quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- alter ego



[alter ego 词源字典] - 1530s, from Latin phrase (used by Cicero), "a second self, a trusted friend" (compare Greek allos ego); see alter and ego.[alter ego etymology, alter ego origin, 英语词源]
- caddie (n.)




- 1630s, Scottish form of French cadet (see cadet). Originally "person who runs errands;" meaning of "golfer's assistant" is 1851. A letter from Edinburgh c. 1730 describes the city's extensive and semi-organized "Cawdys, a very useful Black-Guard, who attend ... publick Places to go at Errands; and though they are Wretches, that in Rags lye upon the Stairs and in the Streets at Night, yet are they often considerably trusted .... This Corps has a kind of Captain ... presiding over them, whom they call the Constable of the Cawdys."
- commissary (n.)




- mid-14c., "one to whom special duty is entrusted by a higher power," from Medieval Latin commissarius, from Latin commissus "entrusted," past participle of committere (see commit). Originally ecclesiastical; the military sense of "official in charge of supply of food, stores, transport" dates to late 15c. Hence "storeroom" (1882) and "dining room in a larger facility" (1929, American English).
- commission (n.)




- mid-14c., "authority entrusted to someone," from Latin commissionem (nominative commissio) "delegation of business," noun of action from past participle stem of committere (see commit). Meaning "body of persons charged with authority" is from late 15c.
- committed (adj.)




- 1590s, "entrusted, delegated," past participle adjective from commit (v.). Meaning "locked into a commitment" is from 1948.
- confidant (n.)




- 1610s, confident, "(male) person trusted with private affairs," from French confident (16c.), from Italian confidente "a trusty friend," literally "confident, trusty," from Latin confidentem (nominative confidens), present participle of confidere "to trust, confide" (see confidence). The spelling with -a- came to predominate 18c. and might reflect the French pronunciation.
- credit (n.)




- 1520s, from Middle French crédit (15c.) "belief, trust," from Italian credito, from Latin creditum "a loan, thing entrusted to another," from past participle of credere "to trust, entrust, believe" (see credo). The commercial sense was the original one in English (creditor is mid-15c.). Meaning "honor, acknowledgment of merit," is from c. 1600. Academic sense of "point for completing a course of study" is 1904. Movie/broadcasting sense is 1914. Credit rating is from 1958; credit union is 1881, American English.
- distrust




- early 15c. (v.); 1510s (n.), from dis- + trust. "The etymologically correct form is mistrust, in which both elements are Teutonic" [Klein]. Related: Distrusted; distrusting; distrustful; distrustfully; distrustfulness.
- entrust (v.)




- also intrust, c. 1600, from en- (1) "make, put in" + trust (n.). Related: Entrusted; entrusting.
- fiduciary (adj.)




- 1640s, "holding something in trust," from Latin fiduciarius "entrusted, held in trust," from fiducia "trust, confidence, reliance;" in law, "a deposit, pledge, security," from root of fidere "to trust" (see faith). In Roman law, fiducia was "a right transferred in trust;" paper currency sense (1878) is because its value depends on the trust of the public. As a noun, "one who holds something in trust," from 1630s.
- infidel




- mid-15c. (adjective and noun), from Middle French infidèle, from Latin infidelis "unfaithful, not to be trusted," later "unbelieving," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + fidelis "faithful" (see fidelity). In 15c. "a non-Christian" (especially a Saracen); later "one who does not believe in religion" (1520s). Also used to translate Arabic qafir, which is from a root meaning "to disbelieve, to deny," strictly referring to all non-Muslims but virtually synonymous with "Christian;" hence, from a Muslim or Jewish point of view, "a Christian" (1530s; see kaffir).
- mens sana in corpore sano




- c. 1600, Latin, literally "a sound mind in a sound body," a line found in Juvenal, "Satires," x.356.
Mens sana in corpore sano is a contradiction in terms, the fantasy of a Mr. Have-your-cake-and-eat-it. No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures; no ascetic can be considered reliably sane. Hitler was the archetype of the abstemious man. When the other krauts saw him drink water in the Beer Hall they should have known he was not to be trusted. [A.J. Liebling, "Between Meals," 1962]
- mistrust (v.)




- late 14c., from mis- (1) + trust (v.). Related: Mistrusted; mistrusting.
- money (n.)




- mid-13c., "coinage, metal currency," from Old French monoie "money, coin, currency; change" (Modern French monnaie), from Latin moneta "place for coining money, mint; coined money, money, coinage," from Moneta, a title or surname of the Roman goddess Juno, in or near whose temple money was coined; perhaps from monere "advise, warn" (see monitor (n.)), with the sense of "admonishing goddess," which is sensible, but the etymology is difficult. Extended early 19c. to include paper money.
It had been justly stated by a British writer that the power to make a small piece of paper, not worth one cent, by the inscribing of a few names, to be worth a thousand dollars, was a power too high to be entrusted to the hands of mortal man. [John C. Calhoun, speech, U.S. Senate, Dec. 29, 1841]
I am not interested in money but in the things of which money is the symbol. [Henry Ford]
To make money "earn pay" is first attested mid-15c. Highwayman's threat your money or your life first attested 1841. Phrase in the money (1902) originally meant "one who finishes among the prize-winners" (in a horse race, etc.). The challenge to put (one's) money where (one's) mouth is is first recorded 1942, American English. money-grub "one who is sordidly intent on amassing money" is from 1768. The image of money burning a hole in someone's pocket is attested from 1520s.
- secretary (n.)




- late 14c., "person entrusted with secrets," from Medieval Latin secretarius "clerk, notary, confidential officer, confidant," a title applied to various confidential officers, noun use of adjective meaning "private, secret, pertaining to private or secret matters" (compare Latin secretarium "a council-chamber, conclave, consistory"), from Latin secretum "a secret, a hidden thing" (see secret (n.)).
Meaning "person who keeps records, write letters, etc.," originally for a king, first recorded c. 1400. As title of ministers presiding over executive departments of state, it is from 1590s. The word also is used in both French and English to mean "a private desk," sometimes in French form secretaire. The South African secretary bird so called (1786) in reference to its crest, which, when smooth, resembles a pen stuck over the ear. Compare Late Latin silentiarius "privy councilor, 'silentiary," from Latin silentium "a being silent." - tank (n.)




- 1610s, "pool or lake for irrigation or drinking water," a word originally brought by the Portuguese from India, from a Hindi source, such as Gujarati tankh "cistern, underground reservoir for water," Marathi tanken, or tanka "reservoir of water, tank." Perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit tadaga-m "pond, lake pool," and reinforced in later sense of "large artificial container for liquid" (1680s) by Portuguese tanque "reservoir," from estancar "hold back a current of water," from Vulgar Latin *stanticare (see stanch). But other sources say the Portuguese word is the source of the Indian ones. Meaning "fuel container" is recorded from 1902. Slang meaning "detention cell" is from 1912. Railroad tank-car is from 1874.
In military use, "armored, gun-mounted vehicle moving on continuous articulated tracks," the word originated late 1915. In "Tanks in the Great War" [1920], Brevet Col. J.F.C. Fuller quotes a memorandum of the Committee of Imperial Defence dated Dec. 24, 1915, recommending the proposed "caterpillar machine-gun destroyer" machines be entrusted to an organization "which, for secrecy, shall be called the 'Tank Supply Committee,' ..." In a footnote, Fuller writes, "This is the first appearance of the word 'tank' in the history of the machine." He writes that "cistern" and "reservoir" also were put forth as possible cover names, "all of which were applicable to the steel-like structure of the machines in the early stages of manufacture. Because it was less clumsy and monosyllabic, the name 'tank' was decided on." They were first used in action at Pozieres ridge, on the Western Front, Sept. 15, 1916, and the name was quickly picked up by the soldiers. Tank-trap attested from 1920. - trust (n.)




- c. 1200, "reliance on the veracity, integrity, or other virtues of someone or something; religious faith," from Old Norse traust "help, confidence, protection, support," from Proto-Germanic abstract noun *traustam (cognates: Old Frisian trast, Dutch troost "comfort, consolation," Old High German trost "trust, fidelity," German Trost "comfort, consolation," Gothic trausti "agreement, alliance"), from Proto-Germanic *treuwaz-, source of Old English treowian "to believe, trust," and treowe "faithful, trusty" (see true (adj.)).
from c. 1300 as "reliability, trustworthiness; trustiness, fidelity, faithfulness;" from late 14c. as "confident expectation" and "that on which one relies." From early 15c. in legal sense of "confidence placed in a one who holds or enjoys the use of property entrusted to him by its legal owner;" mid-15c. as "condition of being legally entrusted." Meaning "businesses organized to reduce competition" is recorded from 1877. Trust-buster is recorded from 1903. - trust (v.)




- c. 1200, from Old Norse treysta "to trust, rely on, make strong and safe," from traust (see trust (n.)). Related: Trusted; trusting.
- a cappella




- "(With reference to choral music) sung without instrumental accompaniment", Italian, literally 'in chapel style'.
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chapel from Middle English:The first place to be called a chapel was named after the holy relic preserved in it, the cape of St Martin. The Latin word cappella, meaning ‘little cape’, was applied to the building itself and eventually to any holy sanctuary. Chaplain (Middle English) is a related word, which referred initially to an attendant entrusted with guarding the cape. The Latin form remains unchanged in the musical term a cappella, which means ‘sung without instrumental accompaniment’ but is literally ‘in chapel style’. See also cap