quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- idiocy (n.)[idiocy 词源字典]
- 1520s, from idiot on model of prophecy, etc. Early alternatives included idiotacy (1580s), idiotry (1590s).[idiocy etymology, idiocy origin, 英语词源]
- idiolect (n.)
- 1948, from idio- + second element abstracted from dialect.
- idiom (n.)
- 1580s, "form of speech peculiar to a people or place," from Middle French idiome (16c.) and directly from Late Latin idioma "a peculiarity in language," from Greek idioma "peculiarity, peculiar phraseology," from idioumai "to appropriate to oneself," from idios "personal, private," properly "particular to oneself," from PIE *swed-yo-, suffixed form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (referring back to the subject of a sentence), also used in forms denoting the speaker's social group, "(we our-)selves" (cognates: Sanskrit svah, Avestan hva-, Old Persian huva "one's own," khva-data "lord," literally "created from oneself;" Greek hos "he, she, it;" Latin suescere "to accustom, get accustomed," sodalis "companion;" Old Church Slavonic svoji "his, her, its," svojaku "relative, kinsman;" Gothic swes "one's own;" Old Norse sik "oneself;" German Sein; Old Irish fein "self, himself"). Meaning "phrase or expression peculiar to a language" is from 1620s.
- idiomatic (adj.)
- 1712, from Latin idiomaticus, from Greek idiomatikos; from idios "one's own" (see idiom) + matos "thinking, animated" (see automaton).
- idiopathy (n.)
- 1640s, Modern Latin, from Greek idiopatheia, from comb. form of idios "one's own" (see idiom) + -patheia, comb. form of pathos "suffering, disease, feeling" (see pathos). Related: idiopathic.
- idiosyncrasy (n.)
- c. 1600, from French idiosyncrasie, from Greek idiosynkrasia "a peculiar temperament," from idios "one's own" (see idiom) + synkrasis "temperament, mixture of personal characteristics," from syn "together" (see syn-) + krasis "mixture" (see rare (adj.2)). Originally in English a medical term meaning "physical constitution of an individual." Mental sense first attested 1660s.
- idiosyncratic (n.)
- 1779, from idiosyncrasy + -ic. Earlier in same sense was idiosyncratical (1640s). Related: Idiosyncratically.
- idiot (n.)
- early 14c., "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning;" also in Middle English "simple man, uneducated person, layman" (late 14c.), from Old French idiote "uneducated or ignorant person" (12c.), from Latin idiota "ordinary person, layman; outsider," in Late Latin "uneducated or ignorant person," from Greek idiotes "layman, person lacking professional skill" (opposed to writer, soldier, skilled workman), literally "private person (as opposed to one taking part in public affairs)," used patronizingly for "ignorant person," from idios "one's own" (see idiom).
Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. [Mark Twain, c. 1882]
Idiot box "television set" is from 1959; idiot light "dashboard warning signal" is attested from 1968. Idiot savant attested by 1870. - idiotic (adj.)
- 1713, from Late Latin idioticus "uneducated, ignorant," in classical Latin, "of an ordinary person," from Greek idiotikos "unprofessional, unskilled; not done by rules of art, unprofessional," from idiotes (see idiot). Idiotical is from 1640s. Related: Idiotically.
- idle (adj.)
- Old English idel "empty, void; vain; worthless, useless; not employed," common West Germanic (cognates: Old Saxon idal, Old Frisian idel "empty, worthless," Old Dutch idil, Old High German ital, German eitel "vain, useless, mere, pure"), of unknown origin. Idle threats preserves original sense; meaning "lazy" is c. 1300.
- idle (v.)
- late 15c., "make vain or worthless," from idle (adj.). Meaning "spend or waste (time)" is from 1650s. Meaning "cause to be idle" is from 1789. Sense of "running slowly and steadily without transmitting power" (as a motor) first recorded 1916. Related: Idled; idling.
- idleness (n.)
- Old English idelnes "frivolity, vanity, emptiness; vain existence;" see idle + -ness. Old English expressed the idea we attach to in vain by in idelnisse. Spenser, Scott, and others use idlesse to mean the same thing in a positive, pleasant sense.
- idler (n.)
- 1530s, agent noun from idle.
- idly (adv.)
- Old English idellice; see idle + -ly (2).
- Ido
- 1908, artificial language based on Esperanto, devised 1907; from Ido -ido âoffspring,â suffix representing Latin -ida, Greek -ides.
- idol (n.)
- mid-13c., "image of a deity as an object of (pagan) worship," from Old French idole "idol, graven image, pagan god," from Late Latin idolum "image (mental or physical), form," used in Church Latin for "false god," from Greek eidolon "appearance, reflection in water or a mirror," later "mental image, apparition, phantom," also "material image, statue," from eidos "form" (see -oid). Figurative sense of "something idolized" is first recorded 1560s (in Middle English the figurative sense was "someone who is false or untrustworthy"). Meaning "a person so adored" is from 1590s.
- idolater (n.)
- late 14c., ydolatrer "idol-worshipper," from Old French idolatre, contracted from Late Latin idololatres, from Ecclesiastical Greek eidololatres "idol-worshipper" (see idolatry).
- idolatrous (adj.)
- 1540s, from idolater + -ous.
- idolatry (n.)
- mid-13c., from Old French idolatrie, from Vulgar Latin idolatria, shortened from Late Latin idololatria (Tertullian), from Ecclesiastical Greek eidololatria "worship of idols," from eidolon "image" (see idol) + latreia "worship, service" (see -latry).
- idolize (v.)
- 1590s, from idol + -ize. Related: Idolized; idolizing.