英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

archives [archives 词源字典]: archives: [17] The Greek verb arkhein meant originally ‘begin’ – and hence ‘be in first place, rule’. This sense development lies behind the diversity in meaning of the words ultimately derived from it in English. Greek arkheion was the official residence of a ruler, a ‘public office’, and its plural, arkheia, was used for ‘public records’; it passed into English via Latin archīa, later archīva, and French archives.

Greek arkhē, on the other hand, had the sense ‘beginning’, and the adjective formed from it, arkhaios, later arkhaikós, ‘ancient’, came through French archaïque into English as archaic [19] (arkhaios is also the source of archaeology [17]). The same split in meaning is evident in the prefix arch-, which comes from the same source: in archetype, for instance, it signifies ‘first’, whereas in archduke it implies ‘highest in rank’.
=> archaic, archetype[archives etymology, archives origin, 英语词源]
chives: chives: [14] The Latin for ‘onion’ was cēpa. The only member of the onion family to carry a reminiscence of that name in English is chives (although it crops up too in chipolata [19], which comes from Italian cipollata ‘with onions’, a derivative of Italian cipolla ‘onion’, ultimately from Latin cēpa). The Latin word entered Old French as cive (the term civet ‘game stew’ derives from cive, such stews originally having been flavoured with green onions). It must, however, have been a northern dialect version of this, *chive, which English borrowed.
=> chipolata
divest: divest: see vest
eaves: eaves: [OE] The etymological meaning of eaves appears to be ‘going over the edge, projecting’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *obaswa, which was probably formed on *ob-, the base from which English over ultimately derives. The eavesdrip or eavesdrop is, or was, the area of ground on which rainwater thrown off by the eaves falls, so that somebody who stood within this area, with his or her ear to the door or window trying to listen in on private conversations, became known as an eavesdropper [15].
=> over
effervescent: effervescent: see fervent
harvest: harvest: [OE] The idea underlying the word harvest is of ‘plucking, gathering, cropping’ – it comes ultimately from Indo-European *karp-, which also produced Greek karpós ‘fruit, crop, harvest’ (whence English carpel [19]) and Latin carpere ‘pluck’ (source of English carpet, excerpt, and scarce) – but its original meaning in English was ‘time of gathering crops’ rather than ‘act of gathering crops’.

Indeed, until as recently as the 18th century it was used as the name for the season now known as autumn (as its German relative herbst still is), and it was not until the 16th century that the present-day senses ‘act of gathering crops’ and ‘crops gathered’ began to develop.
=> carpet, excerpt, scarce
invest: invest: [16] The etymological notion underlying invest is of ‘putting on clothes’. It comes via Old French investir from Latin investīre, a compound verb formed from the prefix in- and vestis ‘clothes’ (source of English vest, vestment, travesty, etc). It retained that original literal sense ‘clothe’ in English for several centuries, but now it survives only in its metaphorical descendant ‘instal in an office’ (as originally performed by clothing in special garments).

Its financial sense, first recorded in English in the early 17th century, is thought to have originated in Italian investire from the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc.
=> travesty, vest, vestment
investigate: investigate: [16] To investigate something is etymologically to look for traces, or ‘vestiges’, of it. The word comes from Latin investīgāre ‘search into’, a compound verb based on vestīgāre ‘track, trace’. This in turn was a derivative of vestīgium ‘footprint’, hence ‘track, trace’ (source of English vestige).
=> vestige
transvestite: transvestite: see travesty
travesty: travesty: [17] Travesty and transvestite [20] are first cousins. Both are compounded of the Latin elements trāns- ‘across’ and vestīre ‘clothe’ (source of English vest, vestment, etc), but they are separate formations. Travesty comes ultimately from Italian travestire ‘change clothes so as to disguise’, formed from the Italian descendants of the Latin elements.

This was borrowed into French as travestir ‘ridicule’, and its past participle travesti gave English travesty. Transvestite is a new formation, coined in German in the first decade of the 20th century (although there are a couple of isolated instances of a verb transvest ‘cross-dress’ from the 1650s).
=> invest, transvestite, vest, vestment
vespers: vespers: [17] Latin vesper meant ‘evening’, and like Greek hésperos it went back ultimately to Indo-European *wespero-. This was formed from a base *we- which denoted ‘down’ and also produced English west, so etymologically vesper signified ‘time when the sun goes down’. (Russian vecher ‘evening’ comes from another version of the same base.) English vespers itself goes back via Old French vespres to the plural of the variant Latin form vespera.
=> west
vessel: vessel: [13] Latin vascellum meant ‘small dish or utensil’. It was a diminutive form of vas ‘dish, vessel’ (source of English vase). It passed into English via Old French vaissel and Anglo- Norman vessel, on the way acquiring the additional meaning ‘ship’.
=> vase
vest: vest: [17] Vest was originally used fairly generally for a ‘robe’ or ‘gown’. Its earliest specific application was to a ‘sleeveless jacket worn under an outer coat’. It was Charles II of England who introduced the fashion, and the first reference to vest in this sense is in Samuel Pepy’s diary for 8 October 1666: ‘The King hath yesterday, in Council, declared his resolution for setting a fashion in clothes … It will be a vest, I know not well how; but it is to teach the nobility thrift’.

The direct descendant of this is American English vest for ‘waist-coat’. The British application of the word to an undergarment for the upper part of the body did not emerge until the 19th century. The word came via French veste and Italian veste from Latin vestis ‘clothing, garment’. This went back to the Indo- European base *wes-, which also produced English wear.

The derived Latin verb vestīre originally meant ‘clothe’, and hence ‘induct into an office by dressing in the appropriate garments’. It has given English its verb vest [15], as well as divest [17] and invest. Other English words from the same source include travesty, vestment [13], vestry [14], and vesture [14].
=> divest, invest, travesty, vestry, wear
vestige: vestige: [17] Vestige comes via French vestige from Latin vestīgium ‘footprint, trace’, a word of uncertain origin. From it was derived vestīgāre ‘track, trace’, which has given English investigate.
=> investigate
vestment: vestment: see vest
vestry: vestry: see vest
archives (n.): c. 1600, from French archif (16c.), from Late Latin archivum (singular), from Greek ta arkheia "public records," plural of arkheion "town hall," from arkhe "government," literally "beginning, origin, first place" (see archon).
Avestan: Eastern Iranian language that survived in sacred texts centuries after it went extinct, from Persian Avesta "sacred books of the Parsees," earlier Avistak, literally "books."
beeves (n.): original plural of beef (compare boevz, plural of Old French buef), now only in restricted use.
claves (n.): pair of hardwood sticks used in making music, 1928, from American Spanish claves (plural), from Spanish clave "keystone," from Latin clavis "key" (see slot (n.2)).
disinvestment (n.): 1938, first recorded in writings of J.M. Keynes, from dis- + investment. The verb disinvest in this sense is a back-formation attested from 1961. Related: Disinvested; disinvesting.
Dives: traditional name for a rich man, late 14c., from Latin dives "rich (man);" see Dis. Used in Luke xvi in Vulgate and commonly mistaken as the proper name of the man in the parable. Related to divus "divine," and originally meaning "favored by the gods" (see divine (adj.)).
divest (v.): 1560s, devest (modern spelling is c. 1600), from Middle French devester "strip of possessions," from Old French desvestir, from des- "away" (see dis-) + vestir "to clothe" (see vest (v.)).

The figurative sense of "strip of possessions" is earliest in English; reflexive sense of "to strip oneself of" is from c. 1600. Economic sense (implied in divestment) is from 1955. Related: Divested; divesting.
divestiture (n.): c. 1600, from divest on analogy of investiture. Economics sense is from 1961.
droves (n.): see drove.
eaves (n.): see eave.
eavesdrop (v.): "lurk near a place to hear what is said inside," c. 1600, probably a back-formation from eavesdropper. The original notion is listening from under the eaves of a house. Related: Eavesdropping.
eavesdropper (n.): mid-15c., with agent-noun ending + Middle English eavesdrop, from Old English yfesdrype "place around a house where the rainwater drips off the roof," from eave (q.v.) + drip (v.). Technically, "one who stands at walls or windows to overhear what's going on inside."
effervesce (v.): 1702, from Latin effervescere "to boil up, boil over" (see effervescence). Related: Effervesced; effervescing.
effervescence (n.): 1650s, "the action of boiling up," from French effervescence (1640s), from Latin effervescentem, present participle of effervescere "to boil up, boil over," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + fervescere "begin to boil," from fervere "be hot, boil" (see brew). Figurative sense of "liveliness" is from 1748. Related: Effervescency.
effervescent (adj.): 1680s, from Latin effervescentem (nominative effervescens), present participle of effervescere "to boil up, boil over" (see effervescence). Figurative meaning "exuberant" is from 1833.
Graves' disease: "exophthalmic goiter," 1862, named for Irish physician Robert James Graves (1796-1853), who first recognized the disease in 1835. The surname probably is from Old Norse greifi "steward," corresponding to Old English gerefa (see reeve).
gravestone (n.): "stone over a grave," late 14c.; earlier "stone coffin" (c. 1200), from grave (n.) + stone (n.). Similar formation in German Grabstein, Dutch grafsteen, Danish gravsten.
greaves (n.): mid-14c., plural of greave.
harvest (n.): Old English hærfest "autumn," as one of the four seasons, "period between August and November," from Proto-Germanic *harbitas (cognates: Old Saxon hervist, Old Frisian and Dutch herfst, German Herbst "autumn," Old Norse haust "harvest"), from PIE *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (cognates: Sanskrit krpana- "sword," krpani "shears;" Greek karpos "fruit," karpizomai "make harvest of;" Latin carpere "to cut, divide, pluck;" Lithuanian kerpu "cut;" Middle Irish cerbaim "cut").

In Old English with only implied reference to the gathering of crops. The borrowing of autumn and the use of fall (n.) in a seasonal sense gradually focused the meaning of harvest to "the time of gathering crops" (mid-13c.), also to the action itself and the product of the action (after c. 1300), which became its main senses from 14c. Figurative use by 1530s. As an adjective from late 14c. Harvest home (1570s) was a festive celebration of the bringing home the last of the harvest; harvest moon (1704) is that which is full within a fortnight of the autumnal equinox.
harvest (v.): c. 1400, from harvest (n.). Of wild animals, by 1946; of cells, from 1946. Related: Harvested; harvesting.
harvester (n.): "a reaper," 1590s; agent noun from harvest (v.). Meaning "machine for reaping and binding field crops" is from 1847.
hives (n.): c. 1500 hyvis "itchy condition of the skin," origin unknown. Some writers connect it with heave because hives erupt out from the skin, but the phonetics of that are difficult to explain.
invest (v.): late 14c., "to clothe in the official robes of an office," from Latin investire "to clothe in, cover, surround," from in "in, into" (see in- (2)) + vestire "to dress, clothe" (see wear (v.)). The meaning "use money to produce profit" first attested 1610s in connection with the East Indies trade, and is probably a borrowing of Italian investire (13c.) from the same Latin root, via the notion of giving one's capital a new form. The military meaning "to besiege" is from c. 1600. Related: Invested; investing.
investigable (adj.): c. 1400, from Late Latin investigabilis "that may be searched into," from investigare (see investigation).
investigate (v.): c. 1500, back-formation from investigation, or else from Latin investigatus, past participle of investigare "to trace out, search after" (see investigation). Related: Investigated; investigating.
investigation (n.): early 15c., from Old French investigacion (14c.), from Latin investigationem (nominative investigatio) "a searching into, a searching for," noun of action from past participle stem of investigare "to trace out, search after," from in- "in, into" (see in- (2)) + vestigare "to track, trace," from vestigium "footprint, track" (see vestige).
investigative (adj.): 1803, from Latin investigat-, past participle stem of investigare (see investigation) + -ive. Journalism sense is from 1951.
investigator (n.): 1550s, a native agent-noun formation from investigate, or else from Latin investigator "he that searches into," agent noun from past participle stem of investigare (see investigation).
investiture (n.): late 14c., from Medieval Latin investitura, from past participle stem of Latin investire "to clothe" (see invest).
investment (n.): 1590s, "act of putting on vestments" (a sense now found in investiture); later "act of being invested with an office, right, endowment, etc." (1640s); and "surrounding and besieging of a military target" (1811); see invest + -ment. Commercial sense is from 1610s, originally of the finances of the East India Company; general use is from 1740 in the sense of "conversion of money to property in hopes of profit," and by 1837 in the sense "amount of money so invested; property viewed as a vehicle for profit." For evolution of commercial senses, see invest.
investor (n.): 1580s, "one who clothes;" 1862, "one who invests money," agent noun from invest.
Jeeves: personification of the perfect valet, 1930, from character in P.G. Wodehouse's novels.
livestock (n.): 1520s, from live (adj.) + stock (n.2).
lovesick (adj.): also love-sick, 1520s, from love (n.) + sick (adj.).