英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

pencil [pencil 词源字典]: pencil: [14] Etymologically, a pencil is a ‘little penis’. It originally denoted a ‘paintbrush’ – the current sense ‘writing implement filled with a graphite rod’ did not emerge until the 17th century – and came via Old French pincel from Vulgar Latin *pēnicellum, an alteration of Latin pēnicillum ‘paintbrush’. This was a diminutive form of pēniculus ‘brush’, which was in turn a diminutive of pēnis. Pēnis originally meant ‘tail’ (whence the metaphor of the ‘brush’), and only by extension was it used for ‘male sex organ’ (in which sense English adopted it as penis [17]).

The term penicillin [20] was based on Latin pēnicillum, in allusion to the tuft-like shape of its spore-bearing structures.
=> penicillin, penis[pencil etymology, pencil origin, 英语词源]
anatomy (n.): late 14c., "study of the structure of living beings;" c. 1400, "anatomical structures," from Old French anatomie, from Late Latin anatomia, from Greek anatomia, from anatome "dissection," from ana- "up" (see ana-) + temnein "to cut" (see tome). "Dissection" (1540s), "mummy" (1580s), and "skeleton" (1590s) were primary senses of this word in Shakespeare's day; meaning "the science of the structure of organized bodies" predominated from 17c. Often mistakenly divided as an atomy or a natomy.
The scyence of the Nathomy is nedefull and necessarye to the Cyrurgyen [1541]
cervix (n.): early 15c., "ligament in the neck," from Latin cervix "the neck, nape of the neck," from PIE *kerw-o-, from root *ker- (1) "horn, head" (see horn (n.)). Applied to various neck-like structures of the body, especially that of the uterus (by 1702), where it is shortened from medical Latin cervix uteri (17c.). Sometimes in medical writing 18c.-19c. cervix of the uterus to distinguish it from the neck sense.
checkpoint (n.): 1940, from check (v.1) + point (n.). Originally an aviator's term for landforms or structures of known height against which the craft's altitude could be visually checked. The "vehicle stop" sense is recorded from 1950.
chromosome (n.): 1889, from German Chromosom, coined 1888 by German anatomist Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836-1921), from Latinized form of Greek khroma "color" (see chroma) + -some (3)). So called because the structures contain a substance that stains readily with basic dyes.
close (v.): c. 1200, "to shut, cover in," from Old French clos- (past participle stem of clore "to shut, to cut off from"), 12c., from Latin clausus, past participle of claudere "to shut, close; to block up, make inaccessible; put an end to; shut in, enclose, confine" (always -clusus, -cludere in compounds).

The Latin word might be from the possible PIE root *klau- "hook, peg, crooked or forked branch" (used as a bar or bolt in primitive structures); cognates: Latin clavis "key," clavus "nail," claustrum "bar, bolt, barrier," claustra "dam, wall, barricade, stronghold;" Greek kleidos (genitive) "bar, bolt, key," klobos "cage;" Old Irish clo "nail," Middle Irish clithar "hedge, fence;" Old Church Slavonic ključi "hook, key," ključiti "shut;" Lithuanian kliuti "to catch, be caught on," kliaudziu "check, hinder," kliuvu "clasp, hang;" Old High German sliozan "shut," German schließen "to shut," Schlüssel "key."

Also partly from Old English beclysan "close in, shut up." Intransitive sense "become shut" is from late 14c. Meaning "draw near to" is from 1520s. Intransitive meaning "draw together, come together" is from 1550s, hence the idea in military verbal phrase close ranks (mid-17c.), later with figurative extensions. Meaning "bring to an end, finish" is from c. 1400; intransitive sense "come to an end" is from 1826. Of stock prices, from 1860. Meaning "bring together the parts of" (a book, etc.) is from 1560s. Related: Closed; closing.
corticosteroid (n.): by 1945, from cortico-, word-forming element from comb. form of Latin cortex "bark of a tree" (see cortex), applied since c. 1890 to various surface structures of plants, animals, or organs + steroid. So called because they are produced in the adrenal cortex. Related: Corticosterone.
embattled (adj.): "under attack," by 1882; earlier and more etymologically it meant "prepared to fight" (late 15c.), and (of structures) "fitted with battlements" (late 14c.); past participle adjective from embattle (v.).
fountain (n.): early 15c., "spring of water that collects in a pool," from Old French fontaine "natural spring" (12c.), from Medieval Latin fontana "fountain, a spring" (source of Spanish and Italian fontana), from post-classical noun use of fem. of Latin fontanus "of a spring," from fons (genitive fontis) "spring (of water)," from PIE root *dhen- (1) "to run, flow" (cognates: Sanskrit dhanayati, Old Persian danuvatiy "flows, runs").

The extended sense of "artificial jet of water" (and the structures that make them) is first recorded c. 1500. Hence also fountain-pen (by 1823), so called for the reservoir that supplies a continuous flow of ink. "A French fountain-pen is described in 1658 and Miss Burney used one in 1789" [Weekley]. Fountain of youth, and the story of Ponce de Leon's quest for it, seem to have been introduced in American English by Hawthorne's "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" (January 1837).
"Did you never hear of the 'Fountain of Youth'?" asked Dr. Heidegger, "which Ponce de Leon, the Spanish adventurer, went in search of two or three centuries ago?"
fourchette (n.): 1754, in reference to anatomical structures, from French fourchette, diminutive of fourche "a fork" (see fork (n.)).
galaxy (n.): late 14c., from French galaxie or directly from Late Latin galaxias "the Milky Way" as a feature in the night sky (in classical Latin via lactea or circulus lacteus)from Greek galaxias (adj.), in galaxias kyklos, literally "milky circle," from gala (genitive galaktos) "milk" (see lactation). The technical astronomical sense in reference to the discrete stellar aggregate including the sun and all visible stars emerged by 1848. Figurative sense of "brilliant assembly of persons" is from 1580s. Milky Way is a translation of Latin via lactea.
See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë Which men clepeth the Milky Wey, For hit is whyt. [Chaucer, "House of Fame"]
Originally ours was the only one known. Astronomers began to speculate by mid-19c. that some of the spiral nebulae they could see in telescopes were actually immense and immensely distant structures the size and shape of the Milky Way. But the matter was not settled in the affirmative until the 1920s.
geodesy (n.): 1560s, "the art of land surveying," from Modern Latin geodaesia, from Greek geodaisia "division of the earth;" ultimately from ge "earth" (see Gaia) + stem of daiein "to divide," from PIE *dai-, extended form of root *da- "to divide." In modern use it refers to mathematical calculations derived from measuring large portions of the earth's surface. In this sense, in reference to structures, from 1936.
henge (n.): 1740, noted as a Yorkshire word for structures such as Stonehenge.
honeycomb (n.): Old English hunigcamb; see honey (n.) + comb (n). Probably the image is from wool combing. Transferred use, of structures of similar appearance, from 1520s. As a verb, from 1620s (implied in honeycombed).
intercrural (adj.): "between the thighs," or in madicine, "between leg-like structures," 1690s, from inter- + Latin crus "shin, shinbone leg; supports of a bridge."
nacelle (n.): late 15c., "small boat," from Old French nacele "little boat, bark, skiff" (12c., Modern French nacelle), from Vulgar Latin *naucella, from Late Latin navicella "a little ship," diminutive of navis "ship" (see naval). Meaning "gondola of an airship" is from 1901; extended to "cockpit of an aircraft" by 1914; later transferred to other similar housings and structures.
pentagon (n.): plane figure with five angles and five sides, 1560s, from Middle French pentagone or directly from Late Latin pentagonum "pentagon," from Greek pentagonon, noun use of neuter of adjective pentagonos "five-angled," from pente "five" (see five) + gonia "angle" (see -gon). The U.S. military headquarters Pentagon was completed 1942, so called for its shape; used allusively for "U.S. military leadership" from 1945. Related: Pentagonal.
In nature, pentagonal symmetry is rare in inanimate forms. Packed soap bubbles seem to strive for it but never quite succeed, and there are no mineral crystals with true pentagonal structures. But pentagonal geometry is basic to many living things, from roses and forget-me-nots to sea urchins and starfish. [Robert Bringhurst, "The Elements of Typographic Style," 1992]
re-enforce (v.): also reenforce, 1580s, "to give fresh strength to," from re- "back, again" + enforce (v.). Originally of persons or military units; of buildings, structures, etc., attested from 1883. Related: Re-enforced; re-enforcing.
shaky (adj.): 1840, of handwriting; 1841 of persons, horses, and credit; 1850 of structures; from shake (v.) + -y (2). General sense of "uncertain, of questionable integrity" is from 1834. Earliest of trees or logs, "split, having fissures" (1808). Related: Shakily; shakiness.
sinistrorse (adj.): 1856, a word wanted by the botanists to describe the direction of spiral structures in nature, from Latin sinistrorsus "toward the left side," from sinister "left" (see sinister). It was paired with dextrorse but confusion over what was the proper point of view to reckon leftward or rightward spiraling prevented the word being as useful as it might have been.
spoiler (n.): 1530s, "one who robs or plunders," agent noun from spoil (v.). Meaning "one who mars another's chance at victory" is attested from 1950 in U.S. politics, perhaps from boxing. Aeronautics sense is from 1928, because the flap thwarts the "lift" on the plane; transferred to structures serving a similar purpose on speedboats (1957) and motor vehicles (1963). Meaning "information about the plot of a movie, etc., which might 'spoil' it for one who has not seen it" is attested by 1982.
stalk (n.): "stem of a plant," early 14c., probably a diminutive (with -k suffix) of stale "one of the uprights of a ladder, handle, stalk," from Old English stalu "wooden part" (of a tool or instrument), from Proto-Germanic *stalla- (cognates: Old English steala "stalk, support," steall "place"), from PIE *stol-no-, suffixed form of *stol-, variant of root *stel- "to put, stand" (see stall (n.1)). Of similar structures in animals from 1826.
venation (n.): "arrangement of veins," 1640s, of plant structures, noun of state from Latin vena "vein" (see vein). Related: Venational.
villa (n.): 1610s, "country mansion of the ancient Romans," from Italian villa "country house, villa, farm," from Latin villa "country house, farm," related to vicus "village, group of houses," from PIE *weik-sla-, suffixed form of root *weik- (1) "clan" (cognates: Sanskrit vesah "house," vit "dwelling, house, settlement;" Avestan vis "house, village, clan;" Old Persian vitham "house, royal house;" Greek oikos "house;" Old Church Slavonic visi "village;" Gothic weihs "village;" Lithuanian viešpats "master of the house"). Of modern structures from 1711.
whorl (n.): mid-15c., "the small flywheel of a spindle," perhaps an alteration of whirl. Meaning "circlar arrangement of leaves or flowers round a stem of a plant" is first recorded 1550s. Of seashells or other spiral structures, from 1828. Related: Whorled.
marsupium: "A pouch that protects eggs, offspring, or reproductive structures, especially the pouch of a female marsupial mammal", Mid 17th century: via Latin from Greek marsupion, diminutive of marsipos 'purse'.
ambulacrum: "(In an echinoderm) each of the radially arranged bands, together with their underlying structures, through which the double rows of tube feet protrude", Early 19th century: Latin, 'avenue', from ambulare 'to walk'.
petalody: "Transformation of parts of a flower, usually stamens or sepals, into petals or petal-like structures (as a teratological or evolutionary phenomenon)", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Maxwell Tylden Masters (1833–1907), botanist and journal editor. From ancient Greek πεταλώδης leaf-like + -y, apparently after petalodic.
polystome: "Having several mouths or mouthlike structures; polystomatous; specifically designating or relating to a monogenean trematode of the family Polystomatidae, characterized by several suckers", Mid 19th cent. From scientific Latin Polystoma from ancient Greek πολύστομος many-mouthed from πολυ- + -στόμα mouth; compare -stome. Compare French polystome.
phyllophorous: "Bearing leaves or leaflike structures; Zoology (of a bat) having a leaflike appendage on the snout", Early 19th cent.; earliest use found in John Hull (1764–1843), physician and botanist.
pilosebaceous: "Designating or relating to sebaceous glands that open into hair follicles, or the anatomical unit formed by these structures", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in The Lancet. After French pilosébacé (L. Moynac Élém. de Pathol. et de Clinique Chirurgicales (ed. 2, 1878) II. 647).
myrmecophyte: "A myrmecophilous plant; specifically any of certain tropical epiphytes adapted by means of specialized structures to give shelter to ants, and in some cases to supply them with food", Late 19th cent.; earliest use found in Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. From German Myrmekophyt from myrmeko- + -phyt.
rhabdoid: "Resembling a rod; rod-shaped, rodlike; ( Zoology ) of or relating to rod-like structures secreted by turbellarian flatworms", Mid 19th cent.; earliest use found in Robert Mayne (1808–1868). From post-classical Latin rabdoides from Hellenistic Greek ῥαβδοειδής striped from ancient Greek ῥάβδος rod + -οειδής.
hymenium: "(In higher fungi) a surface consisting mainly of spore-bearing structures (asci or basidia)", Early 19th century: from Greek humenion, diminutive of humēn 'membrane'.
teredo: "A worm-like marine bivalve mollusc with reduced shells which it uses to drill into wood. It can cause substantial damage to wooden structures and (formerly) ships", Late Middle English: via Latin from Greek terēdōn; related to teirein 'rub hard, wear away'.