quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- muck



[muck 词源字典] - muck: [13] The original meaning of muck is ‘excrement’; the more general ‘dirt’ is a 14thcentury development. It goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *muk-, *meuk- ‘soft’. This was also the source of Danish møg ‘dung’ (which provides the first syllable of midden [14], a borrowing from the ancestor of Danish mødding, literally ‘dung-heap’). The same Germanic base lies behind English meek [12], whose immediate Old Norse antecedent mjúkr meant ‘soft, pliant’ – leading on in due course to English ‘submissive’.
=> meek, midden[muck etymology, muck origin, 英语词源] - rheumatic




- rheumatic: [14] Greek rheuma meant literally ‘flow, stream’ (it came ultimately from the same Indo-European base as produced English stream, and was a close relative of the Greek verb rhein ‘flow’, which provides the second halves of English catarrh and diarrhoea). It was used for a ‘watery discharge from the body’, and was borrowed into English (via late Latin rheuma and Old French reume) as rheum [14] in the sense ‘mucous discharge from the eyes or nose’.
Pains in the joints were in former times thought to be caused by watery secretions within the body, and so towards the end of the 17th century the term rheumatism was applied to them.
=> catarrh, diarrhoea, rhyme, rhythm - tempest




- tempest: [13] Latin tempestās started off meaning nothing more alarming than ‘period of time’ (it was a derivative of tempus ‘time’, source of English temporary). Gradually, however, it progressed via ‘weather’ to ‘bad weather, storm’. Tempus moved in to take its place in the neutral sense ‘weather’, and provides the word for ‘weather’ in modern French (temps), Italian (tempo), Spanish (tiempo), and Romanian (timp). Other languages whose word for ‘weather’ comes from a term originally denoting ‘time’ include Russian (pogoda), Polish (czas), Czech (počasí), Latvian (laiks), and Breton (amzer).
=> temporary - document (n.)




- early 15c., "teaching, instruction," from Old French document (13c.) "lesson, written evidence," from Latin documentum "example, proof, lesson," in Medieval Latin "official written instrument," from docere "to show, teach" (see doctor (n.)). Meaning "something written that provides proof or evidence" is from early 18c. Related: Documents.
- heroin (n.)




- 1898, from German Heroin, coined 1898 as trademark registered by Friedrich Bayer & Co. for their morphine substitute, traditionally from Greek heros (see hero (n.1)) because of the euphoric feeling the drug provides, but no evidence for this seems to have been found so far.
A new hypnotic, to which the name of "heroin" has been given, has been tried in the medical clinic of Professor Gerhardt in Berlin. ["The Lancet," Dec. 3, 1898]
- pub (n.)




- 1859, slang shortening of public house (see public (adj.)), which originally meant "any building open to the public" (1570s), then "inn that provides food and is licensed to sell ale, wine, and spirits" (1660s), and finally "tavern" (1768). Pub crawl first attested 1910 in British slang.
- Rosetta Stone (n.)




- discovered 1798 at Rosetta, Egypt; now in British Museum. Dating to 2c. B.C.E., its trilingual inscription helped Jean-François Champollion decipher Egyptian demotic and hieroglyphics in 1822, which opened the way to study of all early Egyptian records. Hence, figurative use of the term to mean "something which provides the key to previously unattainable understanding" (1902). The place name is the European form of Rashid, a name given because it was founded c.800 C.E. by Caliph Harun ar-Rashid.
- sic (adv.)




- insertion in printed quotation to call attention to error in the original; Latin, literally "so, thus, in this way," related to or emphatic of si "if," from PIE root *so- "this, that" (cognates: Old English sio "she"). Used regularly in English articles from 1876, perhaps by influence of similar use in French (1872).
[I]t amounts to Yes, he did say that, or Yes, I do mean that, in spite of your natural doubts. It should be used only when doubt is natural; but reviewers & controversialists are tempted to pretend that it is, because (sic) provides them with a neat & compendious form of sneer. [Fowler]
Sic passim is "generally so throughout." - support (n.)




- late 14c., "act of assistance, backing, help, aid," from support (v.). Meaning "that which supports, one who provides assistance, protection, backing, etc." is early 15c. Sense of "bearing of expense" is mid-15c. Physical sense of "that which supports" is from 1560s. Meaning "services which enable something to fulfil its function and remain in operation" (as in tech support) is from 1953.
- tipster (n.)




- "one who provides private information," 1862, from tip (v.2) + -ster.
- toolbar (n.)




- 1960 as a frame fitted to a tractor to hold tools; from tool (n.) + bar (n.1). Computer sense is attested from 1991.
Among 100-odd new features in Excel 3.0 is a row of "buttons" on the screen called the Toolbar. Located under the pull-down menus, the Toolbar provides rapid access to frequently used commands. ["Popular Science," April 1991.]
- paravent




- "Chiefly in France or in French contexts: something, especially a screen, that provides protection against the wind; (hence in extended use) a dividing screen or partition", Mid 19th cent. From French paravent from Italian paravento from para- + vento wind.