英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

betray (v.)[betray 词源字典]: late 13c., bitrayen "mislead, deceive, betray," from be- + obsolete Middle English tray, from Old French traine "betrayal, deception, deceit," from trair (Modern French trahir) "betray, deceive," from Latin tradere "hand over," from trans- "across" (see trans-) + dare "to give" (see date (n.1)). Related: Betrayed; betraying. [betray etymology, betray origin, 英语词源]
betrayal (n.): 1816; from betray + -al (2). Earlier in the same sense were betrayment (1540s), betraying (late 14c.).
betrayer (n.): 1520s, agent noun from betray (v.).
betroth (v.): c. 1300, betrouthen, from bi-, here probably with a sense of "thoroughly," + Middle English treowðe "truth," from Old English treowðe "truth, a pledge" (see troth). Related: Betrothed; betrothing.
betrothal (n.): 1844, from betroth + -al (2). Earlier in same sense were betrothment (1580s), betrothing (14c.).
betrothed (adj.): 1530s, past participle adjective from betroth (v.). As a noun, in use by 1580s.
Betsy: fem. pet name, a diminutive of Bet, itself short for Elizabet or Elizabeth. Betsy as the typical a pet name for a favorite firearm is attested in American English by 1856 (compare Brown Bess, by 1785, British army slang for the old flintlock musket).
better (adj.): Old English bettra, earlier betera, from Proto-Germanic *batizo-, from PIE *bhad- "good;" see best. Comparative adjective of good in the older Germanic languages (compare Old Frisian betera, Old Saxon betiro, Old Norse betr, Danish bedre, Old High German bezziro, German besser, Gothic batiza). In English it superseded bet in the adverbial sense by 1600. Better half "wife" is first attested 1570s.
better (v.): Old English *beterian "improve, amend, make better," from Proto-Germanic *batizojan (cognates: Old Frisian beteria, Dutch beteren, Old Norse betra, Old High German baziron, German bessern), from *batiz- (see better (adj.)). Related: Bettered; bettering.
better (n.): late 12c., "that which is better," from better (adj.). Specific meaning "one's superior" is from early 14c. To get the better of (someone) is from 1650s, from better in a sense of "superiority, mastery," which is recorded from mid-15c.
betterment (n.): 1590s, from better (v.) + -ment.
bettor (n.): also better (OED notes that English agent nouns in -er tend to shift toward -or as their senses become more specific), agent noun from bet (v.).
Betty: fem. pet name, from Bet, shortened from Elizabeth, + -y (3).
Betula (n.): genus of the birches, from Latin betula "birch," from Gaulish betu- "bitumen" (cognates: Middle Irish beithe "box tree," Welsh bedwen "birch tree"). According to Pliny, so called because the Gauls extracted tar from birches. Birch tar is still sold as an analgesic and stimulant and made into birch beer by the Pennsylvania Dutch.
between (prep.): Old English betweonum "between, among, by turns," Mercian betwinum, from bi- "by" (see be-) + tweonum dative plural of *tweon "two each" (compare Gothic tweih-nai "two each"). Between a rock and a hard place is from 1940s, originally cowboy slang. Between-whiles is from 1670s.
betweenity (n.): 1760, a jocular formation, perhaps coined by Horace Walpole, from between + -ity.
betweenness (n.): 1881, from between + -ness.
betwixt (prep., adv.): Old English betweox "between, among, amidst, meanwhile," from bi- "by" (see be-) + tweox "for two," from Proto-Germanic *twa "two" + *-isk "-ish." With parasitic -t that first appeared in Old English and became general after c. 1500.
Beulah: fem. proper name, from Hebrew be'ulah "married woman," fem. past participle of ba'al "he married" (see baal).
bevel (adj.): 1560s, possibly from Old French *baivel (Modern French béveau, biveau), possibly from bayer "to gape, yawn," from Latin *batare "to yawn, gape," from Latin root *bat-, possibly imitative of yawning. If so, the time gap is puzzling. The verb is first recorded 1670s. The noun is 1670s, from the adjective.