quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- burke



[burke 词源字典] - burke: [19] In present-day English burke means ‘avoid’, as in ‘burke an issue’, but it can be traced back semantically via ‘suppress, hush up’ to ‘suffocate so as to provide a body for surgical dissection’. In this sense it was a macabre adoption of the name of William Burke (1792– 1829), an Irishman who with his colleague William Hare set up a profitable but nefarious business in early 19th-century Edinburgh providing cadavers for surgeons to dissect.
To begin with they obtained their supplies by robbing graves, but eventually, in order to get higher-quality material, they took to murdering people, generally by suffocation or strangling. Burke was executed.
[burke etymology, burke origin, 英语词源] - improvise




- improvise: [19] Etymologically, if you improvise something, it is because it has not been ‘provided’ for in advance. The word comes via French improviser from the Italian adjective improvviso ‘extempore’, a descendant of Latin imprōvīsus ‘unforeseen’. This in turn was formed from the negative prefix in- and the past participle of prōvīdere ‘foresee’ (source of English provide).
The earliest recorded use of the verb in English is by Benjamin Disraeli in Vivian Grey 1826: ‘He possessed also the singular faculty of being able to improvise quotations’. (The closely related improvident ‘not providing for the future’ [16] preserves even more closely the sense of its Latin original.)
=> provide - jukebox




- jukebox: [20] The jukebox – a coin-operated record-player – got its name from being played in jukes; and a juke (or juke-house, or jukejoint), in US Black English slang of the middle years of the 20th century, was a roadhouse providing food and drink, music for dancing, and usually the services of prostitutes. The word probably came from the adjective juke or joog, which meant ‘wicked’ or ‘disorderly’ in the Gullah language, a creolized English of South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida; and that in turn may well have originated in some as yet unidentified West African language.
- yard




- yard: Yard ‘enclosed area’ [OE] and yard ‘three feet’ [OE] are distinct words, both of ancient ancestry. The former probably goes back ultimately to Indo-European *ghorto-, which also produced Latin cohors ‘court’ (source of English cohort and court) and hortus ‘garden’ (source of English horticulture) and Russian gorod ‘town’ (as in Leningrad).
Its prehistoric Germanic descendant was *gard-, which, as well as providing English with yard, has produced garden, garth [14] (via Old Norse), and the second syllable of orchard. Yard ‘three feet’ originally meant ‘stick, rod’ (a sense preserved nautically, as in yardarm [16]). It goes back ultimately to prehistoric Germanic *gazdaz ‘pointed stick’ (source of the gad of gadfly [16], etymologically the fly with the ‘sting’).
From this was derived West Germanic *gazdjō, which evolved into German gerte ‘sapling, riding cane’, Dutch gard ‘twig, rod’, and English yard. The Anglo-Saxons used the term as a unit of measurement of land, equal to about five metres (what later became known as a rod, pole, or perch), but its modern use for ‘three feet’ did not emerge until the 14th century.
=> cohort, court, garden, garth, horticulture, orchard; gadfly - certification (n.)




- early 15c., "notification;" mid-15c., "demonstration, proof," from Medieval Latin certificationem (nominative certificatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Late Latin certificare (see certify). Meaning "act of providing with a legal certificate" is from 1881.
- conscription (n.)




- late 14c., "a putting in writing," from Middle French conscription, from Latin conscriptionem (nominative conscriptio) "a drawing up of a list, enrollment, a levying of soldiers," from conscribere "to enroll," from com- "with" (see com-) + scribere "to write" (see script (n.)).
Meaning "enlistment of soldiers" is from 1520s; the sense "compulsory enlistment for military service" (1800) is traceable to the French Republic act of Sept. 5, 1798. Technically, a conscription is the enrollment of a fixed number by lot, with options of providing a substitute. - feed (n.)




- "action of feeding," 1570s, from feed (v.). Meaning "food for animals" is first attested 1580s. Meaning "a sumptuous meal" is from 1808. Of machinery, "action of or system for providing raw material" from 1892.
- finding (n.)




- c. 1300, "act of discovering" (by chance or after searching; also an instance of this); verbal noun from find (v.). From c. 1400 as "what the mind discovers; knowledge attained by human effort" (as distinct from revelation or authority). Late 14c. as "act of sustaining, supporting, or providing the necessities of life; that which is provided by way of sustenance and support." Legal sense "proceedings leading to a verdict in an inquisition, etc.," is from mid-15c. Old English finding meant "invention." Related: Findings.
- furniture (n.)




- 1520s, "act of supplying or providing," from Middle French fourniture "a supply; act of furnishing," from Old French forneture (13c.), from fornir "to furnish" (see furnish). Sense of "chairs, tables, etc.; household stuff; movables required or ornamental in a dwelling-place" (1570s) is unique to English; most other European languages derive their words for this from Latin mobile "movable."
- kicky (adj.)




- 1790, "clever; showy, gaudy," from kick (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "full of thrills, providing kicks" is from 1968.
- maintenance (n.)




- mid-14c., "bearing, deportment," from Old French maintenance "upkeep; shelter, protection,: from maintenir (see maintain). Meaning "action of upholding or keeping in being" is from early 15c. "Action of providing a person with the necessities of life" is from late 14c.
- nutrient (n.)




- "a nutritious substance," 1828, noun use of adjective (1640s) meaning "providing nourishment," from Latin nutrientem (nominative nutriens), present participle of nutrire "to nourish, suckle, feed, foster" (see nourish).
- Patriot Act




- signed into law Oct. 26, 2001; a contrived acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
- provide (v.)




- early 15c., from Latin providere "look ahead, prepare, supply, act with foresight," from pro- "ahead" (see pro-) + videre "to see" (see vision). Related: Provided; providing. Earlier in same sense was purvey, which is the same word as deformed in Old French.
- provision (n.)




- late 14c., "a providing beforehand, action of arranging in advance" (originally in reference to ecclesiastical appointments made before the position was vacant), from Old French provision "precaution, care" (early 14c.), from Latin provisionem (nominative provisio) "a foreseeing, foresight, preparation, prevention," noun of action from past participle stem of providere "look ahead" (see provide). Meaning "something provided" is attested from late 15c.; specific sense of "supply of food" is from c. 1600.
- screen (n.)




- mid-14c., "upright piece of furniture providing protection from heat of a fire, drafts, etc.," probably from a shortened (Anglo-French? compare Anglo-Latin screna) variant of Old North French escren, Old French escran "fire-screen" (early 14c.), perhaps from Middle Dutch scherm "screen, cover, shield," or Frankish *skrank "barrier," from Proto-Germanic *skerm- (cognates: Old High German skirm, skerm "protection," from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)).
Meaning "net-wire frame used in windows and doors" is recorded from 1859. Meaning "flat vertical surface for reception of projected images" is from 1810, originally in reference to magic lantern shows; later of movies. Transferred sense of "cinema world collectively" is attested from 1914; hence screen test (1918), etc. Screen saver first attested 1990. Screen printing recorded from 1918. - col




- "The lowest point of a ridge or saddle between two peaks, typically providing a pass from one side of a mountain range to another", Mid 19th century: from French, literally 'neck', from Latin collum.
- sustentative




- "Having the quality or purpose of sustaining something; providing sustenance or support; relating to sustentation", Early 17th cent.; earliest use found in Thomas Jackson. From post-classical Latin sustentativus from classical Latin sustentāt-, past participial stem of sustentāre + -īvus.
- chaperone




- "A person who accompanies and looks after another person or group of people", Late Middle English (denoting a hood or cap, regarded as giving protection): from French, feminine of chaperon 'hood', diminutive of chape (see chape). The current sense dates from the early 18th century.
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cap from Old English:We get our word cap from Latin cappa ‘hood’, which may be related to Latin caput ‘head’. Cape (late 16th century), ‘a cloak’, also come from cappa, while the geographical cape (Late Middle English) goes back to caput. The same source gives us chaperone (Late Middle English) first recorded as a hood. A person providing protection or cover by accompanying another, dates from the early 18th century. The saying if the cap fits, wear it goes back to a dunce's cap, of the kind that poor performers at school had to wear as a mark of disgrace. Americans use the version if the shoe fits, wear it. See also chapel
- fleshpots




- "Places providing luxurious or hedonistic living", Early 16th century: with biblical allusion to the fleshpots of Egypt (Exod. 16:3).
- umbriferous




- "Providing shade", Early 17th century: from Latin umbrifer (from umbra 'shade' + -fer 'bearing') + -ous.
- hypermedia




- "An extension to hypertext providing multimedia facilities, such as those handling sound and video", 1960s: from hyper- 'above, beyond' + media1.