quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- union
- union: [15] Union is one of a range of English words that go back to Latin ūnus ‘one’. This in turn was descended from a prehistoric Indo- European *oinos, which also produced English one. Other members of the family include inch, ounce, unique, unite [15], etc. As for union itself, its immediate ancestor was ūniō, a derivative of ūnus which denoted ‘unity’ or ‘the number one’. The application of the English word to an ‘association of workers’ dates from the early 19th century (a somewhat earlier term was combination).
=> inch, one, ounce, unique, unite - number (n.)
- c. 1300, "sum, aggregate of a collection," from Anglo-French noumbre, Old French nombre and directly from Latin numerus "a number, quantity," from PIE root *nem- "to divide, distribute, allot" (related to Greek nemein "to deal out;" see nemesis). Meaning "symbol or figure of arithmetic value" is from late 14c. Meaning "single (numbered) issue of a magazine" is from 1795. Meaning "dialing combination to reach a particular telephone receiver" is from 1879; hence wrong number (1886). The modern meaning "musical selection" (1885) is from vaudeville theater programs, where acts were marked by a number. Earlier numbers meant "Harmony; proportion calculated by number," and "Verses, poetry" [Johnson].
Number one "oneself" is from 1704 (mock-Italian form numero uno attested from 1973); the biblical Book of Numbers (c. 1400, Latin Numeri, Greek Arithmoi) so called because it begins with a census of the Israelites. Slang number one and number two for "urination" and "defecation" attested from 1902. Number cruncher is 1966, of machines; 1971, of persons. To get or have (someone's) number "have someone figured out" is attested from 1853. The numbers "illegal lottery" is from 1897, American English.