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ecosphere (n.)[ecosphere 词源字典]: region around a star where conditions allow life-bearing planets to exist, 1953; see eco- + sphere. Apparently coined by German-born U.S. physician and space medicine pioneer Hubertus Strughold (1898-1986).[ecosphere etymology, ecosphere origin, 英语词源]
ecosystem (n.): 1935; see eco- + system. Perhaps coined by English ecologist Sir Arthur George Tansley (1871-1955).
ecotourism (n.): by 1984, from eco- + tourism. Related: Ecotourist.
ecru (adj.): 1869, "having the color of raw silk or unbleached linen," from French écru "raw, unbleached," from Old French escru "raw, crude, rough" (13c.), from es- "thoroughly" (see ex-) + Latin crudus "raw" (see crude).
ecstasy (n.): late 14c., extasie "elation," from Old French estaise "ecstasy, rapture," from Late Latin extasis, from Greek ekstasis "entrancement, astonishment, insanity; any displacement or removal from the proper place," in New Testament "a trance," from existanai "displace, put out of place," also "drive out of one's mind" (existanai phrenon), from ek "out" (see ex-) + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet).

Used by 17c. mystical writers for "a state of rapture that stupefied the body while the soul contemplated divine things," which probably helped the meaning shift to "exalted state of good feeling" (1610s). Slang use for the drug 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine dates from 1985. Formerly also spelled ecstasie, extacy, extasy, etc. Attempts to coin a verb to go with it include ecstasy (1620s), ecstatize (1650s), ecstasiate (1823), ecstasize (1830).
ecstatic (adj.): 1590s, "mystically absorbed," from Greek ekstatikos "unstable, inclined to depart from," from ekstasis (see ecstasy). Meaning "characterized by or subject to intense emotions" is from 1660s, now usually pleasurable ones, but not originally always so. Related: Ecstatical; ecstatically.
ecto-: word-forming element generally meaning "outside, external," before vowels ect-, from Latinized form of Greek adverb ektos "outside, out of; free from; exempt" (opposed to entos), used to form compounds in Greek (such as ektome "a cutting out"); related to Greek ek, ex "out," from PIE *eghs "out" (see ex-).
ectoderm (n.): 1853, from ecto- + -derm. Coined by Prussian embryologist Robert Remak (1815-1865). Related: Ectodermal.
ectomorph (n.): 1940, coined by W.H. Sheldon from ecto- + -morph, from Greek morphe (see morphine). Related: Ectomorphic.
ectopic (adj.): 1864 in reference to pregnancy, from ectopia "morbid displacement of parts" (1847), coined in Modern Latin from Greek ektopos "away from a place, distant; foreign, strange," from ek- "out" (see ex-) + topos "place" (see topos).
ectoplasm (n.): 1883, of amoebas, "exterior protoplasm of a cell;" 1901 of spirits, from ecto- + -plasm. Related: Ectoplasmic.
ecu (n.): old French silver coin, 1704, from French écu, "a shield," also the name of a coin, from Old French escu (12c.) "shield, coat of arms," also the name of a coin with three fleur-de-lys stamped on it as on the shield, formerly escut, from Latin scutum "shield" (see hide (n.1)). First issued by Louis IX (1226-1270); so called because the shield of France was imprinted on them.
Ecuador: from the Spanish form of equator (which runs through it). Before 1830 the region bore the name of its chief city, Quito, which is from the name of a now-extinct native people, of unknown meaning. Related: Ecuadorian; Ecuadorean.
ecumenical (adj.): late 16c., "representing the entire (Christian) world," formed in English as an ecclesiastical word, from Late Latin oecumenicus "general, universal," from Greek oikoumenikos "from the whole world," from he oikoumene ge "the inhabited world (as known to the ancient Greeks); the Greeks and their neighbors considered as developed human society (as opposed to barbarian lands)," in later use "the Roman world" and in the Christian sense in ecclesiastical Greek, from oikoumenos, present passive participle of oikein "inhabit," from oikos "house, habitation" (see villa). Related: Ecumenic.
ecumenism (n.): 1937, from ecumen- (see ecumenical) + -ism. The older word is ecumenicalism (1870).
eczema (n.): 1753, from Greek ekzema, literally "something thrown out by heat," from ekzein "to boil over, break out," from ek "out" (see ex-) + zein "to boil," from PIE root *yes- "to boil, foam, bubble" (see yeast). Said to have been the name given by ancient physicians to "any fiery pustule on the skin" [Chambers' "Cyclopaedia"].
edacious (adj.): 1736, from Latin edaci-, stem of edax "voracious, gluttonous," from edere "to eat" (see edible) + -ous. Related: Edacity (1620s); edaciously; edaciousness.
Edam (adj.): 1836, type of cheese named for Edam, village in Holland where it was originally made. The place name is literally "the dam on the River Ye," which flows into the Ijsselmeer there, and the river name is literally "river" (see ea).
Edda (n.): 1771, by some identified with the name of the old woman (literally "grandmother") in the Old Norse poem "Rigsþul," by others derived from Old Norse oðr "spirit, mind, passion, song, poetry" (cognate with Old Irish faith "poet," Welsh gwawd "poem," Old English woþ "sound, melody, song," Latin vates "seer, soothsayer;" see wood (adj.)).

It is the name given in Icelandic c. 1300, by whom it is not known, to two Icelandic books, the first a miscellany of poetry, mythology, and grammar by Snorri Sturluson (d.1241), since 1642 called the Younger or Prose Edda; and a c. 1200 collection of ancient Germanic poetry and religious tales, called the Elder or Poetic Edda. Related: Eddaic; Eddic.
eddy (n.): mid-15c., Scottish ydy, possibly related to Old Norse iða "whirlpool," from Proto-Germanic *ith- "a second time, again," which is related to the common Old English prefix ed- "again, backwards; repetition, turning" (forming such words as edðingung "reconciliation," edgift "restitution," edniwian "to renew, restore," edhwierfan "to retrace one's steps," edgeong "to become young again"). Compare Old English edwielle "eddy, vortex, whirlpool." The prefix is from PIE root *eti "above, beyond" (Cognates: Latin et, Old High German et-, Gothic iþ "and, but, however"). Related: Eddies.