quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- albatross[albatross 词源字典]
- albatross: [17] The word albatross has a confused history. The least uncertain thing about it is that until the late 17th century it was alcatras; the change of the first element to albaseems to have arisen from association of the albatross’s white colour with Latin albus ‘white’. However, which particular bird the alcatras was, and where the word alcatras ultimately came from, are much more dubious.
The term was applied variously, over the 16th to the 19th centuries, to albatrosses, frigate birds, gannets, gulls, and pelicans. Its immediate source was Spanish and Portuguese alcatraz ‘pelican’ (hence Alcatraz, the prison-island in San Francisco Bay, USA, once the haunt of pelicans), which was clearly of Arabic origin, and it has been speculated that it comes from Arabic al qādūs ‘the bucket’, on the premise that the bucket of a water-wheel used for irrigation resembles a pelican’s beak.
Arabic qādūs itself comes from Greek kádos ‘jar’.
[albatross etymology, albatross origin, 英语词源] - albino
- albino: [18] Like album, albino comes ultimately from Latin albus ‘white’. It was borrowed into English from the Portuguese, who used it with reference to black Africans suffering from albinism (it is a derivative of albo, the Portuguese descendant of Latin albus).
=> album - album
- album: [17] Latin albus ‘white’ has been the source of a variety of English words: alb ‘ecclesiastical tunic’ [OE], albedo ‘reflective power’ [19], Albion [13], an old word for Britain, probably with reference to its white cliffs, albumen ‘white of egg’ [16], and auburn, as well as albino. Album is a nominalization of the neuter form of the adjective, which was used in classical times for a blank, or white, tablet on which public notices were inscribed.
Its original adoption in the modern era seems to have been in Germany, where scholars kept an album amicorum ‘album of friends’ in which to collect colleagues’ signatures. This notion of an autograph book continues in Dr Johnson’s definition of album in his Dictionary 1755: ‘a book in which foreigners have long been accustomed to insert the autographs of celebrated people’, but gradually it became a repository for all sorts of souvenirs, including in due course photographs.
=> alb, albedo, albino, albumen, auburn, daub - bulb
- bulb: [16] Bulb can be traced back to Greek bólbos, which was a name for various plants with a rounded swelling underground stem. In its passage via Latin bulbus to English it was often applied specifically to the ‘onion’, and that was its original meaning in English. Its application to the light bulb, dating from the 1850s, is an extension of an earlier 19th-century sense ‘bulbshaped swelling in a glass tube’, used from the 1830s for thermometer bulbs.
- elbow
- elbow: [OE] Logically enough, elbow means etymologically ‘arm bend’. It comes from a prehistoric West and North Germanīc *alinobogan (which also produced German ellenbogen, Dutch elleboog, and Danish albue). This was a compound formed from *alinā ‘forearm’ and *bogan (source of English bow). However, there is a further twist.
For *alinā (source also of English ell [OE], a measure of length equal to that of the forearm) itself goes back ultimately to an Indo-European base *el-, *ele- which itself meant ‘bend’, and produced not just words for ‘forearm’ (such as Latin ulna), but also words for ‘elbow’ (such as Welsh elin). So at this deepest level of all, elbow means tautologically ‘bend bend’.
=> bow, ell, ulna - filbert
- filbert: [14] Hazelnuts begin to ripen around the end of August, and so in medieval times they were named after Saint Philibert, a 7th-century Frankish abbot whose feast day falls on the 22nd of that month. Thus in Anglo-Norman they were *noix de Philibert or noix de filbert – whence English filbert.
- trilby
- trilby: [19] The word trilby commemorates the name of Trilby O’Ferrall, the eponymous heroine of George du Maurier’s novel Trilby 1894. She was an artist’s model in Paris who fell under the spell of Svengali. In the stage version of the book the character Trilby wore a soft felt hat with an indented top, and the style soon became fashionable. The novel also dwells on the erotic qualities of Trilby’s feet, and for a while in the early 20th century trilbies was used as a slang term for ‘feet’.
- alb (n.)
- late Old English albe, from Late Latin alba (in tunica alba or vestis alba "white vestment"), fem. of albus "white," from PIE root *albho- "white" (cognates: Greek alphos "white leprosy," alphiton "barley meal;" Old High German albiz, Old English elfet "swan," literally "the white bird;" Old Church Slavonic and Russian lebedi, Polish łabędź "swan;" Hittite alpash "cloud").
- albacore (n.)
- large variety of tuna, 1570s, from Portuguese albacora, from Arabic al bakara "milk cow;" the fish so called for its size.
- Albania
- Medieval Latin name of the country called by its inhabitants Shqipëri (literally "land of eagles," from shqiponje "eagle"), from Medieval Greek Albania, possibly from a pre-IE word *alb "hill" (also proposed as the source of Alps) or from the PIE root *albho- "white" (see alb). Roman Albania was a land by the Caspian Sea (modern Daghestan); in English Albania was occasionally also a name for Scotland.
- albatross (n.)
- 1670s, probably from Spanish or Portuguese alcatraz "pelican" (16c.), perhaps derived from Arabic al-ghattas "sea eagle" [Barnhart]; or from Portuguese alcatruz "the bucket of a water wheel" [OED], from Arabic al-qadus "machine for drawing water, jar" (from Greek kados "jar"), in reference to the pelican's pouch (compare Arabic saqqa "pelican," literally "water carrier"). Either way, the spelling was influenced by Latin albus "white." The name was extended, through some mistake, by English sailors to a larger sea-bird (order Tubinares).
Albatrosses were considered good luck by sailors; figurative sense of "burden" (1936) is from Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798) about the bad luck of a sailor who shoots an albatross and then is forced to wear its corpse as an indication that he, not the whole ship, offended against the bird. The prison-island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay is named for pelicans that roosted there. - albedo (n.)
- "ratio of light reflected from a surface," 1859, from Latin albedo, literally "whiteness," from albus "white" (see alb).
- albeit (conj.)
- late 14c., a contraction of al be it "al(though) it be (that)."
- Albert
- masc. proper name, from German (the French form is Aubert), from Old High German Adalbert, cognate of Old English Æþelbeorht "Noble-bright" (which was sometimes metathesized as Æþelbriht, hence the surname Albright). Second element is from Proto-Germanic berhta- "bright," from PIE *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white" (see bright). It also figures in the names Egbert, Gilbert, Herbert, Hubert, Lambert. As a kind of watch chain, from 1861 (see Prince Albert).
- Alberta
- Canadian province, founded in 1882 and named for Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, wife of the governor general, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Marquess of Lorne. She was named for her father, Prince Albert.
- Albigensian
- c. 1600, "relating to the Albigenses," Catharist religious reformers of southern France c.1020-1250, Medieval Latin Albigenses (12c.), from French Albi, name of the town in Languedoc where they lived and were first condemned as heretics (1176). The town name is from Roman personal name Albius, from Latin albus "white" (see alb).
- albinism (n.)
- 1836; see albino + -ism. Alternative form albinoism is recorded from 1868.
- albino (n.)
- 1777, from Spanish or Portuguese albino, from Latin albus "white" (see alb). Used by Portuguese of white-spotted African negroes. Extended 1859 to animals having the same peculiarity. A female albino formerly was an albiness (1808).
- Albion
- ancient name of England, Old English, from Latin, sometimes said to be from the non-Indo-European base *alb "mountain," which also is suggested as the source of Latin Alpes "Alps," Albania, and Alba, an Irish name for "Scotland." But more likely from Latin albus "white" (see alb), which would be an apt description of the chalk cliffs of the island's southern coast.
Breoton is garsecges ealond, ðæt wæs iu geara Albion haten. [translation of Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," c.900 C.E.]
Perfidious Albion translates French rhetorical phrase la perfide Albion, said to have been in use since 16c. but popularized by Napoleon I in the recruiting drive of 1813, a reference to the supposedly treacherous policies of Britain when dealing with foreign powers. - album (n.)
- 1650s, from Latin album "white color, whiteness," neuter of albus "white" (see alb). In classical times "a blank tablet on which the Pontifex Maximus registered the principal events of the year; a list of names." Revived 16c. by German scholars whose custom was to keep an album amicorum of colleagues' signatures; meaning then expanded into "book to collect souvenirs." According to Johnson, "a book in which foreigners have long been accustomed to insert autographs of celebrated people." Photographic albums first recorded 1859. Meaning "long-playing gramophone record" is by 1951, because the sleeves they came in resembled large albums.
- albumen (n.)
- 1590s, "white of an egg," from Latin albumen "white of an egg," literally "whiteness," from albus "white" (see alb). The organic substance (which exists nearly pure in egg whites) so called from 1800, also known as albumin (1869, from French albumine).
- albumin
- see albumen.
- albuminous (adj.)
- 1791, from albumen + -ous.
- Albuquerque
- city in New Mexico, U.S., founded 1706 and named for Spanish administrator and viceroy of Mexico Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, Duque de Alburquerque (1617-1676); name altered by association with Portuguese soldier Alfonso de Albuquerque (1453-1515), both named from Alburquerque, a town in Spain close to the Portuguese border, meaning "white oak;" ultimately from Latin albus "white" and quercus "oak."
- bellboy (n.)
- from bell (n.) + boy; originally (1851) a ship's bell-ringer, later (1861) a hotel page.
- bilbo (n.)
- kind of sword noted for temper and elasticity, 1590s, from Bilbao, town in northern Spain where swords were made, in English Bilboa. The town name is Roman Bellum Vadum "beautiful ford" (over the Nervion River).
- billboard (n.)
- 1845, American English, from bill (n.1) + board (n.1). Any sort of board where bills were meant to be posted. Billboard magazine founded 1894, originally a trade paper for the bill-posting industry. Its music sales charts date from 1930s.
- bulb (n.)
- 1560s, "an onion," from Middle French bulbe (15c.), from Latin bulbus "bulb, bulbous root, onion," from Greek bolbos "plant with round swelling on underground stem." Expanded by 1800 to "swelling in a glass tube" (thermometer bulb, light bulb, etc.).
- bulbous (adj.)
- 1570s, "pertaining to a bulb," from Latin bulbosus, from bulbus (see bulb). Meaning "bulb-shaped" is recorded from 1783. Related: Bulbously; bulbousness.
- chilblain (n.)
- 1540s, from chill (n.) + blain "inflamed swelling or sore on skin." Related: Chilblains.
- Dolby
- sound reproduction system, 1966, named for its inventor, U.S. engineer Ray M. Dolby (b.1933).
- elbow (n.)
- "bend of the arm," c. 1200, elbowe, from a contraction of Old English elnboga "elbow," from Proto-Germanic *elino-bugon, literally "bend of the forearm" (cognates: Middle Dutch ellenboghe, Dutch elleboog, Old High German elinbogo, German Ellenboge, Old Norse ölnbogi). For first element, see ell (n.1) "length of the forearm;" second element represented by Old English boga "bow, arch" (see bow (n.1)).
Second element related to Old English bugan "to bend" (see bow (v.)); first element from *alina "arm," from PIE *el- (1) "elbow, forearm" (see ell (n.1)). To be out at elbows (1620s) was literally to have holes in one's coat. Phrase elbow grease "hard rubbing" is attested from 1670s, from jocular sense of "the best substance for polishing furniture." Elbow-room, "room to extend one's elbows," hence, "ample room for activity," attested 1530s.
- elbow (v.)
- "thrust with the elbow," c. 1600, from elbow (n.). Figurative sense is from 1863. Related: Elbowed; elbowing.
- Ethelbert
- Anglo-Saxon masc. proper name, Old English Æðelbryht, literally "nobility-bright;" see atheling + bright (adj.).
- fallback
- also fall-back, as a noun, "a reserve," 1851, from verbal phrase, from fall (v.) + back (adv.), which is attested in the sense of "retreat" from c. 1600. As an adjective, from 1767 as a type of chair; 1930 as "that may be used in an emergency."
- filbert (n.)
- "hazelnut," late 14c., from Anglo-French philber (late 13c.), from Norman dialect noix de filbert, in reference to St. Philbert, 7c. Frankish abbot, so called because the hazel nuts ripen near his feast day, Aug. 22 (Old Style). Weekley compares German Lambertsnuss "filbert," associated with St. Lambert (Sept. 17); also German Johannisbeere "red currant," associated with St. John's Day (June 24). The saint's name is Old High German Filu-berht, literally "very bright."
- Fulbright (n.)
- in education, a reference to U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright (1905-1995) of Arkansas, especially to the Fulbright Act of 1946, which authorized proceeds from sales of U.S. war surplus materials to be used to fund higher education overseas.
- fullback (n.)
- also full-back, 1882 in sports, from full (adj.) + back (n.).
- Galbraith
- surname, from Old Gaelic Gall-Bhreathnach "stranger-Briton," a name given to Britons settled among Gaels. Compare Galloway.
- Gilbert
- masc. proper name, from Old French Guillebert (from Old High German Williberht, literally "a bright will") or Old French Gilebert, from Gisilbert, literally "a bright pledge," from Old High German gisil "pledge," a Celtic loan-word (compare Old Irish giall "pledge") + beorht "bright" (see Albert). It was the common name for a male cat (especially in short form Gib) from c. 1400 (see Tom). As a unit of magneto-motive force, it honors English physicist William Gilbert (1544-1603). For the Gilbert Islands, see Kiribati.
- halberd (n.)
- medieval weapon (a broad blade with sharp edges, ending in a point and mounted on a long handle), late 15c., from Middle French hallebarde (earlier alabarde, 15c.), from Middle High German halmbarte "broad-axe with handle," from halm "handle" (see helm) + barte "hatchet," possibly from Proto-Germanic *bardoz "beard," also "hatchet, broadax." Alternative etymology [Kluge, Darmesteter] traces first element to helm "helmet," making the weapon an axe for smashing helmets. In 15c.-16c. especially the arm of foot-soldiers.
- hellbender (n.)
- large salamander of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 1812, supposedly so called for its ugliness.
- hellbent (adj.)
- also hell-bent, 1835, U.S., originally slang, from hell + bent (1).
- hillbilly (n.)
- "southern Appalachian U.S. resident," by 1892, from hill + masc. proper name Billy/Billie.
Then again, I do not think It will do so well. I would hate to see some old railroad man come here and take my job, and then, I don t think It is right to hire some Hill Billy and give him the same right as I just because he was hired the same time I was. ["The Railroad Trainmen's Journal," vol. IX, July 1892]
In short, a Hill-Billie is a free and untrammelled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires of his revolver as the fancy takes him. ["New York Journal," April 23, 1900]
In reference to a type of folk music, first attested 1924. - jailbait (n.)
- also jail bait, jail-bait, "girl under the legal age of consent," 1930, from jail (n.) + bait (n.).
- jailbird (n.)
- 1610s, based on an image of a caged bird; from jail (n.) + bird (n.1).
- jailbreak (n.)
- also jail-break, "prison escape," 1872, perhaps 1828, from jail (n.) + break (n.).
- keelboat (n.)
- 1690s, from keel + boat.
- kielbasa (n.)
- 1951, from Polish kiełbasa "sausage" (Russian kolbasa, Serbo-Croatian kobasica); perhaps from Turkish kulbasti, "grilled cutlet," literally "pressed on the ashes." Or perhaps, via Jewish butchers, from Hebrew kolbasar "all kinds of meat."
- light bulb (n.)
- also lightbulb, 1884, from light (n.) + bulb.