英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

boulevard [boulevard 词源字典]: boulevard: [18] Boulevard is a frenchified version of German bollwerk ‘fortification’ (the corresponding anglicized version is bulwark). The meaning of the French word, apparently quite divergent from that of bulwark, comes originally from the practice of constructing walkways along the top of demolished ramparts.
=> bulwark[boulevard etymology, boulevard origin, 英语词源]
aerobatics (n.): aircraft tricks, "trick flying," 1914, from aero- + ending from acrobat (also see -ics). Earlier (1879) it meant "the art of constructing and using airships; aerial navigation; aeronautics."
composition (n.): late 14c., "action of combining," also "manner in which a thing is composed," from Old French composicion (13c., Modern French composition) "composition, make-up, literary work, agreement, settlement," from Latin compositionem (nominative compositio) "a putting together, connecting, arranging," noun of action from past participle stem of componere (see composite). Meaning "art of constructing sentences" is from 1550s; that of "literary production" (often also "writing exercise for students") is from c. 1600. Printing sense is 1832; meaning "arrangement of parts in a picture" is from 1706.
construct (v.): early 15c., from Latin constructus, past participle of construere "to heap up" (see construction). Related: Constructed; constructing.
constructive (adj.): early 15c., "derived by interpretation," from Middle French constructif or from Medieval Latin constructivus, from Latin construct-, past participle stem of construere "to heap up" (see construction). Meaning "pertaining to construction" is from 1817; "having the quality of constructing" is from 1841. Related: Constructively. Constructive criticism is attested by 1841.
deconstruct (v.): 1973, back-formation from deconstruction. Related: Deconstructed; deconstructing.
reconstruct (v.): 1768, "to build anew," from re- "back, again" + construct (v.). Meaning "to restore (something) mentally" is attested from 1862. Related: Reconstructed; reconstructing.
reconstruction (n.): 1791, "action or process of reconstructing," from re- + construction. In U.S. political history sense (usually with a capital R-), from 1865. It had been used during the American Civil War in reference to reconstitution of the union.
rocket (n.2): type of self-propelling projectile, 1610s, from Italian rocchetto "a rocket," literally "a bobbin," diminutive of rocca "a distaff," so called because of cylindrical shape. The Italian word probably is from a Germanic source (compare Old High German rocko "distaff," Old Norse rokkr), from Proto-Germanic *rukkon-, from PIE root *rug- "fabric, spun yarn."

Originally "fireworks rocket," meaning "device propelled by a rocket engine" first recorded 1919; rocket-ship in the modern sense first attested February 1927 ("Popular Science"); earlier as a type of naval warship firing projectiles. Rocket science in the figurative sense of "difficult, complex process or topic" is attested by 1985. Rocket scientist is from 1952.
That such a feat is considered within the range of possibility is evidenced by the activities of scientists in Europe as well as in America. Two of them, Prof. Herman Oberth and Dr. Franz Hoeff, of Vienna, are constructing a five-ton rocket ship in which they hope to reach the moon in two days. ["Popular Science," Feb. 1927]