英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

climax: climax: [16] Etymologically, a climax is a series of steps by which a goal is achieved, but in the late 18th century English, anticipating the culmination, started using it for the goal itself. It comes, via late Latin, from Greek klimax ‘ladder’, which was ultimately from the same source (the Indo-European base *kli-) as produced English lean. This came to be used metaphorically as a rhetorical term for a figure of speech in which a series of statements is arranged in order of increasing forcefulness, and hence for any escalating progression: ‘the top of the climax of their wickedness’, Edmund Burke 1793.

Whence modern English ‘high point’.
=> ladder, lean
tycoon: tycoon: [19] Japanese taikun was a title used for the military commander or shogun of Japan, particularly by his supporters when addressing foreigners, in the attempt to convey the impression that he was more powerful and important than the emperor. For it meant literally ‘great prince, emperor’. It was borrowed from ancient Chinese t’ai kiuən ‘emperor’, a compound formed from t’ai ‘great’ and kiuən ‘prince’. English acquired it in the 1850s, and it began to be used more generally for a ‘highranking personage’ in the USA soon afterwards. The specific application to businessmen seems to have evolved after World War I.
eel-skin (n.): 1560s, from eel + skin (n.). "Formerly used as a casing for the cue or pigtail of the hair or the wig, especially by sailors." [Century Dictionary]
forcible (adj.): early 15c., "powerful, violent; done by force," from Old French forcible "strong, powerful, mighty," from forcier "conquer by violence" (see force (v.)). From 1550s as "possessing force." Related: Forcibly.
forgetful (adj.): late 14c., from forget + -ful. A curious formation. Used in the sense "causing forgetting" from 1550s, but almost exclusively in poetry (Milton, Tennyson, etc.). An older word in this sense was Middle English forgetel, from Old English forgitel "forgetful," from a formation similar to that in Dutch vergetel. Related: Forgetfully; forgetfulness.
menagerie (n.): "collection of wild animals kept in captivity," 1712, from French ménagerie "housing for domestic animals" (16c.), from Old French manage (see menage).
study (v.): early 12c., "to strive toward, devote oneself to, cultivate" (translating Latin occupatur), from Old French estudiier "to study, apply oneself, show zeal for; examine" (13c., Modern French étudier), from Medieval Latin studiare, from Latin studium "study, application," originally "eagerness," from studere "to be diligent" ("to be pressing forward"), from PIE *(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)).
Martha swanc and becarcade to geforðigene þan Hælende and his þeowen þa lichamlice behefðen. Seo studdede emb þa uterlice þing. [Homily for the Feast of the Virgin Mary, c.1125]
From c. 1300 as "apply oneself to the acquisition of learning, pursue a formal course of study," also "read a book or writings intently or meditatively." From mid-14c. as "reflect, muse, think, ponder." Meaning "regard attentively" is from 1660s. Related: Studied; studying.
torsion (n.): early 15c., "wringing pain in the bowels," from Old French torsion "colic" (early 14c.), from Late Latin torsionem (nominative torsio) "a wringing or gripping," from Latin tortionem (nominative tortio) "torture, torment," noun of action from past participle stem of torquere "to twist, distort, torture" (see torque (n.)). Meaning "act or effect of twisting as by opposing forces" is first recorded 1540s.
tycoon (n.): 1857, title given by foreigners to the shogun of Japan (said to have been used by his supporters when addressing foreigners, as an attempt to convey that the shogun was more important than the emperor), from Japanese taikun "great lord or prince," from Chinese tai "great" + kiun "lord." Transferred meaning "important person" is attested from 1861, in reference to U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (in the diary of his secretary, John Hay); specific application to "wealthy and powerful businessman" is post-World War I.
vinaigrette (n.): 1690s, a type of condiment, from French vinaigrette (14c.), diminutive of vinaigre "(aromatic) vinegar" (see vinegar). Use in reference to a type of dressing for salads or cold vegetables is attested from 1877. From 1811 as "small box or bottle for carrying aromatic vinegar."
Marsupialia: "With plural concord. An order of mammals comprising forms which lack a complete placenta and give birth to very immature young which complete their development while attached to the mother's mammae, typically located in a protective abdominal pouch", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Henry McMurtrie (1793–1865). From scientific Latin Marsupialia from post-classical Latin marsupialis + -a.