英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

antimacassar [antimacassar 词源字典]: antimacassar: [19] An antimacassar was a cloth spread over chairbacks in the 19th and early 20th centuries to protect them from greasy hair. It took its name from Macassar oil, a proprietary brand of hair oil made by Rowland and Son, allegedly from ingredients obtained from Makassar, a region of the island of Sulawesi (formerly Celebes) in Indonesia.
[antimacassar etymology, antimacassar origin, 英语词源]
antimony: antimony: [15] Antimony, from medieval Latin antimōnium, was used by alchemists of the Middle Ages for ‘stibnite’, the mineral from which antimony is obtained, and for ‘stibium’, or ‘black antimony’, a heated and powdered version of the mineral used for eye make-up. The element antimony itself was first described in the late 18th century, when it was called regulus of antimony; the British chemist Humphry Davy appears to have been the first to apply the simple term antimony to it, in 1812.

The ultimate origins of the word antimony are obscure, but attempts have been made to link it with Latin stibium (source of Somebody, the chemical symbol for antimony). It has been speculated that Latin antimōnium may have been a modification of Arabic ithmid, which was perhaps borrowed from Greek stimmi or stíbi (source of Latin stibium).

This in turn has been conjecturally traced back to an Egyptian word stm, which was used for a sort of powder applied to the eyelids as make-up.
optimism: optimism: [18] Etymologically as well as semantically, optimism means hoping for ‘the best’. It was coined in French (as optimisme) in 1737 as a term for the doctrine of the German philosopher Leibnitz (1646–1716) that the world is as good as it could possibly be. It was based on Latin optimum (source also of English optimum [19]), the neuter case of optimus ‘best’. This may have been formed from the preposition ob ‘in front of’ and a superlative suffix.
sentiment: sentiment: [17] Sentiment comes via Old French sentiment from medieval Latin sentīmentum ‘feeling’, a derivative of Latin sentīre ‘feel’ (from which English gets sensation, sense, sentence, etc). It originally meant ‘feeling’ and ‘opinion’ (the former now defunct, the latter surviving with a somewhat old-fashioned air in such expressions as ‘My sentiments exactly!’). The sense ‘(excessively) refined feeling’ did not emerge until the mid-18th century.
=> sense
stimulate: stimulate: [16] Latin stimulus denoted a ‘pointed stick for goading animals on’ (it probably came ultimately from an Indo-European base *sti- ‘point, prick, pierce’, extensions of which lie behind English stick, stitch, style, etc). It was used metaphorically for ‘something that incites or causes a response’, and in that sense was borrowed into English as stimulus [17]. Stimulate itself comes from the past participle of the derived verb stimulāre ‘goad on’.
=> stick, stitch, style
timber: timber: [OE] Timber originally denoted a ‘building’ – the Lindisfarne Gospels of around 950 translated Mark 13:1 (‘See what manner of stones and what buildings are here’) as ‘See what stones and what timber’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *timram, whose German descendant zimmer ‘room’ has remained closer to its semantic roots (but German zimmermann means ‘carpenter’).

And this in turn went back to Indo-European *demrom, a derivative of the base *dem-, *dom- ‘build’, from which English also gets dome, domestic, etc. The sense ‘building’ gradually developed into ‘building material’, then ‘wood used for building’, and finally ‘wood’ in general.
=> dome, domestic
timbre: timbre: see timpani
time: time: [OE] Time originally denoted ‘delimited section of existence, period’. Its ultimate source is the Indo-European base *dī- ‘cut up, divide’. This passed into prehistoric Germanic as *tī- (source also of English tide), and addition of the suffix *-mon- produced *tīmon – whence English time and Swedish timme ‘hour’. The application of the word to the more generalized, abstract notion of ‘continuous duration’ dates from the 14th century.
=> tide
timid: timid: [16] The Latin verb timēre meant ‘fear’ (its origins are not known). From it were derived the adjective timidus (source of English timid) and the noun timor ‘fear’ (whose medieval Latin descendant timorōsus ‘fearful’ gave English timorous [15]).
=> timorous
timpani: timpani: [16] Timpani was borrowed from Italian, where it is the plural of timpano ‘kettledrum’. This in turn went back via Latin tympanum ‘drum’ (source of English tympanum ‘ear-drum’ [17]) to Greek túmpanon ‘drum’, a close relative of the verb túptein ‘hit’. Part of the same word-family is timbre ‘sound-quality’ [19], whose French antecedent meant ‘bell hit with a hammer’.
=> timbre, tympanum
victim: victim: [15] Victim originally denoted a ‘person or animal killed as a sacrifice’; the more general notion of ‘someone who suffers from or is killed by something’ is a secondary development. The word was borrowed from Latin victima, which may be related to German weihen ‘consecrate’.
aforetime (adv.): early 15c., "before the present, in the past," from afore + time (n.).
all-time (adj.): "during recorded time," 1910, American English, from all + time (n.). Earlier it had been used in a sense "full-time," of employment, or in opposition to one-time (1883).
altimeter (n.): 1918, from Modern Latin altimeter, from alti- "high" (from Latin altus; see old) + -meter.
altimetry (n.): 1690s, from Medieval Latin altimetria, from Latin alti- "high" (see old) + Greek -metria (see -metry).
antepenultimate (adj.): "the last but two," 1730, from antepenult (n.), 1610s, abbreviation of Latin antepaenultima (syllaba), fem. of antepaenultimus, from ante "before" (see ante) + paenultima, from paen "almost" + ultima "last" (see ultimate).
antimatter (n.): also anti-matter, 1953, from anti- + matter (n.).
antimetabole (n.): 1590s, from Greek antimetabole, from anti- "opposite" (see anti-) + metabole "turning about" (see metabolism).
antimony (n.): brittle metallic element, early 15c., from Old French antimoine and directly from Medieval Latin antimonium, an alchemist's term (used 11c. by Constantinus Africanus), origin obscure, probably a Latinization of Greek stimmi "powdered antimony, black antimony" (a cosmetic used to paint the eyelids), from some Arabic word (such as al 'othmud), unless the Arabic word is from the Greek or the Latin is from Arabic; probably ultimately from Egyptian stm "powdered antimony." In French folk etymology, anti-moine "monk's bane" (from moine).

As the name of a pure element, it is attested in English from 1788. Its chemical symbol Sb is for Stibium, the Latin name for "black antimony," which word was used also in English for "black antimony."
anytime (adv.): one-word form by 1854, from any + time (n.).
Baltimore: city in Maryland, U.S., founded 1729, named for Cecilius Calvert (1605-1675), 2nd baron Baltimore, who held the charter for Maryland colony; from a small port town in southern Ireland where the family had its seat, from Irish Baile na Tighe Mor, literally "townland of the big house." In old baseball slang, a Baltimore chop was a hit right in front of the plate that bounced high.
bedtime (n.): also bed-time, early 13c., from bed (n.) + time (n.). Bed-time story attested from 1867.
betimes (adv.): "at an early period," early 14c., from betime (c. 1300, from be- + time) + adverbial genitive -s.
big time (n.): "upper reaches of a profession or pursuit," c. 1910 from vaudeville slang; the phrase was common in colloquial use late 19c.-early 20c. in a broad range of senses: "party, shindig, fun, frolic."
centime (n.): 1801, from French centime, from cent (see centi-) on analogy of décime (pars).
centimeter (n.): also centimetre, 1801, from French centimètre (18c.), coined from Latin centum "hundred" (see hundred) + French mètre (see meter (n.2)).
daytime (n.): 1530s, from day + time (n.).
downtime (n.): 1952, from down (adv.) + time (n.).
egg-timer (n.): 1873, from egg (n.) + timer.
estimable (adj.): mid-15c., "capable of being estimated," from Old French estimable and directly from Latin aestimabilis "valuable, estimable," from aestimare (see esteem (v.)). Meaning "worthy of esteem" in English is from 1690s.
estimate (n.): 1560s, "valuation," from Latin aestimatus "determine the value of," figuratively "to value, esteem," verbal noun from aestimare (see esteem (v.)). Earlier in sense "power of the mind" (mid-15c.). Meaning "approximate judgment" is from 1580s. As a builder's statement of projected costs, from 1796.
estimate (v.): 1530s, "appraise the worth of," from Latin aestimatus, past participle of aestimare "to value, appraise" (see esteem (v.)). Meaning "form an approximate notion" is from 1660s. Related: Estimated; estimates; estimating.
estimation (n.): late 14c., "action of appraising; manner of judging; opinion," from Old French estimacion "evaluation, value; calculation, planning," from Latin aestimationem (nominative aestimatio) "a valuation," from past participle stem of aestimare "to value" (see esteem (v.)). Meaning "appreciation" is from 1520s. That of "process of forming an approximate notion" is from c. 1400.
estimator (n.): 1660s, from Latin aestimator, agent noun from aestimare "to value" (see esteem (v.)).
Fatimid: also Fatimite, in reference to the Arab dynasty that ruled 908-1171 in North Africa and sometimes Egypt and Syria, is from Fatima, daughter of Muhammad by his first wife, Khadija; Fatima married Ali, and from them the dynasty claimed descent.
first-timer (n.): "rookie, one doing something for the first time," 1888, from first time; see first (adj.) + time (n.).
flextime (n.): also short for flexitime, 1972, translating German Gleitzeit "sliding time." See flex + time (n.).
foretime (n.): "a previous time," 1530s, from fore- + time (n.). Related: Foretimes.
full-time (adj.): also fulltime, 1895; full-timer is attested from 1855, in reference to students; see full (adj.) + time (n.).
good-time (adj.): 1928, from the noun phrase, from good (adj.) + time (n.). Expression to have a good time "enjoy oneself" attested from 1822; earlier have a good time of it (1771). To make good time "go fast" is from 1838. In Middle English, good time was "prosperous time," also "high time" (that something be done).
guesstimate (v.): 1902, a blending of guess (v.) and estimate (v.). Related: Guesstimated; guesstimating. As a noun from 1906.
half-time (n.): also halftime, half time, indicating "half of the time," 1640s, from half + time (n.). Tempo sense is by 1880. In football, from 1867.
illegitimacy (n.): 1670s; see illegitimate + -acy.
illegitimate (adj.): 1530s, "born out of wedlock," formed in English (and replacing earlier illegitime, c. 1500), modeled on Latin illegitimus "not legitimate" (see il- + legitimate). Sense of "unauthorized, unwarranted" is from 1640s. Phrase illegitimi non carborundum, usually "translated" as "don't let the bastards grind you down," is fake Latin (by 1965, said to date from c. 1939) (Carborundum was a brand of abrasives).
inestimable (adj.): late 14c., "beyond estimation," from Old French inestimable (14c.) or directly from Latin inaestimabilis, from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + aestimabilis (see estimable). Meaning "too precious to set a value on, priceless" is attested by 1570s. Related: Inestimably.
intimacy (n.): 1640s, from intimate + -cy. As a euphemism for "sexual intercourse," from 1670s.
intimate (adj.): 1630s, "closely acquainted, very familiar," from Late Latin intimatus, past participle of intimare "make known, announce, impress," from Latin intimus "inmost" (adj.), "close friend" (n.), superlative of in "in" (see in- (2)). Used euphemistically in reference to women's underwear from 1904. Related: Intimately.
intimate (v.): "suggest indirectly," 1530s, back-formation from intimation, or else from Late Latin intimatus, past participle of intimare. Related: Intimated; intimating.
intimate (n.): 1650s, "person with whom one is intimate," from intimate (adj.).
intimation (n.): mid-15c., "action of making known," from Middle French intimation (late 14c.), from Late Latin intimationem (nominative intimatio) "an announcement" (in Medieval Latin "a judicial notification"), noun of action from past participle stem of intimare (see intimate). Meaning "suggestion, hint" is from 1530s.