英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

chiral (adj.)[chiral 词源字典]: 1894, a hybrid coined by Lord Kelvin from Latinized comb. form of Greek kheir "hand" (from PIE *ghes- "hand;" see chiro-) + -al (1).[chiral etymology, chiral origin, 英语词源]
chiro-: before verbs chir-, word-forming element meaning "hand," from Latinized form of Greek kheiro-, comb. form of kheir (genitive kheiros) "the hand," from PIE *ghes- "hand" (cognates: Hittite keshshar, Armenian jern "hand").
chirography (n.): "handwriting," 1650s, from chiro- + -graphy. Chirograph "formal written legal document" is attested from late 13c. in Anglo-French, from Latin chirographum, from Greek kheirographia "written testimony."
chiromancy (n.): "divination by the hand, palmistry," 1520s, from French chiromancie (14c.), from Medieval Latin chiromantia, from Late Greek kheiromanteia, from kheiro-, comb. form of kheir "hand" (see chiro-) + -mantia (see -mancy). Related: Chiromancer; chiromantic.
Chiron: wisest of the centaurs, from Latin Chiron, from Greek Kheiron, which is of unknown origin; Klein compares Greek kheirourgos "surgeon."
chiropodist (n.): 1785, from chiro- "hand" + pod-, stem of Greek pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- (1) "a foot" (see foot (n.)) + -ist. Probably coined by Canadian-born U.S. healer Daniel Palmer (1845-1913); originally they treated both hands and feet. A much-maligned word among classicists, who point out it could mean "having chapped feet" but probably doesn't, and in that case it is an etymological garble and no one can say for sure what it is meant to signify. Related: Chiropody.
chiropractic: coined in American English, 1898 (adj.); 1899 (n.), from chiro- "hand" + praktikos "practical" (see practical), the whole of it loosely meant as "done by hand."
chiropractor (n.): 1904, agent noun in Latin form from chiropractic (q.v.).
chirp (v.): mid-15c. (implied in chirping), echoic, or else a variant of Middle English chirken "to twitter" (late 14c.), from Old English cearcian "to creak, gnash." Related: Chirped. As a noun, attested from 1802.
chirpy (adj.): "cheerfully perky," 1825, from chirp + -y (2). The notion is perhaps of birds fluttering and chattering.
chirr (v.): c. 1600, echoic of a grasshopper's trill. Related: Chirred; chirring.
chirrup (v.): 1570s, alternative form chirp (v.).
chirurgeon (n.): 1530s, representing a failed Renaissance attempt to restore Greek spelling to the word that had got into English as surgeon; now, thank the gods, archaic. Related: Chirurgery. Compare French chirurgien.
chisel (n.): early 14c., from Anglo-French cisel, Old French cisel "chisel," in plural, "scissors, shears" (12c., Modern French ciseau), from Vulgar Latin *cisellum "cutting tool," from Latin caesellum, diminutive of caesus, past participle of caedere "to cut" (see -cide). Related: Chiseled; chiseling.
chisel (v.): c. 1500, "to break with a chisel," from chisel (n.). Slang sense of "to cheat, defraud" is first recorded in 1808 as chizzel; origin and connection to the older word are obscure (compare slang sense of gouge); chiseler in this sense is from 1918. Related: Chiseled; chiseling.
chiseled (adj.): "having sharp outlines," 1821, figurative past participle adjective from chisel (v.).
chiseler (n.): 1824, "one who works with a chisel," agent noun from chisel (v.). In slang sense of "swindler," attested from 1918.
Chisholm Trail: 1866, from Jesse Chisholm (c. 1806-1868), halfbreed Cherokee trader and government agent who first plied it. The surname is from a barony in England, probably from Old English cisel "gravel."
chit (n.1): "note," 1776, short for chitty, from Mahrati (Hindi) chitthi "letter, note," from Sanskrit chitra-s "distinctively marked" (see cheetah).
chit (n.2): "small child," 1620s, originally "young of a beast" (late 14c.); unrelated to chit (n.1); perhaps a playful deformation of kitten, but the "Middle English Dictionary" compares Old High German kizzin "kid."