英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

mesmerize [mesmerize 词源字典]: mesmerize: [19] Franz Anton Mesmer (1734– 1815) was an Austrian doctor whose experiments with what he called ‘animal magnetism’, by which he induced a trance-like state in his subjects, are considered to be the forerunner of modern hypnotism (formerly called mesmerism [19]). The broader sense of mesmerize, ‘enthral’, dates from the early 20th century.
[mesmerize etymology, mesmerize origin, 英语词源]
pamphlet: pamphlet: [14] The original ‘pamphlet’ was Pamphilus, a short anonymous Latin love poem of the 12th century. It was very popular and widely reproduced, and its name was adapted in the vernacular to Pamflet; and by the end of the 14th century this was being used generically for any text shorter than a book. The word’s more restricted modern connotations (‘unbound’ and ‘dealing with controversial subjects’) developed gradually over the centuries.
satire: satire: [16] A satire is etymologically a ‘verse medley’, an ‘assortment of pieces on various subjects’. The word comes via Old French satire from Latin satira ‘mixture’, an alteration of an earlier satura. This is said to have been derived from satus ‘full’ (a relative of satis ‘enough’, source of English satisfy), and the link in the semantic chain from ‘full’ to ‘mixture’ is ‘plateful of assorted fruit’, the earliest recorded meaning of satura.

By classical times, Latin satira had moved on from being a general literary miscellany to its now familiar role as a ‘literary work ridiculing or denouncing people’s follies or vices’. The word has no etymological connection, incidentally, with satyr ‘Greek woodland god’ [14], which comes ultimately from Greek sáturos, a word of unknown origin.
subject: subject: [14] To subject something is etymologically to ‘throw it under’. The verb comes via Old French subjecter from Latin sujectāre, which was formed from subjectus, the past participle of Latin subicere ‘bring down’. This in turn was a compound verb formed from the prefix sub- ‘under’ and jacere ‘throw’ (source also of English abject [15], adjacent, adjective, conjecture, dejected [15], inject [17], jet, jettison, jetty, reject [15], etc).

The noun subject, which also came from Latin subjectus, originally denoted a person ‘subjected’ to the control of another (as in ‘the Queen’s subjects’). The most salient modern sense, ‘topic’, comes ultimately from the notion of ‘that which is operated on by something else’.
=> abject, adjacent, adjective, conjecture, dejected, inject, jet, jettison, jetty, object, reject
trivial: trivial: [15] Medieval educationists recognized seven liberal arts: the lower three, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, were known as the trivium, and the upper four, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music, were known as the quadrivium. The notion of ‘less important subjects’ led in the 16th century to the use of the derived adjective trivial for ‘commonplace, of little importance’. Latin trivium itself was a compound noun formed from the prefix tri- ‘three’ and via ‘way, road’, and originally meant ‘place where three roads meet’.
=> three, via
cannibal (n.): "human that eats human flesh," 1550s, from Spanish canibal, caribal "a savage, cannibal," from Caniba, Christopher Columbus' rendition of the Caribs' name for themselves (see Caribbean). The natives were believed to be anthropophagites. Columbus, seeking evidence that he was in Asia, thought the name meant the natives were subjects of the Great Khan. Shakespeare's Caliban (in "The Tempest") is from a version of this word, with -n- and -l- interchanged, found in Hakluyt's "Voyages" (1599). The Spanish word had reached French by 1515. Used of animals from 1796. An Old English word for "cannibal" was selfæta.
catchpoll (n.): Old English *kæcepol "tax-gatherer," from Old North French cachepol (Old French chacepol), from Medieval Latin cacepollus "a tax gatherer," literally "chase-chicken." For first element see chase (v.), for second see pullet. In lieu of taxes they would confiscate poultry. Later in English more specifically as "a sheriff's officer whose duty was to make arrests for debt." Compare Old French chacipolerie "tax paid to a nobleman by his subjects allowing them and their families to shelter in his castle in wartime."
cheese (n.1): Old English cyse (West Saxon), cese (Anglian) "cheese," from West Germanic *kasjus (cognates: Old Saxon kasi, Old High German chasi, German Käse, Middle Dutch case, Dutch kaas), from Latin caseus "cheese" (source of Italian cacio, Spanish queso, Irish caise, Welsh caws).

Of unknown origin; perhaps from a PIE root *kwat- "to ferment, become sour" (cognates: Prakrit chasi "buttermilk;" Old Church Slavonic kvasu "leaven; fermented drink," kyselu "sour," -kyseti "to turn sour;" Czech kysati "to turn sour, rot;" Sanskrit kvathati "boils, seethes;" Gothic hwaþjan "foam"). Also compare fromage. Old Norse ostr, Danish ost, Swedish ost are related to Latin ius "broth, sauce, juice."

Earliest references would be to compressed curds of milk used as food; pressed or molded cheeses with rinds are 14c. Transferred to other cheese-like substances by 1530s. As a photographer's word to make subjects hold a smile, it is attested from 1930, but in a reminiscence of schoolboy days, which suggests an earlier use. Probably for the forced smile involved in making the -ee- sound. Green cheese is that newly made; the notion that the moon is made of green cheese as a type of a ridiculous assertion is from 1520s. To make cheeses was a schoolgirls' amusement (1835) of wheeling rapidly so one's petticoats blew out in a circle then dropping down so they came to rest inflated and resembling a wheel of cheese; hence, used figuratively for "a deep curtsey."
consul (n.): late 14c., "magistrate in ancient Rome," from Old French consule and directly from Latin consul "magistrate in ancient Rome," probably originally "one who consults the Senate," from consulere "to deliberate, take counsel" (see consultation).

Modern sense began with use as appellation of various foreign officials and magistrates, "a representative chosen by a community of merchants living in a foreign country; an agent appointed by a government or ruler to represent the interests of its subjects and traders in a foreign place" (c. 1600), an extended sense that developed 13c. in the Spanish form of the word.
elective (adj.): early 15c., "voluntary," from Late Latin electivus, from elect-, past participle stem of eligere "to pick out, choose" (see election). In U.S., in reference to school subjects studied at the student's choice, first recorded 1847. As a noun, from 1701.
ergative (adj.): 1943, in reference to grammatical case used for the subjects of transitive verbs (in Eskimo, Basque, Caucasian languages), from Greek ergatos "workman," from comb. form of ergos "work" (see organ) + -ive.
erogenous (adj.): "inducing erotic sensation or sexual desire," 1889, from Greek eros "sexual love" (see Eros) + -genous "producing." A slightly earlier variant was erogenic (1887), from French érogénique. Both, as OED laments, are improperly formed. Erogenous zone attested by 1905.
In this connection reference may be made to the well-known fact that in some hysterical subjects there are so-called "erogenous zones" simple pressure on which suffices to evoke the complete orgasm. There is, perhaps, some significance, from our present point of view, in the fact that, as emphasized by Savill ("Hysterical Skin Symptoms," Lancet, January 30 1904) the skin is one of the very best places to study hysteria. [Havelock Ellis, "Studies in the Psychology of Sex," 1914]
Eros (n.): god of love, late 14c., from Greek eros (plural erotes), "god or personification of love," literally "love," from eran "to love," erasthai "to love, desire," which is of uncertain origin.

Freudian sense of "urge to self-preservation and sexual pleasure" is from 1922. Ancient Greek distinguished four ways of love: erao "to be in love with, to desire passionately or sexually;" phileo "have affection for;" agapao "have regard for, be contented with;" and stergo, used especially of the love of parents and children or a ruler and his subjects.
extradition (n.): 1833, from French extradition (18c.), apparently a coinage of Voltaire's, from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + traditionem (nominative traditio) "a delivering up, handing over," noun of action from tradere "to hand over" (see tradition).
This word might be adopted in our language with advantage, as we have none which conveys the same meaning. Extradition signifies the delivering up of criminals who may have sought refuge in any country, to the government whose subjects they are, on a claim being made to this effect. [from a footnote to the word extradition in the translation of "Memoirs of Marshal Ney" published in London in 1833]
fado (n.): popular music style of Portugal, 1902, from Latin fatum "fate, destiny" (see fate (n.)). Because the songs tell the fates of their subjects.
grammar (n.): late 14c., "Latin grammar, rules of Latin," from Old French gramaire "grammar; learning," especially Latin and philology, also "(magic) incantation, spells, mumbo-jumbo" (12c., Modern French grammaire), an "irregular semi-popular adoption" [OED] of Latin grammatica "grammar, philology," perhaps via an unrecorded Medieval Latin form *grammaria. The classical Latin word is from Greek grammatike (tekhne) "(art) of letters," referring both to philology and to literature in the broadest sense, fem. of grammatikos (adj.) "pertaining to or versed in letters or learning," from gramma "letter" (see -gram). An Old English gloss of it was stæfcræft (see staff (n.)).

A much broader word in Latin and Greek; restriction of the meaning to "systematic acount of the rules and usages of language" is a post-classical development. Until 16c. limited to Latin; in reference to English usage by late 16c., thence "rules of a language to which speakers and writers must conform" (1580s). Meaning "a treatise on grammar" is from 1520s. For the "magic" sense, compare gramary. The sense evolution is characteristic of the Dark Ages: "learning in general, knowledge peculiar to the learned classes," which included astrology and magic; hence the secondary meaning of "occult knowledge" (late 15c. in English), which evolved in Scottish into glamour (q.v.).

A grammar-school (late 14c.) originally was a school for learning Latin, which was begun by memorizing the grammar. In U.S. (1842) the term was put to use in the graded system for a school between primary and secondary where English grammar is one of the subjects taught. The word is attested earlier in surnames (late 12c.) such as Robertus Gramaticus, Richard le Gramarie, whence the modern surname Grammer.
its: neuter possessive pronoun; the modern word begins to appear in writing at the end of 16c., from it + genitive/possessive ending 's (q.v.), and "at first commonly written it's, a spelling retained by some to the beginning of the 19c." [OED]. The apostrophe came to be omitted, perhaps because it's already was established as a contraction of it is, or by general habit of omitting apostrophes in personal pronouns (hers, yours, theirs, etc.).

The neuter genitive pronoun in Middle English was his, but the clash between grammatical gender and sexual gender, or else the application of the word to both human and non-human subjects, evidently made users uncomfortable. Restriction of his to the masculine and avoidance of it as a neuter pronoun is evidenced in Middle English, and of it and thereof (as in KJV) were used for the neuter possessive. Also, from c. 1300, simple it was used as a neuter possessive pronoun. But in literary use, his as a neuter pronoun continued into the 17c.
janizary (n.): "elite Turkish infantry," 1520s, from French janissaire (15c.), from Italian giannizzero, from Turkish yenicheri, literally "new troops," from yeni "new" + cheri "soldiery." Formed 1362 from slaves and prisoners of war, until late 17c. largely recruited from compulsory conscripts and converts taken from Christian subjects. In later times Turks and other Muslims joined the corps because of the various privileges attached to it; abolished 1826.
loyal (adj.): 1530s, in reference to subjects of sovereigns or governments, from Middle French loyal, from Old French loial, leal "of good quality; faithful; honorable; law-abiding; legitimate, born in wedlock," from Latin legalem, from lex "law." In most cases it has displaced Middle English leal, which is from the same French source. Sense development in English is feudal, via notion of "faithful in carrying out legal obligations." In a general sense (of dogs, lovers, etc.), from c. 1600. As a noun meaning "those who are loyal" from 1530s (originally often in plural).
metastasis (n.): 1570s, originally in rhetoric, from Late Latin metastasis "transition," from Greek metastasis "a removing, removal; migration; a changing; change, revolution," from methistanai "to remove, change," from meta- "over, across" (see meta-) + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). A rhetorical term in Late Latin for "a sudden transition in subjects," medical use for "shift of disease from one part of the body to another" dates from 1660s in English. Related: Metastatic.
miscellany (n.): "a mixture, medley," 1590s, from Latin miscellanea "a writing on miscellaneous subjects," originally "meat hash, hodge-podge" (food for gladiators), neuter plural of miscellaneus (see miscellaneous).
moderate (n.): "one who holds moderate opinions on controversial subjects," 1794, from moderate (adj.). Related: Moderatism; -moderantism.
monomania (n.): "insanity in regard to a single subect or class of subjects," 1820, probably on model of earlier French monomanie, from Modern Latin monomania, from Greek monos "single, alone" (see mono-) + mania (see mania).
nolo contendere: Latin, literally "I do not wish to contend." A plea that admits no guilt but subjects the defendant to judgment.
polytechnic (adj.): 1805, "pertaining to instruction in many (technical) subjects," from French École Polytechnique, engineering school founded 1794 (as École des Travaux publics) in Paris; from Greek polytekhnos "skilled in many arts," from polys "many" (see poly-) + tekhne "art" (see techno-). As a noun (short for polytechnic institution) from 1836.
pornography (n.): 1843, "ancient obscene painting, especially in temples of Bacchus," from French pornographie, from Greek pornographos "(one) depicting prostitutes," from porne "prostitute," originally "bought, purchased" (with an original notion, probably of "female slave sold for prostitution"), related to pernanai "to sell," from PIE root *per- (5) "to traffic in, to sell" (see price (n.)) + graphein "to write" (see -graphy). A brothel in ancient Greek was a porneion.
Pornography, or obscene painting, which in the time of the Romans was practiced with the grossest license, prevailed especially at no particular period in Greece, but was apparently tolerated to a considerable extent at all times. Parrhasius, Aristides, Pausanias, Nicophanes, Chaerephanes, Arellius, and a few other [pornographoi] are mentioned as having made themselves notorious for this species of license. [Charles Anthon, "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," New York, 1843]
In reference to modern works by 1859 (originally French novels), later as a charge against native literature; sense of "obscene pictures" in modern times is from 1906. Also sometimes used late 19c. for "description of prostitutes" as a matter of public hygiene. The "Medical Archives" in 1873 proposed porniatria for "the lengthy and really meaningless expression 'social evil hospital' ...."
I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. [U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion, "Jacobellis v. Ohio," 1964]
In ancient contexts, often paired with rhypography, "genre painting of low, sordid, or unsuitable subjects." Pornocracy (1860) is "the dominating influence of harlots," used specifically of the government of Rome during the first half of the 10th century by Theodora and her daughters. Pornotopia (1966) was coined to describe the ideal erotic-world of pornographic movies.
rebellion (n.): "war waged against a government by some portion of its subjects," mid-14c., from Old French rebellion (14c.) and directly from Latin rebellionem (nominative rebellio) "rebellion, revolt; renewal of war," from rebellis (see rebel (adj.)).
satire (n.): late 14c., "work intended to ridicule vice or folly," from Middle French satire (14c.) and directly from Latin satira "satire, poetic medley," earlier satura, in lanx satura "mixed dish, dish filled with various kinds of fruit," literally "full dish," from fem. of satur "sated" (see saturate).

First used in the literary sense in Latin in reference to a collection of poems in various meters on a variety of subjects by the late republican Roman poet Ennius. The matter of the little that survives of his verse does not seem to be particularly satiric, but in classical Latin the word came to mean especially a poem which assailed the prevailing vices, one after another. Altered in Latin by influence of Greek satyr, on mistaken notion that the literary form is related to the Greek satyr drama (see satyr).
Satire, n. An obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the author's enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness. In this country satire never had more than a sickly and uncertain existence, for the soul of it is wit, wherein we are dolefully deficient, the humor that we mistake for it, like all humor, being tolerant and sympathetic. Moreover, although Americans are 'endowed by their Creator' with abundant vice and folly, it is not generally known that these are reprehensible qualities, wherefore the satirist is popularly regarded as a sour-spirited knave, and his every victim's outcry for codefendants evokes a national assent. [Ambrose Bierce, "Devil's Dictionary," 1911]

Proper satire is distinguished, by the generality of the reflections, from a lampoon which is aimed against a particular person, but they are too frequently confounded. [Johnson]

[I]n whatever department of human expression, wherever there is objective truth there is satire [Wyndham Lewis, "Rude Assignment," 1950]
For nuances of usage, see humor (n.).
say (v.): Old English secgan "to utter, inform, speak, tell, relate," from Proto-Germanic *sagjanan (cognates: Old Saxon seggian, Old Norse segja, Danish sige, Old Frisian sedsa, Middle Dutch segghen, Dutch zeggen, Old High German sagen, German sagen "to say"), from PIE *sokwyo-, from root *sekw- (3) "to say, utter" (cognates: Hittite shakiya- "to declare," Lithuanian sakyti "to say," Old Church Slavonic sociti "to vindicate, show," Old Irish insce "speech," Old Latin inseque "to tell say").

Past tense said developed from Old English segde. Not attested in use with inanimate objects (clocks, signs, etc.) as subjects before 1930. You said it "you're right" first recorded 1919; you can say that again as a phrase expressing agreement is recorded from 1942, American English. You don't say (so) as an expression of astonishment (often ironic) is first recorded 1779, American English.
teachable (adj.): late 15c., "capable of being taught" (of persons), from teach (v.) + -able. Of subjects, from 1660s. Teachable moment, attested from 1917, not common until after c. 1960, extends the sense to "appropriate for instruction." Related: Teachableness.
terrorist (n.): in the modern sense, 1944, especially in reference to Jewish tactics against the British in Palestine -- earlier it was used of extremist revolutionaries in Russia who attempted to demoralize the government by terror (1866); and Jacobins during the French Revolution (1795) -- from French terroriste; see terror + -ist (also see terrorism).
The term now usually refers to a member of a clandestine or expatriate organization aiming to coerce an established government by acts of violence against it or its subjects. [OED]
The tendency of one party's terrorist to be another's guerilla or freedom fighter was noted in reference to the British action in Cyprus (1956) and the war in Rhodesia (1973). The word terrorist has been applied, at least retroactively, to the Maquis resistance in occupied France in World War II (as in in the "Spectator," Oct. 20, 1979).
versatile (adj.): c. 1600, "inconstant," from Latin versatilis "turning, revolving, moving, capable of turning with ease to varied subjects or tasks," from past participle stem of versare "keep turning, be engaged in something, turn over in the mind," frequentative of vertere "to turn" (see versus). Meaning "able to do many things well" is from 1762 in English.
wide (adj.): Old English wid "vast, broad, long," also used of time, from Proto-Germanic *widaz (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian wid, Old Norse viðr, Dutch wijd, Old High German wit, German weit), perhaps from PIE *wi-ito-, from root *wi- "apart, away, in half."

Meaning "distended, expanded, spread apart" is from c. 1500; sense of "embracing many subjects" is from 1530s; meaning "missing the intended target" is from 1580s. As a second element in compounds (such as nationwide, worldwide) meaning "extending through the whole of," is is from late Old English. As an adverb, Old English wide. Wide open "unguarded, exposed to attack" (1915) originally was in boxing, etc. Wide awake (adj.) is first recorded 1818; figurative sense of "alert, knowing" is attested from 1833.
yours (pron.): absolutive form of your, c. 1300, on model of his, ours, etc. Yours truly "myself" is from 1833, from the common subscription of letters.
It is difficult to say what will succeed, and still more to pronounce what will not. I am at this moment in that uncertainty (on our own score,) and it is no small proof of the author's powers to be able to charm and fix a mind's attention on similar subjects and climates in such a predicament. That he may have the same effect upon all his readers is very sincerely the wish, and hardly the doubt, of yours truly,
"B."
[Lord Byron to John Murray, Dec. 4, 1813]
median lethal dose: "The dose of a drug or of ionizing radiation that kills 50 per cent of test subjects; symbol LD50", 1920s.
rhyparography: "The painting of distasteful or sordid subjects", Late 17th cent.; earliest use found in Edward Phillips (b. 1630), writer and biographer. From classical Latin rhyparographos painter of low or sordid subjects + -y; compare -graphy.