英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

blunder: blunder: [14] When blunder first entered the language, it meant ‘stumble around blindly, bumping into things’, which gives a clue to its possible ultimate connection with blind. Its probable source was Old Norse blundra ‘shut one’s eyes’, forerunner of Swedish blunda and Norwegian blunda (Jon Blund is the Swedish equivalent of ‘the sandman’), and very likely a descendant of Indo-European *bhlendhos, from which blind comes. The first record of the modern sense ‘foolish mistake’ comes in Edward Phillips’s The new world of English words 1706.
=> blind
blunderbus: blunderbus: [17] Blunderbus was originally Dutch donderbus (literally ‘thundergun’), and its transformation is due to folk etymology: the unfamiliar donder was replaced by the English word blunder, perhaps with some reference to the fact that, with its wide muzzle, it is capable only of fairly random firing. The second part of the word (which also occurs in arquebus) is ultimately related to box, Dutch bus or buis being not just a ‘box’ but also a ‘tube’, and hence a ‘gun’. There is no connection with the 20thcentury thunderbox, a colloquial term for a ‘portable loo’.
founder: founder: [13] Etymologically, founder means ‘sink to the bottom’. Its history can be traced back to Latin fundus ‘bottom’ (source also of English found ‘establish’, fund, and fundamental), which formed the basis of a Vulgar Latin verb *fundorāre. This passed into Old French fondrer, which meant ‘submerge’, but also, by extension, ‘fall in ruins, collapse’ – both of which groups of senses English took over in founder.
=> found, fund, fundamental
plunder: plunder: [17] Plunder is of Dutch origin, and etymologically denotes something like ‘rob of household odds and ends’. It was borrowed from Middle Dutch plunderen, which was presumably derived from the noun plunde or plunne ‘household goods, clothes, etc’, whose origins are unknown.
thunder: thunder: [OE] Etymologically, thunder is nothing more than ‘noise’. In common with German donner, Dutch donder, and Danish torden, it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *thonara-. This was descended from the Indo- European base *ton-, *tn- ‘resound’, which also produced the Latin verb tonāre ‘thunder’ (source of English astound, detonate, and stun) and the Latin noun tonitrus ‘thunder’ (source of French tonnerre ‘thunder’). Thursday is etymologically the ‘day of thunder’.
=> astound, detonate, stun, thursday, tornado
under: under: [OE] Under originated as a comparative form. It has been traced back to a prehistoric Indo-European *ndhero-, which meant ‘lower’, and is also the ultimate source of English inferior [15]. This passed into Germanic as *unther-, which has evolved into German unter, Dutch onder, and Swedish, Danish, and English under.
=> inferior
understand: understand: [OE] The compound verb understand was formed in the centuries immediately preceding the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain. It is composed, of course, of under and stand, and the semantic link between ‘standing under’ something and ‘knowing about’ it may be ‘being close to’ it.
asunder (adv.): mid-12c., contraction of Old English on sundran (see sunder). Middle English used to know asunder for "distinguish, tell apart."
blunder (v.): mid-14c., "to stumble about blindly," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse blundra "shut one's eyes," from PIE root *bhlendh- (see blind). Meaning "make a stupid mistake" is first recorded 1711. Related: Blundered; blundering.
blunder (n.): mid-14c., apparently from blunder (v.), though of about the same age.
blunderbuss (n.): 1650s, from Dutch donderbus, from donder "thunder" (Middle Dutch doner, donder, from Proto-Germanic *thunaraz; see thunder (n.)) + bus "gun" (originally "box, tube"); altered by resemblance to blunder.
blunderful (adj.): 1881, jocular blend of blunder and wonderful.
blundering: mid-14c. as a present participle adjective; mid-15c. as a verbal noun, from blunder (v.). Related: Blunderingly.
bounder (n.): 1560s, "one who sets bounds," agent noun from bound (v.1); British English slang meaning "person of objectionable social behavior, would-be stylish person," is from 1882, perhaps from bound (v.2) on notion of one trying to "bound" into high society, but earliest usage suggests one outside the "bounds" of acceptable socializing, which would connect it with the noun.
Bundestag (n.): German federal council, 1879, from German Bundestag, from genitive of Bund "league, confederacy, association" (related to English band (n.2) and bind (v.)) + tag, literally "day;" as a verb, tagen, meaning "to sit in conference" (see day; also compare adjourn). Hence also Bundesrat, from rat, rath "council" (see read (v.)).
chunder (v.): "vomit," 1950, Australian slang, of unknown origin.
confounded (adj.): as an intensive execration, "odious, detestable, damned," 1650s, from past participle of confound, in its older English sense of "overthrow utterly."
dumbfounded (adj.): past participle adjective from dumbfound.
dunderhead (n.): 1620s, from head (n.); the first element is obscure; perhaps from Middle Dutch doner, donder "to thunder" (compare blunderbuss).
flounder (v.): "struggle awkwardly and impotently," especially when hampered somehow, 1590s, of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of founder (q.v.), influenced by Dutch flodderen "to flop about," or native verbs in fl- expressing clumsy motion. Figurative use is from 1680s. Related: Floundered; floundering. As a noun, "act of struggling," by 1867.
flounder (n.): "flatfish," c. 1300, from Anglo-French floundre, Old North French flondre, from Old Norse flydhra, from Proto-Germanic *flunthrjo (cognates: Middle Low German vlundere, Danish flynder, Old Swedish flundra "flatfish"), suffixed and nasalized form of PIE *plat- "to spread" (cognate: Greek platys "flat, wide, broad;" see plaice (n.)).
founder (v.): early 14c. "to send to the bottom" (transitive); late 14c., "to sink or fall" (intransitive), from Old French fondrer "collapse; submerge, sink, fall to the bottom" (Modern French fondrier), from fond "bottom" (12c.), from Latin fundus "bottom, foundation" (see fund (n.)). Not especially of ships in Middle English, where it typically meant "fall to the ground." Figurative use from 1580s. Related: Foundered; foundering.
founder (n.1): "one who establishes, one who sets up or institutes (something)," mid-14c., from Anglo-French fundur, Old French fondeor "founder, originator" (Modern French fondateur), from Latin fundator, agent noun from fundare "to lay a foundation" (see found (v.1)). Fem. form foundress is from early 15c.; also fundatrix (1540s).
founder (n.2): "one who casts metal," c. 1400, agent noun from found (v.2).
funded (adj.): 1776, "existing in the form of interest-bearing bonds," past participle adjective from fund (v.).
grounded (adj.): late 14c., "learned, instructed thoroughly in the basics;" 1540s as "firmly fixed or established," past participle adjective from ground (v.). Electrical sense is from 1889. Meaning "having been denied privileges" is from 1940s. Dickens had room-ridden "confined to one's room."
grounder (n.): c. 1400, "one who establishes," agent noun from ground (v.). Baseball sense attested by 1867; earlier in cricket.
grundel (n.): type of fish, c. 1500 (early 13c. as a surname), from grund "ground" (see ground (n.)) + -el (2). Compare Old English gryndle "herring;" grundling, type of fish, literally "groundling."
hereunder: early 15c., from here + under.
launder (v.): 1660s, "to wash linen," from noun launder "one who washes" (especially linen), mid-15c., a contraction of lavender, from Old French lavandier "washer, launderer," from Medieval Latin lavandaria "a washer," ultimately from Latin lavare "to wash" (see lave). Criminal banking sense first recorded 1961, from notion of making dirty money seem clean; brought to widespread use during U.S. Watergate scandal, 1973. Related: Laundered; laundering.
maunder (v.): "to wander about aimlessly," c. 1746, earlier "to mumble, grumble" (1620s), both senses perhaps from frequentative of maund "to beg" (1560s), which is possibly from French mendier "to beg," from Latin mendicare (see mendicant). "Though the etymology of maunder is uncertain, it is clear that it is not a corruption of meander" [Fowler], but the two words seem to have influenced each other. Fowler writes that maunder is "best confined to speech, & suggests futility rather than digression ... & failure to reach an end rather than loitering on the way to it." Related: Maundered; maundering.
misunderstand (v.): c. 1200; see mis- (1) + understand. Related: Misunderstood; misunderstanding.
misunderstanding (n.): "want of understanding," mid-15c., from present participle of misunderstand.
When misunderstanding serves others as an advantage, one is helpless to make oneself understood. [Lionel Trilling]
Meaning "dissention, disagreement" is first recorded 1640s.
misunderstood (adj.): 1590s, past participle adjective from misunderstand.
plunder (n.): "goods taken by force; act of plundering," 1640s, from plunder (v.).
plunder (v.): 1630s, from German plündern, from Middle High German plunderen "to plunder," originally "to take away household furniture," from plunder (n.) "household goods, clothes," also "lumber, baggage" (14c.; compare Modern German Plunder "lumber, trash"), which is related to Middle Dutch plunder "household goods;" Frisian and Dutch plunje "clothes." A word acquired by English via the Thirty Years War and applied in native use after the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642. Related: Plundered; plundering. Plunderbund was a U.S. colloquial word from 1914 referring to "a corrupt alliance of corporate and financial interests," with German Bund "alliance, league."
roundel (n.): late 13c., "a circle," from Old French rondel "round dance; dance lyric; roundel," from rond "round" (see round (n.)).
roundelay (n.): 1570s, from Middle French rondelet, diminutive of rondel "short poem with a refrain," literally "small circle," diminutive of Old French rond "circle, sphere," originally an adjective from roont (see round (adj.)). Spelling developed by association with lay (n.) "poem to be sung."
rounder (n.): 1620s, "a sentinel," agent noun from round (n.) on notion of "one who makes the rounds." Sense of "chronic drunkard or criminal" is from 1854, on notion of one who is habitually in and out of jails or bars. Rounders, a baseball-like game, attested from 1828.
Soundex (n.): phonetic coding system, 1959, from sound (n.1) + brand-name suffix -ex.
sunder (v.): Old English sundrian, syndrian "to sunder, separate, divide," from sundor "separately, apart," from Proto-Germanic *sunder (cognates: Old Norse sundr, Old Frisian sunder, Old High German suntar "aside, apart;" German sondern "to separate"), from PIE root *sene- "apart, separated" (cognates: Sanskrit sanutar "far away," Avestan hanare "without," Greek ater "without," Latin sine "without," Old Church Slavonic svene "without," Old Irish sain "different"). Related: Sundered; sundering.
thereunder (adv.): Old English þærunder; see there + under. Similar formation in Old Frisian therunder, German darunter.
thunder (n.): mid-13c., from Old English þunor "thunder, thunderclap; the god Thor," from Proto-Germanic *thunraz (cognates: Old Norse þorr, Old Frisian thuner, Middle Dutch donre, Dutch donder, Old High German donar, German Donner "thunder"), from PIE *(s)tene- "to resound, thunder" (cognates: Sanskrit tanayitnuh "thundering," Persian tundar "thunder," Latin tonare "to thunder"). Swedish tordön is literally "Thor's din." The intrusive -d- also is found in Dutch and Icelandic versions of the word. Thunder-stick, imagined word used by primitive peoples for "gun," attested from 1904.
thunder (v.): 13c., from Old English þunrian, from the source of thunder (n.). Figurative sense of "to speak loudly, threateningly, or bombastically" is recorded from mid-14c. Related: Thundered; thundering. Compare Dutch donderen, German donnern.
thunderbird (n.): legendary cause of thunder in many Native American cultures, 1848, a translation of native words, such as Ojibwa (Algonquian) aninikii, Lakotah (Siouan) wakiya, Klamath /lmelmnis/. See thunder (n.) + bird (n.1). In Lakhota, "the thunderbirds call" is "the usual expression for thunder" [Bright].
thunderbolt (n.): mid-15c., from thunder (n.) + bolt (n.) "arrow, projectile."
thunderclap (n.): also thunder-clap, late 14c., from thunder (n.) + clap (n.1).
thunderhead (n.): "high-piled cumulus cloud," one likely to develop into a thunderstorm, 1861, from thunder (n.) + head (n.).
thunderous (adj.): 1580s, from thunder (n.) + -ous. Related: Thunderously.
thunderstorm (n.): also thunder-storm, 1560s, from thunder (n.) + storm (n.).