英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

blimp [blimp 词源字典]: blimp: [20] The original blimp was a sort of small non-rigid military airship used in World War I. Its name is said to have come from its official designation as ‘type B (limp)’ (as opposed to ‘type A (rigid)’). Its rotund flaccidity suggested it in 1934 to the cartoonist David Low (1891– 1963) as a name for a character he had invented, a fat pompous ex-army officer (in full, Colonel Blimp) who was always cholerically airing reactionary views. The British public evidently recognized the character as an all too common type, and his name became a generic one, to the extent of inspiring spin-offs such as blimpish.
[blimp etymology, blimp origin, 英语词源]
formidable: formidable: [15] Latin formīdō meant ‘fear’ (it may have links with Greek mormó ‘bugbear, goblin’, which came from an Indo-European *mormo). From it was derived the verb formīdāre, which in turn produced the adjective formīdābilis, which English originally acquired in the literal sense ‘inspiring fear’. The weaker ‘impressive in size, difficulty, etc’ is a 17thcentury development.
admirable (adj.): mid-15c., "worthy of admiration," from Middle French admirable (Old French amirable), from Latin admirabilis "admirable, wonderful," from admirari "to admire" (see admiration). In early years it also carried a stronger sense of "awe-inspiring."
awe (n.): c. 1300, aue, "fear, terror, great reverence," earlier aghe, c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source, such as Old Norse agi "fright;" from Proto-Germanic *agiz- (cognates: Old English ege "fear," Old High German agiso "fright, terror," Gothic agis "fear, anguish"), from PIE *agh-es- (cognates: Greek akhos "pain, grief"), from root *agh- "to be depressed, be afraid" (see ail). Current sense of "dread mixed with admiration or veneration" is due to biblical use with reference to the Supreme Being. To stand in awe (early 15c.) originally was simply to stand awe. Awe-inspiring is recorded from 1814.
Al engelond of him stod awe.
["The Lay of Havelok the Dane," c. 1300]
awesome (adj.): 1590s, "profoundly reverential," from awe (n.) + -some (1). Meaning "inspiring awe" is from 1670s; weakened colloquial sense of "impressive, very good" is recorded by 1961 and was in vogue from after c. 1980. Related: Awesomely; awesomeness.
awing (n.): "action of inspiring with awe," 1650s, verbal noun from awe (v.).
ghastly (adj.): c. 1300, gastlich, "inspiring fear or terror, hideous, shocking," with -lich (see -ly (2)) + gast (adj.) "afraid, frightened," past participle of gasten "to frighten," from Old English gæstan "to torment, frighten" (see ghost (n.)). Spelling with gh- developed 16c. from confusion with ghost. Middle English also had gastful in the same sense, but this is now obsolete. Sidney and Shakespeare also used ghastly as an adverb. Related: Ghastliness.
horrid (adj.): early 15c., "hairy, shaggy, bristling," from Latin horridus "bristly, prickly, rough, horrid, frightful," from horrere "to bristle with fear, shudder" (see horror). Meaning "horrible, causing horror" is from c. 1600. Sense weakened 17c. to "unpleasant, offensive."
[W]hile both [horrible and horrid] are much used in the trivial sense of disagreeable, horrible is still quite common in the graver sense inspiring horror, which horrid tends to lose .... [Fowler]
Related: Horridly.
inspire (v.): mid-14c., enspiren, "to fill (the mind, heart, etc., with grace, etc.);" also "to prompt or induce (someone to do something)," from Old French enspirer (13c.), from Latin inspirare "inflame; blow into" (see inspiration), a loan-translation of Greek pnein in the Bible. General sense of "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" is from late 14c. Also sometimes used in literal sense in Middle English. Related: Inspired; inspires; inspiring.
muse (n.): late 14c., protectors of the arts, from Old French Muse and directly from Latin Musa, from Greek Mousa, "the Muse," also "music, song," from PIE root *men- "to think, remember" (see mind (n.)). Meaning "inspiring goddess of a particular poet" is from late 14c. The traditional names and specialties of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry, lyric art), Euterpe (music, especially flute), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy).
tame (adj.): early Middle English tame "in a state of subjection, physically subdued, restrained in behavior" (c. 1200); of animals "domesticated, reclaimed from wildness," also, of persons, "meek, gentle-natured, compliant, intent on homely or domestic activities" (mid-13c.), from oblique forms of Old English tom, tam "domesticated, docile," from Proto-Germanic *tamaz (cognates: Old Norse tamr, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch tam, Old High German zam, German zahm "tame," Gothic tamjan "to tame"), from PIE *deme- "to constrain, to force, to break (horses)" (cognates: Sanskrit damayati "tames;" Persian dam "a tame animal;" Greek daman "to tame, subdue," dmetos "tame;" Latin domare "to tame, subdue;" Old Irish damnaim "I tie up, fasten, I tame, subdue").

A possible ulterior connection is with PIE *dem- "house, household" (see domestic (adj.)). Meaning "spiritless, weak, dull, uninspiring, insipid" is recorded from c. 1600. Related: Tamely; tameness.