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strive [strive 词源字典]: strive: [13] Strive was borrowed from Old French estriver ‘quarrel, strive’. It is not certain where this came from, although it has been suggested that it was acquired from Old High German strīt ‘contention’, a relative of English stride. Strife [13] comes from the associated Old French noun estrif.
=> strife[strive etymology, strive origin, 英语词源]
ball (n.1): "round object," Old English *beal, from or corresponding to Old Norse bollr "ball," from Proto-Germanic *balluz (cognates: Old High German ballo, German Ball), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole).

Meaning "testicle" is from early 14c. Ball of the foot is from mid-14c. A ball as an object in a sports game is recorded from c. 1200; To have the ball "hold the advantage" is from c. 1400. To be on the ball is 1912, from sports. Ball-point pen first recorded 1946. Ball of fire when first recorded in 1821 referred to "a glass of brandy;" as "spectacularly successful striver" it is c. 1900.
strive (v.): c. 1200, "quarrel, contend," from Old French estriver "to quarrel, dispute, resist, struggle, put up a fight, compete," from estrif, estrit "quarrel" (see strife). It became a strong verb (past tense strove) by rhyming association with drive, dive, etc. Meaning "try hard" is from early 14c. Related: Striving.