英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

acacia [acacia 词源字典]: acacia: [16] Acacia comes via Latin from Greek akakía, a word for the shittah. This is a tree mentioned several times in the Bible (the Ark of the Covenant was made from its wood). It is not clear precisely what it was, but it was probably a species of what we now know as the acacia. The ultimate derivation of Greek akakía is obscure too; some hold that it is based on Greek aké ‘point’ (a distant relation of English acid), from the thorniness of the tree, but others suggest that it may be a loanword from Egyptian.
[acacia etymology, acacia origin, 英语词源]
ambush: ambush: [14] Originally, ambush meant literally ‘put in a bush’ – or more precisely ‘hide in a wood, from where one can make a surprise attack’. The hypothetical Vulgar Latin verb *imboscāre was formed from the prefix in- and the noun *boscus ‘bush, thicket’ (a word of Germanic origin, related to English bush). In Old French this became embuschier, and when English acquired it its prefix gradually became transformed into am-.

In the 16th century, various related forms were borrowed into English – Spanish produced ambuscado, Italian was responsible for imboscata, and French embuscade was anglicized was ambuscade – but none now survives other than as an archaism.
=> bush
ditto: ditto: [17] Ditto is a precisely parallel formation to English said ‘aforementioned’ (as in ‘the said John Smith’). It is the Tuscan dialect version of Italian detto, which comes from dictus, the past participle of Latin dīcere ‘say’ (source of English dictionary and a vast range of related words). It was originally used in Italian to avoid repeating the name of the month when giving a series of dates, much as inst and ult are used in commercial English.
=> diction, dictionary
eddy: eddy: [15] The ultimate source of eddy appears to be a prehistoric Germanic particle meaning ‘back, again’, represented in Old English by ed-, in Old High German by et-, and in Old Norse by ith- (it is related to Latin et ‘and’ and its various Romance descendants, such as French et and Italian ed). According to this theory, an eddy would thus be ‘water that flows back’.

What is not altogether clear, however, is precisely how that prehistoric particle became eddy. Perhaps the most likely candidate as the missing link is Old Norse itha ‘whirlpool’, but it has also been suggested that Old English may have had a word *edwǣg, whose second element, ‘wave’, would be related to English way and vogue.
intrinsic: intrinsic: [15] The Latin adverb intrinsecus meant ‘on the inside’. It was formed from *intrim ‘inward’, an unrecorded derivative of the adverb intrā ‘within’, and secus ‘alongside’ (a relative of English second, sect, sequel, etc). In the post-classical period it came to be used as an adjective, meaning ‘inward’, and it passed into Old French as intrinseque ‘inner, internal’.

This general concrete sense accompanied the word into English, but it now survives only as an anatomical term, meaning ‘situated within a body part’. The abstract sense ‘inherent’, now the adjective’s main meaning, developed in the 17th century. The derivation of the antonym extrinsic [16] is precisely parallel, with Latin extrā ‘outside’ taking the place of intrā.
=> extrinsic, second, sect, sequel
old: old: [OE] Etymologically, old means ‘grown-up’. It comes from a prehistoric West Germanic *altha (source also of German alt and Dutch oud) which was a past-participial adjective formed from the base of a verb meaning ‘grow, nourish’. (A precisely similar formation from the related Latin verb adolēscere ‘grow’ has given English adult, and Latin altus ‘high’ – source of English altitude [14] – was originally a past-participial adjective too, derived from alēre ‘nourish’, although it has metaphoricized ‘growing’ to ‘height’ rather than ‘age’.) Elderly and the comparative and superlative elder, eldest come ultimately from the same source. World began life as a compound noun of which the noun *ald- ‘age’, a relative of old, formed the second element.
=> adult, altitude, elder, world
parish: parish: [13] The etymological notion underlying parish is of ‘living nearby’. It comes via Old French paroisse and late Latin parochia (source of English parochial [14]) from late Greek paroikíā. This was a derivative of pároikos ‘living near’, a compound formed from pará ‘beside’ and oikos ‘house’ (source of English economy).

Scholars have not been able to agree on precisely how the idea of ‘living nearby’ became transmuted into that of the ‘parish’: some consider the central concept to be of a ‘community of neighbours’, while others view the ‘near-dweller’ here not as a permanent neighbour but as a temporary ‘sojourner’ or ‘stranger’, an epithet applied to early Christians.
=> economy, parochial
shoal: shoal: English has two distinct words shoal. ‘Shallow area’ [16] is descended from the Old English adjective sceald ‘shallow’, which in turn came from prehistoric Germanic *skaldaz. (English shallow [15] is related, although it is not clear precisely how.) Shoal of fish [16] is simply a reborrowing of Middle Dutch schōle, which had earlier been taken over as school.
=> school
sober: sober: [13] Sober comes via Old French sobre from Latin sōbrius ‘not drunk’. This was the opposite of ēbrius ‘drunk’ (source of French ivre ‘drunk’ and English inebriate [15]), but where ēbrius came from, and precisely what connection the presumably related sōbrius has with it, are not known.
=> inebriate
tobacco: tobacco: [16] Tobacco was introduced to Europe from the Americas, and that is where its name came from too. It originated in a Carib word, and reached English via Spanish and Portuguese tabaco. What precisely the Carib word meant, however, is a matter of dispute. Some say that it referred to tobacco leaves rolled up into a cylindrical shape for smoking, while others maintain that it denoted a pipe for smoking the tobacco in.

The word has spread to virtually all European languages (French tabac, German, Dutch, Russian, and Czech tabak, Welsh tybaco, etc), and only a few remnants of alternative terms remain: Romanian tutun and Polish tytun, for instance, borrowings from Turkish tütün, which originally meant ‘smoke’, and Breton butun, which came from pety, the word for ‘tobacco’ in the Guarani language of South America (source also of English petunia [19], a close relative of the tobacco plant).
absolute zero (n.): the idea dates back to 1702 and its general value was guessed to within a few degrees soon thereafter, but not precisely discovered until Lord Kelvin's work in 1848. It was known by many names, such as infinite cold, absolute cold, natural zero of temperature; the term absolute zero was among them by 1806.
discrimination (n.): 1640s, "the making of distinctions," from Late Latin discriminationem (nominative discriminatio), noun of action from past participle stem of discriminare (see discriminate). Especially in a prejudicial way, based on race, 1866, American English. Meaning "discernment" is from 1814.
It especially annoys me when racists are accused of 'discrimination.' The ability to discriminate is a precious facility; by judging all members of one 'race' to be the same, the racist precisely shows himself incapable of discrimination. [Christopher Hitchens]
eccentric (n.): early 15c., "eccentric circle or orbit," originally a term in Ptolemaic astronomy, "circle or orbit not having the Earth precisely at its center," from Middle French eccentrique and directly from Medieval Latin eccentricus (noun and adjective), from Greek ekkentros "out of the center" (as opposed to concentric), from ek "out" (see ex-) + kentron "center" (see center (n.)). Meaning "odd or whimsical person" is attested by 1817 (S.W. Ryley, "The Itinerant, or Memoirs of an Actor").
June 4 [1800].--Died in the streets in Newcastle, William Barron, an eccentric, well known for many years by the name of Billy Pea-pudding. [John Sykes, "Local Records, or Historical Register of Remarkable Events which have Occurred Exclusively in the Counties of Durham and Northumberland, Town and County of Newcastle Upon Tyne, and Berwick Upon Tweed," Newcastle, 1824]
express (adj.): late 14c., "stated explicitly, not implied, clearly made known" from Old French espres, expres (13c.), from Latin expressus "clearly presented, distinct, articulated precisely," past participle of exprimere (see express (v.)). Also late 14c. as an adverb, "specially, on purpose;" it also doubled as an adverb in Old French. An express train (1841) originally was one that ran to a certain station.
finicky (adj.): 1825, "dainty, mincing," from finical "too particular" (1590s), which perhaps is from fine (adj.) + -ical as in cynical, ironical (OED says "ultimate derivation" from the adjective "seems probable"). But finikin (1660s) "dainty, precise in trifles" has been proposed as a source, even though the timing is off. It apparently comes from Dutch; compare Middle Dutch fijnkens (adv.) "precisely, exactly," from fijn, cognate with English fine (adj.).

The -k- between the final -c- and a suffix beginning in -i, -y, or -e is an orthographic rule to mark the pronunciation of -c- as "k" (compare picnicking, trafficking, panicky, shellacked). Related: Finickiness.
full (adj.): Old English full "containing all that can be received; having eaten or drunk to repletion; filled; perfect, entire, utter," from Proto-Germanic *fulla- "full" (cognates: Old Saxon full, Old Frisian ful, Dutch vol, Old High German fol, German voll, Old Norse fullr, Gothic fulls), from PIE *pele- (1) "to fill" (see poly-). Related: Fuller; fullest.

The adverb is Old English ful "very, fully, entirely, completely" and was common in Middle English (full well, full many, etc.); sense of "quite, exactly, precisely" is from 1580s. Full moon, one with its whole disc illuminated, was Old English fulles monan; first record of full-blood in reference to racial purity is from 1812. Full house is 1710 in the theatrical sense, 1887 in the poker sense (three of a kind and a pair, earlier full-hand, 1850). Full-dress (adj.) "appropriate to a formal occasion" is from 1761, from the noun phrase.
imprecise (adj.): 1805, from assimilated form of in- (1) "not, opposite of" + precise. Related: Imprecisely.
just (adv.): "merely, barely," 1660s, from Middle English sense of "exactly, precisely, punctually" (c. 1400), from just (adj.), and paralleling the adverbial use of French juste. Just-so story first attested 1902 in Kipling, from the expression just so "exactly that, in that very way" (1751).
letter (n.1): c. 1200, "graphic symbol, alphabetic sign, written character," from Old French letre (10c., Modern French lettre) "character, letter; missive, note," in plural, "literature, writing, learning," from Latin littera (also litera) "letter of the alphabet," of uncertain origin, perhaps via Etruscan from Greek diphthera "tablet," with change of d- to l- as in lachrymose. In this sense it replaced Old English bocstæf, literally "book staff" (compare German Buchstabe "letter, character," from Old High German buohstab, from Proto-Germanic *bok-staba-m).

Latin littera also meant "a writing, document, record," and in plural litteræ "a letter, epistle," a sense first attested in English early 13c., replacing Old English ærendgewrit, literally "errand-writing." The Latin plural also meant "literature, books," and figuratively "learning, liberal education, schooling" (see letters). School letter in sports, attested by 1908, were said to have been first awarded by University of Chicago football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. Expression to the letter "precisely" is from 1520s (earlier as after the letter). Letter-perfect is from 1845, originally in theater jargon, in reference to an actor knowing the lines exactly. Letter-press, in reference to matter printed from relief surfaces, is from 1840.
mot (n.): "a witty saying," 1580s, from French mot (12c.) "remark, short speech," literally "word," cognate of Italian motto, from Latin mutum "grunt, murmur" (see mutter). Mot juste (1912) is French, literally "exact word," the precisely appropriate expression in some situation.
The mot juste is an expression which readers would like to buy of writers who use it, as one buys one's neighbour's bantam cock for the sake of hearing its voice no more. [Fowler]
pinpoint (n.): also pin-point, "point of a pin," 1849, from pin (n.) + point (n.). Taken into aeronautics in sense "place identified from the air," hence verb meaning "locate precisely" (1917), which originally was aviators' slang. Related: Pinpointed; pinpointing. As an adjective, "performed with precisional accuracy," 1944, originally of aerial bombing.
precise (adj.): mid-15c., from Middle French précis "condensed, cut short" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin precisus, from Latin praecisus "abrupt, abridged, cut off," past participle of praecidere "to cut off, shorten," from prae "before" (see pre-) + caedere "to cut" (see -cide; for Latin vowel change, see acquisition). Related: Precisely (late 14c.).
special (adj.): c. 1200, "better than ordinary," from Old French special, especial "special, particular, unusual" (12c., Modern French spécial) and directly from Latin specialis "individual, particular" (source also of Spanish especial, Italian speziale), from species "appearance, kind, sort" (see species).

Meaning "marked off from others by some distinguishing quality" is recorded from c. 1300; that of "limited as to function, operation, or purpose" is from 14c. Special effects first attested 1951. Special interests in U.S. political sense is from 1910. Special pleading first recorded 1680s, a term that had a sound legal meaning once but now is used generally and imprecisely. Special education in reference to those whose learning is impeded by some mental or physical handicap is from 1972.
tres (adv.): "very," 1815, from French très, from Old French tres "right, precisely, completely, very," from Latin trans "beyond" (see trans-), later "very" (compare Old Italian trafreddo "very cold").