euthanasiayoudaoicibaDictYouDict[euthanasia 词源字典]
euthanasia: [17] Etymologically, euthanasia means ‘good death’, and that was more or less its signification when it was introduced into English: ‘Give me but gentle Death: Euthanasia, Euthanasia, that is all I implore’, Tatler 1709. The modern use of the word, ‘mercy killing’, seems to have originated in the 1860s; the first recorded use of it was by William Lecky in his History of European morals 1869. The term is borrowed from Greek euthanasíā, a compound based on the prefix eu- ‘good’ and thánatos ‘death’.
[euthanasia etymology, euthanasia origin, 英语词源]
euthanasia (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1640s, "a gentle and easy death," from Greek euthanasia "an easy or happy death," from eu- "good" (see eu-) + thanatos "death" (see thanatology) + abstract noun ending -ia. Slightly earlier in anglicized form euthanasy (1630s). Sense of "legally sanctioned mercy killing" is recorded in English by 1869.