英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

dern (adj.)[dern 词源字典]: "secret, hidden" (obsolete), from Old English derne "concealed, secret, dark," from West Germanic *darnjaz (cognates: Old Saxon derni, Old Frisian dern "concealed, dark," Old High German tarni "secret, concealed, veiled").

As a verb, "to conceal," from Old English diernan "to hide." Compare Old High German tarnjan "to conceal, hide;" German Tarnkappe, Tarnhelm "magical cap or helmet which turns the wearer invisible or allows him to assume any form." Related to dark (adj.). French ternir "to tarnish, to dull" apparently is a Germanic loan-word. [dern etymology, dern origin, 英语词源]
hiker (n.): 1913, agent noun from hike (v.). Earlier as a type of boat:
The "hiker" or "tuck-up" as it is more generally termed, is a craft peculiar to the Delaware River, and is to the youth residing along the banks of that stream what the racing shell is to the Torontonian .... The origin of the name "hiker" is veiled in mystery. No member of the clubs engaged in sailing these boats can give anything like a satisfactory derivation of the word. The most common explanation is that it is corrupted from the local verb "to hike," which means to run or fly swiftly. ["Harper's Young People," 1885]
unveil (v.): 1590s, in reference to sight, "to make clear," from un- (2) "opposite of" + veil (v.). Sense of "to display or reveal" (something) is from 1650s. Related: Unveiled; unveiling.
veil (v.): late 14c., from Old French veler, voiller (12c.), from Latin velare "to cover, veil," from velum "a cloth, covering, curtain, veil," literally "a sail" (see veil (n.)). Figurative sense of "to conceal, mask, disguise" (something immaterial) is recorded from 1530s. Related: Veiled; veiling.
wife (n.): Old English wif (neuter) "woman, female, lady," also, but not especially, "wife," from Proto-Germanic *wiban (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Frisian wif, Old Norse vif, Danish and Swedish viv, Middle Dutch, Dutch wijf, Old High German wib, German Weib), of uncertain origin, not found in Gothic.

Apparently felt as inadequate in its basic sense, leading to the more distinctive formation wifman (source of woman). Dutch wijf now means, in slang, "girl, babe," having softened somewhat from earlier sense of "bitch." German cognate Weib also tends to be slighting or derogatory and has been displaced by Frau.

The more usual Indo-European word is represented in English by queen/quean. Words for "woman" also double for "wife" in some languages. Some proposed PIE roots for wife include *weip- "to twist, turn, wrap," perhaps with sense of "veiled person" (see vibrate); and more recently *ghwibh-, a proposed root meaning "shame," also "pudenda," but the only examples of it would be the Germanic words and Tocharian (a lost IE language of central Asia) kwipe, kip "female pudenda."

The modern sense of "female spouse" began as a specialized sense in Old English; the general sense of "woman" is preserved in midwife, old wives' tale, etc. Middle English sense of "mistress of a household" survives in housewife; and the later restricted sense of "tradeswoman of humble rank" in fishwife. By 1883 as "passive partner in a homosexual couple." Wife-swapping is attested from 1954.