quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- aspire[aspire 词源字典]
- aspire: see spirit
[aspire etymology, aspire origin, 英语词源] - aspirin
- aspirin: [19] The word aspirin was coined in German towards the end of the 19th century. It is a condensed version of the term acetylierte spirsäure ‘acetylated spiraeic acid’. Spiraeic acid is a former term for ‘salicylic acid’, from which aspirin is derived; its name comes from the spiraea, a plant of the rose family.
=> spiraea - conspire
- conspire: see spirit
- inspire
- inspire: see spirit
- perspire
- perspire: see spirit
- respire
- respire: see spirit
- spiral
- spiral: [16] Spiral comes via French spiral from medieval Latin spīrālis ‘coiled’, a derivative of Latin spīra. This in turn went back to Greek speira ‘coil’. English also acquired the noun, as spire [16], which is used for the ‘tip of a spiral shell’. It is not the same word as the spire of a church [OE], which originally meant ‘stalk, stem’, and may go back ultimately to the base *spī- (source of English spike ‘pointed flower head’ and spine). The spiraea [17] is etymologically the ‘coiled’ plant; and spiraea in turn was used to form the term aspirin.
=> aspirin, spiraea - spirit
- spirit: [13] Latin spīritus originally meant ‘breath’: it was derived from the verb spīrāre ‘breathe’ (source of English aspire [15], conspire [14], expire [15], inspire [14], perspire [17], respire [14], transpire [16], etc), which probably came ultimately from the prehistoric Indo-European base *speis- or *peis-, imitative of the sound of blowing or breathing out (source also of Old Church Slavonic piskati ‘whistle’, Serbo-Croat pistati ‘hiss’, and Old Norse físa ‘fart’).
But in the Augustan period it gradually began to take over as the word for ‘soul’ from anima (source of English animal, animate, etc), which itself originally denoted ‘breath’, and in Christian Latin writings it was the standard term used.
=> aspire, conspire, expire, inspire, perspire, respire, transpire - transpire
- transpire: see spirit
- antiperspirant (adj.)
- by 1946, from anti- + perspire + adjectival suffix -ant.
- aspirant (n.)
- "one who aspires," 1738, from French aspirant, from Latin aspirantem (nominative aspirans), present participle of aspirare (see aspire).
- aspirate (n.)
- 1725, "sound of the letter 'H'," especially at the beginning of a word, from Latin aspiratio "a breathing, exhalation; the pronunciation of the letter H" (see aspire).
- aspirate (v.)
- "to pronounce with audible breath," 1700; perhaps a back-formation from aspiration (n.2), or from French aspirer or directly from Latin aspiratus, past participle of aspirare (see aspire). Related: Aspirated; aspirating.
- aspiration (n.1)
- 1530s, "action of breathing into," from Latin aspirationem (nominative aspiratio) "a breathing on, a blowing upon; rough breathing; influence," noun of action from past participle stem of aspirare (see aspire). Meaning "steadfast longing for a higher goal, earnest desire for something above one" is recorded from c. 1600 (sometimes collectively, as aspirations).
- aspiration (n.2)
- late 14c., "action of aspirating," noun of action from aspirate (v.).
- aspirational (adj.)
- by 1985, from aspiration (n.1) + -al (1).
- aspire (v.)
- "strive for," c. 1400, from Old French aspirer "aspire to; inspire; breathe, breathe on" (12c.), from Latin aspirare "to breathe upon, blow upon, to breathe," also, in transferred senses, "to be favorable to, assist; to climb up to, to endeavor to obtain, to reach to, to seek to reach; infuse," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). The notion is of "panting with desire," or perhaps of rising smoke. Related: Aspired; aspiring.
- aspirin (n.)
- coined 1899 by German chemist Heinrich Dreser (1860-1924) in German as a trademark name, from Latin Spiraea (ulmaria) "meadow-sweet," the plant in whose flowers or leaves the processed acid in the medicine is naturally found, + common chemical ending -in (see -ine (2)). Spiraea (Tournefort, 1700) is from Latinized form of Greek speiraia "meadow-sweet," so called from the shape of its follicles (see spiral (adj.)). The initial -a- is to acknowledge acetylation; Dreser said the word was a contraction of acetylierte spirsäure, the German name of the acid, which now is obsolete, replaced by salicylic acid.
Die Bezeichnung Aspirin ist abgeleitet aus "Spirsäure" -- alter Name der Salicylsäure und A = Acetyl; statt" Acetylirte Spirsäure, kurzweg "Aspirin". [H, Dreser, "Pharmakologisches über Aspirin (Acetylsalicylsäure)," in "Archiv für die Gesammte Physiologie des Menschen und der Thiere," 1899, p.307]
The custom of giving commercial names to medicinal products began in Germany in the late 19th century, when nascent pharmaceutical firms were discovering medical uses for common, easily made chemicals. To discourage competitors they would market the substance under a short trademarked name a doctor could remember, rather than the long chemical compound word. German law required prescriptions to be filled exactly as written. - conspiracy (n.)
- mid-14c., from Anglo-French conspiracie, Old French conspiracie "conspiracy, plot," from Latin conspirationem (nominative conspiratio) "agreement, union, unanimity," noun of action from conspirare (see conspire); earlier in same sense was conspiration (early 14c.), from French conspiration (13c.), from Latin conspirationem. An Old English word for it was facengecwis. As a term in law, from 1863. Conspiracy theory is from 1909.
- conspirator (n.)
- c. 1400, conspyratour, from Old French conspirateur, from Latin conspiratorem (nominative conspiratorio), noun of action from conspirat-, past participle stem of conspirare (see conspire). Fem. form conspiratress is from mid-18c. Related: Conspiratorial; conspiratorially; conspiratory.
- conspire (v.)
- late 14c., from Old French conspirer (14c.), from Latin conspirare "to agree, unite, plot," literally "to breathe together," from com- "together" (see com-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). Or perhaps the notion is "to blow together" musical instruments, i.e., "To sound in unison." Related: Conspired; conspiring.
- dispirit (v.)
- 1640s; see dis- + spirit (n.). Related: Dispirited; dispiriting.
- free-spirited (adj.)
- also freespirited, 1670s, from free (adj.) + -spirited.
- inspiration (n.)
- c. 1300, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written, from Old French inspiracion "inhaling, breathing in; inspiration," from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative inspiratio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin inspirare "inspire, inflame, blow into," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). Literal sense "act of inhaling" attested in English from 1560s. Meaning "one who inspires others" is attested by 1867.
- inspirational (adj.)
- 1839, "influenced by inspiration;" 1884, "tending to inspire;" see inspiration + -al (1).
- inspire (v.)
- mid-14c., enspiren, "to fill (the mind, heart, etc., with grace, etc.);" also "to prompt or induce (someone to do something)," from Old French enspirer (13c.), from Latin inspirare "inflame; blow into" (see inspiration), a loan-translation of Greek pnein in the Bible. General sense of "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" is from late 14c. Also sometimes used in literal sense in Middle English. Related: Inspired; inspires; inspiring.
- inspirer (n.)
- c. 1500, agent noun from inspire.
- mean-spirited (adj.)
- also meanspirited, 1690s, from mean (adj.1) + -spirited. Ancient Greek had the same image in mikropsykhos.
- perspiration (n.)
- 1610s, from French perspiration (1560s), noun of action from perspirer "perspire," from Latin perspirare "blow or breathe constantly," from per- "through" (see per) + spirare "to breathe, blow" (see spirit (n.)). Applied to excretion of invisible moistures through the skin (1620s), hence used as a euphemism for "sweat" from 1725.
- perspire (v.)
- 1640s, "to evaporate through the pores," a back-formation from perspiration and in part from Latin perspirare "to breathe, to blow constantly" (see perspiration). Meaning "to sweat" is a polite usage attested from 1725. Medical men tried to maintain a distinction between "sensible" (sweat) and "insensible" perspiration:
[I]t is sufficient for common use to observe, that perspiration is that insensible discharge of vapour from the whole surface of the body and the lungs which is constantly going on in a healthy state; that it is always natural and always salutary; that sweat, on the contrary, is an evacuation, which never appears without some uncommon effort, or some disease to the system, that it weakens and relaxes, and is so far from coinciding with perspiration, that it obstructs and checks it. [Charles White, "A Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-in Women," London, 1791]
Related: Perspired; perspiring. - respiration (n.)
- late 14c., from Latin respirationem (nominative respiratio) "breathing, respiration," noun of action from past participle stem of respirare (see respire).
- respirator (n.)
- 1836, as an aid to breathing (originally a sort of gauze mask, agent noun from respire. As "machine to provide artificial respiration" from 1929.
- respiratory (adj.)
- 1660s, from Modern Latin respiratorius or French respiratoire; see respiration + -ory.
- respire (v.)
- late 14c., from Old French respirer (12c.), from Latin respirare "breathe again, breathe in and out," from re- "again" (see re-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). Related: Respired; respiring.
- -spirited
- "having a spirit (of a specified type)," from spirit (n.).
- spiracle (n.)
- "air hole," 1610s, from Latin spiraculum "breathing hole," from spirare "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). Related: Spiracular.
- spiral (adj.)
- 1550s, from Middle French spiral (16c.), from Medieval Latin spiralis "winding around a fixed center, coiling" (mid-13c.), from Latin spira "a coil, fold, twist, spiral," from Greek speira "a winding, a coil, twist, wreath, anything wound or coiled," from PIE *sper-ya-, from base *sper- (2) "to turn, twist." Related: Spirally. Spiral galaxy first attested 1913.
- spiral (v.)
- 1726 (implied in spiraled), transitive, from spiral (n.). Intransitive use by 1834. Transferred and figurative sense by 1922. Related: Spiraling.
- spiral (n.)
- 1650s, from spiral (adj.). U.S. football sense is from 1896. Figurative sense of "progressive movement in one direction" is by 1897. Of books, spiral-bound (adj.) is from 1937.
- spirant (n.)
- breathy consonant, 1862, from Latin spirantem (nominative spirans) "breathing," present participle of spirare "to breathe, blow" (see spirit (n.)).
- spire (n.)
- Old English spir "a sprout, shoot, spike, blade, tapering stalk of grass," from Proto-Germanic *spiraz (cognates: Old Norse spira "a stalk, slender tree," Dutch spier "shoot, blade of grass," Middle Low German spir "a small point or top"), from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (see spike (n.1)). Meaning "tapering top of a tower or steeple" first recorded 1590s (a sense attested in Middle Low German since late 14c. and also found in the Scandinavian cognates).
- spire (v.)
- early 14c., "send up shoots," from spire (n.). Related: Spired; spiring.
- spirillum (n.)
- (plural spirilla), 1875, Modern Latin, diminutive of Latin spira (see spiral (adj.)). So called for their structure.
- spirit (n.)
- mid-13c., "animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Anglo-French spirit, Old French espirit "spirit, soul" (12c., Modern French esprit) and directly from Latin spiritus "a breathing (respiration, and of the wind), breath; breath of a god," hence "inspiration; breath of life," hence "life;" also "disposition, character; high spirit, vigor, courage; pride, arrogance," related to spirare "to breathe," from PIE *(s)peis- "to blow" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic pisto "to play on the flute").
Meaning "supernatural immaterial creature; angel, demon; an apparition, invisible corporeal being of an airy nature" is attested from mid-14c.; from late 14c. as "a ghost" (see ghost (n.)). From c. 1500 as "a nature, character"; sense of "essential principle of something" (in a non-theological context, as in Spirit of St. Louis) is attested from 1680s, common after 1800; Spirit of '76 in reference to the qualities that sparked and sustained the American Revolution is attested by 1797 in William Cobbett's "Porcupine's Gazette and Daily Advertiser."
From late 14c. in alchemy as "volatile substance; distillate;" from c. 1500 as "substance capable of uniting the fixed and the volatile elements of the philosopher's stone." Hence spirits "volatile substance;" sense narrowed to "strong alcoholic liquor" by 1670s. This also is the sense in spirit level (1768). Also from mid-14c. as "character, disposition; way of thinking and feeling, state of mind; source of a human desire;" in Middle English freedom of spirit meant "freedom of choice." From late 14c. as "divine substance, divine mind, God;" also "Christ" or His divine nature; "the Holy Ghost; divine power;" also, "extension of divine power to man; inspiration, a charismatic state; charismatic power, especially of prophecy." Also "essential nature, essential quality." From 1580s in metaphoric sense "animation, vitality."
According to Barnhart and OED, originally in English mainly from passages in Vulgate, where the Latin word translates Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah. Distinction between "soul" and "spirit" (as "seat of emotions") became current in Christian terminology (such as Greek psykhe vs. pneuma, Latin anima vs. spiritus) but "is without significance for earlier periods" [Buck]. Latin spiritus, usually in classical Latin "breath," replaces animus in the sense "spirit" in the imperial period and appears in Christian writings as the usual equivalent of Greek pneuma. Spirit-rapping is from 1852. - spirit (v.)
- 1590s, "to make more active or energetic" (of blood, alcohol, etc.), from spirit (n.). The meaning "carry off or away secretly" (as though by supernatural agency) is first recorded 1660s. Related: Spirited; spiriting.
- spirited (adj.)
- "lively, energetic," 1590s, from spirit (v.) in its older sense. Milton uses it to mean "possessed by a spirit." Related: Spiritedly; spiritedness.
- spiritless (adj.)
- 1560s, "dead," from spirit (n.) + -less. Meaning "having no vigor or vivacity" is from 1650s. Related: Spiritlessly.
- spiritual (adj.)
- c. 1300, "of or concerning the spirit" (especially in religious aspects), from Old French spirituel, esperituel (12c.) or directly from a Medieval Latin ecclesiastical use of Latin spiritualis "of or pertaining to breath, breathing, wind, or air; pertaining to spirit," from spiritus "of breathing, of the spirit" (see spirit (n.)). Meaning "of or concerning the church" is attested from mid-14c. Related: Spiritually. An Old English word for "spiritual" was godcundlic.
In avibus intellige studia spiritualia, in animalibus exercitia corporalia [Richard of St. Victoror (1110-1173): "Watch birds to understand how spiritual things move, animals to understand physical motion." - E.P.]
- spiritual (n.)
- "African-American religious song," 1866, from spiritual (adj.). Earlier "a spiritual thing" (1660s).
- spiritual-minded (adj.)
- 1526 (Tindale), from spiritual (adj.) + minded. Related: Spiritual-mindedness.