the paladins in the Charlemagne romances and a common given name in England 12c. and 13c., which has come down in surnames as Berringer, Bellanger, Benger, etc.). Thus Sarop- became Salop- and in the 12c. and 13c. the overwhelming spelling in government records was Salopesberie, which accounts for the abbreviation Salop for the modern county.
During all this, the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants (as opposed to the French scribes) still pronounced it properly, and regular sound evolutions probably produced a pronunciation something like Shrobesbury (which turns up on a 1327 patent roll). After a predictable -b- to -v- (a vowel in the Middle Ages) to -u- shift, the modern spelling begins to emerge 14c. and is fully established 15c.
Shrewsbury clock, for some reason, became proverbial for exactness, and thus, naturally, proverbial as indicating exaggeration of accuracy (1590s). - test-tube (n.)




- 1809, from test (n.) + tube (n.). So called because it originally was used to test the properties of liquids. Test-tube baby is recorded from 1935.
- tunnel (n.)




- early 15c., "funnel-shaped net for catching birds," from Middle French tonnelle "net," or tonel "cask," diminutive of Old French tonne "tun, cask for liquids," possibly from the same source as Old English tunne (see tun).
Sense of "tube, pipe" (1540s) developed in English and led to sense of "underground passage" (1660s). This sense subsequently has been borrowed into French (1878). The earlier native word for this was mine (n.). Meaning "burrow of an animal" is from 1873. Tunnel vision first recorded 1912. The amusement park tunnel of love is attested from 1911 (in reference to New York's Luna Park). The figurative light at the end of the tunnel has been seen since 1882.
The "Tunnel of Love," an attraction found at many amusement parks, has been responsible for a surprising number of proposals. In this and similar devices, couples are allowed to drift through dark or semi-dark underground caverns, usually in a boat or gondola borne on an artificial stream of water. ... Their dim interiors often give a bashful young man the opportunity to propose. ["The American Magazine," July 1922]
- volumetric (adj.)




- 1854, from volumeter "instrument for measuring the volume of liquids and gases" (1827) + -ic. Related: Volumetrical (1853).
- jerrycan




- "A large flat-sided metal container for storing or transporting liquids, typically petrol or water", Second World War: from Jerry + can2, because such containers were first used in Germany.
- densimeter




- "An instrument for measuring density, especially of liquids", Mid 19th century: from Latin densus 'dense' + -meter.
- hydrodynamics




- "The branch of science concerned with forces acting on or exerted by fluids (especially liquids)", Late 18th century: from modern Latin hydrodynamica, from Greek hudro- 'water' + dunamikos (see dynamic).