英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

alabaster [alabaster 词源字典]: alabaster: [14] Chaucer was the first English author to use the word alabaster: in the Knight’s Tale (1386) he writes of ‘alabaster white and red coral’. It comes, via Old French and Latin, from Greek alábast(r)os, which may be of Egyptian origin. Scottish English used the variant from alabast until the 16th century (indeed, this may predate alabaster by a few years); and from the 16th to the 17th century the word was usually spelled alablaster, apparently owing to confusion with arblaster ‘crossbowman’.

The use of alabaster for making marbles (of the sort used in children’s games) gave rise to the abbreviation alley, ally ‘marble’ in the early 18th century.
[alabaster etymology, alabaster origin, 英语词源]
alarm: alarm: [14] Alarm was originally a call to arms. It comes from the Old Italian phrase all’ arme ‘to the weapons!’ This was lexicalized as the noun allarme, which was borrowed into Old French as alarme, and thence into English. The archaic variant alarum seems to have arisen from an emphatic rolling of the r accompanying a prolongation of the final syllable when the word was used as an exclamation.
=> arm
alas: alas: [13] In origin alas was an exclamation of weariness rather than grief. Latin lassus ‘weary’ (related to let ‘allow’ and source of lassitude) passed into Old French as las which, with the addition of the exclamation a ‘ah’, became alas.
=> lassitude, let
avalanche: avalanche: [18] Not surprisingly, avalanche originated in the Alps. The French dialect of Savoy, an area near the Italian border in the western Alps, had a term lavantse, apparently derived from a Vulgar Latin *labanca (whence Provençal lavanca). Through association with the verb avaler ‘descend’ (see DOWN), this underwent metathesis (transposition of l and v) to produce in the Romansh language of Switzerland avalantze, which was borrowed into French as avalanche.
balance: balance: [13] The underlying etymological meaning of balance is of a weighing apparatus with ‘two pans’ for holding things. In Latin this was a lībra bilanx, literally ‘scales with two pans’ – bilanx being compounded from bi- ‘two’ and lanx ‘plate, pan’. Bilanx passed, in its stem from bilanc-, via Vulgar Latin *bilancia into Old French balance, the source of the English word.
escalate: escalate: [20] Escalate is a back-formation from escalator [20], which was originally a tradename for a moving staircase first made in the USA around 1900 by the Otis Elevator Company. This in turn seems to have been coined (probably on the model of elevator) from escalade [16], a term in medieval warfare signifying the scaling of a fortified wall, which came via French and Spanish from medieval Latin scalāre, source of English scale ‘climb’. Escalate originally meant simply ‘ascend on an escalator’; the metaphorical sense ‘increase’ developed at the end of the 1950s.
gala: gala: [17] Gala comes ultimately from Arabic khil’a, which denoted an ‘especially fine garment given as a presentation’. This original meaning persisted through Spanish gala and into Italian and French gala, from one or other of which English got it (‘Whereupon this King and the whole Court put on Galas [special festive attire]’, Cabala sive scrinia sacra 1654) and survived into the 19th century (‘Apparelled on Sunday morning in gala, as if for the drawingroom, he constantly marched out all his household to the parish church’, George Bancroft, History of the United States 1876).

Nowadays, however, all that remains is the extended sense ‘festive occasion’, first recorded in the late 18th century.
galaxy: galaxy: [14] The Greeks had a word for the ‘Milky Way’ – and indeed it was very much the same as ours. They called it galaxías, which was originally an adjective, ‘milky’, derived from the noun gála ‘milk’. English acquired it via late Latin galaxiās and Old French galuxie. (The term Milky Way, incidentally, which originated as a translation of Latin via lactea, is of roughly equal antiquity in English with galaxy. Their common inspiration is the white appearance of the myriad stars packed densely together.)
malachite: malachite: see mauve
malady: malady: see malign
malaise: malaise: see malign
malapropism: malapropism: [19] English owes the word malapropism to Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Sheridan’s play The Rivals 1775 whose grandiloquent impulses led her to use slightly (but ludicrously) the wrong word: amongst the most familiar of her errors are ‘contagious countries’ (for contiguous), ‘a supercilious knowledge in accounts’ (for superficial), and ‘as head-strong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile’. Sheridan based the name on malapropos ‘inappropriate’ [17], an anglicization of French mal à propos, literally ‘badly to the purpose’ (on mal, see MALIGN).
=> malign, propose
malaria: malaria: [18] The original English term for an ‘attack of malarial fever’ was ague. The word malaria did not come on the scene until the mid- 18th century. It was borrowed from Italian mal’aria, a conflation of mala aria, literally ‘bad air’. This was an allusion to the former belief that malaria was caused by foul air, and particularly by vapours given off by swamps.
=> air, malign
marmalade: marmalade: [16] The word marmalade originally denoted ‘quince jam’. It comes via French from Portuguese marmelada, a derivative of marmelo ‘quince’. And marmelo goes back via Latin melimēlum to Greek melímēlon, a term meaning literally ‘honeyapple’ which was applied to the fruit of an apple tree grafted on to a quince (the second element, melon ‘apple’, is the source of English melon). Not until the 17th century was marmalade used for a preserve made from citrus fruits.
=> melon
nonchalant: nonchalant: [18] To be nonchalant is etymologically ‘not to get hot under the collar’. The word comes from French nonchalant, an adjective formed with the prefix non- ‘not’ from the present participle of the verb chaloir ‘be concerned’. This goes back ultimately to Latin calēre ‘be hot’ (a relative of English calorie and cauldron).
=> calorie, cauldron, lukewarm
palace: palace: [13] The Palātium, or Mons Palātīnus (in English the ‘Palatine hill’), was one of the seven hills of ancient Rome. On it the emperor Augustus built a house, which in due course grew into a grand imperial palace, also called the Palātium. This came to be used as a generic term for such residences, and passed into English via Old French paleis. The derived Latin adjective palātīnus has given English paladin [16] and palatine [15].
=> paladin, palatine
Palaeolithic: Palaeolithic: see lithograph
palaver: palaver: [18] Palaver originated as a piece of naval slang picked up by English sailors in Africa. There they came across Portuguese traders negotiating with the local inhabitants, a process known in Portuguese as palavra ‘speech’ (a descendant of Latin parabola, source of English parable). They took the Portugese word over as palaver, applying it first to ‘negotiations’, and then by extension to ‘idle chatter’.
=> parable
salacious: salacious: see salient
salad: salad: [15] Etymologically, a salad is a ‘salted’ dish. The word comes via Old French salade from Vulgar Latin *salāta, a noun use of the feminine past participle of Latin *salāre ‘put salt on to, treat with salt’. This is turn was a derivative of sāl ‘salt’, a relative of English salt. The Romans were fond of dishes of assorted raw vegetables with a dressing, and this often consisted of brine – hence the name, which is short for herba salāta ‘salted vegetables’.
=> salt
salary: salary: [14] Salary goes back to a Latin word that originally denoted an ‘allowance given to Roman soldiers for buying salt’ (salt being in former times a valued commodity, over which wars were fought, rather than taken for granted as it is today). This was salārium, a derivative of sāl ‘salt’. It soon broadened out to mean ‘fixed periodic payment for work done’, and passed in this sense via Anglo-Norman salarie into English.
=> salt
stalactite: stalactite: [17] A stalactite is etymologically something that ‘drips’. The word was coined in modern Latin as stalactītēs, based on Greek stalaktós ‘dripping’, a derivative of the verb stalássein ‘drip’. Also derived from stalássein was stalagmós ‘dropping’, which formed the basis of stalagmite [17].
Alabama: created and named as a U.S. territory 1817 by a division of Mississippi Territory; ultimately named for one of the native peoples who lived there, who speak Muskogean. Their name probably is from a Choctaw term meaning "plant-cutters." Related: Alabamian.
alabaster (n.): translucent whitish kind of gypsum used for vases, ornaments, and busts, late 14c., from Old French alabastre (12c., Modern French albâtre), from Latin alabaster "colored rock used to make boxes and vessels for unguents," from Greek alabastros (earlier albatos) "vase for perfumes," perhaps from Egyptian 'a-labaste "vessel of the goddess Bast." Used figuratively for whiteness and smoothness from 1570s. "The spelling in 16-17th c. is almost always alablaster ..." [OED].
alabastrine (adj.): 1590s, from Medieval Latin alabastrinus, from alabaster (see alabaster).
alack: late 15c., from ah, lack, from lack in Middle English sense of "loss, failure, reproach, shame." Originally an expression of dissatisfaction, later of regret or unpleasant surprise.
alacrity (n.): mid-15c., from Latin alacritatem (nominative alacritas) "liveliness, ardor, eagerness," from alacer (genitive alacris) "cheerful, brisk, lively;" which is of uncertain origin, perhaps cognate with Gothic aljan "zeal," Old English ellen "courage, zeal, strength," Old High German ellian.
Aladdin: name of a hero in stories from the Arabian Nights, from Arabic Ala' al Din, literally "nobility of faith."
Alamo: nickname of Franciscan Mission San Antonio de Valeroin (begun 1718, dissolved 1793) in San Antonio, Texas; American Spanish, literally "poplar" (in New Spain, also "cottonwood"), from alno "the black poplar," from Latin alnus "alder" (see alder).

Perhaps so called in reference to trees growing nearby (compare Alamogordo, New Mexico, literally "big poplar," and Spanish alameda "a public walk with a row of trees on each side"); but the popular name seems to date from the period 1803-13, when the old mission was the base for a Spanish cavalry company from the Mexican town of Alamo de Parras in Nueva Vizcaya.
Alan: masc. proper name, 1066, from Old Breton Alan, name of a popular Welsh and Breton saint; brought to England by the large contingent of Bretons who fought alongside William the Conqueror.
alar (adj.): "wing-like," c. 1840; "of or pertaining to wings," 1847, from Latin alaris, from ala "wing, armpit, wing of an army" (source of Spanish ala, French aile), from *axla, originally "joint of the wing or arm;" from PIE *aks- (see axis).
Alaric: Visigothic masc. proper name, literally "all-ruler," from Proto-Germanic *ala- "all" (see all) + *rikja "rule" (see rich).
alarm (n.): early 14c., from Old French alarme (14c.), from Italian all'arme "to arms!" (literally "to the arms"). An interjection that came to be used as the word for the call or warning (compare alert). Extended 16c. to "any sound to warn of danger or to arouse." Weakened sense of "apprehension, unease" is from 1833. Variant alarum is due to the rolling -r- in the vocalized form. Sometimes in early years anglicized as all-arm. Alarm clock is attested from 1690s (as A Larum clock).
alarm (v.): 1580s, from alarm (n.). Related: Alarmed; alarming.
alarmed (adj.): "disturbed by prospects of peril," 1640s, past participle adjective from alarm (v.).
alarmingly (adv.): 1787, from alarming, present participle adjective from alarm (v.), + -ly (2).
alarmist (n.): "one addicted to sounding alarms," 1793, from alarm (n.) + -ist.
alarum (n.): obsolete and poetic spelling of alarm (n.).
alas: mid-13c., from Old French ha, las (later French hélas), from ha "ah" + las "unfortunate," originally "tired, weary," from Latin lassus "weary" (see late). At first an expression of weariness rather than woe.
Alaska: name first applied 18c. by Russian explorers, from Aleut alaxsxaq, literally "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed" [Bright]. Baked Alaska attested by 1896, so called either for its whiteness or from being cold inside.
Alastor: in Greek tradition, son of Neleus, brother of Nestor, slain by Herakles. The name is perhaps literally "not to forget," from privative prefix a- "not" + root of lathein "to forget" (see Lethe), hence its use figuratively in sense of "an avenging spirit." Or else it might be connected with alaomai "to wander, roam," figuratively "to be distraught."
amygdala (n.): "the tonsils," 1540s (amygdal), from Latin, from Greek amygdale "almond" (see almond). The anatomical use is as a direct translation of Arabic al-lauzatani "the two tonsils," literally "the two almonds," so called by Arabic physicians for fancied resemblance. From early 15c. as amygdales "tonsils;" as "almonds" from mid-12c.
Appalachia: "cultural and geographical region of inland Eastern U.S.," 1880s, from the Appalachian Mountains, which are its core. Earlier Appalachia was proposed as a better name for "United States of America" by Washington Irving in 1839 (though he preferred Alleghenia) and this may have been the coinage of the word.
It is a thousand pities that the puny witticisms of a few professional objectors should have the power to prevent, even for a year, the adoption of a name for our country. At present we have, clearly, none. There should be no hesitation about "Appalachia." In the first place, it is distinctive. "America" is not, and can never be made so. We may legislate as much as we please, and assume for our country whatever name we think right â but to use it will be no name, to any purpose for which a name is needed, unless we can take it away from the regions which employ it at present. South America is "America," and will insist upon remaining so. [Edgar Allan Poe, 1846]
Appalachian: in reference to the North American mountain range, c. 1600, Mountaynes Apalatsi; written apalachen by Spanish explorers and originally in reference only to the southern end of the range. Originally the name of the Apalachee, a Muskogean people of northwestern Florida, perhaps from Apalachee abalahci "other side of the river" or Hitchiti (Muskogean) apalwahči "dwelling on one side." Spelling shifted under influence of adjectives in -ian.
Atalanta: in Greek mythology the daughter of king Schoeneus, famous for her swiftness, Latin, from Greek Atalante, fem. of atalantos "having the same value (as a man)," from a- "one, together" + talanton "balance, weight, value" (compare talent).
avalanche (n.): 1763, from French avalanche (17c.), from Romansch (Swiss) avalantze "descent," altered (by metathesis of -l- and -v-, probably influenced by Old French avaler "to descend, go down") from Savoy dialect lavantse, from Provençal lavanca "avalanche," perhaps from a pre-Latin Alpine language (the suffix -anca suggests Ligurian). As a verb, from 1872.
baccalaureate (n.): 1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from Modern Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus "student with the first degree," alteration of Medieval Latin baccalarius "one who has attained the lowest degree in a university, advanced student lecturing under his master's supervision but not yet having personal license" (altered by folk etymology or word-play, as if from bacca lauri "laurel berry," laurels being awarded for academic success).

The Medieval Latin word is of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately from Latin baculum "staff" (see bacillus), which the young student might carry. Or it might be a re-Latinization of bachelor in its academic sense.

In modern U.S. usage, baccalaureate usually is short for baccalaureate sermon (1864), a religious farewell address to a graduating class at an American college, from the adjectival sense "pertaining to the university degree of bachelor."
balaclava (n.): "woolen head covering," especially worn by soldiers, evidently named for village near Sebastopol, Russia, site of a battle Oct. 25, 1854, in the Crimean War. But the term (originally Balaclava helmet) does not appear before 1881 and seems to have come into widespread use in the Boer War. The British troops suffered from the cold in the Crimean War, and the usage might be a remembrance of that conflict. The town name (Balaklava) often is said to be from Turkish, but is perhaps folk-etymologized from a Greek original Palakion.
balalaika (n.): stringed instrument with a triangular body, 1788, from Russian balalaika, said to be related to balabolit' "to chatter, babble," an imitative word.
balance (n.): early 13c., "apparatus for weighing," from Old French balance (12c.) "balance, scales for weighing," also in the figurative sense; from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, from Latin (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from Latin bis "twice" + lanx "dish, plate, scale of a balance." The accounting sense is from 1580s; the meaning "general harmony between parts" is from 1732; sense of "physical equipoise" is from 1660s. Balance of power in the geopolitical sense is from 1701. Many figurative uses (such as hang in the balance, late 14c.), are from Middle English image of the scales in the hands of personified Justice, Fortune, Fate, etc.