英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

avail (v.)[avail 词源字典]: c. 1300, availen, apparently a French compound formed in English from Old French a- "to" (see ad-) + vailen "to avail," from vaill-, present stem of valoir "be worth," from Latin valere (see valiant). Related: Availed; availing. As a noun, from c. 1400.[avail etymology, avail origin, 英语词源]
availability (n.): 1803, from available + -ity.
available (adj.): mid-15c., "beneficial," also "valid, effective, capable of producing the desired effect," from avail + -able. Meaning "at one's disposal, capable of being made use of" is recorded from 1827.
availing (adj.): "advantageous," early 15c., present participle adjective from avail (v.).
availment (n.): 1690s, from avail + -ment.
avalanche (n.): 1763, from French avalanche (17c.), from Romansch (Swiss) avalantze "descent," altered (by metathesis of -l- and -v-, probably influenced by Old French avaler "to descend, go down") from Savoy dialect lavantse, from Provençal lavanca "avalanche," perhaps from a pre-Latin Alpine language (the suffix -anca suggests Ligurian). As a verb, from 1872.
avant: French, literally "before," in various terms borrowed into English, corresponding to Italian avanti, both from Latin abante, a compound of ab "from" (see ab-) and ante "before, in front of" (see ante), which first meant "from in front of," but in Vulgar Latin came to mean simply "before."
avant-garde (n.): (also avant garde, avantgarde); French, literally "advance guard" (see avant + guard (n.)). Used in English 15c.-18c. in a literal, military sense; borrowed again 1910 as an artistic term for "pioneers or innovators of a particular period." Also used around the same time in communist and anarchist publications. As an adjective, by 1925.
The avant-garde générale, avant-garde stratégique, or avant-garde d'armée is a strong force (one, two, or three army corps) pushed out a day's march to the front, immediately behind the cavalry screen. Its mission is, vigorously to engage the enemy wherever he is found, and, by binding him, to ensure liberty of action in time and space for the main army. ["Sadowa," Gen. Henri Bonnal, transl. C.F. Atkinson, 1907]
avarice (n.): c. 1300, from Old French avarice "greed, covetousness" (12c.), from Latin avaritia "greed," from avarus "greedy," adjectival form of avere "crave, long for."
avaricious (adj.): late 15c., from Old French avaricios "greedy, covetous" (Modern French avaricieux), from avarice (see avarice). An Old English word for it was feoh-georn. Related: Avariciously; avariciousness.
avast: 1680s, a nautical interjection, "hold! stop!" probably worn down from Dutch houd vast "hold fast."
AVAST. -- The order to stop, or pause, in any exercise or operation; as Avast heaving -- that is to say, desist, or stop, from drawing in the cable or hawser, by means of the capstan &c. [George Biddlecombe, "The Art of Rigging," 1848]
avatar (n.): 1784, "descent of a Hindu deity," from Sanskrit avatarana "descent" (of a deity to the earth in incarnate form), from ava- "off, down" (from PIE *au- (2) "off, away") + base of tarati "(he) crosses over," from PIE root *tere- (2) "to cross over" (see through). In computer use, it seems to trace to the novel "Snowcrash" (1992) by Neal Stephenson.
avaunt: interjection, late 15c., "begone," literally "move on," from Middle French avant "forward!" (see avant).
ave: "hail," also "farewell," early 13c. (in reference to the Ave Maria), from Latin ave, second person singular imperative of avere "to be or fare well."
Ave Maria: modified form of the angelic salutation to the Virgin (Luke i:28) used as a devotional recitation, early 13c., from the opening words ("Ave [Maria] gratia plena").
avenge (v.): late 14c., from Anglo-French avenger, Old French avengier, from a- "to" (see ad-) + vengier "take revenge" (Modern French venger), from Latin vindicare "to claim, avenge, punish" (see vindicate). Related: Avenged; avenging.
avenger (n.): 1530s, agent noun from avenge (v.). Spenser (1596) has avengeress but no mention of Mrs. Peel.
avenue (n.): c. 1600, "a way of approach" (originally a military word), from Middle French avenue "way of access," from Old French avenue "act of approaching, arrival," noun use of fem. of avenu, past participle of avenir "to come to, arrive," from Latin advenire "to come to," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come" (see venue). Meaning shifted to "a way of approach to a country-house," usually bordered by trees, hence, "a broad, tree-lined roadway" (1650s), then to "wide, main street" (by 1846, especially in U.S.).
aver (v.): late 14c., from Old French averer "verify," from Vulgar Latin *adverare "make true, prove to be true," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + verus "true" (see very). Related: Averred; averring.
average (n.): late 15c., "financial loss incurred through damage to goods in transit," from French avarie "damage to ship," and Italian avaria; a word from 12c. Mediterranean maritime trade (compare Spanish averia; other Germanic forms, Dutch avarij, German haferei, etc., also are from Romanic languages), which is of uncertain origin. Sometimes traced to Arabic 'arwariya "damaged merchandise." Meaning shifted to "equal sharing of such loss by the interested parties." Transferred sense of "statement of a medial estimate" is first recorded 1735. The mathematical extension is from 1755.