quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- astound



[astound 词源字典] - astound: [17] Astound, astonish, and stun all come ultimately from the same origin: a Vulgar Latin verb *extonāre, which literally meant something like ‘leave someone thunderstruck’ (it was formed from the Latin verb tonāre ‘thunder’). This became Old French estoner, which had three offshoots in English: it was borrowed into Middle English in the 13th century as astone or astun, and immediately lost its initial a, producing a form stun; then in the 15th century, in Scotland originally, it had the suffix -ish grafted on to it, producing astonish; and finally in the 17th century its past participle, astoned or, as it was also spelled, astound, formed the basis of a new verb.
=> astonish, stun[astound etymology, astound origin, 英语词源] - cartouche




- cartouche: see chart
- stoup




- stoup: see steep
- stout




- stout: [14] Stout originally meant ‘proud, brave’. It came via Anglo-Norman stout from a prehistoric West Germanic *stult- (source also of German stolz ‘proud’), which may have been related to the ancestor of English stilt. The notion of ‘braveness’ led on to that of ‘physical strength’ and ‘powerful physique’, but the word did not go downhill to ‘fat’ until the end of the 18th century. The application to a sort of strong beer dates from the 17th century.
=> stilt - touch




- touch: [13] The etymological notion underlying touch seems to be the ‘striking of a bell’. It comes via Old French tochier from Vulgar Latin *toccāre ‘hit, knock’, which appears originally to have denoted ‘make the sound toc by striking something, such as a bell’ (as in English ticktock). The connection with bells is preserved in tocsin ‘signal given with a bell’ [16], which comes via French tocsin from Provençal tocasenh, a compound formed from tocar ‘strike’ and senh ‘bell’ (a relative of English sign).
Another member of the family is toccata [18], a borrowing from Italian, which etymologically denotes the ‘touching’ of the keys of an instrument with the fingers.
=> toccata, tocsin - toupée




- toupée: see top
- tour




- tour: [14] Etymologically, a tour is a ‘circular movement’. The word comes via Old French tour from Latin tornus ‘lathe’, which also produced English turn. It was not used for a ‘journey of visits’ – literally a ‘circuitous journey’ – until the 17th century (the term grand tour, denoting a lengthy journey around western Europe formerly undertaken by fashionable young men, ostensibly for educational purposes, is first recorded in the mid-18th century, but the derivative tourist does not crop up until about 1800). Tournament [13] and tourney [13] both go back ultimately to a Vulgar Latin derivative of tornus, the underlying etymological notion being of the combatants ‘turning’ or wheeling round to face each other.
And tourniquet [17] probably comes from the same source.
=> tournament, tourniquet, turn - tousle




- tousle: [15] Tousle was derived from an earlier touse ‘pull about, shake’ (probable source also of tussle [15]), which went back to an Old English *tūsian. Amongst its relatives is German zausen ‘tug, tousle’.
=> tussle - tout




- tout: [14] The etymological notion underlying tout is of ‘sticking out, projecting’. It goes back ultimately to the prehistoric Germanic base *tūt- ‘project’, whose other descendants include Dutch tuit ‘spout’. It is assumed to have produced an Old English *tūtian, but it does not turn up in the written record until the Middle English period, by which time the notion of ‘poking out’ had moved on to ‘peeking’ or ‘peeping’. It progressed further to ‘spy on’, but the modern ‘look for business’ did not emerge until the 18th century.
- ubiquitous




- ubiquitous: [19] Latin ubīque meant ‘everywhere’ (it was formed from ubī ‘where’ and a generalizing particle -que). From it was derived the modern Latin noun ubīquitās ‘quality of being everywhere’. This was adopted into English as ubiquity [16], which later formed the basis of ubiquitous.
- astound (v.)




- mid-15c., from Middle English astouned, astoned (c. 1300), past participle of astonen, astonien "to stun" (see astonish), with more of the original sense of Vulgar Latin *extonare. Related: Astounded; astounding.
- calamitous (adj.)




- 1540s, from French calamiteux (16c.), from Latin calamitosus "causing loss, destructive," from calamitas (see calamity). Related: Calamitously; calamitousness.
- cartouche (n.)




- 1610s, "scroll-like ornament," also "paper cartridge," from French cartouche, the French form of cartridge (q.v.). Application to Egyptian hieroglyphics dates from 1830, on resemblance to rolled paper cartridges.
- champertous (adj.)




- 1640s, from champart, from French champart "portion of produce received by a feudal lord from land held in lease from him" (13c.), from Old North French campart-, probably from Latin campi pars "part of the field" (see campus + part (n.)). In later use often with reference to champerty (early 14c.), the illegal act whereby a person makes a bargain to maintain a litigant in return for a share of the gains if the case succeeds.
- circuitous (adj.)




- 1660s, from Medieval Latin circuitous "full of roundabout ways," from Latin circuitus "a going round" (see circuit (n.)). Related: Circuitously; circuitousness.
- contour (n.)




- 1660s, a term in painting and sculpture, from French contour "circumference, outline," from Italian and Medieval Latin contornare "to go around," from Latin com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + tornare "to turn (on a lathe);" see turn (v.).
First recorded application to topography is from 1769. Earlier the word was used to mean "bedspread, quilt" (early 15c.) in reference to its falling over the sides of the mattress. Related: Contoured. Contour line in geography is from 1844. - covetous (adj.)




- mid-13c., from Old French coveitos (12c., Modern French convoiteux) "desirous, covetous," from Vulgar Latin *cupiditosus, from Latin cupiditas (see covet). Related: Covetously; covetousness.
- cutout (n.)




- 1851, from verbal phrase, from cut (v.) + out (adv.).
- detour (n.)




- 1738, from French détour, from Old French destor "side road, byway; evasion, excuse," from destorner "turn aside," from des- "aside" + tourner "to turn" (see turn (v.)).
- detour (v.)




- 1836 (intransitive); 1905 (transitive), from detour (n.). Related: Detoured; detouring.
- duplicitous (adj.)




- 1831; see duplicity + -ous.
- ecotourism (n.)




- by 1984, from eco- + tourism. Related: Ecotourist.
- entourage (n.)




- 1832, "surroundings, environment," picked up by De Quincey from French entourage, from Middle French entourer "to surround" (16c.), from Old French entour "that which surrounds" (10c.), from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + tour "a circuit" (see tour). Specific sense of "attendant persons, persons among whom as followers or companions one is accustomed to move" recorded in English by 1860.
- felicitous (adj.)




- 1726, "blissful, very happy," from felicity + -ous. There is an isolated use of felicitously from 1530s.
- fortuitous (adj.)




- 1650s, from Latin fortuitus "happening by chance, casual, accidental," from forte "by chance," ablative of fors "chance" (related to fortuna; see fortune). It means "accidental, undesigned" not "fortunate." Earlier in this sense was fortuit (late 14c.), from French. Related: Fortuitously; fortuitousness.
- gratuitous (adj.)




- 1650s, "freely bestowed," from Latin gratuitus "done without pay, spontaneous, voluntary," from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from gratia "favor" (see grace (n.)). Earlier was gratuital (1590s). Sense of "uncalled for, done without good reason" is first recorded 1690s.
- gratuitously (adv.)




- 1690s, "without cause or reason," from gratuitous + -ly (2). From 1716 as "without cost to the recipient."
- infelicitous (adj.)




- 1754, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + felicitous. Related: infelicitously.
- iniquitous (adj.)




- 1726, from iniquity + -ous. Related: Iniquitously.
- manitou (n.)




- also manito, "spirit, deity, supernatural being," 1690s, from a word found throughout the Algonquian languages (Delaware manutoow, Ojibwa manidoo), first in English from Unami Delaware /manet:u/.
- momentous (adj.)




- 1650s, from moment + -ous to carry the sense of "important" while momentary kept the meaning "of an instant of time." Related: Momentously; momentousness.
- passe-partout (n.)




- "master-key," 1670s, French, literally "pass everywhere," from passer "to pass" (see pass (v.)) + partout "everywhere," from par "through" (see per) + tout "all."
- portentous (adj.)




- 1540s, from Latin portentosus "monstrous, marvelous, threatening," from portentem "portent" (see portend). Related: Portentously.
- precipitous (adj.)




- 1640s, "rash, headlong," from obsolete French precipiteux (16c.), from Vulgar Latin *praecipitosus, from praecipitare (see precipitation). Related: Precipitously; precipitousness.
- ratatouille (n.)




- 1877, from French ratatouille (19c.), first element uncertain, second element evidently touiller "to stir up," ultimately from Latin tudes "hammer" [Gamillscheg].
- retouch (v.)




- 1640s, from French retoucher (13c.) "to touch again" (with a view to improving), from re- "again" (see re-) + toucher (see touch (v.)).
- riotous (adj.)




- mid-14c., "troublesome, wanton, extravagant," from Old French riotos "argumentative, quarrelsome," from riote (see riot (n.)). Meaning "tumultuous, turbulent" is mid-15c. Related: Riotously; riotousness.
- serendipitous (adj.)




- 1914; see serendipity + -ous. Related: Serendipitously.
- shutout (n.)




- also shut-out, 1889 in baseball sense, from verbal phrase shut out "exclude from a situation" (late 14c.; from 1881 in the sports score sense), from shut (v.) + out (adv.). Middle English had a verb outshut "to shut out, exclude," mid-15c.
- solicitous (adj.)




- 1560s, from Latin sollicitus "restless, uneasy, careful, full of anxiety" (see solicit). Related: Solicitously; solicitousness.
- stound (n.)




- "time, moment" (archaic), from Old English stund "point of time, time, hour," cognate with Old Saxon stonda, Old Frisian stunde, Dutch stondi, German Stunde "hour."
- stoup (n.)




- late 14c., "jug," especially one made of leather, also a measure for liquid, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse staup "cup," from Proto-Germanic *staupo- (cognates: Middle Low German stop, Middle Dutch stoop "a cup, vessel," Dutch stoop, Old High German stouf, German Stauf, Old English steap).
- stour (n.)




- c. 1300, "tumult, armed conflict, struggle with adversity or pain," from Anglo-French estur, Old French estour "a tumult, conflict, assault, shock, battle," from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz "storm" (cognates: Old High German sturm "storm; battle;" see storm (n.)). Became obsolete, revived by Spenser and his followers in various senses; also surviving as a Scottish and Northern English word meaning "a (driving) storm" or "uproar, commotion." Italian stormo also is from Germanic.
- stout (adj.)




- c. 1300, "proud, valiant, strong," from Old French estout "brave, fierce, proud," earlier estolt "strong," from a Germanic source from West Germanic *stult- "proud, stately, strutting" (cognates: Middle Low German stolt "stately, proud," German stolz "proud, haughty, arrogant, stately"), from PIE root *stel- "to put, stand" (see stall (n.1)). Meaning "strong in body, powerfully built" is attested from late 14c., but has been displaced by the (often euphemistic) meaning "thick-bodied, fat and large, bulky in figure," which is first recorded 1804. Original sense preserved in figurative phrase stout-hearted (1550s). Related: Stoutly; stoutness.
- stout (n.)




- 1670s, "strong beer or ale," from stout (adj.). Later especially, and now usually, "porter of extra strength" (by 1762).
- toucan




- bright-colored bird of South America, 1560s, from French toucan (1550s) and Spanish tucan; from Tupi (Brazil) tuka, tukana, said to be probably imitative of its call.
- touch (v.)




- late 13c., "make deliberate physical contact with," from Old French tochier "to touch, hit, knock; mention, deal with" (11c., Modern French toucher), from Vulgar Latin *toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (source also of Spanish tocar, Italian toccare), perhaps of imitative origin. Related: Touched; touching.
From c. 1300 in transitive sense "bring into physical contact," also "pertain to." Other senses attested from 14c. are "perceive by physical contact, examine by sense of touch," also "be or come into physical contact with; come to rest on; border on, be contiguous with;" also "use the sense of touch," and "mention, describe." From early 14c. as "affect or move mentally or emotionally," with notion of to "touch" the heart or mind. Also from early 14c. as "have sexual contact with." Meaning "to get or borrow money" first recorded 1760. Touch-and-go (adj.) is recorded from 1812, apparently from the name of a tag-like game, first recorded 1650s. Touch football is first attested 1933. Touch-me-not (1590s) translates Latin noli-me-tangere. - touch (n.)




- c. 1300, from Old French toche "touch, a touching; a blow, attack; a test" (Modern French touche), from tocher "to touch" (see touch (v.)). Meaning "slight attack" (of an illness, etc.) is recorded from 1660s. Sense of "communication" (to be in or out of touch) is from 1884. Sense of "skill or aptitude in some topic" is first recorded 1927, probably from music or the arts. Soft touch "person easily manipulated" is recorded from 1940.
- touch-screen (n.)




- 1974, from touch + screen (n.).
- touch-up (n.)




- "act of improvement requiring modest effort," 1872, from verbal phrase touch up "improve or finish (as a painting or drawing) with light strokes" (1715), from touch (v.) + up (adv.).