英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

embrace: embrace: [14] To embrace someone is literally to ‘put your arms round’ them. It comes via Old French from Vulgar Latin *imbracchiāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix in- ‘in’ and Latin bracchium ‘arm’ (ultimate source of English brace, bracelet, and bra, and of French bras ‘arm’). The transferred sense ‘include’ developed in the 17th century (a course also taken by modern French embrasser, whose original ‘clasp in the arms’ has moved on to ‘kiss’ in response to the progression of baiser from ‘kiss’ to ‘have sex with’).
=> bra, brace, bracelet
yes: yes: [OE] Yes is descended from Old English gese. It is thought that this was a compound formed from gēa ‘yes’ (ancestor of archaic English yea and related to German and Dutch ja ‘yes’) and sīe, the third-person present singular subjunctive of be, and that it therefore originally meant literally ‘yes, may it be so’. It was at first used as a response to negative questions, while yea was used for positive questions, but around the end of the 16th century this distinction began to disappear, and yea has since died out.
=> yea
airlift (n.): also air-lift, 1893 as a type of pumping device; 1945 in the sense "transportation of supplies by air," from air (n.1) + lift (n.). As a verb by 1949; popularized in reference to the response to the West Berlin blockade. Related: Air-lifted; air-lifting.
ho-de-ho: 1932, defined in the "Oxford English Dictionary" as, "An exclamation, used as the appropriate response to HI-DE-HI."
Octobrist (n.): 1., from Russian oktyabrist, "member of the league formed October 1905 in response to imperial policies"; 2., from Russian Oktyabryonok, "member of a Russian communist children's organization founded 1925 and named in honor of the October Revolution."
Pavlovian (adj.): 1931, from the theories, experiments, and methods of Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936), especially in connection with the salivary reflexes of dogs in response to mental stimulus of the sound of a bell (attested from 1911, in Pavloff [sic] method).
reaction (n.): "action in resistance or response to another action or power," 1610s, from re- "again, anew" + action (q.v.). Modeled on French réaction, older Italian reattione, from Medieval Latin reactionem (nominative reactio), noun of action formed in Late Latin from past participle stem of Latin reagere "react," from re- "back" + agere "to do, act" (see act (v.)).

Originally scientific; physiological sense is attested from 1805; psychological sense first recorded 1887; general sense of "action or feeling in response" (to a statement, event, etc.) is recorded from 1914. Reaction time, "time elapsing between the action of an external stimulus and the giving of a signal in reply," attested by 1874.
Topsy: slave-girl character in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852), immortal in cliche for her response to a question about her origin put to her by the pious Northern abolitionist Miss Ophelia:
"Have you ever heard anything about God, Topsy?"
The child looked bewildered, but grinned, as usual.
"Do you know who made you?"
"Nobody as I knows on," said the child, with a short laugh.
The idea appeared to amuse her considerably; for her eyes twinkled, and she added--
"I spect I grow'd. Don't think nobody never made me."
In addition to being often misquoted by the addition of a "just" (or "jes'"), the line is sometimes used inappropriately in 20c. writing to indicate something that got large without anyone intending it to.
tropism (n.): 1899, "tendency of an animal or plant to turn or move in response to a stimulus," 1899, abstracted from geotropism or heliotropism, with the second element taken in an absolute sense; ultimately from Greek tropos "a turning" (see trope).
welcome (n.): Old English wilcuma "welcome!" exclamation of kindly greeting, from earlier wilcuma (n.) "welcome guest," literally "one whose coming suits another's will or wish," from willa "pleasure, desire, choice" (see will (n.)) + cuma "guest," related to cuman (see come). Similar formation in Old High German willicomo, Middle Dutch wellecome. Meaning "entertainment or public reception as a greeting" is recorded from 1530. The adjective is from Old English wilcuma. You're welcome as a formulaic response to thank you is attested from 1907. Welcome mat is from 1908; welcome wagon is attested from 1940.
Wiffle: hollow, perforated plastic ball, registered trademark name (The Wiffle Ball Inc., Shelton, Connecticut, U.S.), claiming use from 1954. According to the company, designed in 1953 by David N. Mullany "in response to a lack of field space and numerous broken windows by his baseball-playing son," the name based on whiff (q.v.), baseball slang for a missed swing.
monkey puzzle: "An evergreen coniferous tree with branches covered in spirals of tough spiny leaf-like scales, native to Chile", Mid 19th century: said to be so named in response to a remark that an attempt to climb the tree would puzzle a monkey.
aerotaxis: "Directional movement (taxis) of a cell or organism in response to a gradient in oxygen concentration; an instance of this", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society.
secretin: "A hormone released into the bloodstream by the duodenum (especially in response to acidity) to stimulate secretion by the liver and pancreas", Early 20th century: from secretion + -in¹.
chemoreflex: "A reflex response to a chemical stimulus; frequently attributive", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Mind.
alarm pheromone: "A pheromone released by an animal, especially a social insect, in response to attack or injury, typically triggering a response of aggression or flight in others of the same species or colony", 1960s; earliest use found in Science.
electrophone: "An instrument which produces sounds in response to an electric current, e.g. from an induction coil or telephone, especially as developed to enable telephone subscribers to hear concerts, plays, public speeches, etc., in their home. Now historical", Mid 19th cent. From electro- + -phone. Compare earlier electrophonic.
periderm: "The corky outer layer of a plant stem formed in secondary thickening or as a response to injury or infection", Mid 19th century: from peri- 'around' + Greek derma 'skin'.
facultative: "Occurring optionally in response to circumstances rather than by nature", Early 19th century: from French facultatif, -ive, from faculté (see faculty).
diabetes insipidus: "A disease in which the secretion of or response to the pituitary hormone vasopressin is impaired, resulting in the production of very large quantities of dilute urine, often with dehydration and insatiable thirst", Late 19th century: from diabetes + Latin insipidus 'insipid'.