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catastrophe [catastrophe 词源字典]: catastrophe: see apostrophe
[catastrophe etymology, catastrophe origin, 英语词源]
ecstasy: ecstasy: [14] Etymologically, someone who is ecstatic is out of his or her mind. The word comes, via Old French extasie and late Latin extasis, from Greek ékstasis, a derivative of the verb existánai ‘displace, drive out of one’s mind’. This was a compound formed from the prefix ek- ‘out’ and histánai ‘place’ (a distant relative of English stand).

The underlying notion of being ‘beside oneself, in the grip of extreme passion’ survives in modern English in relation to mystic experiences or trances, and also, albeit archaically, in such phrases as ‘an ecstasy of rage’, and the specific sense ‘delight’ developed only comparatively recently, apparently in the 17th century.
=> stand
fantasy: fantasy: see fancy
potash: potash: [17] Potassium carbonate was originally obtained by burning wood or other vegetable matter, soaking the ashes in water, and evaporating the resulting liquid in iron pots. The resulting substance was hence called in early modern Dutch potasschen, literally ‘pot ashes’, and the word was adopted into English as potash. From it, or its French relative potasse, the chemist Sir Humphry Davy coined in 1807 the term potassium for the metallic element which occurs in potash.
=> ash, pot, potassium
task: task: see tax
taste: taste: [13] The origins of taste are not entirely clear, but what does seem certain is that it is connected in some way with Latin tangere ‘touch’; indeed it was originally used for ‘touch’ in English (‘With that finger he will it taste if it is rightly wrought’, St Michael 1290), and its French relative tâter denotes ‘feel’. It was once generally supposed that it came from Latin taxāre ‘feel, assess’ (source of English tax), which was derived from tangere.

The theory is that taxāre produced a Vulgar Latin derivative *taxitāre, which turned into tastāre – whence Old French taster, and eventually English taste. Another theory has it, however, that *tastāre was a blend of tangere with Latin gustāre ‘taste’ (source of English gusto).
=> tangent, tangible
Anastasia: fem. proper name, from fem. of Late Latin Anastasius, from Greek Anastasios, from anastasis "resurrection," literally "a standing or rising up," from ana "up; again" (see ana-) + histanai "to cause to stand, to stand up" from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet).
apostasy (n.): late 14c., "renunciation, abandonment or neglect of established religion," from Latin apostasia, from later Greek apostasia, from apostasis "revolt, defection," literally "a standing off" (see apostate). General (non-religious) sense is attested from 1570s.
atelectasis (n.): "incomplete expansion of the lungs," 1836, medical Latin, from Greek ateles "imperfect, incomplete," literally "without an end," (from a-, privative prefix, + telos "completion") + ektosis "extention." Related: Atelectatic.
bronchiectasis (n.): Modern Latin, from Greek bronkhia "the bronchial tubes" (plural; see bronchial) + ektasis "a stretching out, extension, dilation."
caritas (n.): Latin, literally "charity" (see charity).
catastrophe (n.): 1530s, "reversal of what is expected" (especially a fatal turning point in a drama), from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophe "an overturning; a sudden end," from katastrephein "to overturn, turn down, trample on; to come to an end," from kata "down" (see cata-) + strephein "turn" (see strophe). Extension to "sudden disaster" is first recorded 1748.
catastrophic (adj.): 1824, from catastrophe + -ic. Related: Catastrophical; catastrophically.
catastrophism (n.): as a geological or biological theory, 1869, coined by Huxley from catastrophe + -ism.
By CATASTROPHISM I mean any form of geological speculation which, in order to account for the phenomena of geology, supposes the operation of forces different in their nature, or immeasurably different in power, from those which we at present see in action in the universe. [T.H. Huxley, "Address" to the Geological Society of London, Feb. 19, 1869]
Related: Catastrophist.
demitasse (n.): also demi-tasse, 1842, from French, literally "half-cup," from demi- + tasse, an Old French borrowing from Arabic tassah, from Persian tasht "cup, saucer" (compare Italian tazza, Spanish taza "cup").
diastase (n.): enzyme or group of enzymes found in a seed and capable of converting starch into sugar, coined 1833 by Payen and Persoz from Greek diastasis "a setting apart," from dia- "across" (see dia-) + stasis "a standing" (see stasis).
distaste (n.): 1590s, from dis- + taste.
distasteful (adj.): c. 1600, from distaste + -ful. Related: Distastefully; distastefulness.
ecstasy (n.): late 14c., extasie "elation," from Old French estaise "ecstasy, rapture," from Late Latin extasis, from Greek ekstasis "entrancement, astonishment, insanity; any displacement or removal from the proper place," in New Testament "a trance," from existanai "displace, put out of place," also "drive out of one's mind" (existanai phrenon), from ek "out" (see ex-) + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet).

Used by 17c. mystical writers for "a state of rapture that stupefied the body while the soul contemplated divine things," which probably helped the meaning shift to "exalted state of good feeling" (1610s). Slang use for the drug 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine dates from 1985. Formerly also spelled ecstasie, extacy, extasy, etc. Attempts to coin a verb to go with it include ecstasy (1620s), ecstatize (1650s), ecstasiate (1823), ecstasize (1830).
epistasis (n.): "the checking of a discharge," medical Latin, from Greek epistasis "a stopping, stoppage, a halting," from epi "upon" (see epi-) + stasis "a stopping or standing" (see stasis).
fantasia (n.): "musical composition that sounds extemporaneous," 1724, from Italian fantasia, from Latin phantasia (see fantasy).
fantasise (v.): artificial British English spelling of fantasize, not much attested before 1970s. For suffix, see -ize. Related: Fantasised; fantasising.
fantasize (v.): 1926, from fantasy + -ize. Related: Fantasized; fantasizing. An earlier verb was fantasticate (c. 1600).
fantastic (adj.): late 14c., "existing only in imagination," from Middle French fantastique (14c.), from Medieval Latin fantasticus, from Late Latin phantasticus "imaginary," from Greek phantastikos "able to imagine," from phantazein "make visible" (middle voice phantazesthai "picture to oneself"); see phantasm. Trivial sense of "wonderful, marvelous" recorded by 1938. Old French had a different adjective form, fantasieus "weird; insane; make-believe." Medieval Latin also used fantasticus as a noun, "a lunatic," and Shakespeare and his contemporaries had it in Italian form fantastico "one who acts ridiculously."
fantastical (adj.): late 15c., from fantastic + -al (1). Related: Fantastically.
fantasy (n.): early 14c., "illusory appearance," from Old French fantaisie, phantasie "vision, imagination" (14c.), from Latin phantasia, from Greek phantasia "power of imagination; appearance, image, perception," from phantazesthai "picture to oneself," from phantos "visible," from phainesthai "appear," in late Greek "to imagine, have visions," related to phaos, phos "light," phainein "to show, to bring to light" (see phantasm). Sense of "whimsical notion, illusion" is pre-1400, followed by that of "fantastic imagination," which is first attested 1530s. Sense of "day-dream based on desires" is from 1926. In early use in English also fantasie, phantasy, etc. As the name of a fiction genre, from 1949.
foretaste (n.): early 15c., from fore- + taste (n.). As a verb, from mid-15c.
gravitas (n.): 1924, usually in italics, from Latin gravitas "weight, heaviness;" figuratively, of persons, "dignity, presence, influence" (see gravity). A word wanted when gravity acquired a primarily scientific meaning.
homeostasis (n.): 1926, from homeo- + Greek stasis "standing still" (see stasis). Related: Homeostatic.
isostasy (n.): 1889, from iso- + Greek stasis "setting, weighing, standing" (see stasis). Related: Isostatic.
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.
metastasise (v.): chiefly British English spelling of metastasize. Related: Metastasised; metastasising.
metastasize: 1826, from metastasis + -ize. Related: Metastasized; metastasizing.
multitasking (n.): also multi-tasking, 1966, originally in computing, from multi- + tasking (see task). Of humans, by 1998. Related: Multitask (v.). As an adjective, multi-task is recorded from 1954 in a non-computer mechanical context.
Natasha: fem. proper name, from Russian pet form of Natalya (see Natalie).
phantasm (n.): early 13c., fantesme, from Old French fantosme "a dream, illusion, fantasy; apparition, ghost, phantom" (12c.), and directly from Latin phantasma "an apparition, specter," from Greek phantasma "image, phantom, apparition; mere image, unreality," from phantazein "to make visible, display," from stem of phainein "to bring to light, make appear; come to light, be seen, appear; explain, expound, inform against; appear to be so," from PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine" (cognates: Sanskrit bhati "shines, glitters," Old Irish ban "white, light, ray of light"). Spelling conformed to Latin from 16c. (see ph). A spelling variant of phantom, "differentiated, but so that the differences are elusive" [Fowler].
phantasma (n.): 1590s, from Latin phantasma (see phantasm).
phantasmagoria (n.): 1802, name of a "magic lantern" exhibition brought to London in 1802 by Parisian showman Paul de Philipstal, the name an alteration of French phantasmagorie, said to have been coined 1801 by French dramatist Louis-Sébastien Mercier as though to mean "crowd of phantoms," from Greek phantasma "image, phantom, apparition" (see phantasm) + second element probably a French form of Greek agora "assembly" (but this may have been chosen more for the dramatic sound than any literal sense). Transferred meaning "shifting scene of many elements" is attested from 1822. Related: Phantasmagorical.
phantasmal (adj.): 1813, from phantasm + -al (1). Related: Phantasmally.
Pocahontas: (c. 1595-1617), daughter of Algonquian leader Powhatan, the name is said to be Algonquian Pokachantesu "she is playful."
poetaster (n.): 1590s, from Middle French poetastre (1550s), from Latin poeta (see poet) + -aster, diminutive (pejorative) suffix. Old Norse had skaldfifl "poetaster."
potash (n.): 1751, earlier -pot-ashes (1640s), a loan-translation of older Dutch potaschen, literally "pot ashes" (16c.); so called because it was originally obtained by soaking wood ashes in water and evaporating the mixture in an iron pot. Compare German Pottasche, Danish potaske, Swedish pottaska, all also from Dutch. See also potassium. French potasse (1570s), Italian potassa are Germanic loan-words. The original plural was pot-ashes.
potassium (n.): metallic element, 1807, coined by English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) from Modern Latin potassa, Latinized form of potash (q.v.). Davy first isolated it from potash. Symbol K is from Latin kalium "potash," from Arabic al-qaliy "the ashes, burnt ashes" (see alkali).
stash (v.): "to conceal, hide," 1797, criminals' slang, of unknown origin, perhaps a blend of stow and cache. Related: Stashed; stashing.
stash (n.): "hoard, cache," 1914, from stash (v.). Slang sense of "personal supply of narcotics" is from 1942.
stasis (n.): "stoppage of circulation," 1745, from medical Latin, from Greek stasis "a standing still, a standing; the posture of standing; a position, a point of the compass; position, state, or condition of anything;" also "a party, a company, a sect," especially one for seditious purposes; related to statos "placed," verbal adjective of histemi "cause to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet).
succotash (n.): 1751, from a word in a Southern New England Algonquian language, such as Narragansett misckquatash "boiled whole kernels of corn." Used by 1793 in New England in reference to a dish of boiled corn and green beans (especially lima beans).
Taser (n.): 1972, formed (probably on model of laser, etc.) from the initials of Tom Swift's electric rifle, a fictitious weapon. A word that threatens to escape the cage of its copyright, despite the strenuous efforts of the owners, who are within their rights to fight to hold it. They also insist, via their attorneys, that it be written all in capitals. Tom Swift was the hero of a series of early 20c. American sci-fi/adventure novels, one of which was titled "Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle." It seems to have spawned a verb, taze or tase. Related: Tased; tasing.
task (n.): early 14c., "a quantity of labor imposed as a duty," from Old North French tasque (12c., Old French tasche, Modern French tâche) "duty, tax," from Vulgar Latin *tasca "a duty, assessment," metathesis of Medieval Latin taxa, a back-formation of Latin taxare "to evaluate, estimate, assess" (see tax (v.)). General sense of "any piece of work that has to be done" is first recorded 1590s. Phrase take one to task (1680s) preserves the sense that is closer to tax.

German tasche "pocket" is from the same Vulgar Latin source (via Old High German tasca), with presumable sense evolution from "amount of work imposed by some authority," to "payment for that work," to "wages," to "pocket into which money is put," to "any pocket."
task (v.): 1520s, "impose a task upon;" 1590s, "to burden, put a strain upon," from task (n.). Related: Tasked; tasking.