英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

coleslaw [coleslaw 词源字典]: coleslaw: [18] Cole is an ancient and now little used English word for plants of the cabbage family, such as cabbage or rape (it comes ultimately from Latin caulis ‘cabbage’, whose underlying meaning was ‘hollow stem’ – see CAULIFLOWER). It was used in the partial translation of Dutch koolsla when that word was borrowed into English in the late 18th century. Kool, Dutch for ‘cabbage’, became cole, but sla presented more of a problem (it represents a phonetically reduced form of salade ‘salad’), and it was rendered variously as -slaugh (now defunct) and -slaw. (Interestingly enough, the earliest record of the word we have, from America in the 1790s – it was presumably borrowed from Dutch settlers – is in the form cold slaw, indicating that even then in some quarters English cole was not a sufficiently familiar word to be used for Dutch kool. Coldslaw is still heard, nowadays as a folketymological alteration of coleslaw.)
=> cauliflower, cole, salad[coleslaw etymology, coleslaw origin, 英语词源]
island: island: [OE] Despite their similarity, island has no etymological connection with isle (their resemblance is due to a 16th-century change in the spelling of island under the influence of its semantic neighbour isle). Island comes ultimately from a prehistoric Germanic *aujō, which denoted ‘land associated with water’, and was distantly related to Latin aqua ‘water’.

This passed into Old English as īeg ‘island’, which was subsequently compounded with land to form īegland ‘island’. By the late Middle English period this had developed to iland, the form which was turned into island. (A diminutive form of Old English īeg, incidentally, has given us eyot ‘small island in a river’ [OE].) Isle [13] itself comes via Old French ile from Latin insula (the s is a 15th-century reintroduction from Latin).

Other contributions made by insula to English include insular [17], insulate [16], insulin, isolate (via Italian) [18], and peninsula [16].
=> eyot
slack: slack: [OE] In common with Dutch and Swedish slak, slack comes from a prehistoric Germanic *slakaz. This was derived from the same ultimate source that produced Latin laxus ‘loose’ (source of English lax, relax, release, and relish) and languēre ‘languish’ (source of English languish). The plural noun slacks was first used for ‘trousers’ in the early 19th century. (The noun slack ‘small pieces of coal’ [15] is a different word, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch slacke ‘waste produced by smelting metal’.)
=> languish, lax, relax, release, relinquish
slander: slander: [13] Slander and scandal are ultimately the same word. Both go back to Latin scandalum ‘cause of offence’. This passed into Old French as escandle, which in due course had its consonants switched round to produce esclandre, source of English slander. Scandal was borrowed from the later French form scandale.
=> scandal
slang: slang: [18] Slang is a mystery word. It first appeared in underworld argot of the mid-18th century. It had a range of meanings – ‘cant’, ‘nonsense’, ‘line of business’, and, as a verb, ‘defraud’. Most of these have died out, but ‘cant’ is the lineal ancestor of the word’s modern meaning. It is not clear where it came from, although the use of the verb slang for ‘abuse’, and the expression slanging match ‘abusive argument’, suggest some connection with Norwegian dialect sleng- ‘offensive language’ (found only in compounds).
slat: slat: [14] Slat was adapted from Old French esclat ‘piece broken off, splinter’. This was derived from the verb esclater ‘shatter’, a descendant of Vulgar Latin *esclatāre or *exclatāre. And this in turn may have been formed from a base *clatsuggestive of the sound of breaking. An alternative theory, however, is that it goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *slaitan ‘cause to split or break’, a variant of *slītan ‘split, break’ (from which English gets slice and slit).

The feminine form of Old French esclat was esclate, which has given English slate [14]. And its modern descendant éclat was borrowed by English in the 17th century in the metaphorical sense ‘brilliance’. It has been conjectured that esclater may have been related to Old French esclachier ‘break’, which could have had a variant form *esclaschier.

This would be a plausible candidate as a source for English slash [14].
=> slate
slaughter: slaughter: [13] Slaughter was borrowed from Old Norse *slahtr, which went back to the same prehistoric Germanic base (*slakh- ‘strike’) that produced English slay. Old English appears to have had its own version of the word, *slæht, which survived into the 17th century as slaught. This forms the second syllable of onslaught [17], where it replaced the -slag in the borrowing from Middle Dutch aenslag (literally ‘onstriking’).
=> onslaught, slay
slave: slave: [13] The word slave commemorates the fate of the Slavic people in the past, reduced by conquest to a state of slavery. For ultimately slave and Slav are one and the same. The earliest record we have of the ethnic name is as Slavic Sloveninu, a word of unknown origin borrowed by Byzantine Greek as Sklábos and passed on to medieval Latin as Sclavus. It was this that was turned into a generic term sclavus ‘slave’, which passed into English via Old French esclave.
slay: slay: [OE] Etymologically, slay means ‘hit’ (its German relative schlagen still does), but from the earliest Old English times it was also used for ‘kill’. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic base *slakh-, *slag-, *slög- ‘hit’, which also produced English onslaught, slaughter, the sledge of sledgehammer, sleight, sly, and possibly slag [16] (from the notion of ‘hitting’ rock to produce fragments), slog, and slug ‘hit’.
=> onslaught, slaughter, sledge, sleight, sly
translate: translate: [13] To translate something is etymologically to ‘carry it across’ from one language into another. The word was acquired from trānslātus, the past participle of Latin trānsferre ‘carry across, transfer, translate’ (source of English transfer).
=> extol, relate
Ameslan (n.): 1972, acronym of Ame(rican) S(ign) Lan(guage), known by that name since 1960, but its history goes back to 1817, evolving from French Sign Language (introduced at American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Conn.) and indigenous sign languages, especially that of Martha's Vineyard. [See "Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language," Nora Ellen Groce, Harvard University Press, 1985]
aslant (adv.): early 14c., o-slant, literally "on slant," from on + slant (v.). As a preposition from c. 1600.
backslash (n.): 1982, new punctuation symbol introduced for computer purposes, from back (adj.) + slash (n.).
Bratislava: capital of Slovakia, a Slavic settlement named for its founder or chief; the name is the same element in the first half of the German name for the city, Pressburg (9c.).
coleslaw (n.): also cole-slaw, cole slaw, 1794, American English, partial translation of Dutch koolsla, from kool "cabbage" (see cole) + sla "salad" (see slaw). Commonly cold slaw in English until 1860s, when Middle English cole "cabbage" was revived.
Coney Island: community in Brooklyn, N.Y., so called for the rabbits once found there (see coney) and was known to the Dutch as Konijn Eiland, from which the English name probably derives. It emerged as a resort and amusement park center after the U.S. Civil War.
Easter Island: so called because it was discovered by Dutch navigator Jakob Roggeveen on April 2, 1722, which was Easter Monday. It earlier had been visited by English pirate Edward Davis (1695), but he neglected to name it. The native Polynesian name is Mata-kite-ran "Eyes that Watch the Stars."
Ellis Island: sandy island in mouth of Hudson River, said to have been called "Gull Island" by local Indians and "Oyster Island" by the Dutch, renamed "Gull Island" after the British took over, then "Gibbet Island" because pirates were hanged there. Sold to Samuel Ellis in 1785, who made it a picnic spot and gave it his name. Sold by his heirs in 1808 to New York State and acquired that year by the U.S. War Department for coastal defenses. Vacant after the American Civil War until the government opened an immigration station there in 1892 to replace Castle Island.
enslave (v.): 1640s, from en- (1) "make, make into" + slave (n.). Related: Enslaved; enslaving.
enslavement (n.): 1690s, from enslave + -ment.
galley-slave (n.): 1560s, from galley (n.) in the "ship" sense + slave (n.). The ships were often rowed by slaves or convicts.
grassland (n.): also grass-land, "land perpetually under grass," 1680s, from grass + land (n.).
Islam (n.): "religious system revealed by Muhammad," 1818, from Arabic islam, literally "submission" (to the will of God), from root of aslama "he resigned, he surrendered, he submitted," causative conjunction of salima "he was safe," and related to salam "peace."
... Islam is the only major religion, along with Buddhism (if we consider the name of the religion to come from Budd, the Divine Intellect, and not the Buddha), whose name is not related to a person or ethnic group, but to the central idea of the religion. ["The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity," Seyyed Hossein Nasr, 2002]
Earlier English names for the faith include Mahometry (late 15c.), Muhammadism (1610s), Islamism (1747), and Ismaelism (c. 1600), which in part is from Ishmaelite, a name formerly given (especially by Jews) to Arabs, as descendants of Ishmael (q.v.), and in part from Arabic Ismailiy, name of the Shiite sect that after 765 C.E. followed the Imamship through descendants of Ismail (Arabic for Ishmael), eldest son of Jafar, the sixth Imam. The Ismailians were not numerous, but among them were the powerful Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and the Assassins, both of whom loomed large in European imagination.
Islamic (adj.): 1791, from Islam + -ic.
island (n.): 1590s, earlier yland (c. 1300), from Old English igland "island," from ieg "island" (from Proto-Germanic *aujo "thing on the water," from PIE *akwa- "water;" see aqua-) + land (n.). Spelling modified 15c. by association with similar but unrelated isle. An Old English cognate was ealand "river-land, watered place, meadow by a river." In place names, Old English ieg is often used of "slightly raised dry ground offering settlement sites in areas surrounded by marsh or subject to flooding" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names]. Related: Islander.
Jugoslavia: see Yugoslavia. Related: Jugoslav; Jugoslavian.
legislate (v.): 1805, back-formation from legislation, etc. Related: Legislated; legislating.
legislation (n.): 1650s, from French législation, from Late Latin legislationem (nominative legislatio), properly two words, legis latio, "proposing (literally 'bearing') of a law;" see legislator.
legislative (adj.): 1640s; from legislator + -ive. Related: Legislatively.
legislator (n.): c. 1600, from Latin legis lator "proposer of a law," from legis, genitive of lex "law" + lator "proposer," agent noun of latus "borne, brought, carried" (see oblate (n.)), used as past tense of ferre "to carry" (see infer). Fem. form legislatrix is from 1670s.
legislature (n.): 1670s; see legislator + -ure.
manslaughter (n.): mid-14c., " act, crime, or sin of killing another human being," in battle or not, from man (n.) + slaughter (n.). Replaced Old English mannslæht (Anglian), mannslieht (West Saxon), from slæht, slieht "act of killing" (see slay). Etymologically identical with homicide, but in legal use usually distinguished from murder and restricted to "simple homicide."
mislabel (v.): 1865, from mis- (1) + label (v.). Related: Mislabeled; mislabeling.
mislay (v.): c. 1400, from mis- (1) + lay (v.). Related: Mislaid; mislaying.
mistranslate (v.): 1530s, from mis- (1) + translate. Related: Mistranslated; mistranslating.
mistranslation (n.): 1690s, from mis- (1) + translation.
Mstislav: Slavic masc. proper name, literally "vengeful fame," from Russian mstit' "to take revenge," from Proto-Slavic *misti "revenge," *mistiti "to take revenge," from PIE *mit-ti-, extended form of root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move" (see mutable); for second element, see Slav.
onslaught (n.): 1620s, anslaight, somehow from or on analogy of Dutch aanslag "attack," from Middle Dutch aenslach, from aen "on" (see on) + slach "blow," related to slaen "slay." Spelling influenced by obsolete (since c. 1400) English slaught (n.) "slaughter," from Old English sleaht (see slaughter (n.)). No record of its use in 18c.; apparently revived by Scott.
Panslavism (n.): 1846, from German Pansclavismus, coined as a linguistic term by Herkel in 1826.
pro-slavery (adj.): 1825, from pro- + slavery.
Queensland: Australian state, founded 1859 and named for Queen Victoria of Great Britain.
Rhode Island: U.S. state, the region is traditionally said to have been named by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano when he passed through in 1524, based on an imagined similarity between modern Block Island and the Greek Isle of Rhodes. More likely from Roodt Eylandt, the name Dutch explorer Adriaen Block gave to Block Island c. 1614, literally "red island," so called for the color of its cliffs. Under this theory, the name was altered by 17c. English settlers by influence of the Greek island name (see Rhodes), and then extended to the mainland part of the colony. Block Island later (by 1685) was renamed for the Dutch explorer.
slab (n.): late 13c., "large, flat mass," of unknown origin, possibly related to Old French escopel, escalpe "thin fragment of wood," which according to Klein is possibly a Gaulish word (compare Breton scolp, Welsh ysgolp "splinter, chip"). But OED rejects this on formal grounds. Meaning "rectangular block of pre-cast concrete used in building" is from 1927. Slab-sided is "having flat sides like slabs," hence "tall and lank" (1817, American English).
slack (n.2): "coal dust," mid-15c., sleck, of uncertain origin, probably related to Middle Dutch slacke, Middle Low German slecke "slag, small pieces left after coal is screened," perhaps related to slagge "splinter flying off metal when it is struck" (see slag (n.)).
slack (adj.): Old English slæc "remiss, lax, characterized by lack of energy, sluggish, indolent, languid; slow, gentle, easy," from Proto-Germanic *slakas (cognates: Old Saxon slak, Old Norse slakr, Old High German slah "slack," Middle Dutch lac "fault, lack"), from PIE root *(s)leg- "to be slack" (see lax).

Sense of "not tight" (in reference to things) is first recorded c. 1300. As an adverb from late 14c. Slack-key (1975) translates Hawaiian ki ho'alu. Slack water (n.) "time when tide is not flowing" is from 1769. Slack-handed "remiss" is from 1670s. Slack-baked "baked imperfectly, half-baked" is from 1823; figuratively from 1840.
slack (n.1): early 14c., "cessation" (of pain, grief, etc.), from slack (adj.). Meaning "a cessation of flow in a current or tide" is from 1756; that of "still stretch of a river" is from 1825. Meaning "loose part or end" (of a rope, sail, etc.) is from 1794; hence figurative senses in take up the slack (1930 figuratively) and slang cut (someone) some slack (1968). Meaning "quiet period, lull" is from 1851. Slacks "loose trousers" first recorded 1824, originally military.
slack (v.): 1510s, "to moderate, make slack," back-formed from slack (adj.) after the original verb veered into the specialized sense of slake. Meaning "be remiss, inactive or idle, fail to exert oneself" is attested from 1540s; current use is probably a re-coining from c. 1904 (see slacker, and compare Old English slacful "lazy," sleacmodnes "laziness"). Related: Slacked; slacking.
slack-jawed (adj.): 1882, "over-talkative," from slack-jaw (n.) "impertinent language" (1797), from slack (adj.) + jaw (n.). Meaning "open-mouthed and speechless" from astonishment, stupidity, etc., is from 1905.
slacken (v.): early 15c., from slack (adj.) + -en (1). Related: Slackened; slackening.
slacker (n.): popularized 1994, but the meaning "person who shirks work" dates to 1897; agent noun from slack (v.). In early use also slackster (1901). Compare Old English sleacornes "laziness," which is not, however, an agent noun. Related: Slackerly; slackerish.