quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- respect



[respect 词源字典] - respect: [14] Respect and respite [13] are ultimately the same word. Both go back to respectus, the past participle of Latin respicere ‘look back at’, hence ‘look at, regard, consider’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘back’ and specere ‘look’ (source of English spectacle, speculate, etc). Respectus passed into English, perhaps via Old French respect, as respect, in the sense ‘regard, relation’ (as in with respect to); the key modern meaning ‘deference, esteem’ developed towards the end of the 16th century.
An earlier borrowing of respectus into Old French produced respit, which preserved another meaning of the Latin word, ‘refuge’. This was the source of English respite.
=> inspect, respite, spectacle, spectator[respect etymology, respect origin, 英语词源] - tenuous (adj.)




- 1590s, "thin, unsubstantial," irregularly formed from Latin tenuis "thin, drawn out, meager, slim, slender," figuratively "trifling, insignificant, poor, low in rank," from PIE root *ten- "to stretch" (cognates: Sanskrit tanuh "thin," literally "stretched out;" see tenet) + -ous. The correct form with respect to the Latin is tenuious. The figurative sense of "having slight importance, not substantial" is found from 1817 in English. Related: Tenuously; tenuousness.
- unbias (v.)




- "to free from bias," 1708, from un- (2) "reverse, opposite of" + bias (v.).
The truest service a private man may hope to do his country is, by unbiassing his mind as much as possible. [Swift, "The Sentiments of a Church of England Man with respect to Religion and Government," 1708]
- Uranus




- first planet discovered that was not known in ancient times, named for the god of Heaven, husband of Gaia, the Earth, from Latin Uranus, from Greek Ouranos literally "heaven, the sky;" in Greek cosmology, the god who personifies the heavens, father of the titans.
The planet was discovered and identified as such in 1781 by Sir William Herschel (it had been observed before, but mistaken for a star; in 1690 John Flamsteed cataloged it as 34 Tauri); Herschel proposed calling it Georgium Sidus, literally "George's Star," in honour of his patron, King George III of England.
I cannot but wish to take this opportunity of expressing my sense of gratitude, by giving the name of Georgium Sidus ... to a star which (with respect to us) first began to shine under His auspicious reign. [Sir William Herschel, 1783]
The planet was known in English in 1780s as the Georgian Planet; French astronomers began calling Herschel, and ultimately German astronomer Johann Bode proposed Uranus as in conformity with other planet names. However, the name didn't come into common usage until c. 1850. - virtual (adj.)




- late 14c., "influencing by physical virtues or capabilities, effective with respect to inherent natural qualities," from Medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus "excellence, potency, efficacy," literally "manliness, manhood" (see virtue). The meaning "being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact" is from mid-15c., probably via sense of "capable of producing a certain effect" (early 15c.). Computer sense of "not physically existing but made to appear by software" is attested from 1959.
- acoustic microscope




- "A phonograph with respect to its power of producing clearly audible sounds from only small variations in a surface ( rare )", Early 20th cent.; earliest use found in American Homes & Gardens.
- non-sexist




- "Not sexist, especially deliberately or self-consciously so; not discriminatory with respect to gender", 1970s; earliest use found in Vocal Majority. From non- + sexist.