spiceyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[spice 词源字典]
spice: [13] Spice is ultimately the same word as species. It comes via Old French espice from Latin speciēs ‘appearance, kind’. In late Latin its plural came to be used for ‘goods, wares’, probably from the notion of a particular ‘sort’ of merchandise, and by the time the word reached English its usage had narrowed still further to ‘aromatic plant substances of oriental or tropical origin, used in cooking’.
=> special[spice etymology, spice origin, 英语词源]
spice (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1200, "something added to food or drink to enhance the flavor, vegetable substance aromatic or pungent to the taste," also "a spice used as a medication or an alchemical ingredient," from Old French espice (Modern French épice), from Late Latin species (plural) "spices, goods, wares," in classical Latin "kind, sort" (see species). From c. 1300 as "an aromatic spice," also "spices as commodities;" from early 14c. as "a spice-bearing plant." Figurative sense of "attractive or enjoyable variation" is from 13c.; that of "slight touch or trace of something" is recorded from 1530s. Meaning "specimen, sample" is from 1790. Early druggists recognized four "types" of spices: saffron, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg.
spice (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"to season with spices," early 14c. (implied in spiced), from spice (n.), or from Old French espicier, from the French noun. Figurative sense of "to vary, diversify" is from 1520s.