quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- private




- private: [14] Latin prīvus meant ‘single, individual’. From it was derived the verb prīvāre, source of English deprive [14] and privation [14]. This originally meant ‘make solitary, isolate’, and although it later moved on metaphorically to ‘bereave, deprive’, its earliest sense was preserved in the adjective formed from its past participle prīvātus.
This denoted ‘belonging to the individual alone’, hence ‘not belonging or related to the state’. English has acquired the word twice: first, via Old French, as the now almost archaic privy [13], and later, directly from Latin, as private. Privilege [12] comes via Old French privilege from Latin prīvilēgium, a compound formed from prīvus and lēx ‘law’ (source of English legal) which etymologically meant ‘law affecting an individual’.
=> deprive, privilege, privy - aggravate (v.)




- 1520s, "make heavy, burden down," from past participle adjective aggravate "burdened; threatened" (late 15c.), from Latin aggravatus, past participle of aggravare "to render more troublesome," literally "to make heavy" (see aggravation). Earlier in this sense was aggrege (late 14c.). Meaning "to make a bad thing worse" is from 1590s; that of "exasperate, annoy" is from 1610s.
To aggravate has properly only one meaning -- to make (an evil) worse or more serious. [Fowler]
Related: Aggravated; aggravating. Phrase aggravating circumstances is recorded from 1790. - captivate (v.)




- 1520s, "to enthrall with charm," from Late Latin captivatus, past participle of captivare "to take, capture," from captivus (see captive). Literal sense (1550s) is rare or obsolete in English, which uses capture (q.v.). Latin captare "to take, hold" also had a transferred sense of "to entice, entrap, allure." Related: Captivated; captivating; captivatingly.
- conservative (adj.)




- late 14c., conservatyf, from Middle French conservatif, from Late Latin conservativus, from Latin conservatus, past participle of conservare (see conserve).
As a modern political tradition, conservatism traces to Edmund Burke's opposition to the French Revolution (1790), but the word conservative is not found in his writing. It was coined by his French disciples, (such as Chateaubriand, who titled his journal defending clerical and political restoration "Le Conservateur").
Conservative as the name of a British political faction first appeared in an 1830 issue of the "Quarterly Review," in an unsigned article sometimes attributed to John Wilson Croker. It replaced Tory (q.v.) by 1843, reflecting both a change from the pejorative name (in use for 150 years) and repudiation of some reactionary policies. Extended to similar spirits in other parties from 1845.Strictly speaking, conservatism is not a political system, but rather a way of looking at the civil order. The conservative of Peru ... will differ greatly from those of Australia, for though they may share a preference for things established, the institutions and customs which they desire to preserve are not identical. [Russell Kirk (1918-1994)]
Phrases such as a conservative estimate make no sense etymologically. The noun is attested from 1831, originally in the British political sense. - cultivate (v.)




- early 17c., from Medieval Latin cultivatus, past participle of cultivare "to cultivate," from Late Latin cultivus "tilled," from Latin cultus (see cult). Figurative sense of "improve by training or education" is from 1680s. Related: Cultivable; cultivated; cultivating.
- curvature (n.)




- 1660s, from Latin curvatura "a bending," from curvatus, past participle of curvare "to bend" (see curve (v.)). In non-Euclidian geometry, from 1873.
- derivate (adj.)




- late 15c., from Latin derivatus, past participle of derivare (see derive). From 1650s as a noun.
- elevate (v.)




- late 15c., "to raise above the usual position," from Latin elevatus, past participle of elevare "lift up, raise," figuratively, "to lighten, alleviate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + levare "lighten, raise," from levis "light" in weight (see lever). Sense of "raise in rank or status" is from c. 1500. Moral or intellectual sense is from 1620s. Related: Elevated (which also was old slang for "drunk"); elevating.
- enervate (v.)




- c. 1600, "deprive of force or strength," from Latin enervatus, past participle of enervare "to weaken" (see enervation). Literal sense of "to weaken, impair" in English is from 1610s. Related: Ennervated; ennervating. As a verb Middle English had enerve (c. 1400, eneruyd).
- estivate (v.)




- "to spend the summer," 1650s, from Latin aestivatus, past participle of aestivare "to spend the summer," from aestus "heat," aestas "summer," literally "the hot season," from Proto-Italic *aissat-, from PIE *aidh- "to burn" (see edifice). Related: Estivated; estivating; estivation.
- excavate (v.)




- 1590s, from Latin excavatus, past participle of excavare "to hollow out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + cavare "to hollow, hollow out," from cavus "cave" (see cave (n.)). Related: Excavated; excavating.
- innovate (v.)




- 1540s, "introduce as new," from Latin innovatus, past participle of innovare "to renew, restore; to change," from in- "into" (see in- (2)) + novus "new" (see new). Meaning "make changes in something established" is from 1590s. Related: Innovated; innovating.
- latrine (n.)




- c. 1300, probably from Latin latrina, contraction of lavatrina "washbasin, washroom," from lavatus, past participle of lavare "to wash" (see lave) + -trina, suffix denoting "workplace." Its reappearance in 1640s is probably a re-borrowing from French; especially of a privy of a camp, barracks, college, hospital, etc. Latrine rumor "baseless gossip" (of the kind that spreads in conversations in latrines) is military slang, first recorded 1918.
- lavatory (n.)




- late 14c., "washbasin," from Latin lavatorium "place for washing," noun use of neuter of adjective lavatorius "pertaining to washing," from lavatus, past participle of lavare "to wash" (see lave). Sense of "washroom" is first attested 1650s; as a euphemism for "toilet, W.C.," it is attested by 1864.
- levator (n.)




- from medical Latin levator "a lifter," from Latin levatus, past participle of levare "to raise" (see lever).
- oval (adj.)




- 1570s, from Modern Latin ovalis "egg-shaped" (source of French oval, 1540s), literally "of or pertaining to an egg," from Latin ovum "egg" (see ovary). The classical Latin word was ovatus.
- ovate (adj.)




- 1760, from Latin ovum "egg" (see ovum).
- private (adj.)




- late 14c., "pertaining or belonging to oneself, not shared, individual; not open to the public;" of a religious rule, "not shared by Christians generally, distinctive; from Latin privatus "set apart, belonging to oneself (not to the state), peculiar, personal," used in contrast to publicus, communis; past participle of privare "to separate, deprive," from privus "one's own, individual," from PIE *prei-wo-, from PIE *prai-, *prei-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).
Old English in this sense had syndrig. Private grew popular 17c. as an alternative to common (adj.), which had overtones of condescension. Of persons, "not holding public office," recorded from early 15c. In private "privily" is from 1580s. Related: Privately. Private school is from 1650s. Private parts "the pudenda" is from 1785. Private enterprise first recorded 1797; private property by 1680s; private sector is from 1948. Private eye "private detective" is recorded from 1938, American English. - private (n.)




- 1590s, "private citizen," short for private person "individual not involved in government" (early 15c.), or from Latin privatus "man in private life," noun use of the adjective; 1781 in the military sense, short for Private soldier "one below the rank of a non-commissioned officer" (1570s), from private (adj.).
- privative (adj.)




- 1580s, "expressing negation" (as do the prefixes un-, a- (2), etc.), from Latin privativus "denoting privation, negative," from privatus, past participle of privare (see private).
- privy (adj.)




- "private," early 13c., from Old French privé "friendly, intimate; a private place," from Latin privatus "private, personal" (see private (adj.)). Meaning "participating in (a secret)" (usually with to) is attested from late 14c. Related: Privily. Privy Council is from c. 1300 in a general sense; specifically of the British government, first attested late 14c., as consaile priue. Privy member "organ of sex" is from late 13c.
- recidivate (v.)




- "fall back; relapse," 1520s, from Medieval Latin recidivatus, past participle of recidivare "to relapse" (see recidivist). Related: Recidivated; recidivating.
- renovate (v.)




- 1520s, back-formation from renovation, or else from Latin renovatus, past participle of renovare "renew, restore" (see renovation). Related: Renovated; renovating.
- salivate (v.)




- 1650s, "cause to produce saliva;" intransitive sense from 1680s, from Latin salivatus, past participle of salivare, from saliva (see saliva). Figurative use in reference to anticipation by 1965. Related: Salivated; salivating.
- savior (n.)




- c. 1300, "one who delivers or rescues from peril," also a title of Jesus Christ, from Old French sauveour, from Late Latin salvatorem (nominative salvator) "a saver, preserver" (source also of Spanish salvador, Italian salvatore), from salvatus, past participle of salvare "to save" (see save (v.)). In Christian sense, a translation of Greek soter "savior." Replaced Old English hælend, literally "healing," noun use of present participle of hælan (see heal).
- recurvate (1)




- "Bent back; = recurved", Mid 16th cent.; earliest use found in Thomas Hill (b. c1528). From classical Latin recurvātus, past participle of recurvāre.