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buckwheat [buckwheat 词源字典]: buckwheat: [16] Buckwheat has no connection with male deer. The buck- element is related to the English word beech, and the name comes from the resemblance of buckwheat (the seeds of a plant of the dock family) to the three-sided seeds of the beech tree. The word was actually borrowed from Middle Dutch boecweite, meaning literally ‘beechwheat’.
=> beech[buckwheat etymology, buckwheat origin, 英语词源]
narwhal: narwhal: [17] The narwhal, a small arctic whale with a long unicorn-like tusk, is whitish in colour, which evidently reminded Viking seafarers somewhat morbidly of a corpse, for they named it in Old Icelandic nāhvalr, literally ‘corpse whale’. In Danish and Norwegian this became narhval, and English took it over and partially anglicized it as narh whale. Over the centuries this has contracted to narwhal.
whale: whale: [OE] Whale comes from a prehistoric Germanic *khwal-, which also produced Swedish and Danish hval and the wal- of German walfisch ‘whale’. The expression a whale of, meaning ‘no end of’, originated in the USA towards the end of the 19th century.
wharf: wharf: [OE] Wharf has relatives in German werft ‘wharf, shipyard’ and Dutch werf ‘shipyard’. All three appear to go back to a prehistoric Germanic base *(kh)werb-, *(kh)warb- ‘turn’, which also produced German werfen ‘throw’ and English warp.
=> version, warp
what: what: [OE] What traces its history right back to Indo-European *qwod, which also produced Latin quod ‘what’. The Germanic descendant of this was *khwat, which has evolved into German was, Dutch wat, Swedish vad, Danish hvad, and English what.
wheat: wheat: [OE] Wheat is etymologically the ‘white’ grain. The word comes from prehistoric Germanic *khvaitjaz (source also of German weizen, Dutch weit, Swedish hvete, and Danish hvede), which was derived from a variant of the base *khwīt-, source of English white. It alludes to the ‘white’ flour produced by grinding the grain.
=> white
wheatear: wheatear: [16] The wheatear is etymologically the ‘white-arsed’ bird. The word is a backformation from an earlier wheatears, a singular form which came to be regarded as plural. And wheatears in turn was an alteration (due no doubt to confusion with wheat) of *whiteeres, a compound formed from white and arse. Like the parallel French term culblanc, it alludes to the white feathers on the bird’s rump.
=> arse, white
wheel: wheel: [OE] A wheel is etymologically simply something that ‘goes round’. It is a member of a large family of words that goes back to Indo- European *qweqwlo-, which was derived from *qwelo- ‘go round’. Other members include Greek kúklos ‘circle’ (source of English cycle), Sanskrit cakrá- ‘circle, wheel’ (source of English chukker), Serbo-Croat and Czech kolo ‘wheel’, and Russian koleso ‘wheel’. Its prehistoric Germanic descendant was *khwekhula, which evolved into Dutch wiel, Swedish and Danish hjul, and English wheel.
=> chukker, cycle, encyclopedia
when: when: [OE] When was formed from the ancient interrogative base *qwo- (source also of English what, who, etc) and a nasal suffix which also appears in then. From the same ancestor, but with an additional dental suffix, came Latin quando ‘when’, source of English quandary.
=> quandary
where: where: [OE] Where is an ancient Indo-European formation derived from the interrogative base *qwo- (source also of English what, who, etc). In Germanic (where its relatives include Dutch waar, Swedish var, Danish hvor, and the war- of German warum ‘why’) it has largely become limited in its application to ‘place’, but in other branches of the Indo-European language family it performs other interrogative functions: Latin cūr ‘why’, for instance, Welsh pyr ‘why’, and Sanskrit kárhi- ‘when’, beside Lithuanian kur ‘where’.
whether: whether: [OE] Whether was formed in the prehistoric Germanic period from the interrogative base *khwa-, *khwe- (source of English what, who, etc) and the comparative suffix *-theraz, which also occurs in English other. Its Germanic relatives include German weder ‘neither’ and Swedish hvar ‘each’. English either goes back to a Germanic compound formed from the ancestors of ay and whether.
=> either, other
which: which: [OE] Etymologically, which means ‘what like, of what form or sort?’ The word was formed in the prehistoric Germanic period from the interrogative base *khwa-, *khwe- (source of English what, who, etc) and *līka- ‘body, form’ (source of English like and also incorporated into English each and such). Its Germanic relatives include German welch and Dutch welk ‘which’.
=> like
Whig: Whig: [17] Whig appears to be short for the now obsolete Scottish term whiggamaire. This presumably originally meant ‘horse-driver’ (it is assumed to have been formed from the Scottish verb whig ‘drive’, whose origins are not known, and maire, a Scottish form of mare ‘female horse’), but its earliest recorded application was to Presbyterian supporters in Scotland. It was later adopted as a name for those who opposed the succession of the Catholic James II, and by 1689 it had established itself as the title of one of the two main British political parties, opposed to the Tories.
while: while: [OE] While comes via prehistoric Germanic *khwīlō from the Indo-European base *qwi-. This denoted ‘rest’, and its meaning was carried through into Latin quiēs (source of English quiet) and tranquillus (source of English tranquil) and Swedish hvila and Danish hvile ‘repose, refreshment’. In English, however, and the other Germanic languages (German weile and Dutch wijl), the notion of ‘rest’ has passed, presumably via ‘period of rest’, to ‘period of time’. English while was first used as a conjunction in the 12th century.
=> quiet, tranquil
whin: whin: see gorse
whip: whip: [13] Whip was originally a verb, meaning ‘move quickly’. It was probably borrowed from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch wippen ‘vacillate, swing’, which in turn went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *wip- ‘move quickly’ (source also of English wipe). And *wip- itself was descended from Indo-European *wib-, from which English gets vibrate. Wafer, weave, web, etc come from variants of the same base. The application of whip to a ‘flexible implement for lashing’ is first recorded in the 14th century.
=> vibrate, weave, wipe
whisk: whisk: see whist
whisky: whisky: [18] Whisky denotes etymologically ‘water of life’. The word is short for an earlier whiskybae, which was an alteration of usquebaugh; and this in turn was an anglicization of Gaelic uisge beatha ‘water of life’ (Gaelic uisge ‘water’ comes from the same Indo-European source as English water, and beatha ‘life’ is related to Latin vīta ‘life’ and English vital). The distinction in spelling between Scotch whisky and American and Irish whiskey goes back no further than the 19th century. French eau de vie ‘brandy’, literally ‘water of life’, is semantically identical.
=> vital, water
whisper: whisper: [OE] Whisper comes ultimately from the prehistoric Germanic base *khwis-, which imitated a sort of hissing sound. This also produced German wispeln and wispern ‘whisper’, and with a different suffix it gave English whistle.
=> whistle
whist: whist: [17] The game of whist was originally called whisk, and it is generally assumed that the name came from the ‘whisking’ away of the cards after the tricks had been taken (whisk [14] itself was borrowed from a Scandinavian source that went back ultimately to the prehistoric Germanic base *wisk- ‘move quickly’). Charles Cotton, however, in his Complete Gamester 1680, said that it was ‘called Whist from the silence that is to be observed in the play’ (whist is also a now archaic exclamation meaning ‘be quiet!’).
whistle: whistle: [OE] Like whisper, whistle goes back ultimately to the prehistoric Germanic base *khwis-, which denoted a ‘hissing’ sound. Related forms include Swedish vissla ‘whistle’ and Danish hvisle ‘hiss’.
=> whisper
white: white: [OE] White goes back ultimately to Indo- European *kwitnos or *kwidnos, which was formed from the same base as produced Sanskrit sveta- ‘white’ and Russian svet ‘light’. It passed into prehistoric Germanic as *khwītaz, which has since evolved into German weiss, Swedish vit, Danish hvid, and English white (Dutch wit comes from a variant of the same Germanic source). Wheat is etymologically the ‘white’ grain.
=> wheat, whitsun
white elephant: white elephant: see elephant
whitlow: whitlow: see flake
Whitsun: Whitsun: [OE] Whitsun is etymologically ‘white Sunday’. The name comes from the ancient tradition of clothing newly baptized people in white on the feast of Pentecost. The abbreviated form Whit began to be used with other days of the week (such as Whit Monday) in the 16th century, but its broader modern usage (as in Whit week, Whit bank holiday, etc) did not emerge until the end of the 19th century.
=> sunday, white
who: who: [OE] Who goes right back to Indo-European *qwos, *qwes (source also of Russian kto ‘who’), whose neuter form *qwod gave English what. Its prehistoric Germanic descendant was *khwaz, *khwez, which has evolved into German wer, Dutch wie, Danish hvo, and English who. Whom comes from the Old English dative form hwǣm.
whole: whole: [OE] Whole is at the centre of a tightlyknit family of English words descended from prehistoric Germanic *khailaz ‘undamaged’ (the other members – hail ‘salute’, hale, hallow, heal, health, and holy – have have branched off in different semantic directions, but whole has stayed fairly close to its source). The Germanic form, which also produced German heil, Dutch heel, and Swedish and Danish hel, went back to an Indo-European *qoilos, source also of Russian celyj ‘whole’ and Welsh coel ‘good omen’. Hale [13] originated as a northern variant of whole (whose wh- spelling emerged in the 16th century).

The compound wholesome was probably formed in Old English, but it is not recorded until the 12th century.
=> hail, hale, hallow, heal, health, holy
whore: whore: [OE] A whore is etymologically a ‘lover’. The word goes back ultimately to the Indo- European base *qār-, which also produced Latin cārus ‘dear’ (source of English caress and charity), Old Irish caraim ‘I love’, and Latvian kārs ‘randy, greedy’. It gave prehistoric Germanic *khōrōn, which evolved into German hure, Dutch hoer, Swedish hora, Danish hore, and English whore (whose wh- spelling first appeared in the 16th century).
=> caress, charity
why: why: [OE] Why goes back to Indo-European *qwei, the locative case of the interrogative base *qwo- (source of English what and who). This passed into prehistoric Germanic as *khwī, which has since died out in all the Germanic languages apart from Danish (hvi) and English (why).
anywhere (adv.): late 14c., from any + where. Earlier words in this sense were owhere, oughwhere, aywhere, literally "aught where" (see aught (1)).
arrowhead (n.): late 15c., from arrow + head (n.). Ancient ones dug up were called elf-arrows (17c.).
awhile (adv.): Old English ane hwile "(for) a while" (see while (n.)); usually written as one word since 13c.
awhirl (adj.): 1837, from a- (1) + whirl (v.).
blowhard (n.): also blow-hard, 1840, a sailor's word (from 1790 as a nickname for a sailor), perhaps not originally primarily meaning "braggart;" from blow (v.1) + hard (adv.). An adjective sense of "boastful" appeared c. 1855, and may be a separate formation leading to a modified noun use.
blowhole (n.): also blow-hole, 1787, of whales and porpoises, from blow (v.1) + hole.
bobwhite (n.): North American partridge, 1819, so called from the sound of its cry.
brewhouse (n.): late 14c.; late 13c. as a surname, from brew (v.) + house (n.).
buckwheat (n.): 1540s, from Middle Dutch boecweite "beech wheat" (compare Danish boghvede, Swedish bovete, German Buchweizen), so called from resemblance between grains and seed of beech trees. Possibly a native formation on the same model as the Dutch word, from a dialectal form of beech. See beech + wheat.
bushwhacker (n.): also bush-whacker, 1809, American English, literally "one who beats the bushes" (to make his way through), perhaps modeled on Dutch bosch-wachter "forest keeper;" see bush (n.) + whack (v.). In American Civil War, "irregular who took to the woods" (1862), variously regarded as patriot guerillas or as freebooters. Hence bushwhack (v.), 1837; bushwhacking (1826).
cartwheel (n.): late 14c., "wheel of a cart," from cart (n.) + wheel (n.). Meaning "lateral somersault" is recorded from 1861; as a verb from 1907. Related: Cartwheeled; cartwheeling.
Dick Whittington: The story is an old one, told under other names throughout Europe, of a poor boy who sends a cat he had bought for a penny as his stake in a trading voyage; the captain sells it on his behalf for a fortune to a foreign king whose palace is overrun by rats. The hero devotes part of his windfall to charity, which may be why the legend attached in England since 16c. to Sir Richard Whittington (d.1423), three times Lord Mayor of London, who died childless and devoted large sums in his will to churches, almshouses, and St. Bartholomew's Hospital.
egg-white (n.): 1898, from egg (n.) + white (n.).
elsewhere (n.): "in another place, in other places," c. 1400, elswher, from Old English elles hwær (see else + where). Related: Elsewhither (Old English elleshwider.
Erewhon (n.): "utopia," from title of a book published 1872 by British author Samuel Butler (1835-1902), a partial reversal of nowhere.
erstwhile (adv.): 1560s, "formerly," from erst "first, at first; once, long ago; till now" (13c.), earlier erest from Old English ærest "soonest, earliest," superlative of ær (see ere) + while (adv.). As an adjective, "former," from 1903. Cognate with Old Saxon and Old High German erist, German erst.
everywhere (adv.): Old English æfre gehwær; see every + where.
Ferris wheel (n.): 1893, American English, from U.S. engineer George W.G. Ferris (1859-1896), who designed it for the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. It was 250 feet tall and meant to rival the Eiffel Tower, from the 1889 Paris Exposition. The surname is said to be a 16c. form of Ferrers, borne in England by two families, from two places named Ferrières in Normandy.
flywheel (n.): also fly-wheel, "heavy-rimmed revolving wheel to regulate motion," 1784, from fly (n.) "speed-regulating device" (1590s, from fly (v.1)) + wheel (n.).
four-wheeled (adj.): Old English feowerhweolod; see four + wheel (n.).
free-wheeling (adj.): also freewheeling, 1903, from free wheel (1899, see free (adj.) + wheel (n.)); a bicycle wheel that turns even when not being pedaled, later from the name of a kind of automobile drive system that allowed cars to coast without being slowed by the engine. Figurative sense is from 1911.