quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- blend[blend 词源字典]
- blend: [13] Old English had a verb blendan, but it meant ‘make blind’ or ‘dazzle’. Modern English blend appears to come from blend-, the present stem of Old Norse blanda ‘mix’ (a relative of Old English blandan ‘mix’). The ultimate source of this is not clear, but it does not seem to be restricted to Germanic (Lithuanian has the adjective blandus ‘thick’ in relation to soup), so it may not be too far-fetched to suggest a link with blind, whose Indo-European ancestor *bhlendhos meant among other things ‘confused’.
[blend etymology, blend origin, 英语词源] - calendar
- calendar: [13] English acquired calendar via Anglo-Norman calender and Old French calendier from Latin calendārium, which was a ‘moneylender’s account book’. It got its name from the calends (Latin calendae), the first day of the Roman month, when debts fell due. Latin calendae in turn came from a base *kal- ‘call, proclaim’, the underlying notion being that in ancient Rome the order of days was publicly announced at the beginning of the month.
The calendula [19], a plant of the daisy family, gets its name from Latin calendae, perhaps owing to its once having been used for curing menstrual disorders. Calender ‘press cloth or paper between rollers’ [15], however, has no connection with calendar; it probably comes from Greek kúlindros ‘roller’, source of English cylinder.
- challenge
- challenge: [13] The original notion contained in challenge in English was of ‘accusation’. The word comes, via Old French chalenge or calenge, from Latin calumnia ‘false charge, deception’ (source of English calumny [15]). By the early 14th century, the modern, more neutral sense of ‘inviting to a contest’ had emerged, however, and before the end of the 17th century the word’s accusatory connotations had virtually died out.
Latin calumnia probably came from the verb calvī ‘deceive’. This may, via an unrecorded intermediary *calvilla, be related to Latin cavilla ‘raillery’, whose derived verb cavillārī was the source of English cavil [16].
=> calumny - clench
- clench: see cling
- condolence
- condolence: [17] Condolence and sympathy are parallel formations: both go back to classical originals (late Latin condolēre and Greek sumpátheia respectively) which meant literally ‘together-suffering’. Latin condolēre was a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and dolēre ‘suffer pain’ (source of English dolour and doleful). This entered English in the 16th century as the now seldom encountered verb condole, but the comparative frequency of the noun condolence is probably due to the early 17th-century adoption of French condoléance (the spelling condoleance was common in English in the 17th and 18th centuries).
=> doleful, dolour - excellent
- excellent: [14] The underlying notion of excellent is of physically ‘rising above’ others. It comes via Old French from the present participle of Latin excellere. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and a hypothetical verbal element *cellere, which evidently meant something like ‘rise, be high’: it derived ultimately from an Indo-European base *kol-, *kel- which also produced English column, culminate, and hill.
There is little evidence of its literal use in Latin; the metaphorical ‘be outstanding’ evidently elbowed it aside at an early stage. (English acquired excel itself in the 15th century, incidentally.)
=> column, culminate, hill - indolent
- indolent: [18] Historically, indolent means ‘feeling no pain’ – indeed, that is how it was used as a technical medical term in English in the 17th and 18th centuries. It comes from late Latin indolens, which was based on the Latin verb dolere ‘suffer pain’ (source also of English dolour [13] and doleful [13]). English took the term directly from Latin, but meanwhile in French indolent had broadened out in meaning via ‘insensitive’ to ‘inactive, lethargic, lazy’, and that is the basis of the current English use of the adjective, acquired in the early 18th century.
=> doleful, dolour - lend
- lend: [15] Lend and loan are closely related – come in fact from the same ultimate source (which also produced English delinquent, ellipse, and relinquish). Why then does the verb have a d while the noun does not? Originally there was no d. The Old English verb ‘lend’ was lǣnan, which in Middle English became lene. But gradually during the Middle English period the past form lende came to be reinterpreted as a present form, and by the 15th century it was established as the new infinitive.
=> delinquent, ellipse, loan, relinquish - length
- length: [OE] Length was coined in the prehistoric Germanic period from the adjective *langgaz (source of English long) and the abstract noun suffix *-ithō. The resultant *langgithō has subsequently diversified to Dutch lengte, Swedish längd, Danish længde, and English length. (German has plumped for the different noun derivative länge ‘length’, whose English relative lenge ‘length’ survived until the 17th century.)
=> long - lens
- lens: [17] The Latin word for a ‘lentil’ was lēns; and when 17th-century scientists wanted a term for a round biconvex (lentil-shaped) piece of glass, they needed to look no further than lens. English lentil [13] itself comes via Old French from Latin lenticula, a diminutive form of lēns.
=> lentil - Lent
- Lent: [OE] The etymological meaning of Lent is ‘long days’. It comes from *langgitīnaz, a prehistoric West Germanic compound formed from *lanngaz ‘long’ and an element *tīnadenoting ‘day’. This signified originally ‘spring’, an allusion to the lengthening days at that time of year. It passed into Old English as lencten, which became Middle English lenten, but in the 13th century the -en was dropped from the noun, leaving Lenten to function as an adjective. By this time too the secular sense ‘spring’ was fast dying out, having been usurped by the application of Lent to the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
=> long - lentil
- lentil: see lens
- millennium
- millennium: see mile
- opulent
- opulent: see operate
- plenty
- plenty: [13] Plenty is one of a family of English words that trace their history back to Latin plēnus ‘full’ (a descendant of the same Indo- European base, *plē-, as produced English full and plethora). Others include plenary [16], plenipotentiary [17], plenitude [15], plenteous [13], and replenish. Plenty itself comes via Old French plentet from the Latin derivative plenitās. Other close relatives contributed by Latin include plural, plus, and surplus and the range of words based on the verbal element -plēre ‘fill’ – complete, deplete, implement, replete, supply, etc.
=> complete, deplete, full, implement, plethora, replete, supply - pollen
- pollen: [16] Pollen originally meant ‘flour’ in English. Not until the 18th century was it taken up as a botanical term. It was borrowed from Latin pollen ‘powder, dust, flour’, a relative of pulvis ‘dust’ (source of English powder and pulverize) and polenta ‘pearl barley’ (source of English polenta [16]).
=> polenta, powder, pulverize - redolent
- redolent: [14] Etymologically, something that is redolent of something ‘smells’ of it. The word comes ultimately from Latin olēre ‘smell’, which was derived from the same base as produced English odour. Combination with the prefix re- ‘back’ resulted in redolēre ‘emit a smell’, from whose present participle English gets redolent. The Latin word was mainly used to convey the notion ‘smelling of something’, and this lies behind the English word’s metaphorical use for ‘suggestive, reminiscent, evocative’, first recorded in the early 19th century.
=> odour - resplendent
- resplendent: see splendid
- silent
- silent: [16] Silent comes from the present participle of Latin silēre ‘be silent’. It is not clear what the origins of this were, although it seems likely to be related in some way to Gothic anasilan, a verb which denoted the wind dying down, and also perhaps to Latin dēsinere ‘stop’ (in which case its underlying meaning would be ‘stop speaking’). The Latin-derived noun silentium actually reached English much earlier than the adjective, as silence [13].
- splendid
- splendid: [17] Splendid comes via French splendide from Latin splendidus, a derivative of the verb splendēre ‘shine’. This went back ultimately to the Indo-European base *splēnd- or *plēnd- ‘bright’, which also produced Old Lithuanian splendeti ‘shine’ and Welsh llathru ‘polish’. Amongst the derivatives adopted by English are resplendent [15], splendiferous [15] (from splendiferus, a medieval alteration of late Latin splendōrifer, literally ‘bearing brightness’, hence ‘full of splendour’ – its modern use, as a jocular alternative to splendid, is a 19th-century American innovation), and splendour [15].
=> resplendent - sullen
- sullen: [16] The etymological notion underlying sullen is of being miserable because one is ‘on one’s own’. The word comes from Anglo- Norman *solein ‘alone’, hence ‘miserable’, a derivative of Old French soul ‘alone’ (source of English sole).
=> sole, solo - talent
- talent: [13] Greek tálanton meant ‘balance, weight’, and hence ‘unit of weight or money’. Latin borrowed it as talentum, using it metaphorically for ‘mental inclination’, and it was in this sense that English originally acquired it, via Old French talent. ‘Unit of money’ did not arrive (apart from one isolated Old English instance) until the late 14th century, and it was the use of the word in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30), in which a master gave his servants talents (money), which two of them put out to interest, earning their master’s approval, while the other less enterprising servant simply buried his, that led in the early 15th century to the use of the term for ‘aptitude, ability’.
- turbulent
- turbulent: see trouble
- valency
- valency: see value
- acetylene (n.)
- gaseous hydrocarbon, 1864, from French acétylène, coined by French chemist Marcelin-Pierre-Eugène Berthelot (1823-1907) from chemical ending -ene + acetyl, which was coined from acetic in 1839 by German chemist Justus von Liebig; see acetic. Liebig's coinage was in reference to a different radical; acetyl was transferred to its current sense in 1850s, but Berthelot's coinage was based on the original use of acetyl.
The name acetylene is an unfortunate one as the hydrocarbon is not directly related to the modern acetyl radical and the molecule ... contains a triple bond, not a double bond which the suffix -ene (q.v.) implies. [Flood, "Origins of Chemical Names," 1963]
- Allen
- masc. proper name, variant of Alan (q.v.). In reference to wrench, key, screw, etc. with hexagonal socket or head, 1913, from the Allen Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
- ambivalence (n.)
- "simultaneous conflicting feelings," 1924 (1912 as ambivalency), from German Ambivalenz, coined 1910 by Swiss psychologist Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939) on model of German Equivalenz "equivalence," etc., from Latin ambi- "both" (see ambi-) + valentia "strength," from present participle of valere "be strong" (see valiant). A psychological term that by 1929 had taken on a broader literary and general sense.
- ambivalent (adj.)
- 1916, originally a term in psychology; back-formation from ambivalence. In general use by 1929.
- Angeleno (n.)
- "resident or native of Los Angeles," 1888, from American Spanish Angeleño, from (Los) Angeles + -eño, suffix indicating a native or resident. See Los Angeles.
- aplenty (adj.)
- 1830, originally U.S., from a- (1) + plenty (n.). First attested in writings of J. Fenimore Cooper.
- arms-length (n.)
- 1650s, from arm (n.1) + length. At arm's end is recorded from 1570s.
- benevolence (n.)
- c. 1400, "disposition to do good," from Old French benivolence and directly from Latin benevolentia "good feeling, good will, kindness," from bene "well" (see bene-) + volantem (nominative volens) present participle of velle "to wish" (see will (v.)). In English history, this was the name given to forced extra-legal loans or contributions to the crown, first so called 1473 by Edward IV, who cynically "asked" it as a token of good will toward his rule.
- benevolent (adj.)
- mid-15c., "wishing to do good, kindly," from Middle French benivolent and directly from Latin benevolentem (nominative benevolens) "wishing (someone) well, benevolent," related to benevolentia "good feeling" (see benevolence). Related: Benevolently.
- bivalence (n.)
- 1868; see bivalent + -ence.
- bivalency (n.)
- 1872; see bivalent + -ency.
- bivalent (adj.)
- 1864, of chemicals, 1899, of chromosomes, from bi- + -valent, from Latin valentem, present participle of valere "be worth" (see valiant).
- blench (v.)
- Old English blencan "deceive, cheat," from Proto-Germanic *blenk- "to shine, dazzle, blind," from PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach (v.)). Sense of "move suddenly, wince, dodge" is from c. 1300. Related: Blenched; blenching.
- blend (v.)
- c. 1300, blenden, "to mix, mingle, stir up a liquid," in northern writers, from or akin to rare Old English blandan "to mix," blondan (Mercian) or Old Norse blanda "to mix," or a combination of the two; from Proto-Germanic *blandan "to mix," which comes via a notion of "to make cloudy" from an extended Germanic form of the PIE root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach (v.); also blind (adj.)). Compare Old Saxon and Old High German blantan, Gothic blandan, Middle High German blenden "to mix;" German Blendling "bastard, mongrel," and outside Germanic, Lithuanian blandus "troubled, turbid, thick;" Old Church Slavonic blesti "to go astray." Figurative use from early 14c. Related: Blended; blending.
- blend (n.)
- "mixture formed by blending," 1690s, from blend (v.).
- blende (n.)
- an ore of zinc, 1680s, from German Blende, a back-formation from blenden "to blind, deceive" (see blind (adj.)). So called because it resembles lead but does not yield any.
- blender (n.)
- person or thing that blends, 1872, agent noun from blend (v.). As a type of electric-powered food processor, from 1942.
- blenny (n.)
- 1774, from Latin blennius (in Pliny), from Greek blennos, from blenna "slime, mucus," from PIE *mled-sno-, from root *mel- "soft." The fish so called from the coating on its scales.
- bottleneck (n.)
- also bottle-neck, "narrow entrance, spot where traffic becomes congested," 1896; from bottle (n.) + neck (n.). Meaning "anything which obstructs a flow" is from 1922; the verb in this sense is from 1928.
- calendar (n.)
- c. 1200, "system of division of the year;" mid-14c. as "table showing divisions of the year;" from Old French calendier "list, register," from Latin calendarium "account book," from calendae/kalendae "calends" the first day of the Roman month -- when debts fell due and accounts were reckoned -- from calare "to announce solemnly, call out," as the priests did in proclaiming the new moon that marked the calends, from PIE root kele- (2) "to call, shout" (see claim (v.)).
Taken by the early Church for its register list of saints and their feast days. The -ar spelling in English is 17c. to differentiate it from the now obscure calender "cloth-presser." - calender (v.)
- "to pass through a calender," a machine which smooths and presses paper, cloth, etc., 1510s, from Middle French calandre, the machine name, from Medieval Latin calendra (see calender (n.)).
- calender (n.)
- "machine which smooths and presses paper, cloth, etc.," 1510s (late 13c. in surnames of persons who use such a machine), 1510s, from Old French calandreur, from Medieval Latin calendra "cloth-pressing machine," so called from the shape of the machine used, from Latin cylindrus, from Greek kylindros "roll, cylinder" (see cylinder).
- camerlengo (n.)
- "papal chamberlain," from Italian camerlingo "chamberlain" (see chamberlain).
- challenge (n.)
- early 14c., "something one can be accused of, a fault, blemish;" mid-14c., "false accusation, malicious charge; accusation of wrong-doing," also "act of laying claim" (to something), from Anglo-French chalenge, Old French chalonge "calumny, slander; demand, opposition," in legal use, "accusation, claim, dispute," from Anglo-French chalengier, Old French chalongier "to accuse, to dispute" (see challenge (v.)). Accusatory connotations died out 17c. Meanings "an objection" in law, etc.; "a calling to fight" are from mid-15c. Meaning "difficult task" is from 1954.
- challenge (v.)
- c. 1200, "to rebuke," from Old French chalongier "complain, protest; haggle, quibble," from Vulgar Latin calumniare "to accuse falsely," from Latin calumniari "to accuse falsely, misrepresent, slander," from calumnia "trickery" (see calumny).
From late 13c. as "to object to, take exception to;" c. 1300 as "to accuse," especially "to accuse falsely," also "to call to account;" late 14c. as "to call to fight." Also used in Middle English with sense "claim, take to oneself." Related: Challenged; challenging. - challenged (adj.)
- as a euphemism for "disabled," 1985, past participle adjective from challenge (v.).