英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

absentee (n.)[absentee 词源字典]: 1530s, from absent (v.) + -ee.[absentee etymology, absentee origin, 英语词源]
absenteeism (n.): 1829, from absentee + -ism; originally in reference to landlords, especially in Ireland (absentee in this sense is in Johnson's dictionary); reference to pupils or workers is from 1922.
absentminded (adj.): also absent-minded, "preoccupied," 1810, from absent + minded. Related: Absentmindedly; absentmindedness.
absinthe (n.): also absinth, alcoholic liqueur distilled from wine mixed with wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), 1842, from French absinthe, "essence of wormwood," from Latin absinthum "wormwood," from Greek apsinthion, perhaps from Persian (compare Persian aspand, of the same meaning). The plant so called in English from c. 1500 (Old English used the word in the Latin form).
absit omen: Latin, literally "may this omen be absent."
absolute (adj.): late 14c., "unrestricted; complete, perfect;" also "not relative to something else" (mid-15c.), from Middle French absolut (14c., Old French asolu, Modern French absolu), from Latin absolutus, past participle of absolvere "to set free, make separate" (see absolve).

Most of the current senses also were in the Latin word. Sense evolution was "detached, disengaged," thus "perfect, pure." Meaning "despotic" (1610s) is from notion of "absolute in position." Absolute monarchy is recorded from 1735 (absolute king is recorded from 1610s); scientific absolute magnitude (1902), absolute value (1907) are from early 20c. In metaphysics, the absolute "that which is absolute" is from 1809.
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.
absolutely (adv.): late 14c., "unconditionally, completely," from absolute (adj.) + -ly (2). From mid-15c. as "without reference to anything else, not relatively;" meaning "to the utmost degree" emerged by mid-16c. As a colloquial emphatic in American English, it is attested from 1892.
absolution (n.): "remission, forgiveness," c. 1200, from Old French absolucion, earlier assolucion, from Latin absolutionem (nominative absolutio) "completion, acquittal," noun of action from past participle stem of absolvere "to absolve" (see absolve). Originally of sins; in general use from c. 1400.
absolutism (n.): 1753 in theology; 1830 in politics, in which sense it was first used by British reformer and parliamentarian Maj. Gen. Thomas Perronet Thompson (1783-1869). See absolute and -ism.
absolutist (n.): 1830, from absolute + -ist. From 1837 as an adjective.
absolve (v.): early 15c., from Latin absolvere "set free, loosen, acquit," from ab- "from" (see ab-) + solvere "loosen" (see solve). Related: Absolved; absolving.
absorb (v.): early 15c., from Middle French absorber (Old French assorbir, 13c.), from Latin absorbere "to swallow up," from ab- "from" (see ab-) + sorbere "suck in," from PIE root *srebh- "to suck, absorb" (cognates: Armenian arbi "I drank," Greek rhopheo "to sup greedily up, gulp down," Lithuanian srebiu "to drink greedily"). Figurative meaning "to completely grip (one's) attention" is from 1763. Related: Absorbed; absorbing.
absorbency (n.): 1762, noun of state from absorbent; see -cy.
absorbent: 1718, adjective and noun, from Latin absorbentem (nominative absorbens), present participle of absorbere "swallow up" (see absorb).
absorption (n.): 1590s, from Latin absorptionem (nominative absorptio), noun of action from past participle stem of absorbere "swallow up" (see absorb).
absquatulate (v.): 1837, "Facetious U.S. coinage" [Weekley], perhaps based on a mock-Latin negation of squat "to settle." Said to have been used by the U.S. Western character "Nimrod Wildfire" in the play "The Kentuckian," as re-written by British author William B. Bernard and staged in London in 1833. Related: Absquatulated; absquatulating.
abstain (v.): late 14c., "to withhold oneself," from Old French abstenir (14c.), earlier astenir (13c.) "hold (oneself) back, refrain, abstain (from), practice abstinence," from Latin abstinere "withhold, keep back, keep off," from ab(s)- "from, away from" (see ab-) + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Specifically of liquor, late 14c. Of voting, 1796. Related: Abstained; abstaining.
abstainer (n.): mid-15c., "one who practices self-denial," agent noun from abstain.
abstemious (adj.): c. 1600, from Latin abstemius "sober, temperate," from ab(s)- "from" (see ab-) + stem of temetum "strong drink," related to temulentus "drunken." Technically, of liquor, but extended in Latin to temperance in living generally. Related: Abstemiously; abstemiousness.