英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

praise (v.)[praise 词源字典]: c. 1300, "to laud, commend, flatter," from Old French preisier, variant of prisier "to praise, value," from Late Latin preciare, earlier pretiare (see price (n.)). Replaced Old English lof, hreþ.

Specifically with God as an object from late 14c. Related: Praised; praising. Now a verb in most Germanic languages (German preis, Danish pris, etc.), but only in English is it differentiated in form from cognate price.[praise etymology, praise origin, 英语词源]
praise (n.): early 14c., not common until 16c., from praise (v.).
praiseworthy (adj.): mid-15c., from praise (v.) + worthy. Usually hyphenated until mid-19c. Related: Praiseworthiness.
Prakrit (n.): popular dialect of ancient northern and central India (distinguished from Sanskrit), sometimes also applied to modern languages, 1766, from Sanskrit prakrta- "natural, original" (opposed to samskrta- "prepared, refined"), from pra- "before, forward, forth" (see pro-) + krta- "to make, do, perform," from PIE root *k(w)er- "to make, form" (related to karma).
praline (n.): 1727, prawlin, from French praline (17c.), from the name of Marshal Duplessis-Praslin (1598-1675, pronounced "praline"), "whose cook invented this confection" [Klein]. Modern spelling in English from 1809.
pram (n.): "baby carriage," 1881, shortening of perambulator, perhaps influenced by pram "flat-bottomed boat" especially a type used in the Baltic (1540s), from Old Norse pramr, from Balto-Slavic (compare Polish prom, Russian poromu "ferryboat," Czech pram "raft"), from PIE *pro-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).
prance (v.): late 14c., originally of horses, of unknown origin, perhaps related to Middle English pranken "to show off," from Middle Dutch pronken "to strut, parade" (see prank); or perhaps from Danish dialectal prandse "to go in a stately manner." Klein suggests Old French paravancier. Related: Pranced; prancing. As a noun from 1751, from the verb.
prancer (n.): 1560s, originally thieves' slang for "a horse," agent noun from prance (v.).
prandial (adj.): "pertaining to dinner," 1820, from Latin prandium "late breakfast, luncheon" (see postprandial). OED reports it as "affected or jocose."
prank (n.): "a ludicrous trick" [Johnson], 1520s, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to obsolete verb prank "decorate, dress up" (mid-15c.), related to Middle Low German prank "display" (compare also Dutch pronken, German prunken "to make a show, to strut"). The verb in the modern sense also is from 1520s. Related: Pranked; pranking.
prankster (n.): 1927, American English, from prank + -ster.
praseodymium (n.): rare metallic element, 1885, coined in Modern Latin by discoverer Carl Auer von Welsbach (1858-1929) from Greek prasios "leek-green" (from prason "leek") + didymos "double," the name given to an earth in 1840, so called because it was a "twin" to lanthana. When didymia was further analyzed in the 1880s, it was found to have several components, one of which was characterized by green salts and named accordingly, with the elemental suffix -ium.
prat (n.): "buttock," 1560s, criminals' slang, of unknown origin. Later in U.S. criminal slang, "hip pocket" (1914), and in British slang "contemptible person" (1968).
prate (v.): early 15c., from or related to Middle Dutch praten "to chatter" (c. 1400), from a Proto-Germanic imitative root (compare East Frisian proten, Middle Low German praten, Middle High German braten, Swedish prata "to talk, chatter"). Related: Prated; prating. As a noun from 1570s.
pratfall (n.): 1939, from prat "buttock" + fall (n.). "Chiefly N. Amer. slang" [OED]. As a verb from 1940.
Pratt: the surname apparently is from Old English *prætt (adj.) "cunning, astute;" related to late Old English noun prætt "a trick" (see pretty). As a type of pottery, named for Staffordshire pottery manufacturer Felix Pratt (1780-1859).
prattle (v.): 1530s, frequentative of prate (q.v.). Related: Prattled; prattling. The noun is attested from 1550s.
pravity (n.): "depravity," 1540s, from Latin pravitas "crookedness, distortion, deformity; impropriety, perverseness," from pravus "wrong, bad," literally "crooked."
prawn (n.): early 15c., prayne, of unknown origin. "No similar name found in other langs." [OED].
praxis (n.): 1580s, from Medieval Latin praxis "practice, exercise, action" (mid-13c., opposite of theory), from Greek praxis "practice, action, doing," from stem of prassein, prattein "to do, to act" (see practical).