英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

comfrey [comfrey 词源字典]: comfrey: see fervent
[comfrey etymology, comfrey origin, 英语词源]
grey: grey: [OE] Grey is an ancient colour term, traceable back all the way to a prehistoric Indo- European *ghrēghwos. From this was descended West and North Germanic *grǣwaz, which produced German grau, Dutch grauw, Swedish grå, and Danish graa as well as English grey. The distinction in spelling between British grey and American gray is a comparatively recent one. Dr Johnson in his Dictionary 1755 gave gray as the main form, and even into the early 20th century it was still quite common in Britain (The Times used it, for instance). Nor is grey by any means unknown in America.
greyhound: greyhound: [OE] Most greyhounds are not grey – and there is no etymological reason why they should be. For the element grey- in their name has no connection with the colour-term grey. It comes from an unrecorded Old English *grīeg ‘bitch’, a relative of Old Norse grøy ‘bitch’.
lamprey: lamprey: [12] The words lamprey and limpet [OE] come from the same source: medieval Latin lamprēda. This was an alteration of an earlier, 5th-century lampetra, which has been plausibly explained as literally ‘stone-licker’ (from Latin lambēre ‘lick’, source of English lambent, and petra ‘stone’). The reason for applying such a name to the limpet is fairly obvious – it clings fast to rocks – but in fact the lamprey too holds on to rocks, with its jawless sucking mouth.
=> lambent, limpet, petrol
osprey: osprey: [15] Etymologically, the osprey is simply a ‘bird of prey’. Its name comes from ospreit, the Old French descendant of Vulgar Latin *avispreda, which in turn was a conflation of Latin avis praedae ‘bird of prey’ (avis is the source of English augur, auspice, aviary, and aviation, and praeda is the ancestor of English prey).

The specific association with the ‘osprey’ came about in Old French through confusion with the coincidentally similar osfraie ‘osprey’. This meant etymologically ‘bone-breaker’. It came from Latin ossifraga, a compound formed from os ‘bone’ (source of English ossify [18]) and frangere ‘break’ (source of English fracture, fragment, etc).

It was originally applied to the lammergeier, a large vulture, in allusion to its habit of dropping its prey from a great height on to rocks beneath in order to break its bones, but was subsequently also used for the osprey.
=> aviary, prey
palfrey: palfrey: [12] Etymologically, a palfrey is an ‘extra horse’. The word comes via Old French palefrei from medieval Latin palefrēdus, an alteration of an earlier paraverēdus (source of German pferd ‘horse’). This was a compound formed from Greek pará ‘extra’ (source of the English prefix para-) and late Latin verēdus ‘light fast horse used by couriers’, a word of Gaulish origin.
prey: prey: [13] Prey comes via Old French preie from Latin praeda ‘booty’ (from which was derived the verb praedārī ‘plunder’, source of English depredation [15] and predatory [16]). This was a contraction of an earlier praeheda, a noun formed with the prefix prae- ‘before’ from the same base (*hed- ‘seize’, source also of English get) as produced the verb praehendere ‘seize’.

This has been a rich source of English vocabulary, contributing through different channels such a varied assortment as prehensile [18], prison, and prize ‘something seized in war’, not to mention prefixed forms like apprehend. comprehend [14], comprise [15], impregnable [15], reprehensible, reprieve, and surprise. It is also the ancestor of French prendre ‘take’.
=> apprehend, comprehend, comprise, depredation, impregnable, predatory, prehensile, prison, reprehensible, reprieve, surprise
storey: storey: [14] Storey is etymologically the same word as story. Both come ultimately from Latin historia ‘story’ (source also of English history). Storey itself was borrowed directly from Anglo- Latin historia, which is known to have been used for ‘picture’, and may also have denoted a ‘row of pictures in the form of stained glass windows or statues, telling a story’, which filled the entire wall between floor and ceiling at a given level of a building.
=> history, story
Aubrey: masc. personal name, from Old French Auberi, from Old High German Alberich "ruler of elves," or *Alb(e)rada "elf-counsel" (fem.). In U.S., it began to be used as a girl's name c. 1973 and was among the top 100 given names for girls born 2006-2008, eclipsing its use for boys, which faded in proportion.
Audrey: fem. proper name, contracted from Etheldreda, a Latinized form of Old English Æðelðryð, literally "noble might," from æðele "noble" (see atheling) + ðryð "strength, might."
Frey: god of the earth's fruitfulness in Norse mythology, from Old Norse frey "lord," from Proto-Germanic *frawan "lord," from suffixed form of PIE *pro- (see pro-).
Freya: goddess of sexual love and beauty in Norse mythology, from Old Norse Freyja, which is related to Old English frea "lord;" Old Saxon frua, Middle Dutch vrouwe "woman, wife," German Frau; see frau).
Frigga is usually considered the goddess of married love; Freya, the goddess of love, the northern Venus. Actually, Frigga is of the Aesir family of Scandinavian myth; Freya, of the Vanir family; the two lines of belief merged, and the two goddesses are sometimes fused, and sometimes confused. [Joseph T. Shipley, "The Origins of English Words," 1984]
Geoffrey: masc. personal name, attested in England by late 11c., from Old French Geuffroi, from Medieval Latin Gaufridus, from Old High German gewi "district" (German Gau; see gau) + fridu "peace" (see Frederick).
Godfrey: masc. proper name, from Old French Godefrei (Modern French Godefroi), from Old High German Godafrid (German Gottfried), literally "the peace of God," from Old High German got "God" (see god) + fridu "peace" (see Frederick). In early 20c., the name sometimes was used as a slang euphemism for "God."
grey: see gray.
greyhound (n.): Old English grighund (West Saxon), greghund (Anglian) "greyhound," probably from grig- "bitch," a word of unknown etymology, + hund "dog" (see hound (n.)). The first element in the name apparently has nothing to do with color, as most of the hounds are not gray, but the exact sense of it must have been early forgotten, as it has been long associated with the color in popular imagination. In some Middle English forms it appears to be conformed to Grew, an old word for "Greek" (from Old French Griu). The Old Norse form of the word is preserved in Hjalti's couplet that almost sparked war between pagans and Christians in early Iceland:
Vilkat goð geyja
grey þykkjumk Freyja

I will not blaspheme the gods,
but I think Freyja is a bitch
Humphrey: masc. proper name, from Old English Hunfrið, probably from Proto-Germanic *hun "strength" + Old English frið "peace." To dine with Duke Humphrey (17c.) meant to go without a meal, though the reason for the expression now is obscure.
Jeffrey: masc. proper name, from Old French Jeufroi, Jefroi, variants of Geuffroi (see Geoffrey).
lamprey (n.): c. 1300 (c. 1200 as a surname?), from Old French lamproie, from Medieval Latin lampreda, from Late Latin lampetra "lamprey," of uncertain origin, usually explained as literally "lick-rock," from Latin lambere "to lick" (see lap (v.1)) + petra "rock" (see petrous). The animals attach themselves to things with their sucker-like mouths.
Monterey: city in California, U.S., formerly the Spanish Pacific capital, named for the bay, which was named 1603 for Spanish colonist and viceroy of New Spain Conde de Monterrey. The Monterrey in Mexico also is named for him.
osprey (n.): fishing hawk, mid-15c., from Anglo-French ospriet, from Medieval Latin avis prede "bird of prey," from Latin avis praedæ, a generic term apparently confused with this specific bird in Old French on its similarity to ossifrage.
palfrey (n.): c. 1200 (mid-12c. as a surname), "saddle horse for ordinary riding (opposed to a war horse), small horse for ladies," from Old French palefroi (11c.) and directly from Medieval Latin palafredus, altered by dissimilation from Late Latin paraveredus "post horse for outlying districts" (6c.), originally "extra horse," from Greek para "beside, secondary" (see para-) + Latin veredus "post horse; light, fast horse used by couriers," from Gaulish *voredos, from Celtic *wo-red- (cognates: Welsh gorwydd "horse," Old Irish riadaim "I ride"), from PIE root *reidh- "to ride" (see ride (v.)). The Latin word passed to Old High German as pfarifrid, where in modern German it has become the usual word for "horse" (Pferd).
prey (v.): c. 1300, "to plunder, pillage, ravage," from prey (n.) and in part from Old French preer, earlier preder (c.1040), from Late Latin praedare, from praeda (see prey (n.)). Its sense of "to kill and devour" is attested from mid-14c. Related: Preyed; preying.
prey (n.): mid-13c., "animal hunted for food," also "that which is taken in war," from Old French preie "booty, animal taken in the chase" (mid-12c., Modern French proie), from Latin praeda "booty, plunder, game hunted," earlier praeheda, literally "something seized before," from PIE *prai-heda-; for first element see prae-; second element related to the second element in prehendere "to grasp, seize" (see prehensile).
Reykjavik: capital of Iceland, literally "bay of smoke," from Old Norse reykja "to smoke" (see reek (n.)) + vik "bay" (see viking). So called from the natural hot springs there. Settlement said to date from 9c., but not established as a town until 1786.
Reynard (n.): quasi-proper name for a fox, c. 1300, from Old French Renart, Reynard name of the fox in Roman de Renart, from Old High German personal name Reginhart "strong in counsel," literally "counsel-brave." The first element is related to reckon, the second to hard. The tales were so popular that the name became the word for "fox" in Old French. Old French also had renardie "craftiness."
Reynold: masc. proper name, from Old French Reinald (Modern French Renaut, Latinized as Reginaldus), a popular name among the Normans, from Old High German Reginald, the first element related to reckon, the second to Old English wealdan "to rule" (see wield). Related: Reynolds.
Surrey: Old English suþrige (722), literally "Southerly District" (relative to Middlesex), from suðer, from suð (see south) + -ge "district" (see yeoman). Bede and others use it as a folk-name, as if "People from Surrey." Meaning "two-seated, four-wheeled pleasure carriage" is from 1895, short for Surrey cart, an English pleasure cart (introduced in U.S. 1872), named for Surrey, England, where it first was made.
trey (n.): late 14c., "card, die, or domino with three spots," from Anglo-French, Old French treis (Modern French trois), oblique case of treie "three," from Latin tria (neuter) "three" (see three). In slang use for "three (of anything)" from 1887.
Monterey Jack: "A kind of cheese resembling Cheddar", From the name of Monterey County, California, where it was first made; the origin of Jack is unknown.
Earl Grey: "A kind of China tea flavoured with bergamot", Probably named after the 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845).
drey: "The nest of a squirrel, typically in the form of a mass of twigs in a tree", Early 17th century: of unknown origin.