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almost [almost 词源字典]: almost: [OE] Almost is simply a combination of all and most. In Anglo-Saxon times, and up until the 17th century, it meant ‘mostly all’ or ‘nearly all’ (thus one could say ‘My best friends are almost men’, meaning most of them are men); but already by the 13th century the modern sense ‘nearly, not quite’ was well in place.
=> all, most[almost etymology, almost origin, 英语词源]
atmosphere: atmosphere: [17] Etymologically, atmosphere means ‘ball of vapour’. It was coined as modern Latin atmosphaera from Greek atmós ‘vapour’ (related to áein ‘blow’, ultimate source of English air) and sphaira ‘sphere’. Its original application was not, as we would now understand it, to the envelope of air encompassing the Earth, but to a mass of gas exhaled from and thus surrounding a planet; indeed, in the first record of the word’s use in English, in 1638, it was applied to the Moon, which of course is now known to have no atmosphere. The denotation of the word moved forward with the development of meteorological knowledge.
=> air, sphere
cosmos: cosmos: [17] Cosmos is a learned borrowing from Greek kósmos. The underlying meaning of this was ‘order’, and it appears originally to have been applied to the world and the universe by Pythagoras and his school in reference to the orderliness of creation. In the mid 20th century the word provided a useful linguistic distinction between Western and Soviet activities in space, cosmonaut (from Russian kosmonavt) contrasting with astronaut.

Somebody who is cosmopolitan [19] is literally a ‘citizen of the world’, from Greek kosmopolítēs, a compound of kósmos and polítēs. From Greek kósmos ‘order’ was derived the verb kosmein ‘arrange, adorn’. This in turn provided the basis of the adjective kosmētikós ‘skilled in adornment’, which passed into English as cosmetic [17].
=> cosmetic, cosmopolitan
eleemosynary: eleemosynary: see alms
foremost: foremost: see former
homosexual: homosexual: see homeopathy
lachrymose: lachrymose: see tear
mosaic: mosaic: [16] Mosaic work is etymologically work ‘of the muses’. The word comes ultimately from Greek mouseion, which originally meant literally ‘place of the muses’, and has also given English museum. Somehow in medieval Latin it became altered to mūsaicus or mōsaicus, and passed via early modern Italian mosaico and French mosaïque into English as mosaic. It has no etymological connection, incidentally, with Mosaic ‘of Moses’ [17].
=> muse, museum
mosque: mosque: [17] Mosque means etymologically a place where you ‘bow down’ in prayer and is, not surprisingly, of Arabic origin. It comes from Arabic masjid ‘place of worship’, a derivative of the verb sajada ‘bow down’. English acquired the word via Italian moschea and French mosquée as mosquee, but soon dropped the final -e. (The Arabic form masjid or musjid has been intermittently used in English in the 19th and 20th centuries.)
mosquito: mosquito: [16] Mosquito comes ultimately from the Latin word for ‘fly’, musca (this went back to an Indo-European base *mu-, probably imitative of the sound of humming, which also produced English midge [OE], and hence its derivative midget [19] – originally a ‘tiny sand-fly’). Musca became Spanish mosca, whose diminutive form reached English as mosquito – etymologically a ‘small fly’. (The Italian descendant of musca, incidentally, is also mosca, and its diminutive, moschetto, was applied with black humour to the ‘bolt of a crossbow’. From it English gets musket [16].)
=> midge, midget, musket
moss: moss: [OE] The prehistoric Germanic ancestor of moss was *musam. This had two distinct meanings: ‘swamp’ and ‘moss’. It is not altogether clear which was primary, but it seems more probable than not that ‘moss’ (a plant which frequents damp places) was derived from ‘swamp’. The only meaning recorded for its Old English descendant mos was ‘swamp’ (which survives in place-names), but no doubt ‘moss’ (not evidenced before the 14th century) was current too.

Words from the same ultimate source to have found their way into English include mire [14] (borrowed from Old Norse mýrr ‘swamp’), mousse [19] (borrowed from French, which got it from Middle Low German mos ‘moss’), and litmus [16] (whose Old Norse source litmosi meant literally ‘dye-moss’ – litmus is a dye extracted from lichens).
=> litmus, mire, mousse
most: most: [OE] Like more, most comes ultimately from prehistoric Germanic *maiz. Addition of the superlative suffix produced *maistaz, which passed into Old English as mǣst. This subsequently evolved to most in Middle English under the influence of more.
=> magnitude, master, more
almost (adv.): Old English eallmæst "nearly all, for the most part," literally "mostly all;" see all + most. Modern form from 15c.
Amos: masc. proper name; third of the prophets in the Old Testament; from Greek, from Hebrew Amos, literally "borne (by God)."
anastomosis (n.): 1610s, medical or Modern Latin, from Greek anastomosis "outlet, opening," from anastomoein "to furnish with a mouth," from stoma "mouth" (see stoma). Related: Anastomotic.
animosity (n.): early 15c., "vigor," from Middle French animosité (14c.) or directly from Latin animositatem (nominative animositas) "boldness, vehemence," from animosus "bold, spirited," from animus (see animus). Sense of "hostile feeling" is first recorded c. 1600, from a secondary sense in Latin (see animus).
atmosphere (n.): 1630s, atmosphaera (modern form from 1670s), from Modern Latin atmosphaera, from atmo-, comb. form of Greek atmos "vapor, steam" + spharia "sphere" (see sphere). Greek atmos is from PIE *awet-mo-, from root *wet- (1) "to blow" (also "to inspire, spiritually arouse;" see wood (adj.)). First used in English in connection with the Moon, which, as it turns out, practically doesn't have one.
It is observed in the solary eclipses, that there is sometimes a great trepidation about the body of the moon, from which we may likewise argue an atmosphaera, since we cannot well conceive what so probable a cause there should be of such an appearance as this, Quod radii solares a vaporibus lunam ambitntibus fuerint intercisi, that the sun-beams were broken and refracted by the vapours that encompassed the moon. [Rev. John Wilkins, "Discovery of New World or Discourse tending to prove that it probable there may be another World in the Moon," 1638]
Figurative sense of "surrounding influence, mental or moral environment" is c. 1800.
atmospheric (adj.): 1783, from atmosphere + -ic. In a sense of "creating a mood or mental environment" it is from 1908. Atmospherics "disturbances in wireless communication" is from 1905.
chemosynthesis (n.): 1898, from chemo- + synthesis.
chromosome (n.): 1889, from German Chromosom, coined 1888 by German anatomist Wilhelm von Waldeyer-Hartz (1836-1921), from Latinized form of Greek khroma "color" (see chroma) + -some (3)). So called because the structures contain a substance that stains readily with basic dyes.
chromosphere (n.): 1868, coined by English astronomer Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), from chromo-, from Greek khroma "color" (see chroma) + sphere. So called for its redness.
cosmos (n.): c. 1200 (but not popular until 1848, as a translation of Humboldt's Kosmos), from Latinized form of Greek kosmos "order, good order, orderly arrangement," a word with several main senses rooted in those notions: The verb kosmein meant generally "to dispose, prepare," but especially "to order and arrange (troops for battle), to set (an army) in array;" also "to establish (a government or regime);" "to deck, adorn, equip, dress" (especially of women). Thus kosmos had an important secondary sense of "ornaments of a woman's dress, decoration" (compare kosmokomes "dressing the hair") as well as "the universe, the world."

Pythagoras is said to have been the first to apply this word to "the universe," perhaps originally meaning "the starry firmament," but later it was extended to the whole physical world, including the earth. For specific reference to "the world of people," the classical phrase was he oikoumene (ge) "the inhabited (earth)." Septuagint uses both kosmos and oikoumene. Kosmos also was used in Christian religious writing with a sense of "worldly life, this world (as opposed to the afterlife)," but the more frequent word for this was aion, literally "lifetime, age."
easternmost (adj.): 1640s, from eastern + -most. Eastermost attested from 1610s; comparative eastermore from late 15c.
elasmosaurus (n.): giant sea reptile from the Mezozoic, 1868, from Modern Latin (coined by E.D. Cope), from comb. form of Greek elasmos "metal plate" (from elan "to strike;" see elastic) + -saurus. So called from the caudal laminae and the great plate-bones.
eleemosynary (adj.): 1610s, from Medieval Latin eleemosynarius "pertaining to alms," from Late Latin eleemosyna "alms," from Greek eleemosyne "pity" (see alms).
endmost (adj.): 1725, from end (n.) + -most. Middle English had endemest (adv.) "from end to end, throughout."
foremost (adj.): Middle English formest, from Old English fyrmest, formest "earliest, first, most prominent," from Proto-Germanic *furmista-/*frumista- (related to Old English fruma "beginning"), from PIE *pre-mo-, suffixed (superlative) form of root *per- (1) "forward, through; before; first" (see per) + additional superlative suffix -est. For the -m-, see -most, and compare similarly formed Old Frisian formest, Gothic frumists. Altered on the assumption that it is a compound of fore and most. The same compound without the superlative -m- is first. Also in Old English as an adverb, "first of all, at first, in the first place."
Formosa: old name of Taiwan, given by the Portuguese, from Portuguese Formosa insula "beautiful island." The adjective is from the fem. of Latin formosus "beautiful, handsome, finely formed," from forma (see form (n.)). Related: Formosan (1640s).
hindermost: late 14c., hyndermest; see hinder (adj.) + -most.
hindmost (adj.): late 14c., from hind (adj.) + -most.
Thra. What, if a toy take 'em i' the heels now, and they run all away, and cry, 'The devil take the hindmost'?
Dion. Then the same devil take the foremost too, and souse him for his breakfast! [Beaumont & Fletcher, "Philaster," Act V, Sc. 2, 1611]
homosexual (adj.): 1892, in C.G. Chaddock's translation of Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis," from German homosexual, homosexuale (by 1880, in Gustav Jäger), from homo-, comb. form of Greek homos "same" (see homo- (1)) + Latin-based sexual.
"Homosexual" is a barbarously hybrid word, and I claim no responsibility for it. It is, however, convenient, and now widely used. "Homogenic" has been suggested as a substitute. [H. Havelock Ellis, "Studies in Psychology," 1897]
Sexual inversion (1883) was an earlier clinical term for it in English. The noun is recorded by 1895. In technical use, either male or female; but in non-technical use almost always male. Slang shortened form homo first attested 1929. See also uranian.
homosexuality (n.): 1892; see homosexual + -ity.
inmost (adj.): Old English innemest; see in + -most.
innermost (adj.): mid-14c., from inner + -most. Innermore also existed in Middle English.
lachrymose (adj.): 1660s, "tear-like," from Latin lacrimosus "tearful, sorrowful, weeping," also "causing tears, lamentable," from lacrima "tear," a dialect-altered borrowing of Greek dakryma "tear," from dakryein "to shed tears," from dakry "tear," from PIE *dakru- (see tear (n.1)). Meaning "given to tears, tearful" is first attested 1727; meaning "of a mournful character" is from 1822.

The -d- to -l- alteration in Latin is the so-called "Sabine -L-"; compare Latin olere "smell," from root of odor, and Ulixes, the Latin form of Greek Odysseus. The Medieval Latin practice of writing -ch- for -c- before Latin -r- also altered anchor, pulchritude, sepulchre. The -y- is pedantic, from belief in a Greek origin. Middle English had lacrymable "tearful" (mid-15c.).
lowermost: 1560s, from lower (adj.) + -most.
-most: superlative suffix of adjectives and adverbs, Middle English alteration (by influence of unrelated most) of Old English -mest, a double superlative, from -mo, -ma (cognate with Latin -mus; compare Old English forma "first," meduma "midmost") + -est.
marmoset (n.): "small monkey," late 14c., from Old French marmoset "grotesque figurine; fool, jester" (late 13c.), perhaps a variant of marmote "long-tailed monkey, ape," then, as a term of endearment, "little child;" said to be from marmonner, marmotter "to mutter, mumble," probably of imitative origin. Some French authorities suggest a derivation of marmoset from marmor "marble," as if "little marble figurine."
middlemost (adj.): early 14c., "middle; the middle one of three," from middle + -most.
midmost (adj.): Old English midmest; see mid + -most.
mimosa (n.): genus of leguminous shrubs, 1731, coined in Modern Latin (1619) from Latin mimus "mime" (see mime (n.)) + -osa, adjectival suffix (fem. of -osus). So called because some species (including the common Sensitive Plant) fold leaves when touched, seeming to mimic animal behavior. The alcoholic drink (by 1977) is so called from its yellowish color, which resembles that of the mimosa flower.
Mnemosyne: titaness, mother of the Muses, from Greek mnemosyne, literally "memory, remembrance," from mneme "memory" (see mnemonic).
mosaic (n.): c. 1400, from Old French mosaicq "mosaic work," from Italian mosaico, from Medieval Latin musaicum "mosaic work, work of the Muses," noun use of neuter of musaicus "of the Muses," from Latin Musa (see muse). Medieval mosaics were often dedicated to the Muses. The word formed in Medieval Latin as though from Greek, but the (late) Greek word for "mosaic work" was mouseion (Klein says this sense was borrowed from Latin). Figurative use is from 1640s. As an adjective in English from 1580s. Related: Mosaicist.
Mosaic (adj.): "pertaining to Moses," 1660s (earlier Mosaical, 1560s), from Modern Latin Mosaicus, from Moses.
mosasaurus (n.): marine dinosaur, 1830, from Latin Mosa "the river Meuse" + -saurus. the fossils of the ancient reptile were first discovered 1780 near Maastricht, on the Meuse.
Moscow: Russian capital, named for Moskva River, of unknown origin. Moscow mule, vodka cocktail, attested from 1950.
Moselle: river in Western Europe, Latin Mosella, literally "Little Meuse," in reference to the longer River Meuse (Latin Mosa), into which it flows. From 1680s as "wine from the valley of the river Moselle.
Moses: masc. proper name, name of Hebrew prophet and lawgiver, from Latin, from Greek Mouses, from Hebrew Mosheh, of unknown origin.
Most scholars see in it the Hebraization of Egyptian mes, mesu 'child, son,' which is often used in theophorous names. According to this derivation the words of Pharaoh's daughter in Ex. 2:10, 'For out of the water I drew him' are not the explanation of the Hebrew name Mosheh, but express the idea that the Egyptian name given by Pharaoh's daughter resembles in sound, and therefore, reminds us of, the Hebrew verb mashah 'he drew out,' which is suggestive of the words spoken by Pharaoh's daughter. [Dr. Ernest Klein, "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language"]
As an expletive or oath, 1840.
mosey (v.): 1829, American English slang, of unknown origin, perhaps related to British dialectal mose about "go around in a dull, stupid way." Or perhaps from Spanish vamos (see vamoose). Related: Moseyed; moseying.
mosh (v.): "to dance (with a certain amount of violence) to metal music in a tightly packed arena," 1987, perhaps a variant of mash. Related: Mosh pit.