英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

altruism (n .)[altruism 词源字典]: 1853, "unselfishness, opposite of egoism," from French altruisme, coined or popularized 1830 by French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798-1857), from autrui, from Old French altrui, "of or to others," from Latin alteri, dative of alter "other" (see alter). Apparently suggested to Comte by French legal phrase l'autrui, or in full, le bien, le droit d'autrui. The -l- is perhaps a reinsertion from the Latin word.
There is a fable that when the badger had been stung all over by bees, a bear consoled him by a rhapsodic account of how he himself had just breakfasted on their honey. The badger replied peevishly, "The stings are in my flesh, and the sweetness is on your muzzle." The bear, it is said, was surprised at the badger's want of altruism. ["George Eliot," "Theophrastus Such," 1879]
[altruism etymology, altruism origin, 英语词源]
canny (adj.): 1630s, Scottish and northern English formation from can (v.1) in its sense of "know how to," + -y (2). "Knowing," hence, "careful." A doublet of cunning that flowed into distinct senses. Often used superciliously of Scots by their southern neighbors (and their American cousins).
The Canny Scot is so well known as scarcely to require description. He carries caution, cunning, and selfishness to excess. Deceitful when a purpose is to be accomplished, he is not habitually deceitful. One thing he never loses sight of--his own interest. But of his own interest he is not the most enlightened judge. ["The Natural History of Scotsmen," in "The Argosy," December 1865]
Related: Cannily; canniness.
egotism (n.): 1714, "too frequent use of 'I'," from ego + -ism. First used by Joseph Addison, who credits the term to "Port-Royalists" who used it in reference to obtrusive use of first person singular pronoun in writing, hence "talking too much about oneself." Meaning "self-conceit, selfishness" is from 1800. The -t- is abnormal, perhaps by influence of dogmatism.
floricide (n.): "one who destroys flowers," 1842, from Latin floris, genitive of flos "flower" (see flora) + -cide.
[S]urely there is cruelty and gross selfishness in cutting down for our own fleeting gratification that which would have ministered to the enjoyments of all for weeks or months. Frankly do I confess that I dislike a wanton floricide. He has robbed the world of a pleasure; he has blotted out a word from God's earth-written poetry. ["New Monthly Magazine" 1847]
selfish (adj.): 1630s, from self- + -ish. Said in Hacket's life of Archbishop Williams (1693) to have been coined by Presbyterians. In the 17c., synonyms included self-seeking (1620s), self-ended and self-ful.
Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs. [Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene," 1976]
Related: Selfishly; selfishness. Similar formations in German selbstisch, Swedish sjelfvisk, Danish selvisk.
unselfish (adj.): 1690s, from un- (1) "not" + selfish (adj.). Similar formation in Danish uselvisk, Swedish osjälfvisk. Related: Unselfishly; unselfishness.