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apocrypha [apocrypha 词源字典]: apocrypha: see crypt
[apocrypha etymology, apocrypha origin, 英语词源]
apocryphal: apocryphal: [16] Apocryphal is a ‘secondgeneration’ adjective; the original adjective form in English was apocrypha (‘The writing is apocrypha when the author thereof is unknown’, John de Trevisa 1387). This came, via ecclesiastical Latin, from Greek apókruphos ‘hidden’, a derivative of the compound verb apokrúptein ‘hide away’, which was formed from the prefix apo- ‘away, off’ and the verb krúptein ‘hide’ (source of English crypt and cryptic).

It was applied as a noun to writings in general that were of unknown authorship, and in the 16th century came to be used specifically as the collective term for the uncanonical books of the Old Testament. It was perhaps confusion between the adjectival and nominal roles of apocrypha that led to the formation of the new adjective apocryphal towards the end of the 16th century.
=> crypt, cryptic
aristocracy: aristocracy: [16] Greek áristos meant ‘best’; hence aristocracy signifies, etymologically, ‘rule by the best’ (the suffix -cracy derives ultimately from Greek krátos ‘strength, power’, a relative of English hard). The term aristokratíā was used by Aristotle and Plato in their political writings, denoting ‘government of a state by those best fitted for the task’, and English writers perpetuated the usage when the word was borrowed from French aristocratie: Thomas Hobbes, for instance, wrote ‘Aristocracy is that, wherein the highest magistrate is chosen out of those that have had the best education’, Art of Rhetoric 1679.

But from the first the term was also used in English for ‘rule by a privileged class’, and by the mid 17th century this had begun to pass into ‘the privileged class’ itself, ‘the nobility’. The derived aristocrat appeared at the end of the 18th century; it was a direct borrowing of French aristocrate, a coinage inspired by the French Revolution.
=> hard
democracy: democracy: [16] Democracy means literally ‘government by the populace at large’. It comes via Old French democratie and medieval Latin dēmocratia from Greek dēmokratíā, a compound formed from demos ‘people’ and -kratíā ‘rule’, a derivative of the noun krátos ‘power, authority’, which has contributed a number of terms for types of government to English.

The original meaning of Greek demos was ‘district, land’, but eventually it came to denote the people living in such a district, particularly the ordinary people considered as a social class participating in government – hence democracy. The derivative democrat [18] was coined in French at the time of the Revolution.
=> epidemic
hypocrite: hypocrite: [13] Etymologically, a hypocrite is someone who is ‘playing a part’, merely pretending. The word comes via Old French ypocrite and late Latin hypocrita from Greek hupokritēs ‘actor, hypocrite’. This was a derivative of hupokrínein, a compound verb formed from the prefix hupo- ‘under’ and krínein ‘separate’, which originally meant literally ‘separate gradually’, and eventually passed via ‘answer’ and ‘answer one’s fellow actor on stage’ to ‘play a part’, and hence ‘pretend’.
mediocre: mediocre: [16] Etymologically, mediocre means ‘halfway up a mountain’. It comes from Latin mediocris ‘of middle height, in a middle state’, which was formed from medius ‘middle’ (source of English medium) and ocris ‘rough stony mountain’.
=> medium
procrastinate: procrastinate: [16] Crās was Latin for ‘tomorrow’ (its antecedents are uncertain). The adjective derived from it was crāstinus ‘of tomorrow’, which in turn formed the basis of a verb prōcrāstināre ‘put forward to tomorrow’ (prō- denotes ‘forward’). By the time it reached English it had broadened out to simply ‘delay’.
androcracy (n.): "rule or supremacy of men," 1883; see andro- + -cracy. Related: Androcratic.
Apocrypha: late 14c., neuter plural of Late Latin apocryphus "secret, not approved for public reading," from Greek apokryphos "hidden; obscure," thus "(books) of unknown authorship" (especially those included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not originally written in Hebrew and not counted as genuine by the Jews), from apo- "away" (see apo-) + kryptein "to hide" (see crypt). Properly plural (the single would be Apocryphon or apocryphum), but commonly treated as a collective singular.
apocryphal (adj.): 1580s, "of doubtful authenticity," from Apocrypha + -al (1). Middle English had apocrive (late 14c.) in same sense.
aristocracy (n.): 1560s, from Middle French aristocracie (Modern French aristocratie), from Late Latin aristocratia, from Greek aristokratia "government or rule of the best," from aristos "best" (originally "most fitting," from PIE *ar-isto-, superlative form of *ar- "to fit together;" see arm (n.1)) + kratos "rule, power" (see -cracy).

At first in a literal sense of "government by those who are the best citizens;" meaning "rule by a privileged class" (best-born or best-favored by fortune) is from 1570s and became paramount 17c. Hence, the meaning "patrician order" (1650s). In early use contrasted with monarchy; after French and American revolutions, with democracy.
aristocrat (n.): 1789, from French aristocrate, a word of the Revolution, a back-formation from aristocratie (see aristocracy).
aristocratic (adj.): c. 1600, "pertaining to aristocracy," from French aristocratique, from Greek aristokratikos "belonging to the rule of the best," from aristokratia (see aristocracy). Meaning "grand, stylish" is from 1845.
arithmocracy (n.): "rule by numerical majority," 1850, from Greek arithmos "number, counting, amount" (see arithmetic) + -cracy. Related: Arithmocratic; arithmocratical.
autocracy (n.): 1650s, "independent power, self-sustained power," from French autocratie, from Greek autokrateia "ruling by oneself," noun of state from autokrates (see autocrat). Meaning "absolute government, supreme political power" is recorded from 1855.
autocrat (n.): 1803, from French autocrate, from Greek autokrates "ruling by oneself, absolute, autocratic," from autos- "self" (see auto-) + kratia "rule," from kratos "strength, power" (see -cracy). First used by Robert Southey, with reference to Napoleon. An earlier form was autocrator (1789), used in reference to the Russian Czars. Earliest form in English is the fem. autocratress (1762).
autocratic (adj.): 1823, from French autocratique, from autocrate, from Greek autokrates (see autocrat). Earlier autocratoric (1670s) was directly from Greek autokratorikos. Autocratical is attested from 1801.
democracy (n.): 1570s, from Middle French démocratie (14c.), from Medieval Latin democratia (13c.), from Greek demokratia "popular government," from demos "common people," originally "district" (see demotic), + kratos "rule, strength" (see -cracy).
Democracy implies that the man must take the responsibility for choosing his rulers and representatives, and for the maintenance of his own 'rights' against the possible and probable encroachments of the government which he has sanctioned to act for him in public matters. [Ezra Pound, "ABC of Economics," 1933]
democrat (n.): 1790, "adherent of democracy," with reference to France, from French démocrate (18c., opposed to aristocrate), back-formation from démocratie (see democracy); revived in U.S. as a political party affiliation 1798, with a capital D. As a shortening of this, Demo (1793) is older than Dem (c. 1840).
democratic (adj.): c. 1600, from French démocratique, from Medieval Latin democraticus, from Greek demokratikos "of or for democracy; favoring democracy," from demokratia (see democracy). Earlier was democratian (1570s).

As a political faction name, from 1790 in reference to France. U.S. political usage (with a capital D) attested from c. 1800. The party originally was the Anti-Federal party, then the Democratic-Republican (Democratic for short). It formed among those opposed to extensive powers for the U.S. federal government. The name of the party was not formally shortened to Democratic until 1829. Democratic socialism is attested from 1849.
democratization (n.): 1865; see democratize + -ation.
democratize (v.): 1798 (transitive), 1840 (intransitive), from French démocratiser, from démocratie (see democracy). Greek demokratizein meant "to be on the democratic side."
endocrine (adj.): "secreting internally," 1914, from endo- + Latinized form of Greek krinein "to separate, distinguish" (see crisis). Denoting glands having an internal secretion.
endocrinology (n.): 1917, from endocrine + -ology. Related: Endocrinologist.
foolocracy (n.): 1832, from fool (n.) + -ocracy.
gerontocracy (n.): "rule by old men," 1830, a Latinized compound of Greek stem of geron (genitive gerontos) "old man" (see gerontology) + kratia "rule" (see -cracy). Related: Gerontocratic.
hierocracy (n.): "rule or government by priests," 1794; see hierarchy + -cracy. Related: Hierocratic.
Hippocratic (adj.): 1610s, from Medieval Latin Hippocraticus, pertaining to Hippocrates (c. 460-377 B.C.E.), the famous ancient Greek physician. Hippocratic Oath is attested from 1747; it is in the spirit of Hippocrates but was not written by him. The name is literally "one superior in horses."
Hippocrene: fount on Mount Helicon, sacred to the Muses, from Greek Hippokrene, literally "horse's fountain," from hippos "horse" + krene "fountain."
hypocrisy (n.): c. 1200, ipocrisie, from Old French ypocrisie, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Greek hypokrisis "acting on the stage, pretense," from hypokrinesthai "play a part, pretend," also "answer," from hypo- "under" (see sub-) + middle voice of krinein "to sift, decide" (see crisis). The sense evolution in Attic Greek is from "separate gradually" to "answer" to "answer a fellow actor on stage" to "play a part." The h- was restored in English 16c.
Hypocrisy is the art of affecting qualities for the purpose of pretending to an undeserved virtue. Because individuals and institutions and societies most often live down to the suspicions about them, hypocrisy and its accompanying equivocations underpin the conduct of life. Imagine how frightful truth unvarnished would be. [Benjamin F. Martin, "France in 1938," 2005]
hypocrite (n.): c. 1200, ypocrite, from Old French ypocrite (12c., Modern French hypocrite), from Church Latin hypocrita, from Greek hypokrites "stage actor, pretender, dissembler," from hypokrinesthai (see hypocrisy).
hypocritic (adj.): 1530s, from Greek hypokritikos âacting a part, pretendingâ (see hypocrisy).
hypocritical (adj.): 1540s (implied in hypocritically), from hypocritic, which was used in the same sense, + -al (1). Middle English used simple hypocrite as the adjective (c. 1400) as well as the noun.
idiocrasy (n.): "peculiarity," 1680s, from Greek idiokrasia, from idio- (see idio-) + krasis "mixing, tempering" (see rare (adj.2)).
isocracy (n.): "equal power," 1650s, from Greek isokratia "equality of power," from isokrates "of equal power, possessing equal rights," from isos "equal" (see iso-) + -kratia "power, rule, authority" (see -cracy). Related: Isocratic.
kakistocracy (n.): 1829, "government by the worst element of a society," coined on analogy of its opposite, aristocracy, from Greek kakistos "worst," superlative of kakos "bad" (which perhaps is related to the general IE word for "defecate;" see caco-) + -cracy.
kleptocracy (n.): "rule by a class of thieves," 1819, originally in reference to Spain; see kleptomania + -cracy.
mediocre (adj.): 1580s, from Middle French médiocre (16c.), from Latin mediocris "of middling height or state, moderate, ordinary," figuratively "mediocre, mean, inferior," originally "halfway up a mountain," from medius "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + ocris "jagged mountain" (cognate with Greek okris "peak, point," Welsh ochr "corner, border," Latin acer "sharp;" see acrid). As a noun, "medicore thing or person," by 1834.
mediocritization (n.): 1917 (Will Durant), noun of state or action from mediocritize.
mediocritize (v.): 1854 (implied in mediocritizing); see mediocrity + -ize. Related: Mediocritized.
mediocrity (n.): early 15c., "moderation; intermediate state or amount," from Middle French médiocrité and directly from Latin mediocritatem (nominative mediocritas) "a middle state, middling condition, medium," from mediocris (see mediocre). Neutral at first; disparaging sense began to predominate from late 16c. The meaning "person of mediocre abilities or attainments" is from 1690s. Before the tinge of disparagement crept in, another name for the Golden Mean was golden mediocrity.
meritocracy (n.): coined 1958 by British sociologist Michael Young (1915-2002) and used in title of his book, "The Rise of the Meritocracy"; from merit (n.) + -cracy. Related: Meritocratic.
[Young's book] imagined an elite that got its position not from ancestry, but from test scores and effort. For him, meritocracy was a negative term; his spoof was a warning about the negative consequences of assigning social status based on formal educational qualifications, and showed how excluding from leadership anyone who couldnât jump through the educational hoops would create a new form of discrimination. And thatâs exactly what has happened. [Lani Guinier, interview, "New York Times," Feb. 7, 2015]
mesocracy (n.): "government by the middle classes," 1858, from meso- + -cracy. Related: Mesocratic (1857).
mobocracy (n.): "mob rule," 1754, a hybrid from mob (n.) + -cracy. Related: Mobocrat; mobocratic.
moneyocracy (n.): 1834, from money + -cracy.
motocross: also moto-cross, by 1956, from motorcycle + cross-country.
-ocracy: word-forming element; -cracy with a connective -o-.
ochlocracy (n.): "government by the rabble," 1580s, from French ochlocratie (1560s), from Greek okhlokratia (Polybius) "mob rule," the lowest grade of democracy, from kratos "rule, power, strength" (see -cracy) + okhlos "mob, populace," perhaps literally "moving mass," from PIE *wogh-lo-, from root *wegh- "to go, transport" in a vehicle (see weigh). For sense development, compare mob (n.). Related: Ochlocratic; ochlocratical. Greek also had okhlagogos "mob-leader, ochlagogue."
oneirocritic (n.): "a judge or interpreter of dreams," 1650s from Greek oneirokritikos "pertaining to the interpretation of dreams," from oneirokrites "interpreter of dreams," from oneiros "a dream" (see oneiro-) + krites "discerner, judge" (see critic).
oneirocritical (adj.): 1580s, from oneiro- + critic + -al (1).